Technical Panda 1.1 Active Eco Mysterious Sloshing Sound

[AlexJD]

So I had to take my Panda to my mechanic because it was due for a cambelt replacement. I asked for them to do the water pump as well since that's usually recommended.

I'm not sure how but there's this weird sloshing sound I hear now when I start the car. It seems to mostly go away after the engine warms to temperature.

I'm wondering if there might be some air in the coolant system that needs bleeding out? Otherwise I'm not really sure what's causing it. Coolant level is fine.

 

[bugsymike]

Could be an airlock in the cooling system so get it checked quickly before engine overheats and is badly damaged. Especially if it is a new noise you have never heard before.

 

[koalar]

Don't know

Sloshing sounds are normally water in the scuttle, this would be while accelerating, braking. Cornering

Air in the system is normally a gurgling sound of bubbles in pipes, which will normally only for the first few seconds at switch on and sometimes after switch off

You can quickly test if their is air in the system, if you Unscrew the bleed screw, with the engine warm, air will hiss out and the coolant level will drop, if there's no air in the system coolant will come out, It's not recommend as the coolant is hot and a burn risk. I have done it regularly and never burnt myself,

A video of the noise might help to pin it down

 

[AlexJD]

Don't know

Sloshing sounds are normally water in the scuttle, this would be while accelerating, braking. Cornering

Air in the system is normally a gurgling sound of bubbles in pipes, which will normally only for the first few seconds at switch on and sometimes after switch off

You can quickly test if their is air in the system, if you Unscrew the bleed screw, with the engine warm, air will hiss out and the coolant level will drop, if there's no air in the system coolant will come out, It's not recommend as the coolant is hot and a burn risk. I have done it regularly and never burnt myself,
View attachment 426036
A video of the noise might help to pin it down

That's exactly what seems to be happening I think. Usually it's the first few seconds of the engine being switched on and nothing else.

 

[koalar]

That's exactly what seems to be happening I think. Usually it's the first few seconds of the engine being switched on and nothing else.

Great

It will be air (most likely) or exhaust gasses entering the system

Seeing as the car just had a new water pump I would get them to have a look

Either they didn't bleed the system properly, probably not the case, these cars tend to self bleed quite quickly

Or more likely there is a tiny leak, as the coolant cools it's sucking in air, it's this air you can hear as the car first starts up as bubbles leaving the system, the cycle then repeats.

They should pressurise the system and make sure it maintains the pressure

 

[AlexJD]

Great

It will be air (most likely) or exhaust gasses entering the system

Seeing as the car just had a new water pump I would get them to have a look

Either they didn't bleed the system properly, probably not the case, these cars tend to self bleed quite quickly

Or more likely there is a tiny leak, as the coolant cools it's sucking in air, it's this air you can hear as the car first starts up as bubbles leaving the system, the cycle then repeats.

They should pressurise the system and make sure it maintains the pressure

Well was hoping I didn't have to take it in again for awhile but it needs doing obviously as I don't want engine damage. Looks like it's taxi to work time again. If it looks like a duck, it's a duck.

 

[koalar]

Well was hoping I didn't have to take it in again for awhile but it needs doing obviously as I don't want engine damage. Looks like it's taxi to work time again. If it looks like a duck, it's a duck.

Yep

But try a quick bleed first

0010T20 ENGINE COOLANT - CHANGE - Fiat - NUOVA 500 - eLearn - 4CarData

Ignore
the drainage screw in the lower part of the radiator on the left hand side.

Don't bother with the radiator bleed screw if it's tight

Might be for the 500 but doesn't matter they are the same

Is your car the type with a seperate expansion bottle or is it on the side of the radiator

 

[AlexJD]

Yep

But try a quick bleed first

0010T20 ENGINE COOLANT - CHANGE - Fiat - NUOVA 500 - eLearn - 4CarData

Ignore
the drainage screw in the lower part of the radiator on the left hand side.

Don't bother with the radiator bleed screw if it's tight

Might be for the 500 but doesn't matter they are the same

Is your car the type with a seperate expansion bottle or is it on the side of the radiator

Will do. Assuming it needs to be done cold (as the guide says), probably a bad idea to spray out hot coolant on myself? Need to get some coolant myself to top up with too but not sure what it needs. Might just ring my mechanic to get them to sort.

 

[koalar]

Will do. Assuming it needs to be done cold (as the guide says), probably a bad idea to spray out hot coolant on myself? Need to get some coolant myself to top up with too but not sure what it needs. Might just ring my mechanic to get them to sort.

Yes cold

Removing the radiator cap on a hot engine is very dangerous, it can violenty erupt hot water like a volcano

Coolant already in there should be pink and Any Organic Acid Technology OAT is fine

The bleed screw is fairly safe hot, it's still very hot but the quantity that comes out is very small and you don't have the rest of your body near by

 

[DaveMcT]

Gurgling after engine start is usually air in the heater = low oolant. The petrol engines with low coolant will quickly blow the head gasket if it's not already blown. For leaks, check the steel pipe that runs between engine block and exhaust catalyst (it rusts) and of course all clips and the radiator core.

