andergrass
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Hi i have a panda 1.2 active 2004 it uses too much fuel eg 200mile per tank full runs fine no stalling have no fuel leaks any ideas what is the problem would be of great help thank.
General poor mpg
- Thread starter andergrass
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General poor mpg
The Panda has a 30 litre tank so that is around 30mpg which seems low. What sort of driving are you doing? When was it last serviced? New plugs, oil change and a new filters can do wonders for MPG.
I assume you have checked the tyre preasures (every little thing adds up)
I assume you have checked the tyre preasures (every little thing adds up)
I think the Panda's tank is 35 litres (except 4x4 which is 30) -- but still using a lot. (Although it will use more in colder weather than during the summer - but should see well over 40mpg) COld weather also causes tyre pressures to drop -- are they OK?
Oxygen sensor? Obvious cause when mpg significantly drops.
Firstly it's got a 35 litre tank and also you can't say "that's around 30mpg" because you don't know how much fuel the OP is putting in
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35 litre tank, the odd thing i find is that i can get more than 35 litres in it? The worrying thing is the fuel gauge has only just entered the red zone at this point. 
Anyhow you should be getting much more than 200 miles to a tank.
Anyhow you should be getting much more than 200 miles to a tank.
Modern car fuel systems are designed to work with an air space & it is possible to 'drip-feed' perhaps another 5-7 litres of fuel into that air space if you continue to trickle fuel after the pump first cuts off. On my Panda & 500 (they share an identical fuel tank) I get 32-33 litres to first cut-off with about 25 miles range to go, which corresponds well to the manufacturers stated capacity of 35 litres.
Some folks report filling the design air space with another 5-7 litres of fuel to extend range & get accurate comparative fuel consumption readings. The manufacturer specifically advises against this in the owners handbook and although some have done this regularly without obvious issues the low & high pressure relief valves & evaporation control canister are not designed to be flooded with fuel & there is a risk that overfuelling could permanently damage the fuel system.
Given the warning in the owners documentation, I would not expect any such damage to be covered by warranty.
I regularily got at least 360 mile out of my 1.2 Panda, the best being over 460 (the fingernails were being chewed as I arrived at the filling station!).
I always topped the car off and in 2 1/2 years had no problems.
Trev
I always topped the car off and in 2 1/2 years had no problems.
Trev
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It's true in the cold weather the MPG takes a nosedive, the engine will run richer for longer automatically. Just like the old manual choke cars that needed more choke for longer in the winter.
Any fluctuations in MPG is noticed more bacause of the cars small tank.
You don't state if it's suddenly lost MPG, over time or always been like this.
Blocked air filters will reduce MPG along with low tyre pressures, binding brakes, driving style, extra load on the alternator like heated screens and the heater fan running around the clock, air con running and probably a few more things.
When was it serviced, it's simple to check the airfilter, unclip the front of air box and pull it out, it may look clean, but could be dirty in the folds, it's worth changing at around tenner a pop.
See if the car rolls on a flat road, is it hard to push it a little or after a drive the wheels mad hot, signs of binding brakes.
If you think, with the cold weather richer running,
heated screen,
aircon on to demist
heater fan running on 3 or 4
and maybe a blocked air filter
or binding brake and
low tyre pressures (these drop in cold weather as well), a drop in MPG will be very noticeably.
Any fluctuations in MPG is noticed more bacause of the cars small tank.
You don't state if it's suddenly lost MPG, over time or always been like this.
Blocked air filters will reduce MPG along with low tyre pressures, binding brakes, driving style, extra load on the alternator like heated screens and the heater fan running around the clock, air con running and probably a few more things.
When was it serviced, it's simple to check the airfilter, unclip the front of air box and pull it out, it may look clean, but could be dirty in the folds, it's worth changing at around tenner a pop.
See if the car rolls on a flat road, is it hard to push it a little or after a drive the wheels mad hot, signs of binding brakes.
If you think, with the cold weather richer running,
heated screen,
aircon on to demist
heater fan running on 3 or 4
and maybe a blocked air filter
or binding brake and
low tyre pressures (these drop in cold weather as well), a drop in MPG will be very noticeably.
Just had a thought. We need to know what car it is. There is no such thing as a 2004 1.2 Active.
Need to know mileage, how long this has been a problem etc, any work done which caused a problem to be noticed afterwards.
Need to know mileage, how long this has been a problem etc, any work done which caused a problem to be noticed afterwards.
Sorry, where have you read this?
You cannot over fuel your fuel tank. Wouldn't pass and regulatons if you could and I've not read that warning ever in the handbook for any car we own (and I've read them all front to back
).Sorry, where have you read this?
You cannot over fuel your fuel tank. Wouldn't pass and regulatons if you could and I've not read that warning ever in the handbook for any car we own (and I've read them all front to back
There is a warning about overfuelling in the owners handbook for both the Panda & the 500. The relevant sections are attached.
Attachments
Never seen that in the 2004 Manual, and haven't check the one for the 2009 Panda, I assumed it would be the same (incorrectly it would seem
)shirleyanne1973
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I have the same problem, my panda is a '59' plate 1.1i, last month whilst driving, the car felt like it was about to stall, something 'kicked' in and ever since then the engine has been reving very high, when the car is idle your can hear it, and when you turn the engine off it 'b'b'b'bs off, this month it did 288 miles on a full tank of petrol, I took it back to the garage where they found nothing wrong, and for 25 miles it was fine, then it did the same again, felt like it was going to stall - high revs and watching the petrol guage drop as I drive....going back to garage again!!!
