How do! New to this forum. Owner of a beautiful 169, gifted by my wife’s Gran who has decided at 90 it’s time to hand up the keys. Garaged it’s whole life she’s owned it and with 27k on the clock from new, Its like new. Looking at sim pathetically changing the interior for more driver comfort.
Panda Newbie Intro
- Thread starter RBG169
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Panda Newbie Intro
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Check the cam timing belt because the later engines are not safe if it fails. They need to be changed on time as much as on miles but often get forgotten.
AFAIK if it's a 1.1 it should be safe, 1.2s and up may not, correct me if I'm wrong though
Course it won't run if the belt snaps though! So it's best to do it if you don't know when it was last done. Pretty sure mine was last done in 2015 so I'll definitely be getting it done this year.
Got my Panda in 2017 when my great grandad passed and my great nan gave it to me as I was just about to start learning! Only had 12k on it!
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A quick search shows the OP's car is a 69HP 1.2 Active registered 10 June 2011; so Euro5 and not a cambelt-safe engine.
In the absence of documentary proof of when (if ever) it was last changed, I'd do so at at the earliest opportunity, together with the water pump & tensioner. If it does snap, you'll ruin a lovely car.
I was looking at the wheels, roof rails and grill panel and thinking to myself "that's not a 1.1". So, as you say, being an '11 plate and a 1.2 it's going to be an interference engine right enough. I very nearly bought one when we were looking but we ended up with Becky instead ('10 plate 1.2 60hp euro 4). I was quite attracted to the fact that the one we looked at didn't have air con! An advantage in my view! I don't think these Active trim euro 5 engined models had air con as standard? you had to go to the next trim package (Dynamic?) up to get it. Now I'm very happy with our euro4 engine Becky, even if she does have the air con!
PS Welcome to the forum RBG. Do let us know how you get on with your, very nice looking, Panda. Oh, and I thoroughly endorse our moderator's advice to get a complete cam belt kit fitted (so including water pump) if you have no definite evidence it's been done recently. I've just - yesterday afternoon - had to inform my neighbour that the cambelt in her SEAT Ibiza has almost certainly failed. This too is an interference engine and repairs will be pricey if it's collected the valves (which it probably has as there is now no compression on the engine.) We have a panda and a Punto with FIRE engines, like yours, in them. Our Panda is non interference but the Punto is. My "trigger point" for starting to think about doing a belt change on them is when they pass 4 years/40,000 miles and I always fit a complete kit, with water pump, because the water pump is part of the drive train so if it fails the belt is likely to fail or jump off the pulleys anyway. If you are doing "stuff" yourself I can confidently recommend Shop4parts although I recently (couple of years ago) got Gates belt kits inc water pumps, for both vehicles at around the £57 mark from Autodoc. I'm absolutely scunnered to see they've got them on offer for a ridiculous £38 just now: https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts.../panda/panda-169/17628-1-2?categories[0]=3096. Almost worth my while to buy a couple and keep them until they are needed a couple of years from now!
PS Welcome to the forum RBG. Do let us know how you get on with your, very nice looking, Panda. Oh, and I thoroughly endorse our moderator's advice to get a complete cam belt kit fitted (so including water pump) if you have no definite evidence it's been done recently. I've just - yesterday afternoon - had to inform my neighbour that the cambelt in her SEAT Ibiza has almost certainly failed. This too is an interference engine and repairs will be pricey if it's collected the valves (which it probably has as there is now no compression on the engine.) We have a panda and a Punto with FIRE engines, like yours, in them. Our Panda is non interference but the Punto is. My "trigger point" for starting to think about doing a belt change on them is when they pass 4 years/40,000 miles and I always fit a complete kit, with water pump, because the water pump is part of the drive train so if it fails the belt is likely to fail or jump off the pulleys anyway. If you are doing "stuff" yourself I can confidently recommend Shop4parts although I recently (couple of years ago) got Gates belt kits inc water pumps, for both vehicles at around the £57 mark from Autodoc. I'm absolutely scunnered to see they've got them on offer for a ridiculous £38 just now: https://www.autodoc.co.uk/car-parts.../panda/panda-169/17628-1-2?categories[0]=3096. Almost worth my while to buy a couple and keep them until they are needed a couple of years from now!
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Thanks for the heads up, yes I’ve had all the belts done and car fully checked over. Clutch is a little short on the old pedal but could just be a characteristic of this model. Just looking at seat options as I can feel the back rest bar in my lover back when driving. Small niggle
The left hand drive models (so most of the production) have a cable operated clutch. It's only our right hand drive versions that have hydraulic operation. The system seems to be a bit weak and prone to wearing out, especially the slave cylinders. Just to make things more "fun" Fiat decided to use a unique "snap" together connector on the tubing roughly half way between the slave and master cylinders. It corodes and can be next to impossible to take apart!