 

[AlexJD]

Yes cold

Removing the radiator cap on a hot engine is very dangerous, it can violenty erupt hot water like a volcano

Coolant already in there should be pink and Any Organic Acid Technology OAT is fine

The bleed screw is fairly safe hot, it's still very hot but the quantity that comes out is very small and you don't have the rest of your body near by

Will do. Just got confused when you said earlier that you can do the bleed screw warm with some precautions. I've always done anything coolant related after leaving it overnight since 2nd degree burns aren't a good look.

Just need to pickup some coolant tomorrow as my mechanic can only get me in Thursday so I'm going to try sort it before then or at least determine if it's simply air in the system or if there's a leak somewhere. I think it would have cleared any air by now though.

Very annoying that the coolant reservoir is opaque, think I'll have to use a torch to try keep between min/max.

I'm a bit confused by this issue. I thought they were self bleeding too but there's definitely a brief sloshing noise on a morning when I start the car cold. Although as with all issues in this Panda, it seems intermittent which doesn't make sense.

I'm not noticing any of the usual symptoms you'd see if it had blown the head gasket which it I think it should have done by now. Although having said that it did have an issue with very intermittent misfires before the timing belt/water pump work was done...but that went away after replacing the spark plugs so it could be a red herring.

 

[koalar]

The radiator cap has a large area and goes from closed to fully open instantly, very dangerous to open hot




The bleed screw open proportionally with less than a mm, If you open when hot, it will start to hiss as the pressure forces the air out, don't open it any further, as soon as liquid comes out tighten, there's that so little flow it just feels a little hot.

It's not official, not rccomended, but it's by far the fastest way to bleed the system.

If you are not comfortable in doing this do it the official way

If I am doing a coolant change I don't even bother bleeding. I just fill very slowly via syphoning through a small pipe and go inside for a cup of tea. After the first dive it's air free

 

[DaveMcT]

Suggest you use plain water to confirm there is no damage to cylinder head gasket. If it tests out OK then change the coolant for the correct strength OAT. If the gasket has gone, you wont have wasted money on coolant that's going to waste.

When I replaced the steel pipe at front of engine, I had a terrible job bleeding the system. The solution was a 2ft long rubber pipe that fitted over the heater bleed point. I put the funnel on the top end of the hose and filled it. Started the engine and kept topping up until it stopped glugging.

 

[AlexJD]

Yep

But try a quick bleed first

0010T20 ENGINE COOLANT - CHANGE - Fiat - NUOVA 500 - eLearn - 4CarData

Ignore
the drainage screw in the lower part of the radiator on the left hand side.

Don't bother with the radiator bleed screw if it's tight

Might be for the 500 but doesn't matter they are the same

Is your car the type with a seperate expansion bottle or is it on the side of the radiator

Bled the system as described in the guide by opening the air release valve and a little coolant. I definitely heard a small amount of air escape. Closed it once coolant started escaping.

Tightened everything back up and went to start the car only to hear the dreaded 'bubble gurgle'. Tried your quick bleed method but no further air escaped. Started the car again, 'bubble gurgle'. I have now noticed it very occasionally when driving too which is unusual since I would expect it to go away when the coolant reaches temperature/pressure.

I swear I'm going crazy or something it's so intermittent but it knows when you're trying to fix it.

Mechanic is looking at it tomorrow as the sound wasn't there until they did the belt/pump. I wish I had been brave enough to do the belt/pump myself haha (would have ended in tears). Oh well.

 

[AlexJD]

Oh dear. I think I might have found the problem. After topping it up to the line, bleeding, and warming the engine up for a bit I checked the coolant level again and it had significantly dropped despite everything being closed tight. Probably a leak somewhere? Unless that's just a result of bleeding?

 

[koalar]

Oh dear. I think I might have found the problem. After topping it up to the line, bleeding, and warming the engine up for a bit I checked the coolant level again and it had significantly dropped despite everything being closed tight. Probably a leak somewhere? Unless that's just a result of bleeding?

Correct

Need sorting asap

Back to the garage that did the water pump, They haven't done something properly,

 

[AlexJD]

Correct

Need sorting asap

Back to the garage that did the water pump, They haven't done something properly,

Going in tomorrow - usually a very good shop. Not common for them to miss things, I wonder what they've done...

It is suppose to drop a bit after bleeding, filling and running for awhile right? I still think there's a leak though as it went from the max line to above the min line which seems like a lot given the small amount of air that came out.

 

[koalar]

Going in tomorrow - usually a very good shop. Not common for them to miss things, I wonder what they've done...

It is suppose to drop a bit after bleeding, filling and running for awhile right? I still think there's a leak though as it went from the max line to above the min line which seems like a lot given the small amount of air that came out.

Yep things don't always go according to plan

Yep a small leak

Fingers crossed soon sorted

 

[AlexJD]

Yep things don't always go according to plan

Yep a small leak

Fingers crossed soon sorted

Hopefully yeah it's fine just find it strange since the work was done 14 days ago so it must be a really slow leak?

 

[AlexJD]

Yep definitely leaking. I did wonder if it was just the air escaping and a second top-up would resolve but it didn't. Had to top it up again to take it down to the garage, let the air out again and there was a hiss again. Filled it up to max. Then arrived at the garage only to find it back down the min line again after 3 miles. Will leave them to sort it.