Hi, I have an 18 month old panda with 18k miles on, its been losing coolant, the dealers have diaganosed a faulty water pump. The thing is I also have a doblo mj 1.3 that is 2 years old at the end of jan. I,ve noticed coolant header tank is low, its going in for its service next week, its done just over 24k, the dealers says its likely to have a faulty pump too, so my question is how widespread is this pump failure rate ?
Years ago nearly every mini I owned suffered from a water pump failure at some time or other. Obviously for me its not a problem, as its been done under warranty. My daughter also has a panda mj which is now into the 3rd year warranty, does anyone know if the water pump is covered on that ?

Incredibly the dealers (jordans) dont carry this pump in stock, so we need to wait over a week, the 1.3 mj engine is in alot of vehicles, surely you'd think they would have a water pump in stock ?

I had this problem on my Panda MJ and was told by my dealer it can be a common problem that has to do with where the pumps are sourced from, they don't all come from the same component company.

NottsCharger said:

I had this problem on my Panda MJ and was told by my dealer it can be a common problem that has to do with where the pumps are sourced from, they don't all come from the same component company.

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so there is a common fault on these ?
Wont it be the same pump on any car with the 1.3 mj engine ?

Hi had mine done just as warranty expired at 36k asked them to check as coolant was below min for ages they said there was a white trace indicative of coolant leak at pump however coolant level stays below min I reckon thats just the natural coolant level however I will ask dealer to check next serv. They had to get part in too I reckon dealers carry virtually no inventory stock as policy. Same engine in cosa so vauxhall might carry stock.

thanks for that joe, I know this engine goes into the vauxhalls as well, I wonder if they have the same problem ?

I changed one on a panda that had done 72000 miles, they have changed the design of the new pumps. We dont see alot of failures to be honest.

My multijet has had a new water pump (under 3rd year warranty). It started squeaking.
I think sammiboo's 1.3 multijet GP may have had a new waterpump too.

hmallett said:

My multijet has had a new water pump (under 3rd year warranty).

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Mine too!

it sounds like i will be waiting for mine to go now it is outside the warranty. It seems like a slow leak is the symptom so not too bad i guess.

ivantate said:

it sounds like i will be waiting for mine to go now it is outside the warranty. It seems like a slow leak is the symptom so not too bad i guess.

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Yes indeed it was a slow leak on mine...

hmallett said:

My multijet has had a new water pump (under 3rd year warranty). It started squeaking.
I think sammiboo's 1.3 multijet GP may have had a new waterpump too.

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yes had mine changed under warrenty last month

so, it would appear that fiat have done a marvelous engine in the 1.3mj, and spoiled it by using a weak water pump, my daughters 57 plate panda is in today for a new pump, next week my wifes dobby is going in for 24k service, and it is slowly loosing coolant, has a slight squeek, and there is rust around the end of the water pump, so jordans have already got me a pump in stock for next week. All these pump changes under warranty must be costing fiat a fortune, surely they would be better fitting a more sturdy pump instead of paying out for premature failures

Wonder when mine will go then....It's been loosing coolant from day one, but after the 1st service, Fiat told me there was a clip missing on one of the hoses and they replaced it. I've noticed at low revs there is a slight juddery squeak, could that be the turbo or the dreaded Water pump? I thought it was the turbo, or one of the belts.

draig, check whether the pump is all rusty at the end, a sure fire sign that it is weeping coolant

Dont forget there are thousands of cars out there and so it may be that its certain circumstances that make them fail early. Like I said earlier, we as a dealer have only done two water pumps on 1.3s since the engine has been released. The drain hole is quite visible when doing servicing and it leaves a red stain from the antifreeze so its easy to identify if its faulty.

My Panda went in for its first service yesterday (also at Jordans). They called to say it needs a new water pump as the old one was leaking.

The earliest they can get one is for Wednesday next week, but to be fair to Jordans they have offered to come to my school (I'm a teacher not a pupil!) collect the car, take it away, do the work and then return it to me whilst I do my thing in the classroom.

I think its pretty conclusive, fiat have a problem with the water pump on this engine

our doblo mj is in for its 24k service today (2 years old) and they've had to replace the water pump under warranty, it was losing coolant, I assume it the same engine as the panda mj, I would advise everyone with a mj engine to check the coolant lose rate.

Just found some evidence of leakage on the bottom of the water pump on my nearly 50,000 mile MJ - and the header tank was down by about 1cm below min. Can someone say how quickly the leak develops once it has started, i.e. is it going to dump all of the coolant next time I get stuck on the motorway, or will it just carry on weaping for years.
BTW is replacement just a simple matter of remove belt, unbolt pump, fit new one, fit new belt?
Thanks,
John.