Panda Mr & Mrs Blu's Panda 100hp

I love this car!!

small post, just to keep this upto date.

Front brakes refreshed finally, so new brembo discs and pads fitted. Both sides were wearing uneven on the backs of the discs, slide pins were not moving freely but upon taking them out they looked fine and not rusty so have cleaned them up and flushed the old grease out the caliper bracket and re-greased them and everything is tickety boo again. Not fully bedded in yet but already it feels better, obviously not done any hard stops yet cause they are still bedding but the pedal and initial bite feels miles better

Sorry no pics this time as was pissing down with rain lol.

Next job - belts, tensioners and waterpump, got the parts ready to go just need to find some time to fit them.

edit: forgot, a crack appeared in the mid-pipe silencer, tried to weld it up but it only lasted a week before it started leaking again. So need to sort that out soon too, I have a plan but i don't know if it'll work yet so I'll update on this further once i have messed with it, parts are on their way for this already.

Mine has developed an exhaust noise. I suspect it's mid pipe. They really need a brace from the pipe to the silencer case but that would mean selling fewer silencers.

I might see if a universal stainless silencer will fit.

On the brakes you really need to replace the sliding pins. You can get repair sets for very little cost.

These are the front for a 1.2 or rears on a 100HP
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PAN...630501?hash=item35c84b1525:g:vJ0AAOSwkiZcywq3

disagree, if the pins show signs of rust and/or pitting then yes, the pins and the holes in the carrier they slide in are both totally fine, no signs of any corrosion or poor condition rubber seals. Appears to me that they have been messed with by someone, probably last time it had pads, who has used incorrect grease which has turned all gloopy and tacky. I mean they still moved and they didnt drag the brakes or anything at the last MOT, just not as freely as i would like as I was in there i clean and regrease.

Exhaust wise, i have some bits here now, just need some time to fit it all up, same goes for the belts etc.

Well faffed about with the existing cracked exhaust a bit. Wasn't happy so ordered a stainless ragazzon one. It arrived and got fitted today. Pretty happy with quality of this one, probably out last the car lol.

Interesting that you don't have the central resonance box normally fitted as standard. Has it caused a boom noise at gear shift points?

its the normal ragazzon rear box with the group n middle section.. Its obviously louder but its not offensive at all. Has a nice burble to it at idle now but its not loud or droning cruising at motorway speeds. Tbh if you go WOT once you get halfway through the revs the noisiest thing is still the intake not the exhaust, it seems to be loudest on overrun the exhaust. Doesnt really do any pops or bangs at all no, but i suspect if it had no cat on it then it would be popping and banging.

I followed a boy racer the other day who clearly had no catalyst in the exhaust. The stink was so bad I had to set the heater to recirculation.

My exhaust needs replacing. The back end is ok but the mid section is rumbling. If I was up near Stafford, I would get Andy from Xtreme Stainless to make me a system.

Well nothing exciting to update here, just boring servicing stuff.

Took advantage of the nice (for january) weather at the weekend and got this little lot fitted.


So thats Gates branded timing belt kit with tensioner and waterpump, Gates branded aux belt and tensioner, genuine new thermostat.

Timing belt looked pretty old but not too bad in the grand scheme, I've changed much worse looking ones lol - but old enough to not be able to make out any brand or part numbers beyond a made in italy marking. And the waterpump was an unbranded one with a cheap nasty plastic impeller and way more sealer than is required - proof someone has been in there and changed it at some point which i guess is a good thing but i suspect prior to the previous owners ownership, can't see Freebo as the type to use the cheapest nastiest parts available haha. Aux belt on it was gates brand so thats been changed along the way too but it was in pretty bad condition, muchos cracking. So all in all pretty happy i decided to get all this done. The stat, well that didn't give me any reason to want to change it but as i was there with the cooling system empty and tis only 2 bolts i figured why not.

Thought i had stuff to do an oil change already, but if i do i have lost it in the house move :bang: So thats ordered and en route. Only other thing to report is ABS fault - I had this come up once ages ago and MES reported a rear sensor, cleared and it went away but its back now and constant - sensor ordered.

edit: OK, scrolling back a few posts i dont think I have mentioned that I have recently cleaned the air filter - again kinda boring and i probably didnt post it as it would have been a hugely boring post lol

blu73 said:

Well nothing exciting to update here, just boring servicing stuff.

Took advantage of the nice (for january) weather at the weekend and got this little lot fitted.
View attachment 206180

So thats Gates branded timing belt kit with tensioner and waterpump, Gates branded aux belt and tensioner, genuine new thermostat.

Timing belt looked pretty old but not too bad in the grand scheme, I've changed much worse looking ones lol - but old enough to not be able to make out any brand or part numbers beyond a made in italy marking. And the waterpump was an unbranded one with a cheap nasty plastic impeller and way more sealer than is required - proof someone has been in there and changed it at some point which i guess is a good thing but i suspect prior to the previous owners ownership, can't see @Freebo as the type to use the cheapest nastiest parts available haha. Aux belt on it was gates brand so thats been changed along the way too but it was in pretty bad condition, muchos cracking. So all in all pretty happy i decided to get all this done. The stat, well that didn't give me any reason to want to change it but as i was there with the cooling system empty and tis only 2 bolts i figured why not.

