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Technical Snatchy and jerky from cold...

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Technical Snatchy and jerky from cold...

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Owyerbin

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Jan 12, 2013
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Hi folks
Have a 2012 1.2 mylife which is exhibiting some strange characteristics...
At idle when you dip the clutch the engine seem to 'fluff' and then from cold pulling away in 1st gear is a real challenge to smooth out - unless it warms for a bit first it will also die under acceleration from cold.

It's done all of 7.5k miles and dealer serviced.

I have searched the forums and found a thread on 'throttle body re-learn'
(sorry lack of posts won't let me put the link in)

Has anybody any experience of this? I'll give it a go and see if makes a difference.

Andy
 
Owyerbin said:
Hi folks
Have a 2012 1.2 mylife which is exhibiting some strange characteristics...
At idle when you dip the clutch the engine seem to 'fluff' and then from cold pulling away in 1st gear is a real challenge to smooth out - unless it warms for a bit first it will also die under acceleration from cold.

It's done all of 7.5k miles and dealer serviced.

I have searched the forums and found a thread on 'throttle body re-learn'
(sorry lack of posts won't let me put the link in)

Has anybody any experience of this? I'll give it a go and see if makes a difference.

Andy
Click to expand...

You could try changing the plugs. The OEM ones don't last long, but they're cheap as chips. Alternatively fit Ir plugs for about £26 a set & they should be good for 40k miles at least.

Both my cars start & run significantly better when cold after fitting Ir plugs.
 
Ok thanks ever so for that - I've bought into a service plan (1st time ever!) but have maintained my own for years. I'll try it one at a time though - so will let it go stone cold before I see whether the re'learn has worked and then as you say put in a set of Ir plugs (and a great big note NOT to change them at service!) and see how it goes.

Will feed back over the next couple of days

Cheers

Andy
 
Huge thread on it here - seems to be a problem on some cars and not on others.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/295063-fiat-panda-mylife-2011-engine-problem.html

Unfortunately mine is one of the ones with the problem. The dealer applied an update to the eng management system and it seemed to work but after putting a few thousand miles on it since it doesn't seem to be much better. A b*stard in first but absolutely fine in second (short shift to 2 to see if yours is the same) Also a pain in reverse. Then there's the temporary power loss issues under full throttle...

My 05 Eleganza was a MUCH nicer car to drive than my 12 MyLife :-|

Oh yeah, the engine revs for a few seconds when you press the clutch in. Presumably to help your granny pull away from the lights, but I find it just makes it harder to get a smooth gear change. Grrr!
 
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The throttle re-learn has made a bit of a difference (unless it's psychosomatic and I just think it's better because I've done something to it!)

Will try iridium plugs - just having fun sorting which ones they should be i.e what is the correct plug for a euro v engine?

Agreed on the clutch/revs thing I presume sort sort of anti stall - just a pain to be honest tho...
 
MintSauce said:
Huge thread on it here - seems to be a problem on some cars and not on others.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/295063-fiat-panda-mylife-2011-engine-problem.html

Unfortunately mine is one of the ones with the problem. The dealer applied an update to the eng management system and it seemed to work but after putting a few thousand miles on it since it doesn't seem to be much better. A b*stard in first but absolutely fine in second (short shift to 2 to see if yours is the same) Also a pain in reverse. Then there's the temporary power loss issues under full throttle...

My 05 Eleganza was a MUCH nicer car to drive than my 12 MyLife :-|

Oh yeah, the engine revs for a few seconds when you press the clutch in. Presumably to help your granny pull away from the lights, but I find it just makes it harder to get a smooth gear change. Grrr!
Click to expand...

From all that I've read, the change to the 69hp Euro5 engine in the very last of the Mk3's is not without issues and with the model being run out, FIAT never really got it sorted before the Mk4 Panda came along.

My 2010 Dynamic is one of the last 60HP Euro4 Pandas & has always run faultlessly.

I'd suggest anyone looking to buy a late model secondhand Panda would do well to get one of these 60HP cars in preference to the 69HP mylifes. The engine is noticeably more flexible than the 69HP one in my 500, though in the 500 it does not suffer the same issues as the mylife Pandas.
 
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Searched high and low on the web for an alternative set of plugs to the recommended NGK ZKR7A-10 even spoke to sparkplugs.co.uk and they had no suggestions...

So put a new set of NGKs in and it feels so much better. The OE ones were pretty much past it even at only 7300 miles. I've still got them in the order I took them out in - will pop a photo on shortly.

Just filled up as well - so has been averaging 44mpg and I am not a quick driver at all - so let's see what this tank does after the throttle body re-learn and a new set of plugs

Andy
 
Owyerbin said:
Searched high and low on the web for an alternative set of plugs to the recommended NGK ZKR7A-10 even spoke to sparkplugs.co.uk and they had no suggestions...
Click to expand...

That's because there isn't one - these plugs were specially designed for the 1.2 Euro5 FIRE engine.

If you want a long life precious metal plug, you can use NGK DCPR7EIX as an alternative. The only functional differences are they lack the 2mm tip projection of the OEM plug & they are gapped to 0.8mm instead of 1.0mm. It is strongly recommended that you do not regap precious metal plugs - they are fragile.

Some of us on the 500 forum are running DCPR7EIX's in the same engine, without issues. They can be had on ebay for a little under £26 a set.

If you want to stick with the OEM plugs, I'd recommend changing them every 6000-8000 miles. At least they're cheap.

There's a huge thread on the subject in the 500 section.
 
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That's great thank you - as you say a set of standard isn't that expensive. I will run those for a bit and see what difference they make and then source a set of the iridium ones. The OE ones really were pretty poor!

Andy
 
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