Friend of the Mrs has a 1998 Fiat Punto 1.2 which was overheating and only blowing cold from heater. I took a look and confirmed HG had blown as it was blowing plumes of white smoke and oil is creamy mayo gunk. I've got head off & it's blown around number 1 pot. To keep costs to a minimum (she's already spent s*it loads more than what the car is worth) I was wondering if I can get away with just fitting a new head gasket or will the head need to be skimmed?
Punto head gasket blown - will head need skimming?
Sep 07, 2009
8 Replies
not worth taking the risk, i would get the head skimmed, straight forward skim should'nt be anymore the £40/50
I've got this far so probably right and worth paying the extra and do a proper job of it. Having done a quick google it seems that head gasket failure is a common problem on these motors.
Heads only need skimming if they're distorted or the gasket face has suffered damage. Burning, corrosion etc.. Have it checked by a garage, or do it yourself. Visually and with a straight edge and feeler guages. If it's within 2-3 thou of being flat, and undamaged, I'd just refit it with a new gasket. Cheaper than having it skimmed if it doesm't need it, and IME that's frequently the case. Mike.
Everyone I know who's owned a 1.2 Punto, including myself, has had a head gasket failure. That's about 8 in total. They are *utter* s**te.
Mike P
10 Seconds on the belt sander :-)
As Mike says, if it's flat it doesn't need skimming, but it's a Fiat so don't get your hopes up to much.
Thought it was worth having done so had a look in yellow pages and a local place did it for £35. Nice friendly place & done within a couple of hours. I can defo recommend them if anyone wants any head work in the stoke-on-trent area - called "Cylinder Heads" in Fenton. A good tip he told me is to make sure the new HG is on the right way. Although it initially looks like it can go on a couple of ways there is one passage hole which will be covered up if wrong way round. He said even the main Fiat dealers sometimes f*ck it up and the car will probably drive ok for 1k miles before it starts squealing like a pig.
Good luck with it. FWIW, mine was fine once it had been put together properly again. Apparently it's the lack of coolant changes that leads to HG failures on them, so keep to the schedule if she's keeping it for any length of time. IIRC it's a full drain and change every 2 years..
Mike P
NO, NO what you have to say is just that they are s*1t, you mustn't mention the fact they need servicing, what are you thinking of?
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