Thought i had stuff to do an oil change already, but if i do i have lost it in the house move :bang: So thats ordered and en route. Only other thing to report is ABS fault - I had this come up once ages ago and MES reported a rear sensor, cleared and it went away but its back now and constant - sensor ordered.

edit: OK, scrolling back a few posts i dont think I have mentioned that I have recently cleaned the air filter - again kinda boring and i probably didnt post it as it would have been a hugely boring post lol

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You are correct, I'm not the type to knowingly use those parts, OEM or decent off brand at as push for me. From memory it was all done before I bought the car unfortunately, might be mentioned in the service book? Was one of the reasons I went for it as it had been done at the right time/mileage for the engine unlike many many others I saw at the time.

I thought i remembered you saying it had been done but wasnt sure.. and figured that we have had it nearly 2 and half years now, and you had it since late 2015, so even if the mileage isn't at the interval yet its certainly been almost 5 years so decided to just do it.

If done at the correct mileage, without looking it up i think thats about 50k, its just clocked past 80k so approaching 5 years and 30k seems a reasonable time to change it all. And its not an expensive job if you do it all yourself

Hey Blu, for the cam belt change, do you have the can locking kit, or do you just mark the pulleys?

I've got one of the cheap timing kits. I have done it without though if you dont have them.. I bought one as I've ended up doing the job quite a few times being that i had a valver in my old cinq, i looked after my mums old punto sporting and we bought the 100hp, along with helping others Ive done this quite a few times now lol.

Timing is not done at TDC on these, its done when all the pistons are level. So if you get 2 long thin things exactly same length, bit of welding wire or something, whip out the plugs and put the 2 things in plug hole 1 & 2. Then take out the allen head screw on the front of the head. Then turn the engine over (from the crank not the cam) until the 2 long things are exactly level with each other and put your finger in the hole on the head to feel if the slot in the cam is facing forward - if not turn engine until level again and poke your finger again. When its in the right place (iirc its with no.1 on the compression stroke but the slot on the cam only lines up once and thats the right spot) use an allen key through the hole into the slot on the cam to hold the cam - iirc its either 10 or 11mm fits in nicely. You could mark the bottom pulley at this point if you so desire but you have the things in the plug holes showing you its not moved so not 100% necessary.
Now everything is in the right place, undo tensioner and remove belt, crack the front cam pulley bolt loose, just loose enough that it will spin on the cam. Put the new belt on and tension it with the tensioner, then nip up the cam pulley bolt (tight af, you dont want that backing out!!!)
Turn it over by hand, at least 4 full turns of the crank so the engine has done 2 full cycles, make sure the little indicators you have used in the cylinders still line up level with the slot in the cam points towards the hole.
Job done, well bar putting putting the bolt back in the head and refitting the engine mount and belt covers etc.

The old 12v bravo-a were very similar..

I was in a big workshop back then.. so used solid Al.al bar and made some collets for it too

yes thats a good idea, the better fitting the indicators are to the plug holes the better really but i feel thats its fine to carry on without the proper timing tools if the car is timed properly and running good at the start of the process. If I were putting one together that the head had been off and stuff moved I'd strongly suggest buying the tool - its not expensive anyway so really I do recommend you get it and use it. But if I needed to do it urgently and i didnt have my tool with me I'd happily do without it. If the heads been off and the bottom end turned it would be really easy to get them 180 degrees out of phase with it being done mid stroke and not at TDC, really really easy!!

Its worth pointing out as well that unlike the 8v these 16v FIREs are interference engines so if you mess this up its really bad news. I should of said that on my original post but i forget people don't know all the things like us who have been messing with fiats for as long as us lol.

blu73 said:

Its worth pointing out as well that unlike the 8v these 16v FIREs are interference engines so if you mess this up its really bad news. I should of said that on my original post but i forget people don't know all the things like us who have been messing with fiats for as long as us lol.

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Thanks, I've done the belt on 1.2 8v twice now and I'm considering getting a GP Sporting 16v but there's no history with it so the first job will be cambelt.
What about the phonic reset and all that malarky, is that needed or should the car be fine after the change?

Edit...

Is the the cover to remove and put the allen key in to "lock" the cams?

Never had to do a phonic reset ever on any of my cars or cars I've worked on so I'm gonna say no it doesnt need that - afterall once done as far as the ecu is concerned nothing has changed, cause it hasnt lol

that pic is teeny tiny, think you got right one but here is a better pic

Excellent thanks. I've found two different cam locking kits, one has a fancy pair of plungers that screw into the spark plug holes along with a tool that screws into the hole you've highlighted.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Pet...2-16V-Twin-Cam-Punto-Brava-Bravo/254510552228

Another set doesn't have the plungers or the locking tool for the hole but has a locking tool for the lower pulley (must be for the 8vers)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Engine-T...8v-1-4-16v-500-Punto-Panda-Doblo/114079136229

Aha, found one with everything but £95!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TIMING-T...v-T-JET-ENGINE-PUNTO-MAREA-BRAVA/181077041083

It'd be cheaper to buy both of the other kits than the combined.

I've got the first one - don't feel you need to lock the bottom pulley, it doesnt turn hugely easy and if it does the plunger things move and you know its moved.

Four equal lengths of dowel or metal tube will provide the piston position plungers.