Honda had major problems with cam chains failing. They were so bad on one model that they went to a fully geared cam drive.

TBH there is nothing wrong with toothed belts for cam drives. The issue is that manufacturers don't think about servicing costs when they fit engines into the car body.

It really would not be difficult or costly to have the whole front subframe be removable complete with engine and gearbox. I mean unplug wiring and exhaust and lower the lot on a jack or lift the car body off the front end power unit.

Servicing would then be a doddle. But nobody wants to think about servicing so we are stuck with high labour costs while the poor mechanics break their backs trying to get into almost impossible corners.

The engine sounds fine to me Rg14, I'm guessing you're a bit paranoid because you can't believe you've got such a bargain but good luck does happen. Get it checked and serviced by somebody you trust so you've got a starting point for your maintenance schedule then relax and enjoy some cheap motoring and fun driving.

martroy said:

The engine sounds fine to me Rg14, I'm guessing you're a bit paranoid because you can't believe you've got such a bargain but good luck does happen. Get it checked and serviced by somebody you trust so you've got a starting point for your maintenance schedule then relax and enjoy some cheap motoring and fun driving.

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Yes, I am definitely paranoid about this. Thank you all for your input, it's greatly appreciated.

Diesels dont rev very fast so use lighter weight valve springs than an equivalent power petrol engine. Less strain on the valve gear so belts/chains last longer. However cam belts are affected by age and the mileage. Chains are not age dependent, so just change the necessary when the miles are up. Don't skimp on the oil changes and all will be fine.

Hello again!

So far I've done about 1300 miles with no problems. However, I noticed that when the engine is cold, up until to the point when it gets to its proper temp, whenever I come to a complete stop, the revvs drop a bit, for a brief moment, from the normal idle speed. When the temperature is up, it doesn't happen anymore. That, coupled with the fact that I think I hear chain rattles everywhere (hopefully it's just my paranoia), made me call a few local garages to get quotes on a full cam chain replacement + oil change. So I got quotes between 450 and 510. Then, I decided to call the local Fiat dealer, which also has a service, and they asked me to go in tomorrow to let them see if there's actually any noise, because what I want to do is very unusual.

Do you have any idea what the idle revvs problem might be?

Otherwise, the Panda drives great, I'm really happy with it.

Has the little screwhole in the middle of the black plastic piece below the windscreen wipers been sealed with silicone? Might sound like a daft question, but in wet weather, rainwater can drip through here and cause issues. If this hasn't already been done, that's another job I'd recommend. It used to slow me down a bit on a damp morning.

Oh and that sounds reasonable to me for change of timing chain. Make sure you go to someone reputable. I had some issues a few years ago when the guides failed less than a year after getting my chain changed.

The water thing sounds plausible, but I don't think it applies to me. The car is parked in an enclosed car park, so it's impossible to get water in there over night.

Still worth checking the scuttle screw hole, along with clearing the scuttle drains.
Only takes a few drips on a deformed air filter box to cause strange symptoms, as the air filter gets damp and messes with airflow.
A dollop of normal silicone should be fine (see guides for instructions) and well worth doing anyway for peace of mind.

Quick update.
I went to a Fiat dealership and they said it was the auxiliary belt. When they sprayed lubricant on it it stopped making the noise. Quoted me 180 pounds for the job and they are quite far away from where I live, so I'll try doing the job at a local garage.

A belt is about £12 and if it needs the aux belt tensioner, about £30 at the most and an hours labour £35. So if they try to charge you more than £77 tell them to whistle!

That's less than half of what they quoted me lol. Thanks for pointing that out, I really appreciate it.

Obviously, dozers post doesn't take labour into account but it's not a difficult job:
Jack the car, remove drivers side wheel and arch liner. Remove tensioner, remove belt - replace, refit, etc. Couple of hours max.

So I will have the job done for £88. But before that I'll have the tires replaced with Dunlop Street Response 2. Will get the tracking done too. Hopefully, after those two surgeries she'll be as good as new!

Drives very well, I'm very satisfied with the car as a whole. And the fuel economy is insane.

Bouhjt my 100HP with Dunlop Fastresponse's on. They were great, but now they've become pretty noisy. I'm gonna change them to Uniroyal Rainsports in the spring.

gr J

Eklipze3k said:

Obviously, dozers post doesn't take labour into account but it's not a difficult job:
Jack the car, remove drivers side wheel and arch liner. Remove tensioner, remove belt - replace, refit, etc. Couple of hours max.

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It did take labour into account!!!!
It's the vat I forgot to add !

dozer said:

It did take labour into account!!!!
It's the vat I forgot to add !

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Sorry, I totally misread it, having one of those weeks

Went to change my tires today and before they did the tracking, they took the car out for a spin to check the alignment and when they came back, the engine management light was on. They put it on the tester and it shows P0238 ECU 10 Turbo Boost Sensor A Circuit. The car pulls as it did before and revvs above 3000rpm. I suspect the bloke revved it hard or something - you know how people drive others people's cars.

Any ideas what this could be / whether it's safe to drive for a week?

Thanks!

Pretty sure p0238 is a sensor open circuit fault. Had it on our multijet just after I had put it all back together after replacing the air filter box. (along with a couple of others)
I ended up cleaning and reseating all of the multiplug connectors and it hasn't appeared again.
No idea why a test drive would trigger it though.

irc

Is this a hard job?