Technical Panda multijet. Anyone beaten 155K mileage in their Panda multijet?

[MountainRunner]

The Fiat Panda 1.3 Multijet has been around for almost 20 years. Diesels are renowned for reaching very high mileages and in 2003 Fiat expected its multijet to last beyond 155,000 miles.

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Has anyone beaten this mileage and how are your engines with high mileage performing?

 

[varesecrazy]

The early motors were 70/75bhp

These often manage 250/300 thousand on the factory fit camchain.. obviously more miles are possible if you can do a replacement cheaply

 

[koalar]

not my car

320K miles

everything engine wise is original, chain (not recommended), turbo, DPF, injectors and so on

plenty of diesel Corsa's D's make it over the 350K mark.

 

[DaveMcT]

The cam chain on mine let go at 120,000 miles. It's hardly worn but side plate fatigue broke a link with all the expected consequences.
The chains are safe for 100,000, After that, you are asking for trouble.

The rest of the engine has next to no wear.

 

[Cinq999]

Just hit 160k in mine.

Still on original chain, and been running nearly 140hp for the past 5 years/80k miles.....and I freely admit to ragging the pistons out of it every day

Engine still running sweet and smooth.

Oil change every 3k miles since new (18 years now).

 

[RalphM]

Had my 06 model for about 2 years, it had 21,000 on the clock when i got it
now at 31000 so should have lots of miles, I get the feeling that given annual
oil changes they will do lots of miles though mine assent got many but it
does seem to thrive on revs and seems happy to sit at any speed you care
to diel in.

 

[DaveMcT]

Properly working these engines is what they need. "Careful" driving leads to carbon clogging everything including the oil. I replaced the piston rings, because oil rings were clogged solid with carbon.

Listening for chain rattle really won't help. The original owner said mine was all good before the cam chain broke. When I compared the old chain side bend against the new, there was minimal difference. Some wear but not that remarkable. The problem is fatigue fracture in the chain links. The original chain really should have been a double row (duplex) - or better a toothed belt that's easier to replace. Go on EPER and check the chain against the cam gears and you'll see what I mean.

 

[farmer.palmer]

Just hit 160k in mine.

Still on original chain, and been running nearly 140hp for the past 5 years/80k miles.....and I freely admit to ragging the pistons out of it every day

Engine still running sweet and smooth.

Oil change every 3k miles since new (18 years now).

140HP on a 1.3 multijet? How did you manage that, if you don't mind me asking, it must be rocketship....

 

[Cinq999]

140HP on a 1.3 multijet? How did you manage that, if you don't mind me asking, it must be rocketship....

Among other things, bigger turbo, injectors, intercooler, straight through exhaust, cold air induction, custom remap to suit.....plus various sensors, valves and pipework has been changed. Plus brakes, suspension, alloys etc to keep it on the road

It would go higher, but want to keep it reliable.

There used to be a company in Portugal that sold a 140hp kit off the shelf......you could order a kit, and all the parts would arrive in a box, ready to fit, just needed the ECU to be mapped to suit.

I've stripped the rear interior out, as I use it as a small van......so only weighs around 800kg......it is rapid......but needs new front tyres every 6000 miles

 

[farmer.palmer]

Among other things, bigger turbo, injectors, intercooler, straight through exhaust, cold air induction, custom remap to suit.....plus various sensors, valves and pipework has been changed. Plus brakes, suspension, alloys etc to keep it on the road

It would go higher, but want to keep it reliable.

There used to be a company in Portugal that sold a 140hp kit off the shelf......you could order a kit, and all the parts would arrive in a box, ready to fit, just needed the ECU to be mapped to suit.

I've stripped the rear interior out, as I use it as a small van......so only weighs around 800kg......it is rapid......but needs new front tyres every 6000 miles

Now I understand why you change the oil every 3k miles.

 

[DaveMcT]

With all that kit, you should fit an 2 micron oil bypass filter. These go in parallel to the standard filter and take about 10% of the oil flow to polish out the really fine dirt so the oil lasts longer. I want one on mine but haven't had time to work out how to get the pipes fitted to the oil filter/cooler block.

 

[Cinq999]

Now I understand why you change the oil every 3k miles.

The previous owner had it from new, and he changed the oil every 3k/6 months since new (helicopter mechanic), and as I can get fully synthetic oil virtually free.....thought I'd carry on anyway......no reason it shouldn't reach 300k.....several of the old vans at work with the same engine lasted over 300k before we got new vans.

