notsmartcars said:

anything that gets on top of a piston comes through the valves so would look closely at turbo / heater plugs

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Not necessarily.
A foreign object can also be introduced through either top opening - injector port or glow plug port.
Without any damage to other combustion chambers, or even broken rings in the affected chamber, and no damage to the turbo, this looks like the most obvious entry point.

As the dipstick is also damaged, this could have even been caused by poking it into the glow plug port! Don't ask me why, but amateur mechanics with little knowledge do the most stupid things - check out a few horror stories on the net!

Be interesting to find out, but I doubt if we'll ever know for sure.
Sound reasonable?

Good point sweet sixteen I wonder if a heater plug has been drilled out but the end probe was released and dropped in.

Number 1 being the cylinder used to find tdc it really could be as simple as some idiot pushed something in to find when the cylinder was at the top of its stroke

If they used the dip stick to do this then it's quite likely the piston broke the stick off if it was on an angle to the direction of cylinder travel

It all sounds stupid enough to be perfectly plausible

Guys; it's up and running. It's beautiful. How can I post a video?

afroking said:

Guys; it's up and running. It's beautiful. How can I post a video?

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Excellent news! Really pleased that your hard work has paid off for you.

No idea about videos though...

[ame="http://youtu.be/OJLwdZRR564"]Fiat Panda first run[/ame]

Thanks for posting the video.
I have enjoyed following the progress of your project.

I believe that this rebuild would be possible without removing the engine, but I assume you did remove the engine as you mention the gearbox going on OK.
Having the engine on a bench allows better workmanship, was this your aim ?

Hi Richard,

Thanks.

I wish I'd had time to put more pictures up. I just thought it would be nice for you guys to see what can be done with relative ease and a limited budget.

Unfortunately because I had to remove the crankshaft to check the bearings, it would not have been possible to do this with the engine in the car.
The crankshaft has the flywheel bolted on to it and therefore would need to remove the gearbox to gain enough clearance which would subsequently remove an engine mounting point and leave it hanging on just one mount.

It was far easier to remove and, yes, you can ensure a greater quality of workmanship.

If anyone has any questions about the work I carried out please feel free to fire away

Now time for MOT and tax!

Back in an hour!

Interesting project.
Few questions:
Did you take the engine/box out as one unit?
Fit it lift out from the top, or did you need to drop it out?
What else had to be removed to get it out?
Did you replace timing chain/tensioner while it was stripped?
How did you go about retiming it all on reassembly?

Shot through its MOT on the road now

1. I took the gearbox out from underneath first then the engine from the top.
2. I had to remove the alternator from the engine then it came out.
3. I replaced the chain, tensioner, guides, sprockets, chain lube and oil seals.
4. I got tdc, locked the cams in the cam-box and then locked the flywheel with a cylindrical punch through the hole in the flywheel which aligns with a blanking plug in the block. I used thread lock and did the cam sprocket up and the lower pulley up, lower pulley was 235-250 NM - that was a bitch. I think the camsprocket was around 115-135 NM.

Thanks very much for the info.
Hope I never have to go that far though!
Great learning curve, this forum.

I have just cleaned the map sensor and fitted a modified EGR plate - with three central holes drilled to reduce the recirculation.
I don't think blanking them off is a good idea due to the amount of particulates entering the atmosphere from exhausts.

Holes in the blanking plate are the last thing you need,there is more chance of smoke with them.

More smoke, how so?

I unplugged the MAF today and the difference was phenomenal! There is still a slight judder so I am suspecting an injector is at fault. I will check the leak off from each injector and compare them.
Been meaning to also adjust injector connectors too...

afroking said:

I unplugged the MAF today and the difference was phenomenal!...

Click to expand...

In what way?

Much more power through the rpm range. Pulled at low rpm with much less judder..

It might be time for a new MAF then.

gr J

Exhaust fume through the egr is not to give more power if the valve is stuck open or holes in the blanking plate the ecu on most cars won't know so will inject the same amount of fuel not knowing its not getting 100% clean air for a good burn.