General Panda Noise

[PandaSam44]

Morning All,


I've had my twinair Panda 4x4 for almost a year and it was bought new. I'm in London and spend a lot of time crawling or reversing at low speed and have noticed that under these circumstances there's sometimes a noise that seems (it's hard to tell exactly) to come from the rear wheels. The noise sounds a bit like a break noise (too low to be a squeak but too high to be a groan) except that it happens when the breaks aren't in operation and if you do apply the break pedal a separate noise can often be heard.


Of course, like all intermittent issues, the garage claims they can't hear anything and that there's nothing wrong. However, as they can't tell me what might be making the noise I'm not sure that they are in a position to tell me that everything's fine.


Before I kick up more of a fuss, I would be interested to know if anyone else has experienced similar issues or even found a solution.


Cheers,


Sam

 

[Demic]

Had this twice now. Believe it's the rear discs rubbing. Dealer stripping and clean the brakes cures it but it's not a permanent fix.

 

[samol]

The only noise I get from my rear discs is if it's been standing for a while and theres a bit of surface rust on them but a few miles & after using the brakes a couple of time it's gone. Do you think the slow traffic & lac of higher speed braking isn't giving the discs enough time to clean off any crud on there?
I am right in assuming it has discs on the rear not drums?

The only noise you should here from a Panda surly would be the crunching of bamboo!!

 

[triumph7]

I think this is a characteristic of the car....mine did it early on and the dealer replaced the rear pads under warranty, it cured it for a while but its back now. Its a bit disconcerting and makes one jump sometimes.....

 

[Tom95]

Sticky handbreak mechanism? If it isn't releasing fully it'll make a grinding sort of noise.

 

[varesecrazy]

Had this twice now. Believe it's the rear discs rubbing. Dealer stripping and clean the brakes cures it but it's not a permanent fix.

rubbing brakes is an obvious option, (discs OR drums)

only the OP PandaSam44 will know if that's their issue,

as if the brakes are rubbing -"gentle" pedal pressure should stop it

Charlie

 

[jasonFazack]

Mine has always done it. Comes from near side rear, esp when reversing or slowly turning right. It is on the list for when the car is serviced, along with the occasional non-cancelling indicator.

 

[PandaSam44]

Hi Guys,
Many thanks for your replies, which lead me to think that this may be a symptom that is slightly inherent with the car rather than an impending disaster. The question is whether it is worth the time off work (the garage is not conveniently located) getting the garage to address it, given that it sounds like it might simply return.
Otherwise it is a great car, so much better for city driving than the fiat500 I had before. Sounds ironic but the extra 4x4 ride height is so useful - the 500 was just stunningly bad at speed humps and bumps.
Cheers, Sam

 

[Duffish]

My cross does it to! I am now not worried about it now it's a common problem! Will leave it till service time i think!

 

[Dustyjoe]

I think a lot of modern cars do it, before my panda, had a 61 plate picanto and that made a lot of noise from the back brakes, my panda does but not as loud.

 

[babbo_umbro]

Do all the cars that suffer this problem sit outside? And/or with the handbrake on? I remember there were similar issues with the rear brakes on the Mk 3 100HP. My 100HP didn't suffer over a five year period and my 4x4 TA doesn't after nearly two years - both have been garaged every night (while we're in Devon) with the handbrake off.

 

[SussexJo]

Hi all,
I thought you may be interested in my experience of this particular problem.

I have a Panda 4x4 Antarctica T/A and have had it from new in Feb 2014.

I first noticed this noise at around 2000 miles so called into the dealership to report it. As mentioned by others the noise occurs whilst maneuvering slowly in reverse, say into a parking space or driveway.
It was also noticeable whilst negotiating roundabouts and slow right hand bends.

After an initial checkover and nothing untoward found, the service manager suggested I continue using the car and if the problem worsens to bring it back.

Well it got worse by the day until it became quite embarrassing in the local supermarket car park with people looking as if to say that's not a good noise coming from a new car.

I then booked the car in again and the technician could clearly hear the noise so I left the car with them to fix.

At this visit they stripped the rear brakes, checked everything and re-built then road tested. Still the squeek was there so they stripped again and filed the edges off the brake pads, thinking that would be the cure. ( I must stress that they were seeking instruction from Fiat before carrying out any works).

The noise stopped for approx 1000 miles and then reappeard so back it went. This time they replaced the rear pads and some bolts on the calliper.

