Abarth Punto, possible head gasket - very confused!
Discussion
Good evening all,
I have recently purchased an abarth Punto Esseesse. It runs and drives fine...when warm. On a cold start it struggles to fire into life sometimes, sometimes it will start then cut out, but most of the time it starts on what sounds like 2 cylinders. If I leave it alone the revs will fluctuate for a few seconds then it fires on all 4 cylinders and goes into normal cold idle, I can speed this process up by starting the car with my foot on the throttle, it then starts, revs up and finds a normal cold idle on all 4 cylinders. You can still hear in the initial rev that it's firing on two cylinders.
However when it's warm, there is no problem starts on the button.
The next thing to mention is coolant loss, about a litre a week and I'm not driving more than 60 miles a week. Initially it was leaking from pipes and was visible, but I've sorted those leaks and now I have no idea where it's going.
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Jack.
I have recently purchased an abarth Punto Esseesse. It runs and drives fine...when warm. On a cold start it struggles to fire into life sometimes, sometimes it will start then cut out, but most of the time it starts on what sounds like 2 cylinders. If I leave it alone the revs will fluctuate for a few seconds then it fires on all 4 cylinders and goes into normal cold idle, I can speed this process up by starting the car with my foot on the throttle, it then starts, revs up and finds a normal cold idle on all 4 cylinders. You can still hear in the initial rev that it's firing on two cylinders.
However when it's warm, there is no problem starts on the button.
The next thing to mention is coolant loss, about a litre a week and I'm not driving more than 60 miles a week. Initially it was leaking from pipes and was visible, but I've sorted those leaks and now I have no idea where it's going.
Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
Jack.
Sniff test as already mentioned above.
Not unusual for a cylinder with water ingress to be unusually clean compared to the rest as the plug will effectively be steam cleaned.
Pressure test when cold to rule out any leaks in hoses etc - old radiator/expansion tank caps can also leak at well below their rated pressure.
Not unusual for a cylinder with water ingress to be unusually clean compared to the rest as the plug will effectively be steam cleaned.
Pressure test when cold to rule out any leaks in hoses etc - old radiator/expansion tank caps can also leak at well below their rated pressure.
paintman said:
Not unusual for a cylinder with water ingress to be unusually clean compared to the rest as the plug will effectively be steam cleaned.
Pressure test when cold to rule out any leaks in hoses etc - old radiator/expansion tank caps can also leak at well below their rated pressure.
They all seem to be fairly evenly fouled in fairness, I have a compression test on the cylinders booked in with a local garage. I'm waiting for hopefully a dry day in which I can park the car overnight and see if there are any leaks below, I can't see any obvious leaks anymore so I'm not sure if a pressure test would yield anything Pressure test when cold to rule out any leaks in hoses etc - old radiator/expansion tank caps can also leak at well below their rated pressure.
stevieturbo said:
jconnor98 said:
Took the plugs out this morning and number 3 and 4 is wet! So head is gone!
wet with what ? oil, fuel, water, other ?And removed them cold, hot, other ?
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