Pandau Ballet - A Study in Economical Motoring
Discussion
I clearly need some sort of intervention.
Last November I bought a cheap Fiat Panda 169 on a whim to trim down my commuting costs and give my 1 series a bit of a break. You can see how well that went here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In fact it went so well, I ended up buying another one on a whim.
Enter WV07 VAA, a 2007 vintage Fiat Panda 1.3 MultiJet. With an MOT history that would make even Mike Brewer shudder and a mere 103,000 miles on the clock, it seemed a no brainer.
There was method in my madness though. Practically, in comparison to the 1.1 petrol Panda I already owned, this MultiJet diesel 1.3 Panda was £30 a year to tax rather than £155, and was in theory capable of 60mpg+ instead of the 40mpg+ I was getting from the petrol Panda. I decided I'd sell on the petrol Panda and keep the diesel one.
The diesel Panda was also "Dynamic" spec, which was pretty much akin to being in a Mulsanne after the petrol Panda which was peasant specification "Active". The diesel Panda therefore came with such delights as colour coded bumpers, upholstered rather than hard plastic head restraints and even Remote Central Locking.
Having since read about a bit, there appear to be only a few common issues that hamper the MultiJet Panda. Thankfully for the benefit of readers here, my particular Panda appears to have fallen victim to pretty much all of them almost immediately after purchase.
I paid £1000 for the Panda with a full years MOT. Which seemed reasonable to me. It's not in terrible cosmetic condition but I'll be able to smarten it up a bit fairly easily.
The first thing I did was move the newer wheels / tyres and wheel trims from my other Panda, along with the mudflaps, and then drove it to Liverpool to take my 3yr old to a Safari Park for her birthday.
I use an app called Road Trip to log fuel economy, it works on a full to full tank basis by simply calculating the miles covered since last fill against how much fuel it has taken to fill the car again. On the trip down to Liverpool I averaged 80.3mpg, which was a fair bit better than I was expecting.
To celebrate, some baboons climbed all over it whilst there:
Next, it all starts to go predictably wrong...
Last November I bought a cheap Fiat Panda 169 on a whim to trim down my commuting costs and give my 1 series a bit of a break. You can see how well that went here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
In fact it went so well, I ended up buying another one on a whim.
Enter WV07 VAA, a 2007 vintage Fiat Panda 1.3 MultiJet. With an MOT history that would make even Mike Brewer shudder and a mere 103,000 miles on the clock, it seemed a no brainer.
There was method in my madness though. Practically, in comparison to the 1.1 petrol Panda I already owned, this MultiJet diesel 1.3 Panda was £30 a year to tax rather than £155, and was in theory capable of 60mpg+ instead of the 40mpg+ I was getting from the petrol Panda. I decided I'd sell on the petrol Panda and keep the diesel one.
The diesel Panda was also "Dynamic" spec, which was pretty much akin to being in a Mulsanne after the petrol Panda which was peasant specification "Active". The diesel Panda therefore came with such delights as colour coded bumpers, upholstered rather than hard plastic head restraints and even Remote Central Locking.
Having since read about a bit, there appear to be only a few common issues that hamper the MultiJet Panda. Thankfully for the benefit of readers here, my particular Panda appears to have fallen victim to pretty much all of them almost immediately after purchase.
I paid £1000 for the Panda with a full years MOT. Which seemed reasonable to me. It's not in terrible cosmetic condition but I'll be able to smarten it up a bit fairly easily.
The first thing I did was move the newer wheels / tyres and wheel trims from my other Panda, along with the mudflaps, and then drove it to Liverpool to take my 3yr old to a Safari Park for her birthday.
I use an app called Road Trip to log fuel economy, it works on a full to full tank basis by simply calculating the miles covered since last fill against how much fuel it has taken to fill the car again. On the trip down to Liverpool I averaged 80.3mpg, which was a fair bit better than I was expecting.
To celebrate, some baboons climbed all over it whilst there:
Next, it all starts to go predictably wrong...
Edited by D4MJT on Thursday 18th August 22:48
Almost immediately after the trip, I started to get a flashing glow plug symbol after starting the car, suggesting that the glow plugs had decided to cease glowing.
