Head gasket

[seymourcom]

Our local garage has just repaired the head gasket on a Fiat Punto Sx 1.1 for the third time in a little over a year. They now want to wash their hands and say that they are no longer prepared to offer a warranty on the work. They say that there is nothing wrong with the head, it has been checked and there is no sign of it being warped or cracked. Since collecting on Saturday we returned it monday morning due to lack of power in low gears. They are checking it but say it could be in need of new plugs. I don't think this seems right. We checked before collecting the car with Citizen's Advice and they told us to put a statement on the worksheet to say that their disclaimer does not affect our statutory rights. What can we do?

[becks]

Not a lot, a head gasket going on a car is usually the be all and end all of it. The head gasket is like the heart of the car and i don't think constantly replacing it will continue to work, well it hasn't in fact. Don't know why it won't work, but if it's not cracking and warping then there is obviously something else amiss - like the plugs but it's like giving someone a kidney transplant when their heart is worn out - pretty pointless. You can't really blame the garage for washing their hands of it, replacing the head gasket is a massive task as you have to practically take the engine to bits, if they don't knwo what's wrong with it, they're probably wasting time/effort/parts replacing something that is inevitably going to to break again, or replacing something else that isn't going to make a difference. Out of interest how old is the car? have you taken it up with Fiat?

[becks]

Sorry meant to say the other solution would be to go to a scrap yard and see if you can find the same car and replace the engine as a whole rather than bits at a time...

[david small]

a gasket is simply a washer, it seals the cylinder head from the block. If it keeps going it could be the head needs skiming to make it flat, like new.What is causing the initial overheating to cause the gasket/washer to crack? New Plugs I think not...