Trimdoner said:

I plug my RAC code reader in every couple of weeks just to check, but haven't shown any error codes up to now. Even when the damned car wouldn't start, as mentioned before
Nearly 22,000 on the clock now, and it's not coughed or spluttered since WD40.
MPG still isn't brilliant though - even though driven as if the throttle pedal was connected to a needle touching my eyeball, the warmer summer months averaged low 60's tank to tank, but now the weather is colder it's back to mid 50's.

As it's getting close to a scheduled service ( 24K or 2year in April 09) has anyone had any experience of the 'third year dealer warranty'? A quick read through the exclusions in the handbook and it appears as though most items are excluded except a total engine explosion, and as my last dealer service was less than impressive - and £165 - I wondered if anyone had successfully claimed for anything under the third year warranty
If I service it myself it will cost about £35........

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3rd year warranty
I got the following replaced...

1. Boot lock switch
2. Indicator stalk
3. Radiator

AND my engine didn't explode...

Wee Smurf said:

3rd year warranty
I got the following replaced...

1. Boot lock switch
2. Indicator stalk
3. Radiator

AND my engine didn't explode...

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback - as my MJ will hit 24k just after the New Year and well inside the 2 year period, I'll likely cough up for a service. Just in case..

FWIW, I didn't get round to doing the WD40 again - until a couple of weeks ago :bang:
After endless rain it wouldn't start again - off with the ecu plugs again for another dose of WD40. Back to normal once again

Excellent. I'm just starting to experience exactly the same problems on my little '05 now, although I've made it through to nearly 60,000 miles before it's started!
I shall use the advice gleaned on here and carefully flank the car in the morning when it's not expecting it and WD40 the little blighter!!


Where would we be without the mighty WD40?.......

popping this back up to the top as it goes with the other thread.

I'm summarising these three pages by:
WD40 on ECU and MAF plugs seems to be worth doing! Can someone reply in capitals if theirs goes wrong after doing this!!

Other plugs to spray might help with electronics - someone mentioned a switch getting sooted (chris@souls?) - where is this and can we do it ourselves - and what about this accelerator switch too??

I've had no more wet weather problems with our MJ since cleaning then WD'ing the ecu multiplug. I sprayed the ecu and the multiplugs with Halfords electrical cleaner first, let them dry then a quick blast of WD40.
Might not be a good idea to spray much WD around the maf sensor in case it gets sucked onto the element.

To expand on this a little, a comment by Dr Chris a while ago prompted me to remove the maf sensor and give that a good dowsing with electrical cleaner.
(My MJ had a flapping air filter lid for the first year of its life, letting unfiltered air straight in)
It's almost 4000 miles since I did this and my previously dismal mpg has risen from low 50's to just over 60. Possibly my car had a combination of dirty maf/faulty ecu plugs which caused poor starting in wet weather and poor mpg, but the first time I removed the ecu multiplugs there was a fair amount of moisture visible, which can't be a good thing.

well, I WD40'd the three multiplugs and it has been better, but its seen by my partner as 'a bit sluggish'. I'm not sure....

I've got an OBD2 code reader - will that show a maf fault up?

Cleaning MAF filament - removal

Trimdoner said:

Might not be a good idea to spray much WD around the maf sensor in case it gets sucked onto the element.

To expand on this a little, a comment by Dr Chris a while ago prompted me to remove the maf sensor and give that a good dowsing with electrical cleaner.
(My MJ had a flapping air filter lid for the first year of its life, letting unfiltered air straight in)

Click to expand...

thanks for other comment. With MAF, how does one get to clean the wire - have you removed the security screws, or have you loosened the jubilee-alternatives?
Is it possible to do without looking like its been tampered with..?

I just removed the spring-clip jubilee and the two 10mm bolts, then hosed it down throroughly with a plastic straw attachment on the cleaner aerosol. It was fairly easy to squirt it in the right places without actually touching the sensor wires.

I had thought about cutting a screwdriver slot across the sensor security bolts so I could unscrew it - maybe next time. Earlier ones apparently just had normal screws, so maybe Fiat would rather sell us a complete MAF sensor instead of making it easier to clean them!

great.
On my last cars, the Bosch MAFs were notoriously unreliable and very expensive. Someone investigated other options and found a cheaper and more stable unit made by Pierburg. I might investigate if he's found one for the Fiat/Vauxhall unit...

my local garage say they do have problems with the pressure sensor on the inlet manifold mostly, rather than MAF. Paid my third year warranty money via them and booked it in for 2 days next week, with courtesy car. They said it will be 1/2hour diagnostic for £35, which they can cover through warranty (hopefully) if there are problems shown.

well, appears they have found "nothing conclusive" but are ordering and changing the MAF under warranty. So that's good.