Staggeringly, all of these came out like a dream and are stupidly accessible. Removing the top plastic engine cover / airbox gives you full access to all 4 along the front of the engine. I was expecting at least 3 to snap in the head but the job went very smoothly, and the glow plug light no longer flashes after start up.
To reward me for such prompt and thorough maintenance, the starter motor promptly shat itself. There are 2 bolts that hold the starter motor in place, one is underneath the starter motor and accessible from under the car. The other is at the top of the starter motor, recessed inside a crevice on the bellhousing of the gearbox, and appears to be only accessible from a small hut just outside Bognor Regis. Here is said offending bolt, one of many photos taken whilst trying blindly to get a hex tool onto the head of the nut.
Once the swearing had subsided, the new starter motor cured all the starting problems and once again all was well in cheap commuting central.
Staggeringly, all of these came out like a dream and are stupidly accessible. Removing the top plastic engine cover / airbox gives you full access to all 4 along the front of the engine. I was expecting at least 3 to snap in the head but the job went very smoothly, and the glow plug light no longer flashes after start up.
To reward me for such prompt and thorough maintenance, the starter motor promptly shat itself. There are 2 bolts that hold the starter motor in place, one is underneath the starter motor and accessible from under the car. The other is at the top of the starter motor, recessed inside a crevice on the bellhousing of the gearbox, and appears to be only accessible from a small hut just outside Bognor Regis. Here is said offending bolt, one of many photos taken whilst trying blindly to get a hex tool onto the head of the nut.
Once the swearing had subsided, the new starter motor cured all the starting problems and once again all was well in cheap commuting central.
Edited by D4MJT on Thursday 18th August 22:47
Almost an entire week of trouble free commuting ensued before the Panda decided to keep me on my tows again.
This time with a fun double combo. An engine management light, and a suddenly and severely slipping clutch. Joyous. In for a penny as they say.
I checked the car with an OBD reader and the MultiJet Panda's ultimate nemesis reared it's head. The dreaded EGR fault. The EGR itself isn't an issue, it can simply be replaced, it's more that it's in a relatively impossible position to access, being on the back of the engine, above the starter motor, on the cylinder head under the inlet manifold, bolted to the EGR cooler which ideally won't be disturbed.
I'm a glass half full sort of chap, so I figured at least if I cracked on with the clutch, perhaps access would be easier with the gearbox removed and I might be able to shimmy the engine forward in the bay slightly for better access.
It seems pretty much everything needs to be removed from the front of the car for various bits of access.
As expected, all the parts I needed to remove came off like butter and stripping the car down took no time at all.
Still, perseverance paid off and the the box eventually came out:
I've seen worse clutches, but it was definitely low on friction material. I chucked a new Valeo clutch kit in, including a new release bearing.
While I was on I also threw a set of driveshaft oil seals in.
As luck would have it, removing the entire front of the car, the gearbox and everything else did actually give better access to remove the EGR valve and replace, so that was nice.
Obviously one of the bolts sheared though, so I had to get some new ones.
I also ended up having to cut the exhaust off as the slip joint for the downpipe had welded itself together and I couldn't access one of the gearbox bolts. The back box then wouldn't seperate from the cut up mid pipe, so it's now also sporting a full new exhaust. Trigger's Broom springs to mind.
This time with a fun double combo. An engine management light, and a suddenly and severely slipping clutch. Joyous. In for a penny as they say.
I checked the car with an OBD reader and the MultiJet Panda's ultimate nemesis reared it's head. The dreaded EGR fault. The EGR itself isn't an issue, it can simply be replaced, it's more that it's in a relatively impossible position to access, being on the back of the engine, above the starter motor, on the cylinder head under the inlet manifold, bolted to the EGR cooler which ideally won't be disturbed.
I'm a glass half full sort of chap, so I figured at least if I cracked on with the clutch, perhaps access would be easier with the gearbox removed and I might be able to shimmy the engine forward in the bay slightly for better access.
It seems pretty much everything needs to be removed from the front of the car for various bits of access.
As expected, all the parts I needed to remove came off like butter and stripping the car down took no time at all.
Still, perseverance paid off and the the box eventually came out:
I've seen worse clutches, but it was definitely low on friction material. I chucked a new Valeo clutch kit in, including a new release bearing.
