General Panda brakes rusting

[The Panda Nut]

Ive posted some comments on the 169 Panda forum which are directly related. Our 3rd Panda (Peanut) Easy 1.2 Late 2016 - Pandabird 3 needs a bit of TLC in the rust proofing department (rear axle) so I decided to start today. I thought I would first soak the front suspension bolts and fixings in penetrating oil and cover these with Bilt hamber, also remove the bumper fixings and arch liner screws and do similar. I never got any of the screws oiut of the offside liner, but have done the near side a few weeks back. While there I noticed rust creeping in on the brake discs so decided to remove them and clean them up. The car has only done 19K but the discs were not in the best shape. The off side was not too bad and cleaned up easily, the near side was worse and took an age to remove a slight lip and the rusty edges. The slide pins on both sides were very sticky and the grease totally dry. These are now cleaned and greased and I flatted the pads and refitted them. There was at least 75% left. This car has the star bolts holding the caliper bracket rather than the big standard bolts on the 2014 car. These will be changed for the standard bolt asap as they took a lot of shifting and taxed my star sockets to the max. jacking under my solid half inch drive bar did the trick just. I wish Fiat would make discs out of decent steel! I checked Pandabird 1 and Pandabird 3 which were cleaned up a while ago and both brake systems seem to be 100% with no rusty disc faces. It seems these really need doing annually without fail. The rear discs on Noop (TA 4x4) are nicely shiny after its trip to Northumberland, Scotland (just) and to the top of the Cheviots on unmade tracks. The 1000 miles fully laden seems to have freed things up properly. Ruby the 2014 Lounge seems to have the best clean brakes which is something as these were quite rusty 18 months back. One has to ask why Fiat deem brake servicing unnecessary when its clearly vital, and why the dealers refuse to do this at a sensible cost. All it needs is the sliders cleaning and greasing and I think all this rust would cease to be a problem. Pandabird 4 is I believe and Easy+ 1.2 2017 and came with new discs and pads. I need to check the sliders though! Hopefully it will be home, for me to do it in the next few weeks. Both hte new additions seem otherwise in good fettle fingers crossed.

 

[SB1500]

Had many a fight with the 169 Panda brake components and especially stuck calliper pins, nothing a clean and grease can’t sort out. The discs also got rusty fast with a bit of a rim, but all the cars I’ve had since (DS3, Avensis and now CT200) are all the same.

When I first got the Panda at 10 years old, the brakes had a real thick (deep dish?!) rim that we were able to nearly hammer off but they must have been quite old to be so rusty.

It was always just annoyingly brown / rust around the discs but never a problem. I suspect my current car will be the same, its brakes are nearly new in terms of thickness but years old and getting a bit whiney when warm sometimes.

I think you’re doing all the right jobs on them. Quite an impressive fleet of Panda’s you’ve got

 

[Pedigrine]

Ive posted some comments on the 169 Panda forum which are directly related. Our 3rd Panda (Peanut) Easy 1.2 Late 2016 - Pandabird 3 needs a bit of TLC in the rust proofing department (rear axle) so I decided to start today. I thought I would first soak the front suspension bolts and fixings in penetrating oil and cover these with Bilt hamber, also remove the bumper fixings and arch liner screws and do similar. I never got any of the screws oiut of the offside liner, but have done the near side a few weeks back. While there I noticed rust creeping in on the brake discs so decided to remove them and clean them up. The car has only done 19K but the discs were not in the best shape. The off side was not too bad and cleaned up easily, the near side was worse and took an age to remove a slight lip and the rusty edges. The slide pins on both sides were very sticky and the grease totally dry. These are now cleaned and greased and I flatted the pads and refitted them. There was at least 75% left. This car has the star bolts holding the caliper bracket rather than the big standard bolts on the 2014 car. These will be changed for the standard bolt asap as they took a lot of shifting and taxed my star sockets to the max. jacking under my solid half inch drive bar did the trick just. I wish Fiat would make discs out of decent steel! I checked Pandabird 1 and Pandabird 3 which were cleaned up a while ago and both brake systems seem to be 100% with no rusty disc faces. It seems these really need doing annually without fail. The rear discs on Noop (TA 4x4) are nicely shiny after its trip to Northumberland, Scotland (just) and to the top of the Cheviots on unmade tracks. The 1000 miles fully laden seems to have freed things up properly. Ruby the 2014 Lounge seems to have the best clean brakes which is something as these were quite rusty 18 months back. One has to ask why Fiat deem brake servicing unnecessary when its clearly vital, and why the dealers refuse to do this at a sensible cost. All it needs is the sliders cleaning and greasing and I think all this rust would cease to be a problem. Pandabird 4 is I believe and Easy+ 1.2 2017 and came with new discs and pads. I need to check the sliders though! Hopefully it will be home, for me to do it in the next few weeks. Both hte new additions seem otherwise in good fettle fingers crossed.

Hello Panda Nut.I am going to have a spray on the rust,under my Panda.Decided to use Bilt hamber,but which one?.They all look simalar to me,just slightly different.Dynax S50/ Dynax UB / Dynax UC.

 

[WitleyPanda]

Hello Panda Nut.I am going to have a spray on the rust,under my Panda.Decided to use Bilt hamber,but which one?.They all look simalar to me,just slightly different.Dynax S50/ Dynax UB / Dynax UC.

UB, under body, apply with brush normally as thicker coating.
S50 cavity I.e. sills and door bottoms,
UC under clear, thinner coating can be built up, easier to spray.
Read the description and how to apply to chose, you might decide to mix and match, different products in different areas?

 

[The Panda Nut]

Im in line with Witley Panda. I used UB50 and UC50
Both sprays worked really well, no blocked nozzles. Can work any way up you want / need to hold them and for underneath I would use UB as I prefer the finish. Doing underneath with a brush not for me ! The BH Web site helps choose the product. UB and UC specifically recomended for cars. You can just see where the UB Ran out and i started on the UC which is a bit thick in 1 or 2 spots. Im very pleased with the results which did follow a light power wash

 

[Pedigrine]

Thanks for answers ordered the UC.Sounds the easier option for me,