Hi,

My mother drives a Panda Activ 1.1 58plate. It refused to start Jan last year and the local Fiat garage said it needed a new ECU due to water ingress/damage. She went ahead and had the ECU replaced at a total cost of £700 including diagnostics, parts and labour! We assumed this resolved the issue however last week the car refused to start again and same garage has once again said that ECU is flooded and needs replacing. Fiat have refused warranty replacement as they say excess water has caused issue not faulty ECU. We have asked the garage to tell us the source of this excess water but they cannot find where it is coming from. They advise that our only option is to have the ECU replaced again however I refuse to believe this is the only option without actually knowing where the water is coming from as surely we will be in the same situation in another 12 months down the line!

I am hoping that someone can share some insight into potentially where the water could be coming from, enough to flood the ECU again in a matter of months?? I can confirm that the car has not been driven through any puddles or has had excessive car washes (questions asked by FIAT).

Desperately seeking answers, please help!

If it's anything like the Multijet, then the rainwater gets in through a little screw-hole under the windscreen right in the middle of the black plastic below the wipers... There's loads of threads on here (some with pics) that will show you where to look...

Wee Smurf said:

If it's anything like the Multijet, then the rainwater gets in through a little screw-hole under the windscreen right in the middle of the black plastic below the wipers... There's loads of threads on here (some with pics) that will show you where to look...

Click to expand...

Thank you Wee Smurf. I am new to the forum and cant seem to find these posts could you point me in the right direction? Many thanks

Welcome Lucy. Like you I'd like to know where this water is coming from. From expereince I doubt it's the same issue as what happens with the diesel model as advised above.

I personally think there is a bigger underlying issue here, and I'd be surprised if it is water ingress.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Welcome Lucy. Like you I'd like to know where this water is coming from. From expereince I doubt it's the same issue as what happens with the diesel model as advised above.

I personally think there is a bigger underlying issue here, and I'd be surprised if it is water ingress.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply. It's extremely frustrating to think that our only option is to replace a costly part that may fail again for all the same reasons. It seems ridiculous!

Last time, you employed the garage to fix the problem. They have apparently only addressed the effect, not the cause. There are lots of Panda owners on here, not experiencing this problem, so it is not a "characteristic".

I think the garage should be looking to replace at their expense, and this time fix the cause. After all, they are the "experts", and they did not do an expert job. Should not cost you anything this time.

i would get an opinion of an independant garage thats up to speed on electrics in modern cars because as far as im aware the ecu on these is at the side of the battery and so probably the driest place in the underbonnet area
unfortunately all my dealings with fiat dealers leave a nasty taste for me they seem to always want your pants and some

agree 100% with Portland Bill. Insist that the fiat dealer sorts it out at their expense. If they knew water ingress was the cause of the first ECU failure then they are surely incompetent if they fitted a new ECU without identifying the root cause.

If you get nowhere with that, look for a local auto electrician who can diagnose the root cause. If the ECU is actually defective, a specialist like BBAreman can test and possibly repair at a fraction of the cost of a new one.

Search the internet, places like BBA reman and ECU Clinic will be able to test the ECU, tell you if it's water damaged or not and perhaps repair it for a fraction of the cost.
It's at least worth a couple of phone calls to see if it's possible to repair.

BTW. One of the companies probably repaired the ECU in the first instance.

Ebays worth a look for a new one as well

I cannot see this as water ingress, as has been said, the ECU on the petrol 1.1 and 1.2's sits next to the battery and simply won't get wet, period. Get an independent view and challenge the dealer. There are lots of hopeless, misinformed rogues out there and they try it on too much.

Guarantee the issue is something simple, not another £700 ECU replacement, I'm sure.