Following on from https://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento/352603-clutch-cable-replacement.html Emily phone me while we were away to tell me her clutch had gone .... again!
On returning from our break I eagerly anticipated the joys of changing the cable again , but low & behold ....... the cable hadn't gone! No, it's the pin that the L shaped crank pivots on .... the crank that pulls the bar across the bulkhead that pulls the quadrant that pulls the cable!!!! (item 5 in the Cinquento Haynes book)

Just returned from a Fiat only breaker with a complete pedal box. He reckons he's never seen one break there before. Having seen what he removed to get at the whole assembly I'm not exactly looking forward to dismantling the car to replace it.

Has the car ever had a replacement clutch? They get heavy with use, as they get nearer to worn out, and this puts extra strain onto the cable, and I'd imagine the linkage across the car.
Cable and linkage may be victims, rather than the cause of the problem. Probably time to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed.

portland_bill said:

Has the car ever had a replacement clutch? They get heavy with use, as they get nearer to worn out, and this puts extra strain onto the cable, and I'd imagine the linkage across the car.
Cable and linkage may be victims, rather than the cause of the problem. Probably time to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed.

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Exactly. When either the cable or the quadrant fail - although they are a problem - they tend to be a symptom of a failing clutch rather than a problem in their own right.

portland_bill said:

Has the car ever had a replacement clutch? They get heavy with use, as they get nearer to worn out, and this puts extra strain onto the cable, and I'd imagine the linkage across the car.
Cable and linkage may be victims, rather than the cause of the problem. Probably time to bite the bullet and get the clutch changed.

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Not in the past 3 years, and as it only had 40 odd thousand miles on the clock I doubt it's ever had one.

Joy of joys ...... out gearbox & new clutch assembly. I'll persaude Emily to part with it sooner rather than later

Thanks for your input

Eklipze3k said:

Exactly. When either the cable or the quadrant fail - although they are a problem - they tend to be a symptom of a failing clutch rather than a problem in their own right.

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Thanks.

the breaker says though that he's now finding that both the long 'linkrod' & short 'pushrod' (Mr Haynes' description) are failing and are NSL hence he charges £20 for the long one and £40 for the short one

Given that it's 13yrs old it's about due for it's 3rd clutch - from what I recall it's every 72k or 7 yrs, which ever comes first. So yeah, well overdue

Just having a look at the 'new' pedal box ... without getting my hands dirty There's a circlip on the driver's end of the brake pedal torque arm .... can I just remove the pedals section from the end & swap just that bit? Otherwise complete pedal section goes behind the steering column which looks a PITA

Eklipze3k said:

Given that it's 13yrs old it's about due for it's 3rd clutch - from what I recall it's every 72k or 7 yrs, which ever comes first. So yeah, well overdue

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I knew there was good reason for just having 2 pedals in a car

a low mileage car is probably worse as chances are its been poodled around town and the clutch has been depressed as much as a car with twice the mileage on it.

the spring of the clutch work hardens and puts extra strain on the whole clutch linkage as it gets stiffer!

dac69er said:

a low mileage car is probably worse as chances are its been poodled around town and the clutch has been depressed as much as a car with twice the mileage on it.

the spring of the clutch work hardens and puts extra strain on the whole clutch linkage as it gets stiffer!

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Agreed on all counts

I can now say that the pedal box from a T reg Siecento is different from that of a 52 plate Siecento ...... not much, but different enough where the brake light switch attaches, that the lower part of steering column fouls against it and the spline at the bottom won't slide onto the rack. :bang::bang::bang:

That is Bad luck! Thanks for the info. I think MY clutch needs changing soon at 70k miles 15 yr old Seicento

purf said:

That is Bad luck! Thanks for the info.

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My back aches to buggery after crawling around inside & outside of the car.
I'll post a photo to show the subtle difference

purf said:

I think clutch needs changing soon at 70k miles 15 yr old Seicento

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I think I'll try to persuade to just change the car to a Vauxhall

Meant to say my seicento needs its clutch changing...

purf said:

Meant to say my seicento needs its clutch changing...

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Ooops! Sorry ...... thought you were referring to my daughter's car

I had missed out 'my'. No worries.
My previous Cinq lasted till about 90k before total clutch release bearing failure. It had had a few clutch cables by then.

purf said:

.....
It had had a few clutch cables by then.

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I reckon it's the conversion of a LHD car to RHD that puts a strain on the mechanism that wasn't considered that causes cables to break

In my experience they usually snap at the threaded adjuster on top of the gear box. Before the quadrant brakes. Always good to have a spare in the boot.

purf said:

In my experience they usually snap at the threaded adjuster on top of the gear box. Before the quadrant brakes. Always good to have a spare in the boot.

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Both cables on my daughter's car have snapped in roughly the same place ie on the dog legged end inside the car.

The pedal box removed from my daughter's 52 plate is the upper/left hand one, the bracket for the brake light switch is cut off on the lower left corner for the steering column to clear it. T'other is from a T reg car.
Differences are 52 plate has leccy power steering and an airbag, T reg had neither ..... what makes difference is only Fiat's guess

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