While I was on I also threw a set of driveshaft oil seals in.
As luck would have it, removing the entire front of the car, the gearbox and everything else did actually give better access to remove the EGR valve and replace, so that was nice.
Obviously one of the bolts sheared though, so I had to get some new ones.
I also ended up having to cut the exhaust off as the slip joint for the downpipe had welded itself together and I couldn't access one of the gearbox bolts. The back box then wouldn't seperate from the cut up mid pipe, so it's now also sporting a full new exhaust. Trigger's Broom springs to mind.
Having fitted the new clutch, starter motor, replaced the EGR, fitted new glow plugs, changed the wheels / tyres over, it seemed pointless being a quitter, so I moved all the new top mounts and dampers, ARB bushes etc from the petrol Panda that I fitted 3 weeks previously and fitted them to this diesel Panda I was intending to keep.
This car had just passed an MOT satisfactorily so I simply put the parts from this car back on the petrol one, and stuck the petrol one up for sale.
This theoretically left me with a nice little Panda MultiJet in rude health with a years MOT and also:
Full new Exhaust
2 new Top Mounts
2 new front dampers
2 new rear dampers
2 new track rod ends
2 new drop links
2 new ARB bushes
New EGR valve
4 new glow plugs
New Starter Motor
New Clutch Kit and release bearing
New Exhaust Rubbers
4 x Vredestein Quatrac 5 All Season Tyres
New Wipers
Did I mention Triggers Broom previously?
Anyway. Before I did the clutch I asked on the Panda Owners Group if there was any other jobs worth doing while I was on, preventative maintenance etc, I asked about the clutch slave cylinder, only to be assured that these seldom ever go wrong, and they're external to the gearbox so easy to change at a later date if they go wrong. If it ain't broke don't fix it apparently.
Obviously 2 days after changing the clutch the clutch slave cylinder shat itself.
Sigh.
We can add new Clutch Slave cylinder to that list too now.
Still, that's gotta be it right?
This car had just passed an MOT satisfactorily so I simply put the parts from this car back on the petrol one, and stuck the petrol one up for sale.
This theoretically left me with a nice little Panda MultiJet in rude health with a years MOT and also:
Full new Exhaust
2 new Top Mounts
2 new front dampers
2 new rear dampers
2 new track rod ends
2 new drop links
2 new ARB bushes
New EGR valve
4 new glow plugs
New Starter Motor
New Clutch Kit and release bearing
New Exhaust Rubbers
4 x Vredestein Quatrac 5 All Season Tyres
New Wipers
Did I mention Triggers Broom previously?
Anyway. Before I did the clutch I asked on the Panda Owners Group if there was any other jobs worth doing while I was on, preventative maintenance etc, I asked about the clutch slave cylinder, only to be assured that these seldom ever go wrong, and they're external to the gearbox so easy to change at a later date if they go wrong. If it ain't broke don't fix it apparently.
Obviously 2 days after changing the clutch the clutch slave cylinder shat itself.
Sigh.
We can add new Clutch Slave cylinder to that list too now.
Still, that's gotta be it right?
In a shocking twist of fate, it was.
The mighty Pandau Ballet trundled on faithfully, proving to be probably quite literally the sum of all of it's new parts and has provided reliable transport for the last month with no issues.
I even drove it into a harvest field near my folks for a cheeky photo last weekend.
Having ironed out the niggles, (mainly replacing the majority of moving parts on the car) I turned my attention to making it a bit less agricultural and 2000's and a bit more liveable with.
I splashed out on one of these double din head units that are touch screen and provide CarPlay functionality. In fairness, I wasn't really expecting much, I thought I'd take a punt for £150 and see how it went, and if it was slow and didn't connect well / reliably I'd just pick up a second hand PIoneer unit or something on eBay as and when.
Turns out, it's been really good, I'm quite impressed with it.
The kit came with an external hands free Mic, so I've fitted that at the top of the drivers A-Pillar trim and it seems to work well. It also bizarrely came with a reverse camera. I laughed at this and was about to throw it away, but then I thought what the hell, it's turned up, I may as well fit it and see what it's like..
