Apploigies if you've seen this in the Panda 2012+ forum - post this, there inj error.

Hi all, you lot seem a helpful bunch! not like them over there on the Doblo forum (Joking! These forums are a brilliant resource)

I'm new to the panda (but not to fiats!) I have the 1.2 petrol 2011/12 model
Its done 55k miles and seems ok but..

I'd love some advice.
Every now and again it has a long crank time to start, when this happens the dash clock and odo resets, is this normal or battery getting old or something else.

In addition its a bit fluttery on the revs and the MPG seems quite high, not had long enough in it to properly work out but its not as economical as the 1.9MJ Doblo I've traded it for! Any ideas?

This certainly sounds power related (battery or earthing); the clock resetting is a dead giveaway (if you'll pardon the pun).

The next sign will likely be intermittent power steering errors/failures.

If the battery's the original (original batteries often have a Fiat part number on them; replacements rarely do), then it'll likely be on its last legs by now.

Also check all the battery connections, and any earth lead connections to the engine/chassis.

ok thanks, I think the battery is good as I put it on a smart charger and the light went green (ready and maintained) in under a minute.

I'll check the earth though as I had to replace that on the doblo.

Any idea if fluttery revs are normal for this engine?

A battery that goes green quite soon after putting on a conditioning charger could be either fully charged or have next to no storage capacity.

ok thanks - Just checked the voltage at rest - 12.4v does that seem too low?
On cranking it drops to 8v - once started its upto 14v or thereabouts
I'll get googling

14.2V engine running is correct. 12.4V no load is OK, but the voltage drop to 8V under load suggests one cell is very weak. New battery time.