IMG_3441.JPG

Panda Panda daily...

Introduction

Hi all from Lovely South Africa.

Got myself a decent 09 100hp with 144k km on the clock. Coming from a 2016 vw up! Its a bit of a difference but i love it.

It has its problems which ill be addressing as time and importance allows...

So this is it, Grey or silver grey or carbon steal grey... not exactly sure of the colour name tbh

IMG_3441.JPGIMG_3440.JPG

Cosmetically it could use a detail. To neaten up the paint. Full wheel refurb as all four are mildly buckled which you feel at 120+kph. Maybe a colour change maybe keep them silver.
Polish the headlights and in the future do a projector retrofit with a joey mod, making the front a tad more aggressive.

Interior wise it needs a good clean. And the driver seat could do with a pad refurbishment. There is a loose metal rod in the backrest which has claimed a bit of blood already. The windows rattle when they are completely dropped which is annoying. At least the aircon works.

Mechanically the breaks could do with a cleanup. Calipers are corroded as well as discs so when its time to have them looked at ill replace the discs all round. Camber was out when wheel alignment was done but Ive read they have that issue from factory. Would a camber kit change that?

I am having a random issue where the temperature gauge takes really long to register the actual temp and once it does It’ll drop again when at highway speeds. What could be the problem? I suspect temp taking long to reach normal is whats affecting the fuel consumption. I had done a 30km trip to work and id used 1/4tank [emoji58] i was not impressed. I mean i was prepared for consumption to be higher than the Up!’s but wow that was a shock.

The goal for the car is to get it running 100s and explore the sport mode more... which im not even sure is working properly [emoji28]
More panda woes... when i reassembled the car after the new head was fitted, I didn’t replace the lower cambelt cover because I put the aux pulley in place first. I went to install the cover today and it wont fit in place... View attachment 211320View attachment 211321View attachment 211322View attachment 211323 I don’t know if its how im doing it but it just wont slide up and in place...


I also fitted a new steel coolant pipe but the factory supplied unit was slightly different to the original. Found this out after an hour or two
Wondering why the bolt didn’t go back in place... View attachment 211324 it seems to be a revision as the bracket stamp is the same but the seal end is slightly shorter than the original.... well apart from the fiddly bolt the install was straightforward enough... no leaks after the bleed which is good[emoji23]



The no leaks part of this post was a lie lol... Went back in after getting frustrated with the car and put the covers back in place... changed oil with no hiccups other than dropping the sump bolt in the drain pan... while idling the car though and checking for leaks from the filter and sump bolt, the water pipe i changed started pissing water out... wierd. Cleaned coolant out and poked around to see what was loose but nothing budged. No fluid on the block where pipe seats in. When it was leaking, it looked like it came from the rubber hose to the steel pipe on the water pump side but after topping up and idling until hot it didn’t leak anywhere again. Head scratcher. Gonna have to let it get hot again to see if it does it again but all clamps are tight. Oh well...
 
The coolant pipe has a soft rubber seal at the water pump end. If that's not seated properly it will leak. Red rubber grease on the seal should have it all fitted fine.

Be VERY careful with suspected coolant leaks. There is not much excess volume and (in common with most modern engines) any drop below minimum will stuff the cylinder head (technical term).
 
So im up and running all fine now. Ive noticed though that when i top up the fluid to be at max level. The pressure in the system actually makes the volume drop to between the min and max lines. When I loosen the cap though, ill have the fluid level back up to max... strange.


Another issue i have now is the window washer having somehow disconnected itself from the nozzles. The pump works fine as I can hear it and the rear washer still works... Had a mini panic attack the one day as i pulled out my parking to see a puddle of water on the floor thinking i had lost all my coolant, to see its actually just the washer throwing water in the rain tray.
 
So im up and running all fine now. Ive noticed though that when i top up the fluid to be at max level. The pressure in the system actually makes the volume drop to between the min and max lines. When I loosen the cap though, ill have the fluid level back up to max... strange.


Air or glass entering the system or its not been fully bleed


there only two bleed taps. And the Panda is one of the easier cars to bleed


needs sorting ASAP as you don't want to be back at square one
 
Last edited:
Air or glass entering the system or its not been fully bleed


there only two bleed taps. And the Panda is one of the easier cars to bleed


needs sorting ASAP as you don't want to be back at square one



I check it constantly cos thats what I’m scared of... ill bleed again and see. The level really hasn’t changed either. Hasn’t dropped below that point.

Another thing I’ve noticed is i struggle to get reverse now is that the lower engine mount? I recall reading something on the forum about that. What are the options out there wrt mounts? Is it worth it going poly or filled rubber or just replace with oem spec mounts?
 
shouldn't be a mount

cable operated so even 20 degrees shouldn't effect the gear change


is it the same with the engine off ?


If it is try cleaning the cables onto of the gearbox with some meths or similar then put a couple of drops of engine oil
 
shouldn't be a mount



cable operated so even 20 degrees shouldn't effect the gear change





is it the same with the engine off ?