 

[koalar]

Among other things, bigger turbo, injectors, intercooler, straight through exhaust, cold air induction, custom remap to suit.....plus various sensors, valves and pipework has been changed. Plus brakes, suspension, alloys etc to keep it on the road

It would go higher, but want to keep it reliable.

There used to be a company in Portugal that sold a 140hp kit off the shelf......you could order a kit, and all the parts would arrive in a box, ready to fit, just needed the ECU to be mapped to suit.

I've stripped the rear interior out, as I use it as a small van......so only weighs around 800kg......it is rapid......but needs new front tyres every 6000 miles

That's a great result

There's been a rolling road of a corsa 1.3D posted on the corsa forums

148bhp can't remember the torque

As far as I remember the engine was standard but they had a 1.7 turbo plumbed in and an aggressive remap

 

[DaveMcT]

The cam chain on mine had failed at 120K. It was not badly worn but the side plates fractured. I think it's a design Fup, because the spur gears connecting the cams are huge and never show any wear. A twin row chain would have cost peanuts and easily lasted the life of the engine. Sadly an upgrade would be near impossible - just too many knock-on effects.

That all said, at least one rocker arm was failing before the cam chain broke. I found roller needles in the sump. The broken arms had intact bearings. The lifters ball ends were also wearing some were quite bad. Cylinder bores are excellent, but oil control rings were clogged with soot. Regular oil changes or bypass oil filter will avoid that issue.

Main bearings and cam bearings are all lovely so it clearly had regular oil changes. Even the cam chain tensioner was good as new, though you do get a replacement with the new chain kit.

Inlet manifold and cylinder head ports were badly clogged by EGR soot. A very good reason to not drive too slowly in a modern diesel.

 

[EcoActive]

I recently bought a 1.1 Eco Active as I was attracted by the economy and also the fact that cambelt failure will not wreck the engine. I shied away from the 1.3 diesel option which offers even better fuel economy as I had read that the diesel did not have a good reputation. So I was quite surprised to read about the high mileages these engines seem able to achieve. What oil change frequency will guarantee longevity of the standard engine? Also, what is the typical cost of having a garage replace the timing chain?

 

[DaveMcT]

If you like to drive very economically DO NOT get the diesel. It will give you amazing mpg but too much slow driving leads to soot deposits in the inlet side as crap carried from the EGR gets time to separate due to low speed airflow. Lots of stop start town driving puts more stress on any cam drive (belt chain or otherwise). For example Renault say their 2.0 engines cam belt life is 70,000 under “normal use”. But if the car mostly gets used for short journeys especially around town the belt life is reduced to 40,000 miles.

 

[EcoActive]

Thank you for that. I actually like to drive fairly fast but economically by slowing down ahead and not braking excessively. I do a mixture of country lanes and dual carriageways. In view of what you have said though it seems the Eco Active may actually have been my best choice.

 

[DaveMcT]

You might be happier with the 1.2. It has better mid range than the 1.1 so nicer to drive. The additional 100cc makes no difference to fuel usage.

Tyres are interesting. I get considerable miles from the 100HP tyres but have to put up with poor turning circle and harsh ride. Mrs Dave gets barely a year from her 1.2's 13" tyres. I think they are really not wide enough leading to scrubbed away shoulders. In my opinion, 14 x 175 are at the sweet spot between width and side wall height.

 

[RalphM]

My 1.3 oiler had a set of fronts at 9350 miles due to inside edge ware, I got the car at 21000
and noticed it was understeering more than expected, checked tracking , it was toeing in a lot
reset to very sight toe out, this cured the understeer, and cut down on the edge ware.
New rears fitted at 21600 plenty thread due to cracking due to age, would likely have done 40000.
Changed front tyres as they were starting to crack and were noisey to the same as rears at 27500
so they did about 18000 miles and still legal.
At 31000 miles noticed inside thread ware, lower ball joints had gone so new joints and swapped
fronts with rears to even out the ware will now keep a eye on the fronts see how they go.

 

[DaveMcT]

Our 1.2 has had the tracking checked at the last tyre fit and I keep the suspension and steering in good condition. I think most of it is fast cornering as she's "a bit quick" on traffic islands. I dont faff about in the 100HP but it's just got more capable wheels/tyres.