Technical Panda 4x4 2021 cutting out within a few minutes of cold start

[Madmaxious]

Hi all, I have posted this in the Fiat 500 forum as there was a similar post.

I have a 2021 (71 plate) Panda 4x4 twinair 85bhp. It's at 8500 miles and it has started to cut out.

So far it has only been within 300 meters of a cold start. There are no lights, noises or indication any thing is wrong before it cuts out. The last time I pulled up to a junction with the start & stop system off, whilst taking it for a service. The engine dies and you get a polite notice saying the start & stop system failed.

Here is the fun part. It then wont restart. We even tried to jump start and nothing.

Eventually it starts, each time after the computer have been access via the OBD port. But it can take 15 seconds of turn over before the engine catches. You then need throttle it for it to catch properly.

After it restarts you can turn the engine off and it is as if nothing went wrong, starts immediately and back to the old smooth driving.

Again, no dash lights, warnings or error codes. Being only 8 months old I have the dealer intrigued but they can't find a fault (as I got it going) unless they can experience the problem. I have a curtesy car and they are going to try and re-create the problem over the next few days.

Fiat recovery have helped once and the engineer was also perplexed, it may have been low on oil as it was due a service, but no oil warning lights.

If anyone has can advise if they have experienced the same and had a fix that would be great.

Many Thanks

 

[The Panda Nut]

This sounds suspiciously like the Fiat 500 you have seen. Maybe you need to tell your dealer about this. Ive had 2 new TA 4x4.s and they clealry have had their share of faults. Clutch hydraulics are a common issue. A poor quality flywheel bearing should be a thing of the past, Maybe this oil sensor is something thats kicked off due to a faultly batch. It sounds so similar. I have never had anything as bad as you describe but have had a couple of occasions where its taken,longer than it should to come to life. Also on a couple of occasions it gets Italian on me and makes a whole lot of odd noises on s tartinhg, but nothing persistent. I have decided to just shout at it and take no further notice. Please keep us posted.

 

[A3jeroen]

This sounds suspiciously like the Fiat 500 you have seen. Maybe you need to tell your dealer about this. Ive had 2 new TA 4x4.s and they clealry have had their share of faults. Clutch hydraulics are a common issue. A poor quality flywheel bearing should be a thing of the past, Maybe this oil sensor is something thats kicked off due to a faultly batch. It sounds so similar. I have never had anything as bad as you describe but have had a couple of occasions where its taken,longer than it should to come to life. Also on a couple of occasions it gets Italian on me and makes a whole lot of odd noises on s tartinhg, but nothing persistent. I have decided to just shout at it and take no further notice. Please keep us posted.

Maybe something gets lost in translation, or it's just me, but I do not understand how this relates to the problem described in the first post.

Cranksensor would be my usual suspect.

gr J

 

[Madmaxious]

Hi all, I promised an update so here it is.

As suspected the 0.9 twinair 85bhp is a fussy little sod.

It was 500 miles from its first service. After the service and a fresh oil change, everything has been fine for about 10 days so far, so the general consensus was it was just low on oil and the ECU had a fit.

2 things that didn't help. The dipstick is a gold colour so it is hard to read the oil level (with clean oil), and there were never any warnings about oil level or pressure.

Therefore, every 5000 miles I think I will give it a top up, with the very specific oil it needs.

Does anyone know a good store that sell the specific oil ?

Fingers crossed that solves the problem permenatly.

Scott

 

[The Panda Nut]

Hi all, I promised an update so here it is.

As suspected the 0.9 twinair 85bhp is a fussy little sod.

It was 500 miles from its first service. After the service and a fresh oil change, everything has been fine for about 10 days so far, so the general consensus was it was just low on oil and the ECU had a fit.

2 things that didn't help. The dipstick is a gold colour so it is hard to read the oil level (with clean oil), and there were never any warnings about oil level or pressure.

Therefore, every 5000 miles I think I will give it a top up, with the very specific oil it needs.

Does anyone know a good store that sell the specific oil ?

Fingers crossed that solves the problem permenatly.

Scott

This is a bit telling the 500 had issues with oil but it was the oil level or pressure sensor deep in the engine. Low oil, or thinking it has low oil clearly stops the car running. Mostly this is a good thing I suppose. At least its more easily understood than something faulty on a brand new car.

Yes the dipstick is a total pain in thte rear and its very very difficult to use. I have to dip the oil at least 10 times before I am satisfied I have a true level and in fact Im looking for an old tool that I think will make a better job, but it will hang on the garage wall so not much good if Im away from home, unless I keep it under the boot floor with the spare wheel,

Take care not to overfill it. I find it does not use much oil at all. Sounds to me like carelessness by servicing garage who should add the correct amount not rely on the dip stick! I am going to get a length of steel similar to the dip stick and fix a cross tab to prevent it dropping into the engine and mark it so it will sit atop the oil filler. I hazard this will give an accurate measure and I can mark teh full and empty levels. Its ridiculous to have to do this but preferable to an incorrect oil level. Very glad your are sorted and its nothing too serious. Thanks for reporting back.