Hi all,

We're looking at used (40-60k miles) TwinAir Panda 4x4s at the moment; just wondering if there are any common faults to watch out for? Only thing I've heard mentioned so far is gearbox/diff oil leaks..?

Also, went to look at my first one today and noticed the engine seemed to make a sort of "ticka-ticka-ticka" noise in the background when idling. Didn't sound horrendous, but not sure if that's normal...?

Thanks a lot! Looking forward to getting one of these as they look a lot of fun

One piece of advice: take a look under the front of the car and see of there are any 'gouges' in the steel under tray/sump gaurd. Anything more than light scratching could show the car has been 'used properly' off road... and then may need other things checking. The diff leaks happen at the back of the car, where the propshaft under the car goes into the rear differential unit. A very small number of people have seen '4x4 not available' wrings come up, but these tend to be early in the car's life and fixed under warranty.
I can't comment about the engine because mine and the two before it is/where diesel, but others will no doubt say 'check it has been serviced correctly and the right oil used' as it seems to be quite sensitive to oil spec.
Nothing else really seems to go wrong (touch wood!) at that sort of mileage, other than the 'fake leather' of the driver's seat cracking near where the seat and backrest meet. Also worth checking it has the 'right' tyres - the original Continental CrossContact Winter tyres will have been replaced (really with the same, or with alternative 'mud and snow' rated versions) - look for the little symbol of a 3-pointed mountain with a snowflake in it on the side of the tyre, near the wheel rim. Not the end of the world, but with just 'normal' road tyres, it won't be as capable as it could be once the white stuff falls.

Thanks for the tips! Yeah re. engine noise - I can totally believe it's a normal sound, just no experience with these. Guess I'll get some more data points when I see another Panda or two!

The TA engine is a bit marmite, some love 'em, some detest them.

You'll find the 4x4 TA has a very low first gear which can make pulling away a bit of a chore, anything other than slow and smooth off the line sees the rear axle kick in and it can all feel a bit clunky, particularly as the engine spins up to the redline pretty quickly so you can slam into the rev limiter pretty easily.

Second isn't quite low enough to pull away in without abusing the clutch, so make sure you're happy with the gears and clutch as you'll be doing a lot of changes keeping the car on the move.

There have been a few Multiair units that have failed, mainly on earlier cars.
It's important to keep on top of the oil, both changes and oil level as it uses it as an adjustable link between cam and valve to change the inlet timing.
There's a little filter built in to the top of the cover that's worth cleaning out, I did a guide when I had mine.

Some engines have has issues with the timing chain case leaking, so check any out for leaks at that end. (Often dripping down the front of the engine) I believe there is a Fiat service note regarding it.

I've seen a few reports of coolant leaks as well, so check out the coolant system particularly around the coolant feed to the turbo.


Yes, they make some odd noises, mainly splurty, farty and ticky tappy sounds, if you look at a few cars, you'll get the impression of what is the right sound.
I'm not sure the best way to describe it, but they don't lend themselves well to driving by the ear, they do seem to chug away at low revs in a higher gear well which tends to sound and feel all wrong, they make all their torque quite low down, something like 1900 rpm.

The 4x4 system is pretty robust, they run FWD until it detects slip or a lot of torque when a servo actuates the rear coupling and power is split with the rear, as already written it can be quite sensitive and it can kick in on dry roads if you try pulling away with a heavy foot.

You can over ride this and pre set the power split with the ELD switch below a certain speed in very slippy conditions, this also utilises the ABS/traction control system to brake wheels that are slipping so power can be shunted to the other on that axle.

I tend to think most 4x4 problems are electrical/wiring/electronic, It's no longer all mechanical like the older 169 Panda Climbing, though the odd leaky diff has been known.

Another note, I found mine started running a bit rough(er) around 13k.
New plugs sorted it out, I think even though they are expensive, they don't last the scheduled service interval.

Here's most of my experience of a 4x4 TA '63 plate.

I purchased the car with 45k miles on the clock from the original supplying Main Dealer. It had limited service history (read on) and so I negotiated the (already reasonably low) price lower.

"Ticka-ticka-ticka" sounds normal to me...

First up they had done the usual dealer trick of "stealing" parts off the car to fit to others on the forecourt, this one was missing rear headrests, rear parcel shelf and inflation kit (no spare as standard). All of these were replaced without much fuss but I'm not sure that any would have been if I hadn't noticed. The point being know what to expect as "standard equipment" and insist it's there!

At 50k miles the engine lost (a lot of) power and was effectively running on one cylinder, long story short, the eventual diagnosis was the Uniair module which essentially provides the variable valve timing. There's quite a lot written about this on this site and a really good technical bulletin on the INA site (Schaeffler Technologies). Key to its longevity appears to be regular oil changes with the right grade did I say check the service history? Also, if possible, check the right grade used in the service history, I'd definitely advocate using the recommended brand too.

