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Technical Collating Panda Faults

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Technical Collating Panda Faults

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doctorchris

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Well, we have about 3 years experience of the new Panda available on this site. He have Panda faults spread out over numerous threads. How about collating them here.
I will start with the faults I have experienced on my 4x4 which I purchased new in July 2005 and which has now done over 18,000 miles.

1. Rubbing strip on front nearside door came away, replaced under warranty.
2. Failure of electrical boot release mechanism. A common fault due to failure of a microswitch but repair entails replacing the whole boot catch mechanism which also has to be painted to match the car so a long-winded repair. Again repaired under warranty.
3. Found that one of the bolts holding the outlet manifold heatshield had disappeared. Fitted a new bolt myself but some cracking of the heatshield around the site of the missing bolt which I need to keep an eye on.
4. Water inside nearside headlamp . My fault for pressure washing inside engine compartment so I dried the unit out with a hairdryer and kitchen towels.
5. Corrosion of offside front wiper arm which I will bring up at next service.
6. Both side repeater indicator units fill with drops of water. I know others have had these replaced under warranty, but I can't really be bothered. Do the replacement units let in water or is the problem cured?

Basically these are all fairly trivial and I have given the car a hard time including touring in France and some proper off-road use so I'm pretty plesaed with it. I don't see why Pandas should not give over 10 years reliable service if properly maintained.
 
doctorchris said:
6. Both side repeater indicator units fill with drops of water. I know others have had these replaced under warranty, but I can't really be bothered. Do the replacement units let in water or is the problem cured?
Click to expand...

according to continental motors, tufnell park, who did the repair on ourrs, it was a fault with the sticky gasket between the bodywork and the light unit, a new one cured the issue

if i may add:
1. Rubbing strip on front nearside door came away, replaced under warranty.
2. Failure of electrical boot release mechanism. A common fault due to failure of a microswitch but repair entails replacing the whole boot catch mechanism which also has to be painted to match the car so a long-winded repair. Again repaired under warranty.
3. Found that one of the bolts holding the outlet manifold heatshield had disappeared. Fitted a new bolt myself but some cracking of the heatshield around the site of the missing bolt which I need to keep an eye on.
4. Water inside nearside headlamp . My fault for pressure washing inside engine compartment so I dried the unit out with a hairdryer and kitchen towels.
5. Corrosion of offside front wiper arm which I will bring up at next service.
6. Both side repeater indicator units fill with drops of water. I know others have had these replaced under warranty, but I can't really be bothered. Do the replacement units let in water or is the problem cured?
7. climate control compressor bearings failed after about a year, replaced under warranty
8. clutch failure just before year two service, about 11000 miles, the selector forks were bent, full unit replaced under warranty
9. passenger airbag came loose inside the dash, at end of year one, replaced under warranty
10. coolant pump failed just before year three service, full replacement inc cambelt under warranty.

it would appear both our cars are roughly the same age (mine reg mar2004) as early models appear to share similar issues. i know with the uno turbo, during it's life fiat made numerous design alterations to various components, and would imagine that as warranty issues are fed back from dealers, the factory engineers would be taking note and make appropriate changes to design, manufacture and fit

edit: i need to read the first thread a litle more closely, they aren't the same age....doh
 
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Good work guys.

As a new owner it's very helpful to have the heads up on these issues.(y)
 
Hi,

Good idea to list the various faults - I am about to list all of the faults on the Jan 05 MJ Dynamic I own

1. Dashboard (heating controls) bulb went - seems to happen after service for
some strange reason - €2 to fix.

Ah, that's it I'm afraid, no complaints otherwise!

Am I tempting faith with this post? Hope not.

Regards to all,

BJ20
 
Another few to add to the list

1)Drivers door handle not opening the door on first lift, let it drop and try again.....door opens. Fault cleared itself, but others have reported the same thing.

2) Wrong clamps fitted on side skirts of the Sporting. Changed under warranty.

