How can this be only done 41000km [ lhd] multijet and the clutch is just trying to slip,i have looked after it with loving care,what will it cost for a new one, i know being in Spain it will be different, but just for an idea please anyone.

We had an old JTD bravo which developed a slipping clutch. Turned out to be oil seeping around the crank bolts onto the flywheel.

This shows that a slipping clutch may not always be as simple as worn out friction material. The only way to get an idea of cost is to get it opened up and see what has gone wrong. Is there any warranty remaining in case something like the pressure plate has cracked?

Hello,
you're not unlucky. Many Multijet Pandas developed such a problem around 40k km, but most of them was still under warranty. I know of a couple of cases where Fiat paid the bill of replacing the clutch, despite this being a worn-out item. My own Panda started to have clutch slip around 90k km, but seems to have self-fixed 3k kilometres later.
If you look deep into this forum, you will find many posts regarding this problem. It seems Fiat saved some money in the Panda's transmission, by fitting the 1.2 fire's gearbox onto the Multijet. So, even despite an electronically-limited maximum torque (145 Nm vs 170 Nm), after some time, the clutch just lets go, as the contact area is just too small.
Saludos!

The clutch surface area is too small for the diesel engine? Thats shoddy. OP, do you "ride" the clutch?

And it might be advisable to buy an uprated one, if they are dying after less than 25K miles.

See here for more information about it: https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/279497-panda-mj-clutch-change.html

Matthen said:

The clutch surface area is too small for the diesel engine? Thats shoddy.

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It's not shoddy, was the only way of being able to make a Diesel Panda

Most Easterly Pandas said:

It's not shoddy, was the only way of being able to make a Diesel Panda

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Maybe so, but if you need to replace the clutch every 25k, that'll wipe out any savings you might make on fuel .

antyfreda said:

How can this be only done 41000km [ lhd] multijet and the clutch is just trying to slip,i have looked after it with loving care,what will it cost for a new one, i know being in Spain it will be different, but just for an idea please anyone.

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Some would argue that living where you do would mean you're quite lucky. Never had a clutch done - only time it slipped was following a very long drive and it's never happened since. Try here,

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/295869-panda-clutch-problem.html?p=2980350

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/290031-multijet-clutch.html?p=2931710

So...quite a variation in cost - guess it depends on who you have to do it. Your best bet is to ring around for quotes.

I had a similar experience with a 2006 1.3 multijet. The clutch started slipping intermittently at around 30k miles. The dealer suggested it was my driving style. It was in the third year 'dealer warranty' period and they were reluctant to do anything about it.

I carried on driving it and the car now has 90k miles on it. The clutch still slips occasionally but normally when it has been standing unused for a week or more.

This suggests to me that there is, as already suggested in some replies, a slow leak from the crankshaft oil seal onto the clutch plate. This initially causes slippage but after a while burns off and the clutch works normally again.

If you are experiencing the same symptoms, keep driving!

jrkitching said:

Maybe so, but if you need to replace the clutch every 25k, that'll wipe out any savings you might make on fuel .

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Which may well occour if doing mainly town driving, but for the majority of DERV owners its long distance, and the clutch lasts a lot more than 25k. Who buys a Diesel and then only drives it around town

Not me, but a certain ex-colleague of mine bought a diesel 500 for the 4 mile each way trip to work...

The number of people who go into dealerships and demand a car with a diesel engine, without listening to the salesman telling them that unless they do 15k+ per annum, purchasing a new diesel is not cost effective, is staggering.

They then go and do 5K miles a year in them, and wonder why they've got to buy a new EGR and DPF thingy every 18 months. There was a twit on watchdog complaining about his choice while back who had done exactly that, if I remember correctly.

I guess its the over-inflated MPG figures that get people to buy them.

I replaced mine at 77,000 miles as it was slipping. Book says 5.6 hrs - it took me twice that. I'm not a Fiat specialist but am a competent home mechanic. My clutch was definitely getting worse so was absolutely a case of failure rather than oil. In my case there was about half the friction material left on the driven plate but it wasn't working so I replaced both plates and the bearing. Parts were about £75.

Matthen said:

I guess its the over-inflated MPG figures that get people to buy them.

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Diesels take much longer to warm up than petrols precisely because they are a more efficient fuel source. Less waste heat is produced per stroke. As both petrol and diesel cars are fairly inefficient when cold if you do short journeys a diesel is a poor choice as you'll never hit the mpg figures quoted

I am well aware of the ins and outs of owning a diesel - I drive a petrol, for exactly that reason (and the fact petrols cheaper... and cheaper to maintain... and far revvyer). But the average joe sees one thing - quoted MPG, and they read all about the torque, test drive one, discover its faster (in there mind, due to the low down grunt) and so buy diesel.

Ecnerwal said:

I carried on driving it and the car now has 90k miles on it. The clutch still slips occasionally but normally when it has been standing unused for a week or more.