Around this time the clutch failed, I think this was probably exacerbated by the loss of power (above) and the required much slipping of the clutch to get the car to move. Anyway... the TA has a dual mass flywheel (DMF) which was reported as failed too. This explained the horrible rattle/vibration through the gearstick, especially through 2nd and 3rd gears.

Still with me? Since then I've replaced a ball joint on the front suspension (along with the attached wishbone(!)) This I did myself and while it requires some patience it isn't too tricky (lots of YouTube stuff for the 500 is relevant) this has been the only MOT fail in 4 years.

I've replaced front and rear discs, more because I'm a fussy engineer, but the rears were getting a bit flaky (corroded) probably because they don't do much. The rear discs are designed to be replaced(!) contrary to some urban myths (perpetuated by some threads on here too) you don't have to pull bearings or remove hubs etc. There's just a sequence to follow and a couple of us have detailed that on here (was it yellowtaxi ?) I don't recall. There's a YouTube for 500 Arbath rear discs which is close but not quite the same as the 4x4.

More recently the intelligent battery sensor (IBS...) has been swapped and the Stop Start became available for a while!

There were a spate of warning light issues all related (if distant cousins) to the ABS system, these included hill-holder unavailable, ESC, ABS and 4WD warning lights (the message seems to be Don't Panic) all of this nonsense was sorted by replacing the brake light switch... By the way the brake lights did still work :bang: It seems this switch has a normally open AND normally closed function which feeds messages to the control software. I still haven't heard a really plausible explanation.

Finally, mine has a flashing odometer. This is symptomatic of the Blue & Me unit failing, the engine management system can't identify the module (its a CanBUS thing). Choices here are to replace the Blue & Me unit at £450 from FIAT, get a secondhand one or go for a third party solution (i believe this will use the steering wheel controls). Any of these require the system being reset to recognize the change, or removal of the unit. The point here is check that Blue & Me works if you have the USB and Aux sockets (down by the cup holder in the central console).

So, if you are still reading, I really enjoy driving the car and don't find the 4x4 "clunky" at all in its operation, it makes the car very reassured on dry or wet conditions. The low first gear? Well you want it to be drivable off road...

Oh, one other point, I found it relatively cheap to insure for my (student) son and daughter to be learner drivers in and to drive subsequently.

Oh, and it's now done 75k miles and definitely responds to "super" grade unleaded which adds even more pep and improves fuel consumption. And a word on fuel consumption figures. I can with care (while still enjoying) get low 40s mpg and have never got near the official figures but then I don't use the ECO button either.

I hope this helps? No recommendations just experiences. The driver's seat bolster has cracked up on mine too.

One point maybe touched on here is to remember when you first start driving a twin air is that it is in fact a two cylinder car not four. When I first drove mine I was inadvertently giving mine a bit of a thrashing as being a twin it only sounds like it's turning over at 2.5 thou rpm when if fact it's a lot higher, so keep an eye on your rev counter or pay attention to the 'change up/change down' indicator on the instrument cluster. At lower revs you can almost hear the individual cylinders firing, and it pulls like a tractor.

Just to let you know I have bitten the bullet - a bloke ~1 hr away has a well looked-after 2014 model @ ~40k miles; took a look last week and it's in great nick. Just waiting for him to give it a fresh MOT before I collect.

Interestingly, it didn't have the "ticking" noise I noticed on the other model, but was very growly/rumbling when revving at low gears (pulling away, speeding up to join a motorway etc.). Worried me a bit, but google implies this is normal - lots of mentions of noisy engines in reviews. Sound OK to you guys? It's my last chance to bottle it before I collect next weekend!

(saw some mentions on the forum of changing/topping up gearbox oil helping with noise..?)

SteakAndAle Well done. Good avoid on the first car. I've owned 2 and driven a further 2. They don't make a ticking noise. Sound like load of nuts, bolts and wasps trying to escape a biscuit tin.

As your new purchase a '14 probably due gearbox and diff oil and major service if you're confident enough doing. Plugs cheap enough on ebay, want Fiat ones though. Maybe due water pump change and coolant, though Goudrons reckons water pump worth leaving if nothing obvious. Hope all goes well. Maybe get Multi Ecu Scan to reset the uniair unit post oil change. I got limp mode twice on mine but with 6 month oil changes I've avoided since.

Al D said:

SteakAndAle Well done. Good avoid on the first car. I've owned 2 and driven a further 2. They don't make a ticking noise. Sound like load of nuts, bolts and wasps trying to escape a biscuit tin.

As your new purchase a '14 probably due gearbox and diff oil and major service if you're confident enough doing. Plugs cheap enough on ebay, want Fiat ones though. Maybe due water pump change and coolant, though Goudrons reckons water pump worth leaving if nothing obvious. Hope all goes well. Maybe get Multi Ecu Scan to reset the uniair unit post oil change. I got limp mode twice on mine but with 6 month oil changes I've avoided since.

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I'd say changing the gearbox/diff oil (and the 4 wheel drive power transfer unit too, which is separate) optional - no requirement in service schedule for any of these three to be changed in first 90,000 miles (although it does say the levels should be checked every 36k or four years)