I've had trouble with both our Panda and the boy's Punto. Both cars now have new slaves and masters and drive beautifully. Many people on here recommend to just renew both items when they start to give trouble. The slaves are quite cheap but the masters cost a few bob. The slaves are very easy to change if you've got some idea what you are doing but the master on my boy's 2012 Punto - which is slightly differently mounted to earlier cars - is a pure pig to get out requiring quite a lot of pedal dismantling as it comes out inside the car not, like the panda, under the bonnet.
If the pedal is feeling "strange" it's always worth giving it a good bleed out but, especially if it gets "stranger" it's likely to be hydraulics rather than the actual clutch itself, especially at your mileage. Unless Gran was a bit of a pedal rider/clutch slipper? The car looks lovely though, well worth spending a few bob on I would guess? Envy you!
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Fiat hydraulic controlled clutches tend to stop releasing before they start to slip so yours is probably doing fine.
The exhaust pipe between catalyst and two bolt flange should have a support bracket bolted to the engine. They are mild steel again the stainless pipe so can rust away completely. You can make a bracket with exhaust clamp or get the official part for not much money.
The back axle is noted for rusting at the spring pans. If you're is going rusty, clean off any flaking paint and spray the metal with a mix of chain saw oil and white spirit. Alternatively, whip off the axle and have it blasted and zinc metal sprayed. It's gratuitous overkill but not expensive and will outlast the car many times over.
I was not happy with the steel brake pipes to the brakes so replaced the line from under floor bracket through to the brake with HEL made to measure braided lines. They are not silly money supplied with as many grommets as you need and are fit and forget. Always use copper paste on any stainless to mild steel fittings.
The exhaust pipe between catalyst and two bolt flange should have a support bracket bolted to the engine. They are mild steel again the stainless pipe so can rust away completely. You can make a bracket with exhaust clamp or get the official part for not much money.
The back axle is noted for rusting at the spring pans. If you're is going rusty, clean off any flaking paint and spray the metal with a mix of chain saw oil and white spirit. Alternatively, whip off the axle and have it blasted and zinc metal sprayed. It's gratuitous overkill but not expensive and will outlast the car many times over.
I was not happy with the steel brake pipes to the brakes so replaced the line from under floor bracket through to the brake with HEL made to measure braided lines. They are not silly money supplied with as many grommets as you need and are fit and forget. Always use copper paste on any stainless to mild steel fittings.
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The Punto pedal release point just slowly got steadily lower and lower over a period of about 3 or 4 months. In the end, despite several bleeding sessions including one at Kenny's garage with their big commercial power bleeder, the pedal was within a gnat's whisker of the floor before it would free up the plate. If we'd carried on the car would have become undriveable.
Comparing the clutch release arm movement with my almost identical Panda set up it was immediately obvious that the release arm was only throwing by about half the distance of the Pandas. The Slave looked visually perfect with no signs of leaking at all so I tackled the master first. Next day, after getting Kenny's foreman to finish the job I started but couldn't understand how to finish, (we both ended up with well skinned knuckles) we found very little difference so I took it home - with some difficulty - and changed the slave, After a quick bleed out all was well. I probably didn't need to have changed the master but at least now I know it's all well for some time and it does work very nicely. Still don't know why the slave was misbehaving, it's lying in my scrap tray and looking just like a, slightly dirty, new one.
Comparing the clutch release arm movement with my almost identical Panda set up it was immediately obvious that the release arm was only throwing by about half the distance of the Pandas. The Slave looked visually perfect with no signs of leaking at all so I tackled the master first. Next day, after getting Kenny's foreman to finish the job I started but couldn't understand how to finish, (we both ended up with well skinned knuckles) we found very little difference so I took it home - with some difficulty - and changed the slave, After a quick bleed out all was well. I probably didn't need to have changed the master but at least now I know it's all well for some time and it does work very nicely. Still don't know why the slave was misbehaving, it's lying in my scrap tray and looking just like a, slightly dirty, new one.
clutch pedal is different with different clutches fitted.
without knowing its probably got a transmech fitted which does put the pedal closer to the floor.
its not much but does take a bit for the brain to readjust
without knowing its probably got a transmech fitted which does put the pedal closer to the floor.
its not much but does take a bit for the brain to readjust
The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
AFAIK if it's a 1.1 it should be safe, 1.2s and up may not, correct me if I'm wrong though
Course it won't run if the belt snaps though! So it's best to do it if you don't know when it was last done. Pretty sure mine was last done in 2015 so I'll definitely be getting it done this year.
Got my Panda in 2017 when my great grandad passed and my great nan gave it to me as I was just about to start learning! Only had 12k on it!
