20200109_154455.jpg

Panda Meet Bea. The scrap yard find 1.3 Mjet

Introduction

it feels strange this.. more round, more powerful, more.. modern. being a strict Panda classic man i never thought i would get a newer shape panda but here i am!

This is the story of Bea (pronounced "Bee") named by my sister.

so how did i happen to find Bea?

well i was looking around our local vehicle scrap yard (the same one i got the Seat Marbella Fun from) for bits for my BMW E46. now for me its always a a few hours looking around at everything else as well. when i first entered the yard i noticed a rather nice looking yellow panda parked next to the weigh bridge booth.






while i was talking to the chap on the weigh bridge i asked what was with the yellow panda. he told me that it was towed in for scrapping due to flood damage and the engine not running he also said it was a damn shame as it only had 19k on the clock. soon as he told me it was diesel i was interested.
on hearing the "flood damage" part i was interested to see if i could get it to run. i have managed to save many engines from water damage before, mass air flow sensors save 90% of engines from getting bent rods. thinking to myself that the worst case would be that it could have bent con rods or something along that line i thought it may be worth the risk and buying the car. we agreed on £500 if i bought it, he gave me the keys and said that the day before 2 other yard workers pretty keen with engines tried to get it started with no success. hearing this and the fact the engine did try to turn over gave me a little hope that is was not a solid hydro lock. my idea being that given it was a modern diesel, as soon as water droplets hit the mass air flow sensor it would have cut the engine out before damage was done.
first things first when checking a hydro locked engine.. water in the air intake system. thankfully no water in the turbo. the MAF sensor was "wet" however.
the air filter was a bit wet, but not soaking like how i would have expected with a lot of the filter still dry.. all good signs so far!
with the guys trying to get the car started the day before the battery would not crank the engine over so i got Ratchet (my crazy classic panda 4x4) to give this yellow one a jump start. given the car had no EML it told me that they had not unplugged the MAF sensor. so i did and went to start it. it took a fair few cranks but i got it going on one cylinder then another kicked in then then next and then all 4. it was running! and running rather well too no nasty sounds or incomplete combustion, no smoke. just seems to be fine.
chap on the weigh bridge could not believe i got it running, but still honoured the £500 agreement. i asked if i could take it for a little test drive, well it drove fantastic, a bit smokey to start with but i classed that as all that
misfiring injected diesel burning out of the exhaust, that cleared away after a while and was fine. anyway i stuck a £150 deposit on it and went to collect and pay the rest today.
outside the car does not have a mark anywhere on it. its immaculate! with it having a very light colour interior the drivers seat is a little dirty but i am sure that i can clean it up easy. the carpet is wet but theres no water in things like the cup holders or anywhere where water could sit telling me that the water level never got very high.
i can soon get the seats and carpet out and give it all a good cleaning and a drying out.
and i am happy to say that i think this will make a great first car for my sister who is just starting to learn to drive.

so here it is now at home with its "death sticker" still on it heh











What a result and the 1.3MJ is Definetly the quickest point to point panda ?
 
in my view the best engine that Fiat produced, old enough to not have a DPF installed and no dual mass flywheel as its too small, weaker clutch on the panda due to space but still a great little package.

It might only have 19K miles but as I'm sure the panda folks will soon tell you, get the back axle looked at pronto, make sure its not dissolved in the flood waters.
 
yes i would love to know all of the common rot out points.. where do these rust? ive seen that the top mounts go where the little hole is, but where else?

im after a list of all the things that can be prevented now rather than fix when it goes wrong ;)

my brother and I just went out for a 50 mile drive in the car and all seems really well :D
 
Stick your head under the back bumper and look at the metal cups, part of the back axle on which the rear springs sit, the beam is a pretty thick lump of iron but these cups are made of thin metal which rusts and can cause the rear suspension to collapse.

Better to deal with now rather than later. Weirdly doesn’t seem to affect puntos from the same era, despite having the same basic type of rear suspension.
 
yes i would love to know all of the common rot out points.. where do these rust? ive seen that the top mounts go where the little hole is, but where else?

Surprisingly rust-resistant apart from rear axle spring cups, engine sump and coolant return pipe across front of the engine.
testacorsa found a couple of spots on the chassis legs in the engine bay
There's a good guide to dropping the rear axle by undoing the two lower shocker bolts to give good access for rust treatment, courtesy of varesecrazy
And check the 'duckbill' scuttle drains under the wipers, they block easily.
I've made my own checklist for my 1.2 petrol, hopefully of some use.
19k miles?! She's just about run in then:D
 
19k miles?! She's just about run in then:D

i know right?! not bad really.. 15 year run in.. one owner from new too!