Again all was fine for a few miles then back the noise came so back in it went. This time Fiat advised them to change the calliper brackets as they suspected they may have a 'duff' batch. By then I was up to 9300 miles and I have done 10600 miles as I write. Fingers crossed they may have solved the problem. I'll give it a few more miles yet before I hang the flags out but it does look promising.

I know when these things happen it can be rather inconvenient but I have to say the guys in the service dept. at KAP Eastbourne gave me a fantastic level of service in that they kept me informed constantly with progress and tech talk and never once tried to duck responsibilty so I would recommend them to anyone.

I would suggest those who have this problem put a bit of pressure on the dealership to fix asap because after all it is a brake issue and it appears to be components at fault.

Hope this helps!!!!

 

[Wee Boab]

Hi all,
I thought you may be interested in my experience of this particular problem.

I have a Panda 4x4 Antarctica T/A and have had it from new in Feb 2014.

I first noticed this noise at around 2000 miles so called into the dealership to report it. As mentioned by others the noise occurs whilst maneuvering slowly in reverse, say into a parking space or driveway.
It was also noticeable whilst negotiating roundabouts and slow right hand bends.

After an initial checkover and nothing untoward found, the service manager suggested I continue using the car and if the problem worsens to bring it back.

Well it got worse by the day until it became quite embarrassing in the local supermarket car park with people looking as if to say that's not a good noise coming from a new car.

I then booked the car in again and the technician could clearly hear the noise so I left the car with them to fix.

At this visit they stripped the rear brakes, checked everything and re-built then road tested. Still the squeek was there so they stripped again and filed the edges off the brake pads, thinking that would be the cure. ( I must stress that they were seeking instruction from Fiat before carrying out any works).

The noise stopped for approx 1000 miles and then reappeard so back it went. This time they replaced the rear pads and some bolts on the calliper.

Again all was fine for a few miles then back the noise came so back in it went. This time Fiat advised them to change the calliper brackets as they suspected they may have a 'duff' batch. By then I was up to 9300 miles and I have done 10600 miles as I write. Fingers crossed they may have solved the problem. I'll give it a few more miles yet before I hang the flags out but it does look promising.

I know when these things happen it can be rather inconvenient but I have to say the guys in the service dept. at KAP Eastbourne gave me a fantastic level of service in that they kept me informed constantly with progress and tech talk and never once tried to duck responsibilty so I would recommend them to anyone.

I would suggest those who have this problem put a bit of pressure on the dealership to fix asap because after all it is a brake issue and it appears to be components at fault.

Hope this helps!!!!

My TA 4x4 has the very same issue, the dealer cant find anything wrong with the car, I suspect he may need a hearing aid...

 

[triumph7]

My TA 4x4 has the very same issue, the dealer cant find anything wrong with the car, I suspect he may need a hearing aid...

To be honest, I've stopped worrying about it......am I wrong?

 

[Bogwoppit]

My Cross has done it more or less since day 1. Doesn't bother me at all, may mention it come the 9k service though, give them something to do under warranty.

 

[Wee Boab]

My TA was two years old yesterday, its covered 9800 miles, it was serviced by the supplying dealer last Wednesday, I told them about the noise, they claimed they couldn't hear anything untoward.

 

[triumph7]

My TA was two years old yesterday, its covered 9800 miles, it was serviced by the supplying dealer last Wednesday, I told them about the noise, they claimed they couldn't hear anything untoward.

Trouble is, like a lot of strange noises, its intermittent......

 

[Wee Boab]

After reading what the others are saying, I think I'll just forget about it and live with the noise, it's only happening when reversing I think..

 

[R1NGA]

Mine does it too and I also ignore it, as it's no big deal really....

.... but you should keep an eye on things in terms of a dragging brake and how hot the read calliper is getting. As long as both rear callipers are at a similar temp after a decent drive (and ideally one where you drive nice and smoothly without needing to over exercise the brakes), then you should be OK. A binding brake is a proper nuisance and needs sorted, but one that remains cool yet makes a few odd noises in reverse really isn't a problem.

Easy to check and a good safety measure too.

 

[SussexJo]

My problem was exactly that, a binding brake. It was a friction noise coming from the rear n/s brake and it would squeal at slow speed whether going forwards or backwards at low speed. My concern was premature wear of the discs and pads so had it sorted asap.