trekkingpaul said:

Might have made some progress with this issue. I put some additional oil in the engine, and also set the engine into ECO mode. Ran perfectly this morning with no loss of power, warning lights, nothing!

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Hi.
You say you put additional oil in the engine. At what level was the oil at on the dipstick proir to topping up? Excessive oil is as damaging as low oil, seals can be compromised and crankshaft webs hitting the oil in the sump causes the oil to get aerated and results in low oil pressure. Also did you add oil of the correct spec?

Dipstick very hard to read! Looked slightly low but nothing major. I only added maybe 100 - 200 ml of oil. The correct oil. I have just done my normal 25 mile commute and all good.

trekkingpaul said:

Dipstick very hard to read! Looked slightly low but nothing major. I only added maybe 100 - 200 ml of oil. The correct oil. I have just done my normal 25 mile commute and all good.

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You wouldve hoped that the FIAT dealer would have somebody on their books that could decipher a dipstick...

Lets hope this works for you.


Mine has done 30k miles now.
Oil level holds fine and no running issues.
Just battery age means the S-S no longer works..and the GM floorpan means the ride is still poor.

Does good mpg though..so happy enough.

Charlie Cardiff- Oxforf

babbo_umbro said:

Yes, I know about two strokes - and alternatives to poppet valves, such as sleeve valves, and rotary heads - but this is a four stroke.

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Thanks for the informative post..
My reply was based on things Id read..no experience of working on my TA.

I REMEMBER A SIDE VALVE engine being revisited by a niche manufacturer a few years ago. Anyone remember the 3cyl 2 stroke ford fiesta..?

varesecrazy said:

Anyone remember the 3cyl 2 stroke ford fiesta..?

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Not aware of that one, though I hear Renault are messing with a two stroke diesel engine.

Goudrons said:

Not aware of that one, though I hear Renault are messing with a two stroke diesel engine.

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Two stroke diesels go back a long way. Remember the Commer vans with them?
How about the Tatra V8 air cooled diesels. Amazing.

murphyv310 said:

Two stroke diesels go back a long way. Remember the Commer vans with them?
How about the Tatra V8 air cooled diesels. Amazing.

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What's that sound? Can't hear anything? That'll be the 1.2 ticking over then. Bliss.

Sounds like a familiar story, I posted a thread a few weeks ago.

After much swapping of coils O2 sensors etc was finally diagnosed as uni-air module by dealer. They jumped on the contaminated oil theory possibly since it had been serviced outside the dealer network...

Let's hope this is not the issue in your case.

trekkingpaul said:

Dipstick very hard to read! Looked slightly low but nothing major. I only added maybe 100 - 200 ml of oil. The correct oil. I have just done my normal 25 mile commute and all good.

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Yes - Fiat decided to have a committee to design the dipstick and some - dipstick - decided it would be a good idea to make it oil-coloured.

trekkingpaul said:

Dipstick very hard to read! Looked slightly low but nothing major. I only added maybe 100 - 200 ml of oil. The correct oil. I have just done my normal 25 mile commute and all good.

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The dipstick is indeed pretty crappy. With a warm engine it's impossible(to me) to get any kind of dependable reading from it as there's also a lot of oil high up on the dipstick. Most people do the reading with a cold engine, not the best way but in this case probably the only way to get some kind of proper indication.
You did say that the oil was changed so you would think the amount of oil in the engine would be perfect after that.
I hope everything stays fine but I would put big question marks with the dealer.

babbo_umbro said:

Yes - Fiat decided to have a committee to design the dipstick and some - dipstick - decided it would be a good idea to make it oil-coloured.

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Not just me then. I probably lose more oil checking levels than the engine actually consumes.

Panda still running well. I hope the extra oil has fixed my ignition/rough running issues. Was nothing to do with coil, even though that was indicated by fault code! Fingers crossed. Thanks for the help guys!

That's excellent news, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Perhaps do another oil and filter change in a months time and thereafter every six or so months. I used to do one around September after the hot running of summer, towing a caravan or long fast journeys, then in March after short and frequent cold starts, can't say I ever experienced any engine trouble on my cars from VW Beetle, Skoda, Rover K series and umpteen others as well.

trekkingpaul said:

Panda still running well. I hope the extra oil has fixed my ignition/rough running issues. Was nothing to do with coil, even though that was indicated by fault code! Fingers crossed. Thanks for the help guys!

