Very stiff gear change (just pushing into the gears, left/right movement normal)

Hi all!
I've had the following problem with my Punto 1.2 16V Dynamic 2005 MK-II for a few months now, didn't mind it too much but the car failed the annual inspection today, so gotta get it fixed asap:

-gear change is very stiff (all gears)
-I have tried unplugging the selector cables from the gearbox and the problem was still there
-it's stiff only when pushing to gear (any gear), but left/right movement is normal
-I have tried lubricating the cables but it didn't help

My grandfather who's a lot handier than me suspected that the gear cable needs to be changed. The repair shop said they would charge about 300 EUR to do this (including work and the cable), but before I do this, I want to be sure that the problem is with the cable. I mean, the cable clearly is not exactly broken because I can still change gears, so how would changing the cable exactly fix the problem? Is there something else that could cause the stiffness that I should look into?

Many thanks!

Re: Very stiff gear change (just pushing into the gears, left/right movement normal)

Cables can rust and fray inside the sheath, this means they don't move freely but they still work, eventually though they fail and the cable snaps, better to get it done sooner rather than later. 300€ Seems a lot to me even brand new from fiat the cable is likely to cost about 100€ and is a half hour diy job

Yeah the shop said the cable would cost around 100 EUR but there would be probably 2 hours of work so that'd be 200 EUR more.

Half hour DIY job sounds almost too sweet! You wouldn't have a link to some kind of tutorial on how that'd be done or mind giving some tips, would you? I'm not very familiar with cars, but would like to learn more and save some money!

kokkeli said:

Yeah the shop said the cable would cost around 100 EUR but there would be probably 2 hours of work so that'd be 200 EUR more.

Half hour DIY job sounds almost too sweet! You wouldn't have a link to some kind of tutorial on how that'd be done or mind giving some tips, would you? I'm not very familiar with cars, but would like to learn more and save some money!

Click to expand...

You've already had ago at removing the ends of the cables at the gearbox end so you've done 25% of the job already

Jack the car up take the bottom off the gear selector box and unclip the cable sheath and pop the cables off the bottom of the selector.

Go to the gear box end pop the cable off the selector arm of the gear box, unclip the sheath from the bracket on the gear box, the cable can now be removed, if you've gotten this far it's fairly self explanatory to put the new cable back in.

Seriously 2 hours work is a joke and 200€ to fit the cable is also a joke it really would take me about half an hour or if you've never done it before then maybe an hour, it really is a very easy job

i'd diy it too

Even if that 300 smackers get you a trolley jack - axle stands a socket set and the new cables (easily)

In the UK, were only just starting to see them snapping, and alot of good 2nd hand units in scrap yards which cost a hella lot less then new

tbh if mine snapped tommorow *touch wood it wont* i'd be down my scrappies and getting me some more

Ziggy

Alright thanks a lot guys, I'm gonna try this next weekend (and may have some more questions then)