Panda (Classic) My '91 Panda 4x4 Sisley

By the way, is there a place on this forum where some discuss good spots, tips or events for off-roading with "non-modified cars", around London?

Thanks

Hi Kouz, welcome to the Forum.

Nice Panda, and some great pics there. Certainly looks like this is one Panda that gets used for what it was designed for.

There is a section in the Forum that lists all the events, have a look.

Hi there! :wave:

Like all the photo's, especially the one of the boot.

I presume the grapes are to make your own wine?

VmanC said:

There is a section in the Forum that lists all the events, have a look.

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Hi! Thanks, I'll definitely will have a look!

cheekylittlescamp said:

I presume the grapes are to make your own wine?

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haha busted. It was in South of France last summer, enjoying sunny days.

Hi Kouz, I think there is still a little room in the boot... "Perhaps a bottle of sherry for the ladies.?"

Kouz said:

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Wow

this fantastic sisley reminds me of another sisley i have seen somewhere else.... hmmm.......
just cant quite put my finger on it.

Hi guys!

I drove back to Switzerland as I finished my studies in London. The car is working very well, I have done some driving in the mud here, very pleasant Looking forward to the arrival of winter to put profiled tires and drifting a bit :slayer:

There are however two facts that bothers me.

First, there is some king of oil flowing from the radiator. You can see the location on the first picture. It is less viscous than the oil for the motor. What could it be? A leak in the radiator?

Second, the car has a tendency to heat to 90° and trigger the fan pretty quickly. I am curious about the air intake under the bonnet. Is the mobile part on the second picture supposed to be on top or under the plastic "edge"? And this mobile part is held by a wire, what is activating this wire? Can the overheat be due to a dysfunction here?

Thank you very much.

Btw, am I doing right posting this here, or is there a special place for that kind of questions?

Second pic is the air intake into the cabin area inside the car...flap open= air in.

Oil in rad??....sounds like you head gasket is gone. This would raise your water temp too. Any mayo/white cream when you remove the engine oil filler cap or on the dipstick.?

Hi there!

Fantastic looking Panda! Great to see you aren't afraid to get her muddy! :thumbup:

Keep posting pics of the action, we like pics here

are you sure it is oil and not coolant?

just over 90.c is what temperature my fan turns on at. in traffic or if i leave the car running but not moving it also heats up quickly and makes the fan turn on.
if the car is moving the fan does not turn on however.
if the fan runs for no more than 30 seconds and then turns off this is about normal. if the fan is constantly running when it gets to 90.c there is a problem.

it could be a "lazy" water pump or it could be a sticking thermostat. there is also the possibility of what Mr purple haze said, where the head gasket is on the way out.


the flap in your 2nd picture is controlled by one of the three levers on the dash. the one that "shuts off" the air vents. this would not cause your Sisley to overheat. however having this flap open and the heater set to full will help cool the engine if you think that it is getting too hot.

hope this helps you out

Thanks for the answers guys!

I wouldn't think that the air intake on the hood would be for the cabin..

Dragon Man, the description that you gave of the temperature is quite similar to what I have.

For the radiator, Purple Haze, there is no sign of "white cream". I will wait a bit to see if it gets more obvious that there is a leak.

AndyPanda4x4, they announce some snow at 1000m high in the region. If I have the time I'll try to get there to have some fun and do some pics! Hope so

Ok, now the leak is on both side of radiator (pic 1). I know that sometimes some water is supposed to get out, when we use the heating for example, but I'm not using it, and the leak is continuous, even when the engine is cold. You can see on pic 2 (from below) the texture of the liquid, it is a bit oily. So you think it is likely to come from the engine (head gasket)?

The water in the coolant tank empties quite quickly also, and it is turing black with a black deposit in it. Could there be a link between both?

Just an other question, on picture 4 it is the part behind the air filter. How is the valve operated?

Thanks!!

Oh no, not another quite nice looking Panda, someone ban me from these forums before I buy one aaaarrrrrggggghhh

that to me sounds like a head gasket failure. sad to say it
the white deposit in the air box, is that oil that has had water in it? it sure does look like it.
dark discoloring of the coolant water is often a sign that the cylinder head has blown to a water channel. a good way to test this theory is:
fill the coolant tank up, start the engine with the coolant tank cap removed, and see if it starts bubbling up.

sadly if this has been going on for a long time i can damage a few things. the radiator can start to leak because of the extra pressure in the coolant system, and it can also damage the cylinder head but normally a re-skim will fix this.

my advice is, compression check each cylinder, compare results with each cylinder. if you have one or 2 next to each other that is a lower pressure then that/them would have the fault.

the longer you leave it.. the worse it gets

on Talon (my 4x4 sisley) the compression pressure was around 175 -180 dry with all spark plugs removed.
i highly advise you do this check