Fiat Panda 2009 User Manual

FIATPANDA

PANDA CROSS

FIAT PANDA PANDA CROSS

The Fiat Panda Panda Cross Petrol­Methane version is dealt with in this ap­pendix.

For anything not included in this supple­ment, refer to the Fiat Panda Owner Man­ual.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 3

FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM DIAGRAM ............................................................................ 5

CANISTERS ....................................................................................................................... 6

SOLENOID VALVE/SAFETY DEVICES ........................................................................ 7

PIPING ................................................................................................................................. 8

PRESSURE REGULATOR/REDUCTION UNIT ....................................................... 8

METHANE INJECTORS ................................................................................................. 8

METHANE ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT ......................................................... 8

PETROL/METHANE SWITCH ...................................................................................... 9

FUEL CUT OFF SWITCH ............................................................................................. 10

STARTING THE ENGINE ............................................................................................. 10

AT THE PETROL STATION ......................................................................................... 11

WHEN NEEDING TO CHANGE AN EXTERNAL BULB ..................................... 12

CANISTER IDENTIFICATION DATA ....................................................................... 15

MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE ...................................................................................... 16

WHEELS ............................................................................................................................. 17

ENGINE ............................................................................................................................... 18

WEIGHTS ........................................................................................................................... 20

LOAD COMPARTMENT VOLUME ............................................................................. 20

TYRES .................................................................................................................................. 21

DIMENSIONS .................................................................................................................... 22

CAPACITIES ....................................................................................................................... 23

2

INTRODUCTION

The Fiat Panda Natural Power version fea­tures two fuel systems, one for petrol and
one for natural gas (methane).

The two systems are independent of one
another and the methane one is the
phased, sequential, multipoint type.

The starting system runs on petrol and is
the only one.

What is natural gas?

Natural gas is a mixture of gas used as a
main source of energy.

Its main component is methane so for this
reason it is usually known as methane in
Italy but it contains small amounts of oth­er hydrocarbons and inert gases.

It is extracted in a gaseous stage and trans­ported to where it is used via gas pipelines;
world reserves are plentiful and evenly dis­tributed. Methane is fuel with a low impact
on the environment because it significantly
reduces the contribution of the exhaust
gases to the greenhouse effect and creat­ing pollution.

The methane multipoint injection
system

This is an original product from Fiat’s re­search in the field of alternative fuels that
comes from close co-operation with im­portant suppliers in the methane sector.

By adapting the sophisticated electronic
control technology of petrol engines to
meet the specifications of methane, it has
been possible to achieve important results
in terms of driveability, exhaust emissions
and consumption.

Using the methane multipoint injection
system the engine offers the same driving
conditions as running on petrol.

It should be borne in mind that, in all dri­ving conditions, methane operation gives
engine power and torque specifications
that are 10% lower than petrol operation.

Petrol operation is therefore rec­ommended if a lot of power is re­quired (e.g. driving uphill with a
laden car, setting off on a steep in­cline).

Selecting the type of fuel supply

The Fiat Panda Panda Cross version is
configured to normally run on methane.

fig. 1

F0G0654m

When the methane is running out and the
pressure in the canister is close to the cor­rect operating limit, the system automat­ically switches to petrol operation.

The engine is always started up using
petrol (to keep this fuel supply system ef­ficient) with an automatic switch to
methane after a few seconds.

For this reason there always needs
to be petrol in the tank.

The petrol/methane switch A - Fig. 1, on
the hatch for the fuse box unit (left dash­board), makes it possible to select petrol
operation. The system does not switch au­tomatically to methane operation if the
petrol runs out.

FIAT PANDA PANDA CROSS

3

FIAT PANDA PANDA CROSS

Passive safety

The Fiat Panda Panda Cross version has
the same passive safety features as the
other versions.

In particular, the location and mountings
of the canisters have been designed to
pass the impact tests in accordance with
Fiat safety standards. The flow of methane
coming out of the canisters is governed by
a solenoid valve that is only open during
methane operation.

The solenoid valve unit includes protec­tion against excess flows (if the high pres­sure system breaks, the flow of methane
is restricted to values that are not dan­gerous), overheating (fuse pad that allows
the methane to drain off if the tempera­ture exceeds 110 °C) and a pressure cal­ibration device that intervenes if the pres­sure goes above 300 bar ensuring the
methane escapes in a controlled manner
and as quickly as possible.

The solenoid valve is connected to the
Fire Protection System (inertia switch or
fuel cut off switch).

Active safety

The Fiat Panda Panda Cross version has
the same active safety features as the oth­er versions.

WARNING

The Fiat Panda Panda Cross

version is equipped with a
high pressure methane system de­signed to run at 200 bar.
It is dangerous to force the system
with higher pressures. When towing
or lifting the vehicle, the instructions
in this booklet at the end of the chap­ter should be followed in order to pre­vent damage to the methane system
parts: ‘Towing the vehicle’.
If there is a problem with the methane
system, only go to an authorised Fiat
Dealer.
Do not alter the methane system con­figuration or components; they are de­signed exclusively for the Fiat Panda
Panda Cross. The use of other com­ponents or materials may lead to mal­functioning and compromise safety.

