Dear John
M.reg. panda 1000 c.c. manual box. This car has very little power when reaching normal running temperiture, but up to reaching normal temperiture runs like a little rocket. At 30m.p.h. in fourth gear there is no power at the accelerater, you have to change down to third to get any responce at all. It has been in Fiat main dealers on two accasions the last time for three days. they know there is a problem but they cant find what it is!! It has been on thier diagnostic machine twice and it is saying everthing is o.k. although they know there is a problem. After this I took it to another garage who said it was valves. On paying a large bill to get my car back I find the problem is still there!!!!!!! If you can offer me any help I will be eternally gratfull as I am at the end of my tether with this car.
In anticipation Lew
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Is this a carburettor Panda or a monopoint injected one with a cat?
HJ
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monopoint injection with cat
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Lew,
Once a small engined car such as the Panda has a fault it will seem worse than on a large car because the car has so little power even when OK. They are very prone to poor starting, stalling at idle and fluffing when pulling away for this reason.
Is yours the one with a 1000cc "Fire" engine and Weber carb?
There must be a clue in the fact that yours is fine cold and poor when hot.
Two possible issues here.
One is that something that gets hot as the car warms up is failing. On these I have known the trigger unit for the electronic ign to fail with heat, this is situated within the distributor and can be simply replaced (part about £40?). Also the ign coil can break down with heat and under load (about £25). The ign amplifier is a possibility but these are blamed more than they deserve, often proving OK.
The second point is fuel mixture. Perhaps while the choke is on (manual?) there is a decent mixture but as soon as the car is warm enough for the choke to be returned then the mixture setting is too weak. There is a known fault with the Panda/Uno carb on some models whereby is is too weak for proper performance. The mixture is marginal when new and then as the car ages it will be gradually worse, the worn engine being less able to cope with the lean mixture. On affected models an alternative carb jet is available.
Last extra thought. If you have the carb model I'm assuming, I have had one where the owner was being driven mad by poor performance (but fine on choke). It turned out the idle cut off valve was faulty. This is a device that shuts off fuel to the carb on the overrun and then reintsates the fuel at about 1200rpm so the engine doesn't die. It is an electrical contact on the throttle linkage on the carb. If this cuts out in error during normal driving it will affect performance.
How do these thoughts strike you?
Do come back with any more info that might prove them wrong or narrow it down a little.
David
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Sorry Lew, missed the extra info while I was doing reply off-line.
Oh well it might help a carb Panda owner.
David
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Hi David
Thank'for your help enyway
lew
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PS
I think you still have the same ign system with the trigger in the distributor so those two thoughts apply.
You need the Tune-Up guys with some likely faults on the mono-point system
David
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Could be a stuffed cat. When you start the engine, the bits of broken cat matrix sit around on the bottom of the cannister allowing a free flow of exhaust gases. But as the car moves and pressure builds up in the exhaust system, they move to the back of the cat and block the flow of outgoing gases, strangling the engine.
HJ
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Dear H J
( Stuffed cat ) would this not have been noticed on the MOT or fiats dignostics machine, these people are surpposed to know what they are doing!!!!!!!!. but thanks for imput
Lew
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Sounds like a problem re fuelling. Possible causes are O2 sensor failing to come in or a temp sensor going out of spec when warm. Fiat had a lot of trouble with O2 sensor earthing. While the engine is warming up the ECU disregards the output from the O2 sensor then when the engine is up to temp it looks to the sensor for info regarding fuel mixture. If the sensor has failed it can cause the mixture to run excessively rich or weak without triggering a fault code on the computer so to all intents the device shows up as functioning. Needs proper dignostic routine to be carried out.
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Dear Andrew thanks for your imput ,Would fiat not have cheack the 02 sensor when it was on the dignostic machine this is a main agent for fiat that had my car . Can you explain to me wear the 02 sensor is ( I'm not a machanic but willing to try and change parts my self )
Lew
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Dear Andrew
I rang the fiat garage and I was told that the lambda was changed' and the problem was still ther so thy put the old one back.Eny more Ideas thank's eny way for your help.
Lew
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Well folks do we have any more ideas on this panda as non of the others worked ???????????? Surely there most be someone out there who has had the same problem, or is my Panda unique???????
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Lew,
This does sound like a fuelling problem but....have you eliminated the overheating coil or ign trigger yet?
Also there is a great difference between asking the Fiat dealer if they have checked something Andrew M advised and actually getting a chap like him to check it over.
Is it worth asking Andrew if he has a tuning contact in your area?
David
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OK so Fiat say the O2 sensor is fine, so be it. The other possibility is a fouled injector. Whilst the engine is warming up the mixture is richened (enrichened?)gradually leaning off as temp and O2 sensor dictate. If the injector is fouled it will not be able to deliver the correct fuel mixture especially under load and acceleration. Do you use supermarket fuel? If so a change to branded fuel may alleviate the problem. Where are you based?
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