General Another Panda with Issues - 100HP

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General Another Panda with Issues - 100HP

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Feb 3, 2014
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Guys


ive noticed a few new posts about EML and ill running of peoples pandas.


Mine did the same today. Bit about the Car first.


2010 Spec Panda 100HP
18000 miles
Serviced 4 times in its lifetime.
Not sure if Spark plugs are the original ones
Think Original Battery


Well today en route to work I noticed the EML flashing ( never a good sign ) but went off. And has stayed off since.


However I noticed whilst under load/acc the car is hesitant/jerking. Mostly at 2k-3k RPM. Sometimes as high as 5k RPM.


The 5k one is now and again but I can replicate the 2k-3k one anytime I want. Its like something is holding it back.


Normal driving is fine when I build up speed slowly. There was no issued cruising 80 ish all the way home which was a 10 mile drive




Ive already called Fiat and booked it in. Just for them to do a diagnostic is £96 + VAT....


Car is Standard bar K&N panel filter. Its never thrashed from cold or if ever really. Rarely taken past 5k RPM.




Its genuinely pootled around town and not abused.


Nothing was changed since problem happening. Before driving it today I jacked it up to changed a tire from a puncture and that's it. The night before there was no issues.


Any ideas I can try would be helpful. Maybe change the plugs. Or clean lamba sensor or anything else ??


To be fair I don't expect such a relatively young car with low miles like this to have issues like this already.
 
First thing i'd do is change the plugs, not sure if a diagnostic check will show anything unless the engine check light is on at the time.....sounds a bit like a misbehaving coil pack.
 
pootled around town / 80'ish all the way home ; - ):D

hi, :)
worth plugging a code reader in 1st, could be almost anything..,
but plugs / coils sound a good start.. a fault code will certainly help diagnosis, ;)
where are you based ?, as plenty of Forum members have MES, (y)

Charlie - Oxford
 
hey guys had problems logging in.

anyway had a friend of a friend come over who's a mobile mechanic and when he plugged in the diagnositic machine there was no fault codes stored. and after a quick test drive there was nothing really wrong with it. ran smoothly. the mechanic stated it have been a bad batch of fuel.

he recommended I clear out old fuel and run a few tanks of v power through it

on his advice I drove the car and the problem got worse. easiest to replicate in third gear.

I've not had a chance to change the plugs but will probably go iridiums and how much is a new coil pack and is it easy to change.


normally would do bits here and there where I can but I'm really busy with work at the moment.

just looking at the car is annoying me as I still can't get over something so new is playing up like this....
 
No Disrespect to your mate but I heard it a lot but never seen the bad batch of fuel before, unless you juiced it with some diesel.

At 18k if you change the plugs and HT leads you're not going to lose anything as they could probably do with doing anyway. Imo stick to regular plugs the best plugs i had in my panda were basic densos.

Best of luck, it's super annoying to have these untraceable faults but once you're sorted im sure your cars gonna give you years of enjoyment yet. (y)
 
If the plugs haven't been changed for 18k then that's your first job.. coil packs are about £30 each but I wouldn't change them until you can narrow down which one/ones are causing the problems.
I agree about the petrol, unless you put some in out of an old can you found in a hedge its highly unlikely to be the problem.
Iridium plugs are not worth the money, buy normal bosch/ngk's and change them more often
 
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quick update guys.


The engine management Light has now gone from flickering to being on permanently now ?

This was before I managed to change any of the ignition bits myself.

obviously not happy but at least now fiat can tell me what's wrong hopefully.


dash computer says "check engine"

but it does not appear to be in limp mode or anything like that....

sounds like it maybe expensive
 
Got my mates mechanic mate over to plug his diagnostic into the car again.

code retrieved. misfire on cylinder 2. The code book said plug/coil pack fault

happy days.

ordered a set of iridiums (I know against most people advice) so hopefully that's it

code has been wiped so if the code comes back after plugs I'll try a new coil pack and go from there.

already saved myself 95 plus vat just for fiat to run a diagnostic
 
My first post but I wanted to share my misfire story. Slight misfire developed on my panda 1.1 2005 out of the blue. Not a missing cylinder just uneven running. Occasional engine management light. Looked on the forum and just one comment referred to having fitted a pattern exhaust back box rather than oem. I'd done that 2 wks previous bought on eBay. Noticed it was a different shape to the one coming off at the time but thought nowt of it cos it fitted. It was less square shaped more oval and now looking back I can see it had less capacity. Did seem to blow differently to the old one too but the old one was well corroded. Mpg reduced around this time too. Found another back box on eBay but this time the same shape as original box. We'll hey presto it sounded better, took it for a blast and no misfire! Well who'd have thought it! Hope this helps.
 
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Well i am happy to report that the panda is back to its original self (maybe even slightly better) with its new plugs.

it's been thoroughly driven from cold and up to a light thrash and there are no hiccups or misfire of any sort.

quite an easy job if you can use spanners and sockets.
 
Yup. I was getting the "told you you shouldn't buy a fiat" when it was off the road and I was using other family members cars.

so all happy now.

i personally think the iridiums have made a very slight improvement to throttle response. more so in non sport mode and when going from 6-7k
 
I'm never on non-sport mode.
Sometimes my car turns sport mode off by itself and it instantly feels broken:D

gr J

100hp owners are a funny bunch. Definately two types of owners

To me the car feels totally unnatural in sport mode and too jerky for normal day to day driving. but I do like the added steering weight

sport mode only comes on for maximum attack which is rare for me if I'm honest
 
And the engine is snappier. Had someone asked me before I bought the 100HP, I would have said I'm too old for sports mode (grandpa of two;)), but sportsmode makes it so much more fun. Even if you are not redlining it the whole time.
Few weeks ago my grandson (almost 2 1/2) Was in his seat in the frontpassenger seat. He just couldn't stop laughing while I was only pushing it a little.
Must be genetic:D

gr J
 
Sorry, I meant engine management wise e.g. more ignition advance etc.

The only thing I like from Sport mode is the added steering feel, I wish there was a way to enable this only.

I like the throttle to be linear, if I want more throttle I just press the pedal more.

Having full throttle at 50% (or whatever it is) of the pedal's travel and then nothing happening is not something I like.
 
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