Getting ripped off? Overheating, Head gasket problem

[TopDownOregon]

Hi folks!

New to group and proud new owner of a 1981 Fiat Spider 2000 Pininfarina with 120,000 miles purchased in September 2010. Drove it sparingly for a month before stroage in garage (missing top) til this month when I decided to replace the top and drive as the sun is finally out (rains all the time in Oregon).

So problem is, car started to get into the redzone and stay there on my 15 mile trip. I was able to get it 2 miles from home before some hot fluids came shooting out of the water tank area (cracked water overflow tank from visual inspection). Took to shop to replace. They later said I had a bad radiator, so I had them replace it too. After replacing the radiator, they now tell me I may have blown head gaskets and that oil is leaking. Don't know much about cars, but if it was something as bad as blown head gaskets, I would think the shop would have seen that as they were checking the radiator and water pump? So far my repair bills come out to almost the price I paid for the car $2000. If they are going to replace the head gasket, I'm sure my shop bills will be twice the dollar amount I paid for my prized vehichle.

The owner of the shop specializes in foreign cars, Fiat's being one of them. Am I getting taken for a ride in my own car?

Thank you in advance for your input.

Jack

[bulldog4444]

Welcome TDO! Well, spiders don't like to get hot and so driving it as long as you did in the red would probably indicate a blown head gasket. Your fan switch at the bottom of you radiator or your fan itself has probably failed. However, usually driving at speed would blow enough air through the radiator to keep the engine in normal operating range. So you may have a bad thermostat not allowing your coolant to circulate. Sounds expensive so buy some tools, books and start working on the car yourself.

Bulldog

[tartan18]

Hi and welcome to the forum. I bought a 1975 six months ago and I am right in the middle of rebuilding the engine due to a failed head gasket. I consider myself a novice mechanic but the 124 Spider is a very easy car to work on, there are plenty of high quality vendors that can supply just about any part you will need as well as lots of expert advice you will get here on the forum. Being your own mechanic is important because these cars were build many years ago and there are NO Factory Trained Mechanics available (at least I haven't found one yet).

Where are you located in Oregon ?? I am in Corvallis.

[So Cal Mark]

if the head gasket is leaking it may not have been apparent with a leaking cooling system. Now that your system is holding pressure the head gasket leak may have shown up. You might ask your mechanic how he's verified the leaking gasket. Once you get the head off, that's when the unanticipated surprises arise

[Daniel]

Jack Where are you located if you put it out there you may find someone on here in your area that
can give you a hand that has experience with these engines . Many people on this forum are pretty
hand with a wrench and are very helpful if your in the Fiat Family ! Just a thought / it's worth a
try ...

[124ADDHE]

Tough Luck! I wouldnt say you are being ripped off, its hard to make a diagnosis of all problems at once, sometimes you have to repair one at a time until the other issues become evident.....if you are concerned about the money, you can do a head gasket as a novice with basic tools in 1 long day (or a few hours if you are experienced) for the cost of the $60 head gasket....as suggested maybe someone close would be able to give you a hand. Buy a haynes manual if you go alone, they are not perfect but give you the basic idea and its really not a bad job.

[TopDownOregon]

Thank you all for your reply. What a great group of people here. I'm in Portland, Oregon. I'd love to work on the car but don't own any tools and have a hard time just changing the oil, lol. I have a lot of free time these days, have the manual and don't know how much trouble I can get into with this car since my knowledge of what's under the hood is pretty much zero.

The shop owner said he will replace the head gasket and retourque to see if this helps. I should be hearing from him later today. Car had been in his shop for two weeks, and the only time I think he looked at it is when I called him to follow up. I sure hope it has noting to do with the cylinder head. My ex-wife's Z3 had a cracked cylinder head and I know it was expensive to fix. Wish me luck!

[124JOE]

well hi jack,
i see you are having some trouble so.
i went to my local guy he dose forien cars and came recomended by a friend.
i had a bad tranz (no 2nd).i drove it from reno to so.WI.with on starter
after it was done,it turns out i had a cracked case!i still have a heavy bucket of tranz.
costed a bunch!found a parts car for $400 and had to rebuild that one too.
but ended up with all the parts i could use for a long time.


these cars do leak oil and run fine.yes you can fix it.of find a new friend that loves these cars also.

you had a bubble of air in the heater hose or even an empty heater core.
thats why it over heated to begin with.
even you mecanic can learn sometings here.


putting a flush kit tee at the highest point of the heater hose lets you fill it all the way.ps open the middle lever inside at
heater controlsor it WILL di it again.



hope this helps.joe

[Sunracer]

I don't think you're getting ripped off. Driving it that hot with cooling system problems will kill an old head gasket. Unfortunately you may find more one the head is off. If it was overheated enough the head may be warped too. they don't usually crack though. If your FAIT overheats or starts to, you just have to stop and get it cooled down. Old car that have sat need some attention the FIAT is tricky in two ways-the cooling system can be low on coolant but the radiator will look full. The system will get air in it and needs to be bled, If it has sat a long time this is something to check. When it gets air in it, then it develops and air lock which prevents the thermostat from opening, so the engine gets hot and the fan doesn't turn on either.

The other thing is old motors that have sat a long time, when they have an aluminum head on a cast iron block have challenges due to the different thermal reactions of the two metals-they expand and contract at different rates, so the head gasket is more likely to fail. These days I always retorque the head bolts on old cars that fit this criteria. It has been my experience that if you don't the head gasket will let go fairly soon after the car is returned to service. If you do the retorque, well I haven't suffered any failures reviving old cars that were sound as long as I retorque. PB

[TopDownOregon]

** update ** Got the car back today. Drove it for about 5 miles to work. Purrs like a kitten and roars like a tiger! Radiator was clogged and at 30 percent efficiency, replaced with new one along with thermostat. New head gasket, leaked a lot of oil until got a retorque. New convertable top installed for wet weather driving. Total cost $1600. Got the car back in time for the weekend for the ultimate drive test. Hopefully the overheating problem is solved. Now only question is how do I get a picture of the car into my profile. Seem I have to shrink it so small the only thing that shows up is the headlight, lol.

Thanks again everyone! See you on the road at some future events.

[So Cal Mark]

that's great news and the price seems really reasonable for that amount of work

[124JOE]

** update ** Got the car back today. Drove it for about 5 miles to work. Purrs like a kitten and roars like a tiger! Radiator was clogged and at 30 percent efficiency, replaced with new one along with thermostat. New head gasket, leaked a lot of oil until got a retorque. New convertable top installed for wet weather driving. Total cost $1600. Got the car back in time for the weekend for the ultimate drive test. Hopefully the overheating problem is solved. Now only question is how do I get a picture of the car into my profile. Seem I have to shrink it so small the only thing that shows up is the headlight, lol.

Thanks again everyone! See you on the road at some future events.

well i use photobucket.
upload a pic you want. then resize it to small and save pic in photobucket
then copy the http and paste it into your profile avatar


hope this helped

[baltobernie]

Congratulations on getting your car sorted. Put that shop owner on your Christmas list!

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