If it is try cleaning the cables onto of the gearbox with some meths or similar then put a couple of drops of engine oil


Thanks ill try this.

My coolant level is always at min when cold. If I fill it to max cold it'll drain itself when hot till min cold again. Pretty normal.

gr J

Ya this is whats happening. Always at min level. Fill to max and it’ll drop to min and stay there. Its Been the same for a few weeks now. O still make a point to check though.

If the level is holding.. it is probably natural effect of the system running



Keep a close eye on the levels.. but otherwise I wouldnt be too concerned
 
My coolant level is always at min when cold. If I fill it to max cold it'll drain itself when hot till min cold again. Pretty normal.

gr J

That isn't normal


I have two Pandas both have been like this more than once although one I bought faulty and had a big Hole in the radiator core filled with radweld. Both have been fixed


One had a corrosion hole in the steel side plates of the radiator the other had a tiny leak between the heater matrix flange and its plastic pipes that sucked in air as it cooled down


When working properly there is a very small variation between hot and cold as it expands maybe a cm or two but it shouldn't be going anywhere near the minimum mark that's got it be over a litre less coolant in the system


The reason its altering so much is air/gas in the system that under pressure is compressing down. When the pressure releases, like when you take the top off it expands and rises again. I know you can run them like this almost indefinitely but it isn't how it should be.


Whether that air/gas is entering the system or is already there needs diagnosing.

Its fairly easy to bleed the Panda


Two bleed screws. One on top of the radiator and one on the heater matrix Hose. Open them both and slowly fill until coolant runs out of the radiator and tighten this screw. Carry on filling until it comes out of the heater matrix Hose and close this bleed screw. You need a small air gap at the top of the radiator if its finished too full you can bump a bit out by squeezing the top Hose and the replace the cap making sure the caps rubber sealing washer is present they do perish I have also had this fail as well. Now run the car up to temperature and stop. Only undo the screw on top of the heater matrix pipe the pressure will push the remaining air out hissing sound until coolant comes out, just like bleeding a radiator at home. In theory I should warn you its over 100 degrees use a rag and so on. In practice its a very small volume and never feels worse than holding a hot cup to me. Anyhow that's it done




If you open the heater matrix bleed screw when the system is hot a week later and coolant comes out all is good. If it hisses again that air/gas has entered the system somewhere
 
Had to do the maths

From 0 to 100 degrees is 4% expansion for water coolent is less but let's run with it. Plus we aren't starting at 0 often or going to 100 so in reality it will be far less.


Lets call the capacity 5 litres to make the maths easy most pandas have less


That works out at 200 millilitres' or 2/3 a can of pop. But should be well under this
 
You have confused 4% with 40% ;)



Have I :) did in my head but using a calculator I still get .2L which is what I see.

40% would 2L

Or when I boil my rice the volume of water would almost double which it doesn't.

am I doing something wrong ??

I Don't know exactly but minimum to maximum is well aver a litre as a litre bottle will not fill it up.
 
2 l vs 0.2 l..

I think we are reading it differently

The original poster car is going from min to max which is around 2L

Or they have only 2.6L instead of 4.6L of coolant in the car

Its not correct is should only go up and down less than 1/10th of this between hot and cold

I have been here more than once with my Pandas. Where the level jumps back up when you remove the cap. Once fixed and bleed they don't alter when you remove the cap
 
If the coolant bottle is going up and down by a huge amount, it's not water expansion. Steam has a volume 1000 times that of water at the same temperature. Either there are (a) huge air bubbles in the system or (b) there is a head gasket problem. (a) often leads to (b).
If the OP is in any doubt get the coolant checked for hydrocarbons.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Combusti...480703&hash=item5227acff5c:g:lq0AAOSwATpdzC5z

If the engine has significantly over-heated be sure to check the inlet manifold is not damaged.
 
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
If the coolant bottle is going up and down by a huge amount, it's not water expansion. Steam has a volume 1000 times that of water at the same temperature. Either there are (a) huge air bubbles in the system or (b) there is a head gasket problem. (a) often leads to (b).
If the OP is in any doubt get the coolant checked for hydrocarbons.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Combusti...480703&hash=item5227acff5c:g:lq0AAOSwATpdzC5z

If the engine has significantly over-heated be sure to check the inlet manifold is not damaged.



I haven’t needed to add water at all... I check it and the volume is holding but its not at the same volume as fill up.
 
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
I had a coil pack fail on me while driving up the coast this weekend. Nursed the panda home and tested which pack failed today. Pack number 2 was dead. Changed it and we have a happy car again.

While i was in the engine bay i had the time to lift the scuttle and pop the window washer pipe back in the nozzle. I have window washers again! IMG_6791.JPG nice dirty engine bay.

Gave the the maf a clean too, it was filthy. Hopefully brings down consumption a bit.
IMG_6794.JPGIMG_6793.JPGgave the exterior trim a bit of a clean and treatment to bring them back to black...

Honeycomb is a bit of a nightmare to clean and ill need to get back in there at some point as theres a tonne of build up...

IMG_6798.JPG
 
Back
Top