And I have a courtesy car.... a.... panda.... diesel.....

pondweed said:

well, appears they have found "nothing conclusive" but are ordering and changing the MAF under warranty. So that's good.

And I have a courtesy car.... a.... panda.... diesel.....

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My local Fiat dealer did exactly the same - it made no difference whatsover!
I cured the problem by removing the connectors to the ECU, and spraying both male and female plugs with WD 40. This cured the problem for me. Interestingly, they refused to let me see, or have, the old MAF . I wonder if they even changed it!

well, at least it saved me £40 on the diagnostic,them "finding something and replacing it" so that the warranty paid!

I'm also glad they've checked the throttle potentiometer and the inlet manifold pressure switch.

In fact, it cost me £5.75 for the fuel used at 15p/mile....

But yes, I'm hoping my WD40 is also going to do the job. BUT, my average mpg has risen into the 70s on resetting before the 30 miles after picking up. It was only getting to mid 60s so perhaps its good to have a new clean one. I didnt have the guts to ask them for the old one...

My own panda diesel multijet 30months old 62000 miles last week after not being used for 2 weeks after 20 miles on the road to work as the road speed reached 70mph suddenly the power cut by a third and the engine warning light came on.. and the engine struggled to maintain 60 mph.. so carried on to work then back home (interestingly the computor said the fuel consumption had changed from its usual 58 to 68 ,, then after reading this topic I unplugged the two ECU plugs and although the terminals looked nice and clean gave them a squirt of WD40 . On starting up the engine warning light stayed off and full power had returned .. How ever on way to work as soon as it reached 70 power cut and warning light on again . this time I pulled the first plug on the ECU next to front of car off then replaced the plug and started it,the warning light stayed on ,then I unplugged the rear one and replaced then when I started it warning light stayed off and full power returned since the I have put 80 miles on the clock and the fault has not returned ........... Part of me suspects that unplugging the ECU resets it and the fault is still lurking some where if it does misbehave again I will have a look at this MAF sensor but I have noticed that the fuel consumption seems to have gone down by 5mpg but I will have to do a full to empty fuel tank test to confirm this.

Hi - Can someone help me please - I think its all releated to the above, I drive a Fiat Panda Petrol 1.2 05 Elegenza.

I was recently driving and approaching a roundabout (in 3rd gear mind) and the car seemed to stall with the engine managmenent light coming on. I restarted the car and didnt have much power but could drive it with low revs and after turning her off on and on a few times the light went away.

Recently was driving to the airport and was going uphill when the same thing happened again and then going across the Dartford toll it happened again!

Since then all is fine but I'm to worried to take the car on long drives as its all fast roads and dont want to lose power Plan on taking it into a dealer but without the error light being on, will they be able to help.

I'm due a Service in 3K miles and a MOT in July. This is only my 2nd car the 1st one was a company car so have no experience whatsoever!

I have disconnected my maf sensor and been driving for the last 60 miles and have noticed no difference at all so what does this mean and if I buy a new one or clean it what differences should I expect

on the Rover 75 diesels, "MAF unplugged" doesnt raise warning lights, and is a short term fix for sluggish MAFs where underfuelling creates running problems.

But MPG is less. So if you notice no change, MAF was probably overfuelling before?

Doe it raise an engine light on MJet?

If it is a fuel problem... In the handbook it says you are supposed to start the car with the clutch down. Maybe not doing this has caused a problem.

pulhamdown said:

Hi. Recently my wife`s Panda diesel has had a major loss of power within half a mile of starting from cold. It then recovers full power after a minute or so, and is fine for the rest of the day. This has now happened four times. The last time it happened was after driving in heavy rain the night before. It would appear to be fuel related - maybe a clogged fuel filter or a blocked vent in the fuel cap? But in these days of electronic fuel injection on diesels, it could be anything. Has anyone had anything similar happen? I`m reluctant to involve Fiat until I have a better idea of what`s going on. BTW, the car is 2006 (56 reg ) and has done around 11,000 miles. Serviced at around 7,000 miles. Any ideas welcome.:shakehead:

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Hi my 58 reg multijet has started doing the same thing. Twice now, after cold start. Its done just over 13,000miles. Weird.

Hi all, sorry i've not done the "say hi" thread yet, but I've been following this thread with interest.

I have a 56 plate MJ with 90,000 miles on the clock.

My car has had these issues for some time now & with no help from the dealer I've tried several things you've mentioned in here.

My car seems to be geting worse the more rain we get, which is hell of a lot at the moment.

I've sprayed the WD40 into the ECU plugs/sockets but yesterday it ran worse than ever, & finally this morning it wouldn't start at all.

There are signs of moisture under the bonnet, so I'm pretty sure it's getting in somewhere.

Anywhere else I can spray the magic can?

I've had many petrol cars & know where the damp can affect them but didn't think this was an issue on Diesels.