3) Cracked inner plastic sill below rear nearside door.
changed under warranty.

Yep pretty minor stuff I know, but who wants to keep going back to the garage with a new car.

Tara Ian
 
Debatable whether it's worth it, you only get a faint glow on one side from it.
 
Great news only small amount of faults, here are mine,

1, Indicators self cancel at the drop of a hat (same as Punto) they share the same part so fault is transfered from model to model, Fiat are going to replace the unit but assure me it will be exactly the same.

2, Power steering stops working when doing a lot of reversing etc, (Driving Instructor) Fiat say its either a sensor on the top of steering assembly or the electric motor is on the blink nothing comes up on tester but car does this at the drop of a hat also, all steering assembly being replaced asap by Fiat Warranty.

3, And over last couple of days the clutch has started slipping, when car gets on boost ie 1800rpm ish 3rg gear and the gas pedal is applied to pull, the clutch starts to give up, Fiat say because car has done 19000k they will not cover the clutch, i have pleaded with them but still not moving on this, what they will do is replace master cylinder to see if this sorts, as i only have to tap clutch pedal and its slips, thinking there is no free play/ hyds have pumped up and not released.

Other than that car is fine still returns 70mpg on a run and 53mpg all the other time teaching, the little car does get a fair amount of abuse and has done the 19000k in 6mths so it might not be as bad as it sounds, and its the Multijet Sporting, thanks for reading Alan.
 
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My contribution to this thread:

Panda Multijet Dynamic

I had a terrible irritating noise from the glove box. When I take the car for a drive on weekends I spend a lot of time(up to 12hours) driving it and hearing trickles is bad for my nerves. I can imagine that anyone would be irritated if spent too much time in it hearing silly noises. I noticed that when I held the glove box door with my hand the trickle stopped. I told the dealer about it and all they did was put some oil in the opening mechanism, which of course didn't help at all.
I took off the glove box and fitted a piece of cloth on the upper side of it covering the opening mechanism and also the spot where a metal part from the dashboard is near to the box. It appears that it worked. No sound at all and the box fitted perfectly in its place.

Another problem I had was from the tyres. It appears that hard cornering affected their shape and vibration came up at 60mph. I guess I need new tyres...

Apart from those no problem with the car. 5 months ownership 18000kms or almost 11000miles on the clock.
 
  • 1. Rubbing strip on front nearside door came away, replaced under warranty.
  • 2. Failure of electrical boot release mechanism. A common fault due to failure of a microswitch but repair entails replacing the whole boot catch mechanism which also has to be painted to match the car so a long-winded repair. Again repaired under warranty.
  • 3. Found that one of the bolts holding the outlet manifold heatshield had disappeared. Fitted a new bolt myself but some cracking of the heatshield around the site of the missing bolt which I need to keep an eye on.
  • 4. Water inside nearside headlamp . My fault for pressure washing inside engine compartment so I dried the unit out with a hairdryer and kitchen towels.
  • 5. Corrosion of offside front wiper arm which I will bring up at next service.
  • 6. Both side repeater indicator units fill with drops of water. I know others have had these replaced under warranty, but I can't really be bothered. Do the replacement units let in water or is the problem cured?
  • 7. climate control compressor bearings failed after about a year, replaced under warranty
  • 8. clutch failure just before year two service, about 11000 miles, the selector forks were bent, full unit replaced under warranty
  • 9. passenger airbag came loose inside the dash, at end of year one, replaced under warranty
  • 10. coolant pump failed just before year three service, full replacement inc cambelt under warranty.
  • 11.Dashboard (heating controls) bulb went - seems to happen after service for
  • 12.Drivers door handle not opening the door on first lift, let it drop and try again.....door opens. Fault cleared itself, but others have reported the same thing.
  • 13.Wrong clamps fitted on side skirts of the Sporting. Changed under warranty.
  • 14.Cracked inner plastic sill below rear nearside door.changed under warranty.some strange reason - €2 to fix.
  • 15. Indicators self cancel at the drop of a hat (same as Punto) they share the same part so fault is transfered from model to model, Fiat are going to replace the unit but assure me it will be exactly the same.
  • 16.Power steering stops working when doing a lot of reversing etc, (Driving Instructor) Fiat say its either a sensor on the top of steering assembly or the electric motor is on the blink nothing comes up on tester but car does this at the drop of a hat also, all steering assembly being replaced asap by Fiat Warranty.
  • 17.And over last couple of days the clutch has started slipping, when car gets on boost ie 1800rpm ish 3rg gear and the gas pedal is applied to pull, the clutch starts to give up, Fiat say because car has done 19000k they will not cover the clutch, i have pleaded with them but still not moving on this, what they will do is replace master cylinder to see if this sorts, as i only have to tap clutch pedal and its slips, thinking there is no free play/ hyds have pumped up and not released.
 
