Marea Our history with the lovely sounding 2.0 20V HLX

[Taband]

I bought my car in 2003 at 14,000 Km. It is a Fiat Marea 2.0 20V HLX produced in Turkey on 16 November 2000. It is the BZ Gamma '99 range.

I have been following the forum since many years. Now I have decided to become a member and say hello to you all.

I love the car and won't sell though the first engine overhaul was in 2004 due to use of wrong oil filter by Fiat authorized service. After a very long correspondance history Fiat decided to overhaul the engine free of charge.

In the first 10 years I have always used the car at high revs on motorways and sometimes in the city to escape traffic by down shifting from say fifth gear to third and foot on the gas pedal.

The second mishap was in summer 2022 on motorway due to overheating. The hose from thermostat to radiator dislodged because of over-pressure and I realised the situation too late.

Car was towed to Istanbul to yet another Fiat authorized service where the engine was built again.

Only 5,000 kilometers and 2 years passed from this last overhaul when the head gasket blew in summer 2024, on motorway again.

This time the car was towed to my home and I decided to show some TLC to my beloved friend.

Today I was dismantling the 5 coils with the aim of reaching the head gasket bolts to control re-torque if required.

This is where I'm stuck now because one H5 bolt at 5th cylinder coil refuses to come out. Tried rust remover spray, tapping on the bolt several times but all failed.

To give you an idea of Fiat authorized service work quality and ethics, exactly 5 T40 and 5 H5 bolts were used to mount the 5 coils. I guess they found them lying in a tin somewhere which is full of such used material.

As a last resort I will use a somewhat larger torx bit on this stuck bolt and if that does not work my friend will remain parked where it is now until I decide what to do.

This is our concise history with the car known for distinct and lovely sound.

Hello to you all again.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I might try cutting the head off to remove the coil. You then have a stud which you can give some heat to and extract with a suitable stud extractor perhaps. Great to hea rof someone keeping a car and getting their moneys worth from it. Thats a great engine.

 

[Taband]

I might try cutting the head off to remove the coil. You then have a stud which you can give some heat to and extract with a suitable stud extractor perhaps. Great to hea rof someone keeping a car and getting their moneys worth from it. Thats a great engine.

Thanks, if the worst comes to the worst I may drill a small hole around the bolt and buy a second hand top part. I guess proper use of stud extractor is more effective if you use machine tools and I don't have those. Still I will try a few more taps on the thing with a hammer and a screwdriver.

 

[Taband]

A few photos:

 

[Taband]

Job done.

Tools required:

Rust remover spray
Household drill with hammer mode
Drill bit (at the most half the bolt hex/torx etc. key size)
A piece of timber profile to guide the drill bit and prevent slipping

Method:

1. Generously apply rust remover on the bolt
2. Drill through timber
3. Place drill bit in the bolt key hole
4. Hold the timber with one hand
5. First use the drill in normal mode to warm bolt
6. Then use the drill in hammer mode
7. Remove the bolt with key wrench