General Dualogic clutch judder and other niggles

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General Dualogic clutch judder and other niggles

Joined
Sep 9, 2008
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Location
Ashford, Kent
I have a 2005 Petrol Idea with Dualogic. It only has 24K miles on it and I am in Spain. When it's cold I get quite a bit of clutch judder on pulling away. If it were manual I could dip the clutch a bit to help - alas this is not possible with two peddles! Often as the car changes down (usually from 4th to 3rd) the gearbox (or something) makes a mechanical clashing sound. It sounds like a crack of the whip. If I were driving a manual I would blame myself for a mis-timed gear change. I took it to my Fiat garage and he did a short test drive but of course it never misbehaved when he drove it. I then paid for a diagnostic and he said he reset the actuators and checked fluid levels. He seemed very knowledgeable and has years of experience with Fiat. He is adamant that there is nothing wrong with it. It made no difference though. Do you think I need a new clutch?

Also, the car 'pinks' under acceleration and the engine to me sounds harsh and tractor-like at low revs. Once it's on the level and doing say 60MPH it's totally smooth. If the car has just had it's diagnostic what could be causing the pinking? I think it might help if I changed the timing belt. I don't want to change the clutch and belt if it's all a waste. Good job labour costs are cheap. The parts are high here but I can get them sent from the UK.
 
I think your two problems are unrelated!.............the pinking sounds like it could be a case for a dealer to plug his lap-top in and look at the ignition mapping?
That is not something a DIY spanner man could do on today's hitech engines.IMHO.

I have a 1.4 petrol IDEA, but that is a 5 speed manual shift(which is really nice)so I have no experience with the semi auto box, so I can't offer any advice there, although your visit to a FIAT dealer (which I would recommend) is disappointing.
Maybe try another dealer??

Ian
 
The way to solve the judder will be a new clutch plate and maybe flywheel if the clutch alone doesnt solve it. not a cheap problem! Fiat seem to have more than their fair share of clutch problems as both of ours have had issues and some friends would never touch another after having the judder and fiat not being interested in fixing it.

Suppose you could try changing the engine mountings as they may be a bit tired letting the engine move more than normal.

Do you think the pinking might be the exhaust manifold leaking? does it get better or worse when warm? the belt should make no difference to the ignition timing. in theory your belt is due a change by now for piece of mind rather than it changing the way the car runs.
 
they pinking and noise could be a leak on the intake system too like a pipe split or clip come loose. This would change how the car sounds.

Maybe it is worth changing the transmission oil to help the gearbox work a bit better. i know people always claim the gears to be far smoother after an oil change.
 
I will give it a drive and see if the pinking is all the time or when it's warm. Thanks for helping. I have never changed gearbox oil so I'll check out what's involved! The car is only on 24K and still looks new - the mechanic was amazed at its age. It is on Spanish plates on a 'G' reg, so to Spaniards it seems like a 2010 model!
 
I gave it a really hard short drive from cold and could not hear the pinking. I have not been out much lately but tomorrow I will give it a proper run.

I looked all over the engine and felt around but could not find anything loose or split.
 
Hi ya, i have the 1.3 diesel duel logic so cant really help with the pinking sorry. But the clutch judder is normal! really it is most Fiat's suffer from this at some time, so no need to fit new clutch or fly wheel (diesel don't have fly wheel) or (cam belt as it's a chain) good reason to buy the diesel :) and the economy too :)

The clutch will like any clutch start to "slip" when it needs changing, you will find that the clutch it's self is still fine, it's the clutch splines that give out from the constant pushing from the solenoid, (just had mine changed two weeks ago cost £180) that's supplied and fitted (taxi drivers rates sorry!:)) Don't go to main dealer that will cost far too much.

Had an idea about the pinking! on petrol cars pinking can be timing out, over heating or spark plugs need changing.

Hope this helps

Mark
 
I have a 2005 Petrol Idea with Dualogic. It only has 24K miles on it and I am in Spain. When it's cold I get quite a bit of clutch judder on pulling away. If it were manual I could dip the clutch a bit to help - alas this is not possible with two peddles! Often as the car changes down (usually from 4th to 3rd) the gearbox (or something) makes a mechanical clashing sound. It sounds like a crack of the whip. If I were driving a manual I would blame myself for a mis-timed gear change. I took it to my Fiat garage and he did a short test drive but of course it never misbehaved when he drove it. I then paid for a diagnostic and he said he reset the actuators and checked fluid levels. He seemed very knowledgeable and has years of experience with Fiat. He is adamant that there is nothing wrong with it. It made no difference though. Do you think I need a new clutch?

Also, the car 'pinks' under acceleration and the engine to me sounds harsh and tractor-like at low revs. Once it's on the level and doing say 60MPH it's totally smooth. If the car has just had it's diagnostic what could be causing the pinking? I think it might help if I changed the timing belt. I don't want to change the clutch and belt if it's all a waste. Good job labour costs are cheap. The parts are high here but I can get them sent from the UK.
My idea 1.4 does exactly the same but only when changing from 4 to 3 after a quick check of all the basics I took it to a gearbox specialist who advised me that the 3 gear synchro had shattered. They replaced the part and also the clutch at the same time it was £385.00 complete
 
can't name a repairer.., :eek:
nave you had it diagnosed with MES..??, :confused:
Charlie

Hi Charlie

Don't mean to resurrect this thread, but I'm interested in your comments about diagnosing the gearbox with MES. Please could you explain what MES diagnostics I could run on my Panda to check the dualogic system is working ok, or determine if there are any issues? I do have the licensed version of MES, just wouldn't know where to start!

I'd appreciate your thoughts / comments.
 
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