The camera itself didn't look massively robust or like it would stand up to the elements, so I decided to mount it inside the car directly under the rear centre brake light on the rear windscreen. I've been able to run the cables through the existing bootlid wiring grommets to keep it all looking OEM and it has the added bonus of being in the swept area of the rear windscreen wiper, so I can clear the camera view field easily as well instead of having to get out and wipe it, not that I ever would.
It's not bad to be honest
The live for the camera taps into the live for the reverse light, so when you put the car in reverse and the reverse light lights up, the camera automatically comes to life and displays on the head unit.
Mainly though, it's really nice to have Spotify and Waze. Pretty much all I need day to day!
With that sorted, we were pretty much there, just one final niggle needed to be sorted...
The mighty Pandau Ballet trundled on faithfully, proving to be probably quite literally the sum of all of it's new parts and has provided reliable transport for the last month with no issues.
I even drove it into a harvest field near my folks for a cheeky photo last weekend.
Having ironed out the niggles, (mainly replacing the majority of moving parts on the car) I turned my attention to making it a bit less agricultural and 2000's and a bit more liveable with.
I splashed out on one of these double din head units that are touch screen and provide CarPlay functionality. In fairness, I wasn't really expecting much, I thought I'd take a punt for £150 and see how it went, and if it was slow and didn't connect well / reliably I'd just pick up a second hand PIoneer unit or something on eBay as and when.
Turns out, it's been really good, I'm quite impressed with it.
The kit came with an external hands free Mic, so I've fitted that at the top of the drivers A-Pillar trim and it seems to work well. It also bizarrely came with a reverse camera. I laughed at this and was about to throw it away, but then I thought what the hell, it's turned up, I may as well fit it and see what it's like..
The camera itself didn't look massively robust or like it would stand up to the elements, so I decided to mount it inside the car directly under the rear centre brake light on the rear windscreen. I've been able to run the cables through the existing bootlid wiring grommets to keep it all looking OEM and it has the added bonus of being in the swept area of the rear windscreen wiper, so I can clear the camera view field easily as well instead of having to get out and wipe it, not that I ever would.
It's not bad to be honest
The live for the camera taps into the live for the reverse light, so when you put the car in reverse and the reverse light lights up, the camera automatically comes to life and displays on the head unit.
Mainly though, it's really nice to have Spotify and Waze. Pretty much all I need day to day!
With that sorted, we were pretty much there, just one final niggle needed to be sorted...
Grab a stiff drink. If you thought the f***ery was over with, you were sorely mistaken.
The final niggle that the Panda came with, was that the heater fans only worked on setting 4, flat out.
As much I don't go out of my way to make work for myself, we're heading towards winter and demisting will be the name of the game, and there's not much more annoying than having Rick Astley drowned out by the shrill tones of a TurboFan behind the dash working full pelt. In fact maybe I should have left it alone.
Some googling revealed 2 things. In no particular order, these were that it was without doubt the heater fan resistor that had failed, as the fan worked on full power mode only and had no regulation, and also that the only thing less fun than changing the EGR valve, starter motor, clutch and slave cylinder on your Fiat Panda, was having to change the heater fan resistor.
Joyous.
It's fair to say a thoroughly reasonable amount of swearing ensued, and things escalated reasonably quickly.
It's rare that a meme fits a situation perfectly, but I'm going to make a special exception for this, as it popped up on my instagram while I was sat having a cup of tea and crying softly to myself.
The heater fan resistor on the Panda 169 is screwed into the back of the heater fan unit itself, against the bulkhead of the car. I suspect it wouldn't be as horrendous on a LHD car, however as I have a stupid RHD one, all of the pedal box gubbins and mech that runs across the car to the operate the brake servo (which is still on the left hand side), the steering column and god knows what else are all in the way.
A small 5.5mm screw holds it in which is absolutely impossible to get a good grip on, and you're doing it all blind whilst lying on your back in the footwell.
If I ever need to replace it again, I'll literally just get a different Panda, Again.
However, I did get it out.
I thought getting it out was bad, however trying to then get said 5.5mm screw back in place was even more laughable.
As good old Haynes would say, refitting is simply the reverse of removal:
I'm delighted to say the fans do now work perfectly. I'd have been tempted to throw myself and the Panda off something tall if it had made no difference.
