help with fume smell in grande punto.....

[bobby-tupper]

just thought id ask to see if any of you guys had any solutions to whats causing the fume smell inside the wives 1.2 grande punto?
you only get it when the engine is at normal running temperature when stopped at a junction /traffic lights and the heater is on
so far i have changed the 2 breather pipes that come out of the bottom of the air box(one large and one long £35)
ive even joined a fiat forum to try get some advice but its seems full of peckers that are chavving up cinqs and mk 1 punto's.
any ideas?

[bobby-tupper]

anybody?

[Birchy63]

It's kinda hard to know what "fumes" mean's. It's a very general term...

Is it exhaust gas?
Because that can only be one thing really......

I mean the Italians make some ****** useless cars, but I don't think they've vented exhaust gas through the car since the early Fiat Uno's.

If it's not exhaust gas then maybe an oil leak, with the oil burning on contact with a hot surface and the vapour making it's way up.... In fact just about any fluid could be doing that on a Fiat.

Also, have you considered a perforation in the heater matrix? you'd be getting a strong smell of engine coolant inside the car and maybe a visible leak.
Fiats are make of a special mental that resists the anti-rust additives in the coolant

If it has air-con, you could have bunged up drainage holes... This gives a stale water smell.

Are you using the the recirculate function? this will cause a nasty stale smell after a while.

Did the previous owner smoke like a chimney? in which case the car will smell terrible when you put the heater on, for the rest of its life.

[frasedeb]

have a quick look under the car along the exhaust to make sure nothing is stuck on it and melting when up to temp. ie.plastic bag/oil.
Just a thought as i once had this on the vec.

[bobby-tupper]

thanks for the above replies....the fume smell is the same as a blocked breather pipe, its hard to explain but say if you took a breather pipe off and sniffed the vapour coming from it,then thats the smell. the car has been owned by us from new,i had it up on the ramp this weekend and there appears to be no signs of any oil leaks.just wondered if there were any other pipes i have missed that could be blocked.

[Birchy63]

It shouldn't be doing it, but it's not venting oil vapour into the atmosphere is it?

If so.... blocked hoses and more than likely very cheap/nasty engine oil.