FIAT PANDA

Roycropper63

Am looking for some info from panda owners or mechanics please,

Car is 1242cc petrol 2011.

On start up there is a water gushing sound behind glove box. When driving no sound. Temp gauge stays in the middle.

Is there any way of judging the coolant level? Can't see through the plastic neck on the rad.

Currently on 13 inch steel wheel. Would 14 inch alloys replace them?

Thanks

BlakeS94

Only water cooled component behind glove box/dash area is the heater matrix, so it's either leaking or there's air trapped inside the matrix, or both.

Not cheap to replace in terms of labour.

Is there not a coolant reservoir to check the level?

Roycropper63

No bottle like in a normal car, it's a long tube attached to rad. The tube is much lower than the front panel.

No wet carpet. Mechanic said he bled the system, and pressure tested and was holding

2011abc

This isnt engine coolant, its water under the windscreen due to the drain holes under wipers being clogged with leaf debris .If you go hunting (with bonnet lifted ) with an aul wire /bent hanger etc you should be able to clear the blockage .The Panda is a great car apart from maybe radius arm bushings on the NCT .Fitting bigger alloys will just use more fuel ,slow car down and spoil the handling .I once had a 100hp Panda and while being repaired in main dealer they gave me a 1.1 .The 1.1 was more fun !I promptly sold the 1.4 100hp and had several 'slower' Pandas

PukkaStukka

In some applications, those Fiat FIRE engines make a sound like water sloshing when you first start driving and then take a corner. It normally doesn't reoccur thereafter till the next day. It's due to the way the cooling system is set up with the filler not being the highest part of the system. Provided the car isn't using coolant, pressurising the cooling system, or overheating then it's nothing to worry about. A blown head gasket will see that sloshing sound being more frequent than described here. There may also be some residual air in the system that can be bled out. There's plenty of videos showing how to do this on YouTube.

Roycropper63

Thanks for the replies. Only there ob initial start up. Goes away when on a journey. Thanks again

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122255390#Comment_122255390

Having had a 1.1, a 1.3 diesel and now a 1.4/100hp I'd disagree on the more fun; but the 100hp has a pile of "special" problems (bump stops falling out - two NCT failures for that alone; gearbox made of chocolate; total non-availability of the 100hp specific body kit or interior components now) that the 1.1/1.2 don't have.

The 1.4 engine has a proper coolant expansion bottle (which has cracked open on mine and needed replacement - the car is 17 years old by now) so I found the problems with checking level quite baffling as its been that long since I saw the inside of one of the smaller petrols!

The 14" alloys with lower profile tyres should leave a similar-ish total wheel size and reduce impact on handling (and speedo inaccuracy) but it still won't be exactly the same, and will be less comfortable as a result of low profile tyres. The OEM ones are nice looking though.