Punto 1.2 ELX overheating

[TGOS]

Drove my wife's Punto on Sat and noticed Temp Gauge was up at H and red light was on. Checked for water - very little. Refilled and was fine until Wednesday - same thing. Had my normal mechanic look at it but he could not find the problem and advised me to take it to main dealer. If it is losing water should there be an obvious leak or is it evaporating?

Any other (pre-main dealer visit) suggestions?

[rivolette]

It could be due to a few things, the most significant of which are the following.

- Your radiator cap is defective and it is letting the coolant evaporate. This is common when the radiator cap get's a little old. Remember a tight radiator cap is very important.

- You have a blown gasket that is letting the coolant mix with the engine oil. Make sure you check the engine oil cap for sludge and your engine oil for unusual milky color.

- There may also be holes/cracks in the cooling system that is so minimal, that your mechanic has not been able to detect it. Get a second opinion.

Those are the things I can come up with off the top of my head. Larsen_huw can probably help you out with his opinion also.

Good luck...

[larsen_huw]

Rivolette has covered most of what i can think of.

Only other thing to add would be to have a good check of your water pump ... if your engine oil seems fine (one hopes a mechanic would have noticed that!!!! :) ) then it's possible your water pump or water pump gasket have gone (unless Punto's have an electrocic water pump?). Get someone to rev the engine while you look at the bottom of the engine from under the front of the car .... any drips or leaks are likely to be from the water pump.

[rivolette]

Another thing that just popped into my mind, do you have any ambient smell of antifreeze in the engine compartment or around the vehicle? It is important because if that is the case, you'll know that it is likely leaking/weeping externally and not into your engine oil, which would be a bad case scenario.

[chris h]

another thing to check is if their is water in your foot well,which would surgest the heater matrix is leaking,its not allways very obvious though.