Punto MKII head gasket or not?

My X (2000) Reg 8v 1.2l Punto MK-II ELX (82,000 miles) has developed a small oil leak. At a rate of about 25-75ml per month. This figure probably inaccurate. So to put it another way, I have to top up the bottom of the oil gauge to the top every 3-4 months (approx 700-800 miles). It does seem to be a leak and not burning, as I can see the old drip the sump.

Inspection of the engine only shows oil on the transmission end. There is oil from the front and back of the cam cover, around the coil mount, around the head gasket (transmission end), around the bell housing seal and finally where it drips off the sump. Although I've changed the cam cover gasket, it still leaks a reasonable (much more than I expected) quantity of oil at the transmission end. Which makes sourcing a leak lower down a little tricky. I was thinking about getting the engine steam cleaned and using a little talc around the gaskets. Any known issues with this?

The car runs smoothly, performances is usual, no blooms of white or grey smoke from the exhaust. Or at least nothing too unusual for a car of

80K miles (cold days you get to see plenty in your rear view mirror). Today I noticed a small quantity of yellow substance in the top of the oil cap. But it's been very cold (and foggy) over the last few days. There does appear to be a 'small' coolant leak dripping down from a pipe onto the head gasket at the rear of the engine, where most of the oil around the head gasket is also located. I only noticed the oil leak shortly after getting the clutch changed about six months ago.

The engine has over heated on a couple of occasions in the past, once quite significantly (approx 50-60K miles). A replacement thermostat appears to have resolved this problem, with no issues for the last 10K miles.

Can the head gasket leak that much oil and not give any other major symptoms? When head gaskets go, do they really go (i.e. there would be no doubt and the classic symptoms)? Would the cylinder head require skimming if the issue is caught early? If so, would this give any further implications (i.e. different size gasket, damage to crank or cam)? If it's gone once, but the engine over heating issue has been resolved, is it likely to go again shortly? When replacing the timing belt, do you need to use the Fiat tensioner tool (looks like a weight on an L bar)? Or can you reliably get away with the Haynes twist up to approx 90 degree method (slightly more involved)? This seems like the killer issue to me. As no doubt (and somewhat understandably) Fiat would charge me full timing belt change labor cost to tension up correctly.

I must admit, as the wife has panged this car a couple of times and it's quite high mileage. I'm not so worried about writing it off by the timing belt going. However for the next 45 years or so, I'm sure I'll be fully reminded every time I touch a car ;) This seems more daunting than the financial costs of writing off a £1K Punto.

Thanks for any advise.

Regards,

Tim

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Tim
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