So, touch wood... everything on the car now works perfectly as it should.
The final niggle that the Panda came with, was that the heater fans only worked on setting 4, flat out.
As much I don't go out of my way to make work for myself, we're heading towards winter and demisting will be the name of the game, and there's not much more annoying than having Rick Astley drowned out by the shrill tones of a TurboFan behind the dash working full pelt. In fact maybe I should have left it alone.
Some googling revealed 2 things. In no particular order, these were that it was without doubt the heater fan resistor that had failed, as the fan worked on full power mode only and had no regulation, and also that the only thing less fun than changing the EGR valve, starter motor, clutch and slave cylinder on your Fiat Panda, was having to change the heater fan resistor.
Joyous.
It's fair to say a thoroughly reasonable amount of swearing ensued, and things escalated reasonably quickly.
It's rare that a meme fits a situation perfectly, but I'm going to make a special exception for this, as it popped up on my instagram while I was sat having a cup of tea and crying softly to myself.
The heater fan resistor on the Panda 169 is screwed into the back of the heater fan unit itself, against the bulkhead of the car. I suspect it wouldn't be as horrendous on a LHD car, however as I have a stupid RHD one, all of the pedal box gubbins and mech that runs across the car to the operate the brake servo (which is still on the left hand side), the steering column and god knows what else are all in the way.
A small 5.5mm screw holds it in which is absolutely impossible to get a good grip on, and you're doing it all blind whilst lying on your back in the footwell.
If I ever need to replace it again, I'll literally just get a different Panda, Again.
However, I did get it out.
I thought getting it out was bad, however trying to then get said 5.5mm screw back in place was even more laughable.
As good old Haynes would say, refitting is simply the reverse of removal:
I'm delighted to say the fans do now work perfectly. I'd have been tempted to throw myself and the Panda off something tall if it had made no difference.
So, touch wood... everything on the car now works perfectly as it should.
That pretty much brings us up to date.
As much of a pain in the proverbial as it's been at times, it's actually a very endearing little car and I have a bizarre fondness for them. It's very relaxing to mince about in for daily duties and I love being able to just leave it anywhere and not really be bothered.
It's also been quite good fun spannering again on something cheap and cheerful to be honest,
My plans going forward, now that I've got all the mechanical bits up to standard (Ha, tempting fate) I'm going to start giving the exterior some attention and give it a machine polish and general tart up so it looks as presentable as it can do.
It's actually pretty much got everything you need in a car these days now that it's got CarPlay / Spotify / Waze, it's remote central locking and electric windows, power steering, it's costing me around 9p per mile in fuel and the tax is £30 a year so works out at just over 8p per day. Fully Comp insurance with business use was a devastating £176 for the year, so just under 50p a day. It's pretty much cheaper than walking.
I think I fancy getting some nicer seats at some point, I think the Abarth 500 ones bolt in with some minor rail modifications so I can see myself getting a set of those over the winter, and then just enjoying it for work / general life things really.
Good cars. If you get a chance to have a lend of one give it a whirl, they're better than they should be.
As much of a pain in the proverbial as it's been at times, it's actually a very endearing little car and I have a bizarre fondness for them. It's very relaxing to mince about in for daily duties and I love being able to just leave it anywhere and not really be bothered.
It's also been quite good fun spannering again on something cheap and cheerful to be honest,
My plans going forward, now that I've got all the mechanical bits up to standard (Ha, tempting fate) I'm going to start giving the exterior some attention and give it a machine polish and general tart up so it looks as presentable as it can do.
It's actually pretty much got everything you need in a car these days now that it's got CarPlay / Spotify / Waze, it's remote central locking and electric windows, power steering, it's costing me around 9p per mile in fuel and the tax is £30 a year so works out at just over 8p per day. Fully Comp insurance with business use was a devastating £176 for the year, so just under 50p a day. It's pretty much cheaper than walking.
I think I fancy getting some nicer seats at some point, I think the Abarth 500 ones bolt in with some minor rail modifications so I can see myself getting a set of those over the winter, and then just enjoying it for work / general life things really.
Good cars. If you get a chance to have a lend of one give it a whirl, they're better than they should be.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff