Hi all

I had to replace the clutch on my Panda Diesel after only 32000 miles!!!!
I have been driving for over 30 years and have NEVER worn a clutch out before.

Guess what? the clutch started slipping agian at 70000 miles, usually when giving it the beans in third gear.

I read somewhere that a garage had offered a repair on the hydraulic side to someone with a similar problem! So I tried to observe my driving technique with particular attention to the use of the clutch. I found that I hardly ever used the full travel of the clutch pedal to perform gear changes - I wondered if over time this could cause a lazy master cylinder or summat, so i made a conscious effort to put my foot all the wqay to the floor when changing gear - Anyway it worked!!!! its a couple of thousand miles since i started doing this and the clutch has not slipped again since (Im goin to regret saying that arnt I)

Any way i would like to read your comments on this theory

Col

Its unlikely to be the master cylinder or slave and the clutch only needs to be opened enough to relieve load on the gearbox so your old technique should be fine. If you suspect the hydraulics, bleed the system & top up the master. If the problem comes back it may be air getting in from the master cylinder seals.

There are issues with the gearbox input shaft bearing which is either on the small side or Fiat have at times used poor quality parts. When they fail they cause gear oil to get onto the clutch so it slips. The other issue could be the diesel torque is too much for the petrol model clutch. Maybe it really should have a heavy duty clutch.