Just had a phone call from the missus whos just had the Cinq die on her on the Motorway. Spark plug light came on, loss of power then loads of steam/smoke.

She was scared thinking the car was going to explode (thanks to hollywood movies)
As she went to pop the bonnet, there was a massive bang. A friendly AA man stopped and said the head gaskets gone, and the bang was the pressure blowing a hole in the header tank.

What a ballache. Ive had more problems in the short time of owning this car than I have had in all my other cars and bikes put together. Begining to think its not worth it. So. New header tank, head gasket, skim and whatever else the POS needs. Or new engine. Or better yet, New Car.

There might be a lesson here.

Dont ever buy a Fiat again. But bless you for putting so much effort into it in the first place, I feel for you.

very unlucky mate doesnt sound worth saving.

the new fiats are meant to be very good from what ive heard.
quite fancy a new bravo myself.

Guys over on fiat forum have been saying its not possible to pop the header tank, the cap would release the pressure or it would blow a hose off.  Bit difficult to look with the car not here

Lol, it sounds like its less reliable than my Daewoo and Rover put together

Fiat = Fix it all the time!

Would of being better off picking up a cheap jap for a run around

Is that a picture of yours btw? Tighten the cap a bit to much?

Ive never opened it tbh.

How much did you pay for it? Get some quotes on an engine rebuild. But I am guessing it aint going to be cheap...

tbh, Its looking cheaper to drop a punto 1242 engine in there instead

cheaper to change car id say yikes!

Found a 1242cc Punto engine here in a breakers yard.  Operation "get behind the darkies" could well be underway!

Started stripping the old engine down to replace the gasket, couldnt afford to do all the work needed to make sure a new engine was a "good un".

Problem after problem.  One of the head bolts rounded off.  My fault for using a bi-hex socket.  Blunt a brand new bosch titanium drill bit in under a minute drilling the head off the bolt, got 3/4 of the way through it but it still wont come off.  Last bolt, Number 1 in the tightening sequence is so tightly fit my 1/2" drive sockets wont get in there.  £300 quoted by a garage is begining to sound cheap.

So, my friday afternoon fiat is going to stay like this now until it either gets a new engine and sold, or it rots away.

Sounds a PITA.

Were you trying to drill the bolt out, then re-tap it? Id get more drill bits, and keep trying, as £300 is a lot for doing that. The bolt will be mild steel wont it? At work we drill out food grade stainless ones, and do go through bits quite a lot, but always manage it. Occasionally get the stud out with the Stud Extractors, but we alway have to heat the surrounding up with the OxyAcet or blow torch.

there are a few thing you can do to loosen it, blow torch it, or freeze spray it or weld another nut onto or split it or grind it ect.