General Bought a lemon!

[Visorfett]

Hi, thought I would share my story of being an idiot!
Found a lovely looking 1.2 Panda in black. 2011 model. Looked nice enough and cheap enough.
Because I live up on the Isle of Skye, car buying is even more expensive and harder to do. Just not enough variety or stock..

So was quite excited when I took the 3 hour journey on the bus to Inverness to get it.

Met up with the guy. Seemed genuine and it pootled around Inverness fine. However on the drive back it felt hesitant and lacked power.. although I was thinking is this how 1.2 engines perform nowadays.. after a decade of driving pickups..

All the same, got it home and put it on a cheap hand held diagnostic. Came up with a number of fault codes. Which is fine. As I didn't mind a wee project car.. easy enough to do most things myself.
So changed the battery, coil pack and leads, plugs, cam sensor, crank sensor and temp sensor. As well as servicing it. I've only spent £1800 including the above,travel etc...

At this point the car is running better. Hesitation has gone but still struggles up big hills and needs real effort beyond 50mph. Not great living where I live! Still doing 42mpg on average. Which is better than my L200!
Interesting the cheap diagnostic says cam sensor again. So my brain starts thinking about timing belts..I'm a have a go kind of person.. but not with timing belts. So booked in for it to be done. (Who knows when it was last done)

Mechanic pulls me aside later that day. Said they've changed it but there is something I should see.
Turns out that someone has replaced the engine. Installed a non vvt engine. Left some solenoid and wiring disconnected and took the bulb out of the check engine light! Then stuck a check engine display over the steering bulb on the dash. So it looks like it goes on then off..

So.. in short. I've been the idiot. Be careful when buying from Gumtree and however desperate you are. Go in with your eyes open!
At least I have a slow car to get to work and technically at these prices of fuel. I'll still be saving money within a year compared to my pickup.
And can use it to self teach myself how to wet sand and properly compound and polish a car without fear I'm destroying anything!

Thanks for sticking it this far..needed to get it off my chest as I haven't told the wife yet..

 

[koalar]

The original none VVT engine is as good if not better

I have had the normal 1.1 / 1.2 and VVT 1.2

Does the car rev beyond 4K. If you disconnect the cam sensor from a VVT engine the ECU puts itself into some sort of limp home mode and limits the power and revs.


Have you checked the capacity of the new engine it could be a 1.1 but unlikely

 

[Visorfett]

The original none VVT engine is as good if not better

I have had the normal 1.1 / 1.2 and VVT 1.2

Does the car rev beyond 4K. If you disconnect the cam sensor from a VVT engine the ECU puts itself into some sort of limp home mode and limits the power and revs.


Have you checked the capacity of the new engine it could be a 1.1 but unlikely

Doesn't rev beyond 4k as far as I am aware. Guess it is what it is.. lesson learned! I'll just pootle around a bit slower than I thought. Ha

 

[DaveMcT]

The later VVT engine makes more power when you thrash it but useful power where you need it is lower than the 60bhp version.

Has anyone tried connecting a 60bhp engine ECU (virginsied) to a later spec body computer?