Hi guys,

First post so apologies about the lack of knowledge! I bought a 4x4 fiat panda for a charity rally earlier this year. I’ve been driving it as my main car for months and absolutely love it. We’ve now set off on said rally and starting to find some issues that I wonder if anyone can think what the problem is.

1. Rear banging noise: this only really happened in 2nd but now in 1st through to 4th. If you are accelerating and lift off the accelerator suddenly whilst still in gear or push in the clutch whilst gently accelerating the bang happens. Sounds like it’s coming from beneath the back of the car. Thought it might be something to do with the 4 wheel drive system?

2. It has a slow leak of oil coming from what I think is the transfer box. The mechanic told me that this shouldn’t be an issue and is likely a seal. It has now stopped leaking which either means it’s fixed or as I fear, it has no oil left to leak. Anybody have any ideas where to top this up?

Here’s a pic of the Panda - doing it for Macmillan and McGrath foundation if anyone’s interested!

I'd strongly consider you visit another mechanic, and have oil levels in the transfer box checked

For the banging noise: don't have my Panda yet, but on my previous 4x4 banging noises were always either caused by failing unijoints in the driveshaft or by broken/missing bushes on suspension parts. Any reasonably competent mechanic should be able to identify these issues in a few minutes.

My 4x4 banged about a bit, finally traced to worn exhaust box rubbers ! But get it checked first as advised.

Seen I few threads on here about the centre bearing on the prop shaft 4x4 failing.


I don't have the 4x4 so can't really help. Search through the forums should pull a few threads up.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/333146-panda-4x4-prop-shaft-centre-support.html


Not sure how you can test it.

Perelaar wgw and koalar thanks for the info guys. Yeah I have a feeling it’s something to do with driveshaft to rear. In Brussels so gonna have a look around to try find someone that speaks English and won’t rip us off. Thanks again will let you know how it goes

No idea you were in Belgium, I'm Belgian, working in centre Brussels.

I have good experiences so far with Fiat dealer Autostad, in Haasrode (next to E40 just after Leuven).

An update:

So the fiat garage that you suggested Perelaar is overloaded with work so I took it to another independent fiat specialist in town. Although language was a bit of a barrier he has told me the drive shaft to the rear is “a mess”. Due to the Belgian national holiday they now won’t get to quote us properly until Monday morning but say it will cost us in excess of €2400. Obviously we’re doing this in the name of charity and stumping a lot of the money ourselves but we can’t afford that much.

He has also told us the radiator is leaking. To be fair I had seen some residue from a possible leak which never opened up again (I opened the engine bay every trip with little to no drop in coolant).

Feel like we are being taken for a bit of a ride. I will see what the quote is on Monday and then decide how to proceed but was thinking of just replacing the radiator with them and moving it to a friends mechanic for another quote on the drive shaft. Also if we keep driving it what is the worst case scenario if the prop shaft malfunctions fully, will it not just become a 2x4? How much should I be looking at for a radiator change? Thanks for your help guys I really appreciate it

2400 is a major rip-off, even if the complete propshaft needs to be replaced.
Have a look here for prices of parts (and keep in mind this is an expensive shop!): http://www.euro4x4parts.com/fiat_parts/panda_2_4x4_169_2004/1_3jtd_diesel_4x4_2004/4_transmission/T/parts/

No doubt other members here will be able to refer more shops. Replacing propshaft with new is a matter of a couple of bolts, so labour cost (even at Belgian levels) should be manageable.

Thanks for the advice, following a friend chatting to them this morning in French we have a bit more detail. The price has dropped to €800 which is to replace radiator, replace inlet butterfly and replace what seems to be the rubber seal in the UJ (which they were calling transmission arm). I’m not convinced a worn rubber seal was causing such a significant bang, I agree it may be UJ but surely a worn seal wouldn’t cause such a bang?

I will make sure to drive it around the block to check before handing over cash. Thanks for the help guys

The drive shaft has a centre bearing which according to forum threads is a common failure point. Look on ePer so you can see what parts it has.

Google "fiat forum panda 4x4 driveshaft" pulls up lots of stuff. e.g.
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/432911-panda-4x4-how-replace-centre-bearing.html

The radiator is probably worth replacing regardless as a coolant leak will wreck the engine before you realise there's a problem.

Sorry to resurrect this thread but we had issues with wheel rub and wobbling as we were driving. Some Polish mechanics (we are in Warsaw now) looked at the car and diagnosed a buggered tyre. The mechanic also found the culprit for the banging noise which I’ve added a picture of below. As his English wasn’t great and my Polish was much worse I don’t know what it is called (it’s a rubber seal which connects to the rear axel?? - please correct me if you know). He says it should only make noise and not give too much bother. Let’s hope it holds out through to Mongolia...

The English term is SUSPENSION BUSH.


The issue might be with the anti roll bar bushes. Least cost option is do those first and see if the noise stops. However, worn suspension bushes absolutely WILL NOT make it to Mongolia. If you really want to arrive, you need to solve the problem.

Hi,

Sorry to resurrect this thread but, this little beauty made it all the way to Mongolia...and back to the UK again through Russia. It still drives despite, a collapsed rear suspension and a wheel falling off along the way. The most trouble we had was overheating a couple of times (understandable with 4 people and all our luggage) and a snapped shock and spring due to a monumental pot hole in Mongolia.

Not only that but the car holds the rally record for the most countries ever visited by a team on the Mongol Rally and travelled the most miles. These are sturdy little things. Just thought you might like to know! And thank you for your help along the way,

Mike

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-engl...l-rally-manchester-to-siberia-in-a-fiat-panda

Some photos!

Fantastic news. :slayer:


Get onto eBay and find a replacement 4x4 back subframe/axle. That will sort out your rust problem. Grit blasted and zinc primed, new bushes and it will last for ever.

This looks a bit pricey, but I mean one of these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-PANDA-4X4-2003-2012-AXLE-REAR-DISCS-ABS/123235121246?hash=item1cb162b85e:g:uvYAAOSwCLNbP4Mi