WARNING

When oven painting, the

canisters should be removed
from the vehicle and later carefully
refitted by a Fiat Dealer. Although the
methane system has numerous safe­ty features, it is advisable to close the
manual taps for the canisters every
time the car is not in use for a long
period, transported on other vehicles
or moved in an emergency as a result
of a breakdown or accident.

4

FUNCTIONAL SYSTEM DIAGRAM

Description of the functional system diagram Fig. 2
1 Methane canisters - 2 Methane repressurising filler - 3 Methane-Petrol switch - 4 Methane piping - 5 Pressure regulator/reduction

unit - 6 Methane injection system electronic control panel - 7 Methane injector carrier manifold - 8 Petrol tank

FIAT PANDA PANDA CROSS

fig. 2

F0G0811m

5

CANISTERS

The car has two canisters (total capacity
about 72 litres) located under the floor of
the car and protected by two special
guards. The canisters Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are
the tank that contains the methane in the
compressed gaseous state (pressure 200
bar at 15 °C). The methane, stored in the
canisters at high pressure, flows through
a dedicated pipe to reach the pressure
regulator/reduction unit which supplies
the 4 methane injectors at low pressure
(about 9 bar).

fig. 3

F0G0656m

The plates handed over by the Dealership
with the documentation contain the date
for the first inspection of the canisters.

Those responsible for the
methane supply are not autho­rized to refill the canisters when
the inspection date has expired.

IMPORTANT If the vehicle has
been registered in a country oth­er than Italy, the certification da­ta, identification and inspection
procedures for the methane can­isters should conform to the leg­islation in that country. In any
case, it should be remembered
that the life of the canisters is 20
years from the production date
as set out in Regulation (ECE) no.

110.

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6

fig. 4

Canister certification

The methane canisters are certified in ac­cordance with ECE Regulation no. 110

F0G0657m

The canisters should be inspect­ed, in accordance with ECE Reg­ulation Procedure no. 110, every
4 years from the vehicle regis­tration date or in accordance
with specific regulations in indi­vidual countries (see ‘Identifica­tion data’ chapter).

SOLENOID VALVES/

D

1

2

SAFETY DEVICES

The solenoid valves Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are
bolted directly onto the methane canis­ters with the main function on interrupt­ing the flow of methane to the supply cir­cuit.

The solenoid valves are open when:

❒

the switching button is in the methane
position;

❒ t

he pressure in the canister is sufficient

for operation;

❒

the engine is running;

❒

the inertia switch has not been trig­gered.

The solenoid valve assembly is equipped
with the following safety devices:

1) Fuse pad, in the case of overheating
(temperature above 110 °C), it totally
eliminates the danger of excess pressure
making the methane in the canister flow
out as quickly as possible in a controlled
manner.

2) Mechanical excess pressure device
(Burt Disk), in the case of excess pres-

sure (above 300 bar), it ensures that the
methane escapes as quickly as possible in
a controlled manner.

fig. 5

fig. 6

F0G0658m

F0G0659m

3) Excess flow, it intervenes if the piping
is broken limiting the flow of methane to
values that are not dangerous.

The flow restrictor valve is located to al­low it to operate even if the solenoid valve
casing is broken due to an impact.

4) Manual tap, it is located upstream of
the solenoid valve.

fig. 7

F0G0660m

This separates the canister from the
methane system to allow maintenance op­erations.

The taps are accessible from outside the
car and are located, in the case of the
lengthwise centre canister, at the rear of
the canister and, in the case of the trans­verse rear canister, towards the left wheel
side.

To close the taps D - Fig. 7: turn the
knob in the direction (1) shown by the ar­row (clockwise

OFF)

To open the taps D - Fig. 7: turn the knob
in the direction (2) shown by the arrow
(anti-clockwise

ON)

5) Single-acting valve, positioned on

the piping that comes from the filler, to
prevent the methane from flowing back.

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7

PIPING

METHANE INJECTORS

FIAT PANDA PANDA CROSS

The methane piping from the filler to the
pressure regulator/reduction unit is made
from galvanized steel and covered in plas­tic (high pressure) and is located outside
the passenger compartment; the piping
from the pressure regulator/reduction
unit to the methane injectors is in gal­vanised steel (rigid pipe) and stainless steel
(flexible hose).

PRESSURE
REGULATOR/
REDUCTION UNIT

The pressure reduction unit Fig. 8 is in­stalled in the engine compartment.

It has the function of reducing the pres­sure of the methane from the value in the
canister to the supply value for the
methane injectors (about 9 bar) and keep­ing it constant in all operating conditions.

fig. 8

fig. 9

F0G0661m

F0G0662m

There are 4 dedicated injectors for the
methane gas A - Fig. 9, fitted on the in­take manifold near the cylinder head, one
for each intake duct; they are supplied at
a constant pressure (about 9 bar) and op­erated by the specific electronic control
unit.

ELECTRONIC CONTROL
PANEL FOR
METHANE SYSTEM

Specific electronic control panel for
methane supply and advance ignition.

If the methane has run out, the control
unit fig. 10 automatically handles the
switch to running on petrol.

fig. 10

F0G0663m

8