HI
having problems with reverse in marea weekend ...when I drive along .stop .then reverse everything is fine ,however if I just jump into car and try to select reverse it grinds!!!

could this be clutch adjustment or something more sinister

Might be the clutch slave cylinder - could be leaking, they tend to. Might be that as you drive along it's 'pumping it up'. Have a look under the battery if you can to see if there's evidence of any leaks.

THE CYLINDER WAS LEAKING AND WAS REPLACED HOWEVER THE PROBLEM PERSITS??????? :bang:

What engine size is it ?...

does it grind when going from 1st to reverse ?...

If not then its like all other fiat/ alfa's with that type of gearbox.... you'll just have to go from 1st to reverse every time.

IT IS A 1.8 MAREA WEEKEND ELX 2000 W :bang:

ONLY 35,OOO
:bang:

Thats how they are- stilo 1.6's are like that from new- even put a new clutch in one and the crunch was still there- its due to no syncro on rev. gear.

Is the grinding when the clutch pedal is still depressed? This would suggest a clutch problem as your input shaft must be rotating.

If it's when you release the pedal then it's the normal FIAT gearbox as described above. I've experienced this on 127's, Uno's, Panda's and the X1/9. You start to get used to selecting a forward gear first then sliding it back to reverse. This issue however has nothing to do with having no synchro on reverse as the input and output shafts aren't actually rotating. It's more to do with getting the idler gear aligned with the two gears on the input and output shaft.