General 2013 Panda 4x4 Repairs

[Telecomsuk]

Hi everybody, if this is of no interest please feel free to delete.
Well day one of repairs rear discs badly scored and rust on tyres.
I used a trolley jack on the jack point with a rubber piece to fit sill seam.
I fired axel stand under dif case. Removed slash guard 3 screws, 3 plastic nut and and trim clip. Found a big pile af dirt in the corner by the sill,
Undid the 2 calliper bolts moved calliper to one side , who at Fiat thought it was a good idea to blank the holes for the calliper carrier? So got the 4 bolts out holding the hub carrier, I did not remove or loosen hub nut, used long Allen bit to remove carrier bolts, fitted new disc, red thread loc on carrier bolts blue thread lock on hub carrier bolts, fit new pads fit new shock absorber , I used second trolley jack to lift axel. Removed stand under diff , Fitted wheel, remove jack under sill, torqued shock absorber, jacked up removed wheel ,fitted splash guard, refit wheel . 3 hours and that included finding the right sockets and fighting the carrier bolts. Other side tomorrow, then bumper off, front subframe off for 2 new control arms. This is a 22,000 mile car that has spent most of it life parked, aside from servicing nothing had been done. The engine guard is already off and is in a shocking rusty state unde the blistering paint. So another job. I have a lot of experience but this first time hands on with Panda.

 

[murphyv310]

Hi.
You have answered your own question. In my experience low mileage cars that spend a lot of time parked up will rust more, have rusty discs, under-trays etc. Suffer with more engine wear due to condensation.
In its 8 years how many oil and filter changes have been done considering its only doing just over 2200 miles per year?

 

[gar074]

The rear discs on my Cross 4x4 need replacing. Dealer's quoted me a price of £190 inc VAT.

Considering what an absolute pain everyone says it is to replace the discs on a 4x4, I'm tempted to just give them the money, and spend the day at the beach.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Sounds like you have a few more challenges ahead The rear discs are probably the worst job to have to do though, so anything else should be a little easier going forwards? The mud collected behind the splash guard is not uncommon - but, as I've mentioned here before, can be minimised by regularly hosing out under the wheel arches etc, especially during the winter.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

The rear discs on my Cross 4x4 need replacing. Dealer's quoted me a price of £190 inc VAT.

Considering what an absolute pain everyone says it is to replace the discs on a 4x4, I'm tempted to just give them the money, and spend the day at the beach.

Definitely! (but, at Fiat dealer's rates of over £100 per hour, that sounds too cheap for that job!). These folks seem to charge more to do the fronts than the rears, so maybe there's a trick we are all missing? https://www.fiatworkshop.co.uk/fiat_Panda_fixed_price_servicing.shtml

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

...then bumper off, front subframe off for 2 new control arms.

Although this shows a Fiat 500, the process is near identical on the Panda https://www.fiatworkshop.co.uk/Fiat_500_front_wishbone_removal.shtml and so might be useful to look at?

 

[Telecomsuk]

Service book is stamped up by dealers, but they only do the bare minimum in the early years, If my company car experience is anything to go by, but then 130,000 every three years you see a fair few dealers.

 

[gar074]

Definitely! (but, at Fiat dealer's rates of over £100 per hour, that sounds too cheap for that job!). These folks seem to charge more to do the fronts than the rears, so maybe there's a trick we are all missing? https://www.fiatworkshop.co.uk/fiat_Panda_fixed_price_servicing.shtml

I suspect my dealer's pricing schedule just gives one price for all Pandas.

They quoted £220 for the fronts (presumably because the parts are more expensive).

I'll do the fronts myself, and they can do the rears (and I have the price in writing )

 

[WitleyPanda]

Did both rear discs( and pads etc) just over a year ago, in an afternoon. If you have the right tools and realise that if you align tools and parts with the various cutouts, not too challenging.
Peter