General What did you do with your Panda today,? Battery Down

[Motorcyclist Colin]

My 4x4 2018 Panda has only done some 8000 miles from new due to many factors but probably because I have 9 motorbikes use of 2 scooters another car already on the drive and lots of holidays in our Camper, plus 2 electric bikes.( I know it is hard on me but, as they say, someone has to do it, and I really don't mind too much).
The Panda lives in it's comfortable garage day in day out, though it did come out in early June for an MOT. for that it started without any problem.
Today however when I attempted to start it, it just turned over, regularly and quickly but did not fire up. A multimeter on the battery showed 12.27 volts. So on with the smart charger and a bit of a wait.
All this sunny weather is not good enough, roll on some snow, as so far, in 4 plus years I have never got to play with the little beast in the snow.
I suppose I can't have it all, my bikes have had a good innings this year, though each time I take one out of my (tricky access) workshop it is heavier than when I put it away, my leathers are tighter and I seem to get more tired more quickly.
None of these things were a problem 85, plus, years ago, so why is it happening now? I do recall we had a bit of a problem with ME109s messing about over Kent, but they soon went away

 

[The Panda Nut]

oh deers. It does sound like battery. Is it E10 petrol, I understand that can go off. May be add some new stuff?

PS Ill give you £50 for it as a non runner..... Cash!

Playing in the snow is so boring. Just like a new expensive german car on a dry road. I thoroughly enjoyed climbingh all over a BMW after it went fling by in the peaks and then overtaking after it did a large twitch on a bend. Never saw it again! They really dont like getting a bit back!

12.27v is a bit on the low side. Seriously I hope you can get it sorted. See hand book before tow starting!

 

[Panda IIs]

My 4x4 2018 Panda has only done some 8000 miles from new due to many factors but probably because I have 9 motorbikes use of 2 scooters another car already on the drive and lots of holidays in our Camper, plus 2 electric bikes.( I know it is hard on me but, as they say, someone has to do it, and I really don't mind too much).
The Panda lives in it's comfortable garage day in day out, though it did come out in early June for an MOT. for that it started without any problem.
Today however when I attempted to start it, it just turned over, regularly and quickly but did not fire up. A multimeter on the battery showed 12.27 volts. So on with the smart charger and a bit of a wait.
All this sunny weather is not good enough, roll on some snow, as so far, in 4 plus years I have never got to play with the little beast in the snow.
I suppose I can't have it all, my bikes have had a good innings this year, though each time I take one out of my (tricky access) workshop it is heavier than when I put it away, my leathers are tighter and I seem to get more tired more quickly.
None of these things were a problem 85, plus, years ago, so why is it happening now? I do recall we had a bit of a problem with ME109s messing about over Kent, but they soon went away

Do I recall correctly that yours is a TA? It may be a bit of a myth, so don't really want to perpetuate it on here, but I believe the oil in the UniAir unit drains down gradually (to the sump). Therefore if left unattended for a while the car will require a bit of extra cranking which, combined with the hot weather, which the battery won't like, may have generated the current situation.

Either way, seems like you are "on it" and the battery charged will be a good starting point. Don't really buy the duff petrol thing over the timescales you mention but you'll find it runs better on 98 octane "super grades" which remain E5 at the moment.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Do I recall correctly that yours is a TA? It may be a bit of a myth, so don't really want to perpetuate it on here, but I believe the oil in the UniAir unit drains down gradually (to the sump). Therefore if left unattended for a while the car will require a bit of extra cranking which, combined with the hot weather, which the battery won't like, may have generated the current situation.

Either way, seems like you are "on it" and the battery charged will be a good starting point. Don't really buy the duff petrol thing over the timescales you mention but you'll find it runs better on 98 octane "super grades" which remain E5 at the moment.

Yes I think this may be correct. Mines a TA as well. Im either fussy or a coward and ensure its started and driven round the block if no more every two weeks. I do not trust Petronas oIl and fear if you have this, it may well drain back more thoroughly. Im sure there is a post by someone else on here saying they had to crank for a long time to get the oil pressure up and it ran badly for a bit until it was all pumped up. If the TA unit is oil starved the inlet valves wont operate I reckon it would not make starting to easy! I did have rough running once on startup this smoothed out with a bit of welly. Sounded a lot sad for a little. It cannot be anything much on an 8000 miler. I have a motorcycing nutty mate who seems in league with one of the bike mags. They tested E10 and found lots of issues apparently. It doesnt get on with Noop so I only use it on long runs if Im in no hurry, and then fill with the good stuff if the cars mainly standing around. Our 1.2's both hate E10 and suffer a big drop off in oomph so they never get it. The issues are clearly real. A 2018 car should run fine on E10 but my 2019 TA is much better without it.

 

[Marcus Daly]

E5's essential in the TA, I would say. Totally transforms the car versus E10. Even makes ECO mode just-about-bearable.

 

[The Panda Nut]

E5's essential in the TA, I would say. Totally transforms the car versus E10. Even makes ECO mode just-about-bearable.

Clearly I have a good one now. Its averaging 43mpg and does 48-60 on a run. It doent need the eco off as goes pretty well with it on. But with E10 its definitely a damp squib. My last pne was a bit limp in eco and getting much ,more than 35mpg was nearluy impossible not unusual to see 10 or 11mpg driven hard!