This suggests to me that there is, as already suggested in some replies, a slow leak from the crankshaft oil seal onto the clutch plate. This initially causes slippage but after a while burns off and the clutch works normally again.

If you are experiencing the same symptoms, keep driving!

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That's exacly what happened to me at 90k km (56k miles). It slipped, quite badly, while flooring it in any gear (in the torque zone), but some 3k kilometres later, it stopped. The car has now 99k km and no signs of chutch weakness at all.

I found it weird, as I drive 90% on B-roads, at 80 km/h - 50 mph (monthy average of 3,4 l/100km - 83 mpg now!!!), which causes next to no wear on the clutch.

Regarding driving a modern Diesel around town, it really is impressive what quoted mpg can do. Worse still, many people only buys a diesel "because diesels are more economical, end of story". Most of them never drove a small petrol around town, and realized how smooth and economical they are. Even so, EGR problems can also occur while driving on the open road, as it is my case...

Benz man said:

That's exacly what happened to me at 90k km (56k miles). It slipped, quite badly, while flooring it in any gear (in the torque zone), but some 3k kilometres later, it stopped. The car has now 99k km and no signs of chutch weakness at all.

I found it weird, as I drive 90% on B-roads, at 80 km/h - 50 mph (monthy average of 3,4 l/100km - 83 mpg now!!!), which causes next to no wear on the clutch.

Regarding driving a modern Diesel around town, it really is impressive what quoted mpg can do. Worse still, many people only buys a diesel "because diesels are more economical, end of story". Most of them never drove a small petrol around town, and realized how smooth and economical they are. Even so, EGR problems can also occur while driving on the open road, as it is my case...

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True.. and driving a small petrol around town can be a lot of fun... - Is that consumption figure calculated with brim - brim measurements, or the on board computer? Because it sounds impressive, even only driving at 50 mph.

The other day I drove a Peugeot 107 Black Edition. I liked the car, but the strongest point was the little 1-litre petrol engine. It's a joy to drive such a thing, because you really need to rev it to go anywere! On top of that, it sounded great (unlike my Multijet) and proved to be quite economical. I only drove it inner city limits though.

My fuel economy figures are calculated brim-to-brim, and are monthly averages. Sometimes the trip computer gets them right, sometimes doesn't (it's less optimistic). I think that may have to do with me using two different fuel brands (BP and Galp). Even so, I don't drive as a regular person, at all. I love to coast and rarely thrash it, let alone go past 60 mph.
That's were Diesels are undeniably superior: long trips.

Benz man said:

The other day I drove a Peugeot 107 Black Edition. I liked the car, but the strongest point was the little 1-litre petrol engine. It's a joy to drive such a thing, because you really need to rev it to go anywere! On top of that, it sounded great (unlike my Multijet) and proved to be quite economical. I only drove it inner city limits though.

My fuel economy figures are calculated brim-to-brim, and are monthly averages. Sometimes the trip computer gets them right, sometimes doesn't (it's less optimistic). I think that may have to do with me using two different fuel brands (BP and Galp). Even so, I don't drive as a regular person, at all. I love to coast and rarely thrash it, let alone go past 60 mph.
That's were Diesels are undeniably superior: long trips.

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Fair enough then... The revving to get anywhere does get boring though, especially when you're 50 miles from home, in the middle of the night and its pissing its down with rain... Thats when you start to think... "I should have bought a V8"

Thanks guys, i will keep on as the car is 6years old so no warranty, i have a scooter for round town so hence the small km's, i wonder if the face lifted panda has a better clutch ?

As has been mentioned before on here, this is a recurring problem. If you look at the specs of the Panda MJ (mine's an '05) the gearbox is rated at 150nm and the engine in the Panda puts out 145nm! The theory was put forward some time ago that if a stronger clutch was fitted then more strain would be put on the gearbox, so the clutch sometimes slips, on mine it seems to happen most in 3rd gear from around 2,500 revs with full throttle.

I presume the decision to fit that gearbox was taken either for packaging purposes, or perhaps on grounds of cost. The 1.3 MJ appears in the Punto and new Panda, not to mention the Corsa, with a much higher torque output which, hopefully means an uprated box has been fitted. However, in the Puntos this engine having the higher torque output, varies little in that respect as the power raises which implies that once again the 'box is near its limits.

Remember, that in the Lancia (Chrysler) Ypsilon the MJ has been cranked up to 105bhp (PS) but with very little extra torque over the 90 horse model in FIATs.

FYI, mine is currently on 62,000 miles or 100,000 kms if you like and still on the original clutch.

Also the MJ puts out more torque in the Panda than either the 1.2 petrol or the 1.4 as fitted to the 100HP.

There is a suggestion that if the clutch was tougher the strain would be passed on to the gearbox, and if that was strengthened then the extra wear and tear would then move on to the drive shafts and so on down the line. I'd be interested to know which gearbox is fitted in the new Panda as that has similar torque figures to the Punto. This would all cost more money.

There is a question in my mind though, and that is: Are the cost savings to keep the cost of the car down or to put FIATs profits up?