ANNDD i thought i recognised this car.. turns out the previous keeper lives literally around the corner from where i work! do i dare knock on the door to ask if he has any of the cars documents/booklet/original floor mats??
i think i may..:devil::slayer::D:D

just have to hope he is.. ok with me..:worship:

gone on a few good long drives in it.. noticed that the oil cap had a bit of mayo when i first looked at it but given the crazy high miles its clocked up in its 15 year life i put it down to it being a short journey wagon. well my suspicions are true, the mayo is reducing considerably. (i never cleaned it off so i could monitor its overall health - engine has little to no blow by)

now given i am going to be driving it and my line of work i have ordered some cheep (yellowish) seat covers to protect the pretty tidy interior. i dont want to bring in any scrap yard dirt my fat ass has mopped up while working into the car. i'd be gutted if i got a big grease stain on the seat... like it is in Ratchet.. i mean the seats in that was grey with blue stripes.. now its just back :/ it is a scrap look car so meh..

also got some tailored floor mats too with yellow trim. only £10 off ebay. dont expect the world but again i like having floor mats. (unless its Ratchet.. the floor mats in that are a pain in the ass.. when you go through deep water, they float!)

actually took the car back to the scrap yard i bought it from yesterday.. only a visiting trip haha i had a few more of the yards workers comment on my ability to make a seemingly dead engine live again.
ahh i felt like a god. they should employ me... :idea: :devil:
hehe..

anyway ill visit the previous keeper tomorrow.. err today.. but i think ill take Ratchet.. i may make out that the car needs more work than just a MAF unplug and some water draining. like i say, ill see how he is about me buying it first. hopefully i can convince him to give me them.. if he still has them.

thanks all, ill look into the spring cups, give them a good clean out and fill them with a good sealing wax. it should protect them good. if water sits in them i may drill a hole in it for drainage then throw the wax sealant in it.
 
Last edited:
i know right?! not bad really.. 15 year run in.. one owner from new too!

ANNDD i thought i recognised this car.. turns out the previous keeper lives literally around the corner from where i work!

gone on a few good long drives in it.. noticed that the oil cap had a bit of mayo when i first looked at it but given the crazy high miles its clocked up in its 15 year life i put it down to it being a short journey wagon. well my suspicions are true, the mayo is reducing considerably.

thanks all, ill look into the spring cups, give them a good clean out and fill them with a good sealing wax. it should protect them good. if water sits in them i may drill a hole in it for drainage then throw the wax sealant in it.


The spring cups already have a drain hole..

Its cars that are not looked after that suffer worst.. being full of mud kills them.

I did a basic guide when I checked mine.

Its just passed its 12th MOT with new owner :)

Coastal cars seem to get some rust.. but my 2004 was excellent.. lived outside in its 14 years with me.

Not sure the mj has the same coolant pipe.. again..ours is still original


Mayo.. yes you are just baking it out..

An oilchange NOW is a good idea ;)
 
An oilchange NOW is a good idea ;)

agreed however the oil is still a darker than new but still golden colour.


so i have just got back from speaking to the previous keeper.

the car was never driven in flood water. it was caused by blocked drain holes and an air filter not being fitted correctly letting water in. during that huge rain storm we had a few months back. the water inside the car was caused by a car cover being trapped in the doors, thus breaking the door seal and letting rain water run off in.

they went out to the car one morning after the rain and it didnt start right, then due to it going long times between running the battery was low so didnt have any power to turn it over.

the car was taken to a garage around the corner where it spent 2 months trying to fix it.. :eek::eek: wtf?!:eek::eek: they suspected that it was an electrical fault.
they replaced the MAF sensor but they never did anything else and returned it back to the house! they told the previous keeper that the car was a scrapper.

well they they told me that if i ever get the car running again.. ahem.. i should bring it around to them so they can give it one last thank you for all the good times they had in it.

unreal. and it also turns out that my granddad and the previous keeper used to work together at Seven Trent Water (our local water pipe laying company)
small world!

sadly no paper work, floor mats, jack or screwdriver. it was however great information and fantastic to meet them.
 
Make sure to block off the hole in the scuttle above the filter. That is also known to let water in and soak the air filters

It will have a screw in it, but that doesn't seal the hole.
 
Last edited:
Haha, it did cross my mind whether the original owner might see you beetling about in their car, and what their reaction might be. Can't help but feel sorry for them, they've lost a decent car because their garage let them down:( They should have come on here!:p

The cockpit can also get flooded because of those blocked duckbills. The first I knew about them was when I heard water sloshing about when driving...

The duckbills..
Some panda owners have had bother.. as apparently the looms run through the area..and if the water gets too high.. it drowns the wiring. :(

I'm surprised we don't hear more about this issue. I was very nervous about the wiring loom where it rests on a metal bracket in this area on my car, and presumably gets jiggled about quite a bit there. Is it supposed to be like this? Again, I'm not sure if this applies to the MJ.

panda 22.jpgpanda 23.jpg

It all looked very vulnerable. As you say, this area can flood quite easily. I've put a bit of pipe insulation under it to reduce the risk of chafing.
 
Last edited:
Hah yes that, and the other side of that plug on the right had dissolved. It wasn't too bad ;) Take the wiper arms off, unscrew the trim and break a few clips getting it off the screen then there's just enough space. However the loom doesn't move much so need to pull off a long strip of tape and feed it round and round and round etc.
And clean out drains while there. Why do they have the duck bills to block? Only dumps water down the front of the bulkhead anyway!
 
Back
Top