 

[FiatMatt94]

Today however when I attempted to start it, it just turned over, regularly and quickly but did not fire up.

I have noticed since owning my Panda it does this if I leave it parked at a slight angle it will turn over but not fire then after 2nd/3rd turn it will fire up & be fine, outside home is a prime example as it always does it there. When it first did it I thought there was something slightly wrong but then I know a couple of people who own 169 Panda's which when I explained to them what was happening it turned out that both of theirs do it as well if parked at a slight angle, so I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the Panda's many weird unique little niggles that only Fiat can get away with because we love them & try not to park at an angle if it can be avoided as the little fella gets the hump.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I have noticed since owning my Panda it does this if I leave it parked at a slight angle it will turn over but not fire then after 2nd/3rd turn it will fire up & be fine, outside home is a prime example as it always does it there. When it first did it I thought there was something slightly wrong but then I know a couple of people who own 169 Panda's which when I explained to them what was happening it turned out that both of theirs do it as well if parked at a slight angle, so I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the Panda's many weird unique little niggles that only Fiat can get away with because we love them & try not to park at an angle if it can be avoided as the little fella gets the hump.

Lest do a Pandas to Pandino but go and have a rally outside the Fiat Factory instead. We should be able to feel better if we mess up one of their days! If challenged we could shrug and say... Don't worry about it..... its just Panda drivers.... they are all the same!

 

[The Panda Nut]

I had another thought on the starting. If you do suspect the TA units gone dry, you could remove the oil filter to the TA and inject some fresh oil directly in to this port while its out. I dont know what anyone else thinks on this daft idea.

 

[Panda IIs]

I have noticed since owning my Panda it does this if I leave it parked at a slight angle it will turn over but not fire then after 2nd/3rd turn it will fire up & be fine, outside home is a prime example as it always does it there. When it first did it I thought there was something slightly wrong but then I know a couple of people who own 169 Panda's which when I explained to them what was happening it turned out that both of theirs do it as well if parked at a slight angle, so I came to the conclusion that it must be one of the Panda's many weird unique little niggles that only Fiat can get away with because we love them & try not to park at an angle if it can be avoided as the little fella gets the hump.

Or it's clever engineering to prevent the engine running with dry bearing journals..?

 

[Panda IIs]

I had another thought on the starting. If you do suspect the TA units gone dry, you could remove the oil filter to the TA and inject some fresh oil directly in to this port while its out. I dont know what anyone else thinks on this daft idea.

Oooo, remove a filter then add oil, not sure I'd be going there!

 

[Leroypanda]

When my Panda wants his battery charging he puts his wipers on himself for one sweep when the ignition is turned on..

 

[Motorcyclist Colin]

Many Thanks folks for all the help, above.
When the battery was fully charged after about 10 hrs on the Smart Charger, the engine would turn over quickly but still did not start. I had already come to the conclusion that the oil had drained down and would not operate the valves. However before continuing to crank the engine I had a word with my very helpful independent garage, to see if they had encountered the problem before. They confirmed that they had had a least one car in, where oil had drained to such an extent that valves would not operate . They also confirmed what i thought that no damage would be done by continued cranking the engine.
So after fitting my wife's Hyundai with the new wiper blades I originally went to the garage to buy, I cranked the Panda over for a few minutes, and lo and behold, after a fairly short time there was a change in the sound of cranking and it started and ran as smoothly as ever. I blipped it a few times and then left it running for 10 mins or so. After that it has started straight away a couple more times. In future I shall use it more frequently as going for a pootle round is no hardship.
Dealing with the other points raised, I am running Castrol Magnatec "Stop Start" SAE 0/30 and the car appears very happy on this
I only fill up with E5 and the extra cost is, I am sure, offset by better mpg.
On recent long hot trip on my old Egli-Vincent "V" twin bike I was forced to fill with E10 as it was very low and no E5 available. The bike ran absolutely awfully, well down on power, needing half as much throttle again as usual to maintain any useful speed. It was scorching hot on arrival home and refused tor restart until it had substantially cooled down. What little E10 remaining was drained off and used in my wife's injection scooter, along with some E5 already in it. The modern Peugeot scooter seems to cope with E10 OK., but none of my old bikes will tolerate E5. I now carry with me on all the old bikes a bolttle of Millers Octane booster in case I am stuck with an E10 refill.
Obviously the old bikes are all on carbs (ie no injection) but they are all as perfectly set up as I can possibly manage and always ran well on "real" petrol. They run adequately well on E5 and I am now experimenting with various additives but have come to no conclusions as yet.
We are , apparently getting a new Esso Station near where I live, hopefully this Esso "petrol" will be one of those with little/no ethylene
Finally the Panda battery is clearly in good condition as it measured at about 12..78v after cranking for a while (plus a few minutes rest)
Again Thanks everyone for useful feedback. Anyone got any ideas as to why my bikes weigh more when taken out than they did when put away, and why my leathers are tighter than they used to be, though I suspect I know really!
I know this is a Panda forum but thought someone may like a pic of my Egli-Vincents a single and a twin.

 

[Motorcyclist Colin]

The above should read "none of my old bikes will tolerate E10" NOT E5 as written above