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As the inlet valve operation is hydraulically controlled the viscosity of the engine oil is crucial - I seem to remember reading somewhere on the forum that it's monitored by the engine management system. Meticulous oil changes seem to be particularly essential with the TA.

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/453880-105-twinair-stalling.html

Recent thread on the 500 section. Not precisely the same symptoms I know, but another TA where the oil level may well be the cause of the rough running (in that particular case the car was dying after a few hundred yards following a cold start).

I see Goudrons contributed to that thread as well!

It was around March/April 2014 that Fiat reduced it's service intervals on both 1.2's and TA's from 18k to 9k.

It appears they revised the oil spec on the 85 hp TA as well around the same time.

My March '14 Handbooks for my TA 4x4 says the 85hp TA needs Selenia K PE (5W/40), along with the 1.2's at intervals of 18k.
(with the 65hp TA requiring Digitek PE, 0W/30)

Later handbooks stated all TA's use Digitek PE 0W/30 at 9k intervals for all TA's and K PE just for the 1.2's.

For those with nothing better to do, the handbooks are here https://aftersales.fiat.com/elum/home.aspx?languageid=2

There must have been a good reason for Fiat to revised the oil specs (I guess the intervals as well) and as the valve lift and turbo are particularly dependent on the correct grade of oil I can only imagine it could be due with one of both.

When I noticed, it niggled me at the time, so much so I binned the oil in my TA, which must have been 5W/40 after only 2k to have it replaced with Digitek 0W/30.

Since then when it's been in for a service, I've made sure that's what they use.

I've had this exact issue and while topping up the oil did help the problem it didn't solve it entirely.

Before it would lose power, engine and warning light would come on and it wouldn't recover for a while.

Now it seems to recover quite quickly and once you restart it all the lights disappear.

Still of course quite an issue and not entirely usable.

Any more suggestions?

theimben said:

I've had this exact issue and while topping up the oil did help the problem it didn't solve it entirely.

Before it would lose power, engine and warning light would come on and it wouldn't recover for a while.

Now it seems to recover quite quickly and once you restart it all the lights disappear.

Still of course quite an issue and not entirely usable.

Any more suggestions?

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Hi and welcome

Tell us more

Vehicle .
Year.
Miles .

The story of your issue.

Happened after an oil change (what oil )

Crept up slowly.. (over what period)

Ive got a 2012 punto and 2013 panda

No such issues.. so need your input

Cheers
Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Hi and welcome

Tell us more

Vehicle .
Year.
Miles .

The story of your issue.

Happened after an oil change (what oil )

Crept up slowly.. (over what period)

Ive got a 2012 punto and 2013 panda

No such issues.. so need your input

Cheers
Charlie

Click to expand...

Hi Charlie,

It's a 2012 Panda Easy Twin Air 875cc with about 48k miles.

Had this same on going issue that would cause it to lose power and would report as being a coil issue. Problem continued after having both coils and plugs replaced and the garage still couldn't find the problem. It had been with them for weeks as they were waiting for Fiat to reopen.

I took the suggestion on the last page and asked them to top it up with oil yesterday and while it does still happen it is happening far less frequently.The oil wasn't changed just filled up.

What are your thoughts to solve this entirely?

Many thanks

Hi, if it helps I can share my experiences?

4x4 TA '63 plate.

Misfired (running on one cylinder) I took it to a local guy with Alfa/Fiat experience who swapped plugs exchanged coil packs etc but failed to diagnose. He probably should have known, however he admitted defeat and took it to FIAT dealership. 10 minutes and they had identified the Uni-Air module (hydraulic valve control) this relies entirely on engine oil to actuate valves. If the oil is low, dirty, out of spec etc this can (probably will) toast this module, I suspect it has some very tiny oilways that are vulnerable to clogging but can't say this with any evidence/experience. The car was barely 50kmiles but I purchased it with a sketchy service history so don't know the oil change situation...

All I would suggest you can do is get along to a dealer and see what they say. I harassed FIAT regarding what I considered a premature failure but if they diagnose dirty oil then its a moot argument!

I don't wish this failure on you but if you've covered all the other bases then...