10,000 miles and no problems yet(y)

Adapted a boot light from a Bravo, £1.50 (or there abouts) from a scrap yard, and it's bright too:cool: .

I have to agree about the self cancelling indicators, my Punto was just the same, i just hold it on now.
 
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arsedownoz said:
2, Power steering stops working when doing a lot of reversing etc, (Driving Instructor) Fiat say its either a sensor on the top of steering assembly or the electric motor is on the blink nothing comes up on tester but car does this at the drop of a hat also, all steering assembly being replaced asap by Fiat Warranty.
Click to expand...


The manual says this is normal to stop the electric motor overheating!!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The only fault on my panda (2005 54, 9,100 miles) Has been the strange grinding to a halt when the engine light came on last week, AA checked it out, reset light and no further problems (yet!) very pleased with build quality and resilience of interior to family life.
 
Despite my list of faults on my 4x4, my daughter's 11 month old 1.1 Active has had no faults in nearly 10,000 miles.
Actually, not true, it once would not run because the positive battery connection was loose. However I think that was due to it not being correctly replaced when the dealer fitted a CD player in place of the standard cassette player so not really Fiat's fault.
 
1 year old and 22000 miles later on my multijet dynamic:-

Nothing I've had to have fixed yet, but:

1. Rattle from inside drivers door at 70mph. Seems to have gone in recent months.

2. Slight squeak from heater fan on number 1 setting. Only just hear it but very annoying. Solved by keeping it on number 2.

3. Clutch judder for the first 3 months. Not appeared since.

4. Lights and indicator switch - when pushing the lever to indicate changing lanes (i.e not putting it all the way into the detent), the headlights occasionally turn off for a second. Unnerving on a dark motorway.

T.
 
protreptic said:
1 year old and 22000 miles later on my multijet dynamic:-

Nothing I've had to have fixed yet, but:

1. Rattle from inside drivers door at 70mph. Seems to have gone in recent months.

2. Slight squeak from heater fan on number 1 setting. Only just hear it but very annoying. Solved by keeping it on number 2.

3. Clutch judder for the first 3 months. Not appeared since.

4. Lights and indicator switch - when pushing the lever to indicate changing lanes (i.e not putting it all the way into the detent), the headlights occasionally turn off for a second. Unnerving on a dark motorway.

T.
Click to expand...


Had all the same problems with my multijet except number 1.
 
My Panda 100HP windscreen washer jets don't work, there is a split or broken tube in the engine compartment so if you pull the lever forward the washer fluid drips down into the engine compartment. My engine smells nice but the window stays dirty.

Oh and the windscreen had two big scratches on the inside right in the drivers line of sight so that was replaced.

I won't even start on the stereo(!)
 
Interesting one on the Multijet was smoke from the heater vents for the first 3 days. It cleared itself but was a little disconcerting.

Apparently the factory folk are rather generous with their anticorrosive wax and it sometimes gets where it shouldn't...
 
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