Hi. Our new-to-us 2010 Panda 1.2 Dynamic Eco has a quirk that it stalls at idle when the aircon compressor kicks in. The engine runs and idles normally without the aircon running and, so long as I'm driving along, I can turn on the aircon and it works just fine. But as soon as the engine's idling, it stalls the moment the AC compressor engages.

While browsing, I found this previous thread {edit: first post so I can't post a URL yet. It's post 330397 - engine stalls when aircon turned on} but the original poster never returned to say if they fixed it. I'm sure it was hereabouts I also found a post (which I can't now find again - might not have been in the Panda section) where a similar problem was fixed by what the dealer said was an ECU firmware update.

I know the ECU is supposed to raise the idle speed a little just before it engages the compressor, but for some reason mine's not managing to keep the engine going.

Anyone resolved a similar issue?

Hello there

Yes, my 2010 Panda Eleganza (with climate control) did this when the AC was on. If the car was idling, it would run for about 5 secs then stall. When I test drove the car I only tried the AC while the car was moving, so I hadn't spotted the problem before I paid for and collected the car.

I bought from a Fiat garage who took some time to work out what was wrong, but apparently it was a software update to something (the ECU?) which sorted it out, and it's now been fine for two years since then.

Fantastic! Thanks very much for the quick reply.

I had worried about low gas or stiff bearings in the aircon pump, or about the idle control stepper not acting quickly enough, but a software update sounds like an ideal candidate and an easy fix.