Looks like a Panda Mylife 1.2 to me. Like our one. Should have air con but it may well - like ours - need a condenser before too long as they are prone to corrosion ruining them. Great car!
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The Panda Nut
Nutty about Pandas Infected by Panda virus and OPD
Try bleeding the hydraulics - under the battery - it will have quite a profound effect I suspect.
Something is definitely slightly amiss with mine, sometimes it likes to squeak (seems completely random, some days it does and some days it doesn't) and when it does it doesn't feel as smooth. It's only got 31k on it so I'm thinking hydraulics. Also the gear change is quite stiff, thinking that could be shifter cables...
I do have a nice short throw shifter from 4H-Tech in there which I fitted a few days ago, but it was always a pretty stiff gear change since I got the car.
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Exactly what our Panda was like. Quite a loud squeak when it did it. It took me some time to definitely narrow it down to the slave cylinder, mainly because it was unpredictable. I though for some time that it was the pivot point where the slave cylinder push rod sits in the cupped end of the release lever. I even lubed it with some moly grease which distracted me because it made it shut up for a couple of days, but then it came back even worse and I went searching for it with a long screwdriver stuck in my ear and Mrs J pushing the pedal up and down. It was definitely actually the cylinder itself. After fitting the new cylinder it never has done it again.
to test if its the gear cables
should be the same with the engine off
the two levers on top of the gearbox. If its smooth here the problem is the cable
the big lever will give First and second move the small lever a bit and third and fourth. a bit more and the big leaver will only move one way to fifth the last bit of movement give reverse but can't be moved because of the collar that needs to be lifted under the gearstick
grease makes it worse after about a week
oil is alright just clean it off as much as possible otherwise grit will stick to it
normally its just front to back that fails. So just move the larger lever left to right
Slave cylinder spray some oil. If the squeaks goes away its on its way out
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Guess I've got a good starting point then, I'll have a look the next time it starts squealing! I'm guessing it may have been bled or had work done before as the reservoir for the clutch fluid was snapped off when I got it and was cable tied on to the mount! Quick flick through the Haynes manual and it seems like a lengthy job to bleed it, guess that can wait for when the weather is a bit better! By no means undrivable at the moment but I wanna get it before something pops
Mrs J decided to do an early morning shop today to beat the "idiots" to the shops - her theory is that the less disciplined members of the community don't get out of their beds early? Seems to work too as she reported meeting very few people in the shops she visited. We are now stocked up to withstand a siege of several weeks if needed!
Anyway I was warming up Becky's engine and removing the ice from the windows - don't Pandas heat up nice and quickly? twice as fast as my Ibiza I would say - when a flatbed transit (very nicely painted too!) drove up the road and reversed up to the front of my neighbour's Ibiza. He was obviously having a bit of trouble with his winch and we just exchanged a few comments - pleasant chap - Turned out the batteries in the remote commander were dead so he had to connect up a flying lead switch assembly. Why are remote batteries always dead just when you need them?
By now my neighbour had come down out of her flat with the car's keys and he started telling her that she would have to sit in the car and steer it up the ramps as he worked the winch. The flatbed was stopped in the road parallel to the car parked in front of her Ibiza so it, the Ibiza, needed to do an "S" maneuver to get lined up with the ramps. Problem! With a non running engine there was no power steering - even though its EPS - and she couldn't turn the wheel at the very slow speed the car was moving at. So, you guessed it, I ended up guiding the car up onto the flatbed. By golly the steering is REALLY heavy without the assistance! Really enjoyed doing it though! Nice to be doing something "useful" in these dark days, and I managed to get down off the quite high flat bed without breaking a leg!
What it did bring home to me though is how ridiculously heavy modern power steering is when the power fails - Surely this must constitute an unacceptable safety hazard? I'm sure the majority of women, and many men too, would assume the steering had seized if this happened in an everyday driving situation. Hopefully Mrs J would be ready for it. I've told her what to expect often enough. The trouble is without actually feeling what it's like she will have no idea what to really expect.
Had to do that on my Grande today..
5mph hard turn.. its a conscious effort alright.. missed the parking bay by a mile..
5mph hard turn.. its a conscious effort alright.. missed the parking bay by a mile..
I remember when power steering wasn't standard
Big cars with low profile tyres required both hands on one side of the steering wheel pulling down when stationary
I also had a car with no brake servo. You had to push so hard your back got push into the back of the seat
the First time I dove it I nearly overshot the bottom of the street.
Brain soon readjust though
Big cars with low profile tyres required both hands on one side of the steering wheel pulling down when stationary
I also had a car with no brake servo. You had to push so hard your back got push into the back of the seat
the First time I dove it I nearly overshot the bottom of the street.
Brain soon readjust though
