Hi all and thanks in advance for you help.
I have a fiat silo 2005 1.6 Xbox edition that I have had from new, its been a massive pain in the arse the whole time but I love it. Mileage is low at 72,000
And in its life its had more work done to it than all of my family's cars combined, they all want me to get rid of it but I love my stilo! It was off the road for the first 6 months of the year until I could afford to get it up and running again and now its once again off the road once more. This time my Mrs is kicking off too. I need to get it fixed and I am hoping that someone can point out an easy fix. I will have a go at what I can but my tools and skills are limited.
Anyway....
The clutch peddle has become spongy, when driving the car acts as though the clutch isn't up all the way, the revs jump up and the car isnt picking up much speed. I managed to get it home and I have followed deckchairs guide on how to bleed it.
Bleeding made no difference and its very hard to even get it into gear. The hydraulic fluid level is completely full.
Any suggestions on what I could try myself would be gratefully received.

Peat said:

From what you have described it would seem to me that the clutch friction plate is shot and needs replacing.

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Ill second that - sounds like the clutch is slipping...
If it was a cable clutch - you could adjust it to a point where it might stop slipping but the plate will give up eventually and you will have no clutch at all, yours will be hydraulic which is self adjusting...

Get another clutch kit (a decent one, not a cheap one for the sake of £20 - £30 difference) and get it fitted at a garage, its not a massive job and can be done in around 2 hours.

Expect around £160 - £200, parts and labour.

I can recommend a couple of garages that can do it in that range with a premium clutch kit and warranty on the work and parts, all depends where you are... im in bradford, heckmondwike, birstall areas.

Another possibility is cracked pressure plate. This will give symptoms of slipping clutch but also not disengaging properly either. Solution is the same. New clutch kit.

Thanks everyone, that is definitley beyond my capability to repair but at least it sounds a lot cheaper than I thought, I was worried it might need a new master or slave cylinder.
I am waiting for greenflag to turn up and take it to the garage for me, I am in london but thanks for the offer of a good garage. Hopefully the cost wont be too outrageous.

paul8977 said:

Thanks everyone, that is definitley beyond my capability to repair but at least it sounds a lot cheaper than I thought, I was worried it might need a new master or slave cylinder.
I am waiting for greenflag to turn up and take it to the garage for me, I am in london but thanks for the offer of a good garage. Hopefully the cost wont be too outrageous.

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Let us know when you have got it sorted and what it cost etc #justbeennosey

I will get a set price on Monday but £300-£400 the mechanic reckons, he said it will need a new clutch kit. Not sure what he is going to charge me for the actual kit yet but at this cost I might scrap it.
I know the rear bushels need doing and the back tyres too

paul8977 said:

I will get a set price on Monday but £300-£400 the mechanic reckons, he said it will need a new clutch kit. Not sure what he is going to charge me for the actual kit yet but at this cost I might scrap it.
I know the rear bushels need doing and the back tyres too

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if it still drives..:idea: why not drive it out of London for a MUCH cheaper fix..??

I normally do have it repaired out of London but it doesnt drive, I couldn't get it into gear yesterday. Great idea though, thanks.

dtimmins1985 said:

Let us know when you have got it sorted and what it cost etc #justbeennosey

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£327.16 is the price quoted, I said I would get my own clutch and he said if I do then there is no guarantee given and if I don't its 12 months. With my car, a guarantee is a must so I am just going to bite another bullet.

So it was done for the price given, clutch kit cost £127 apparently, a bit over the odds but its done now.
Question though, the clutch now bites really high and there is hardly any mid point to the bite, its just no clutch or all clutch pretty much and parallel parking requires front and rear crash mats. Is this normal after a new clutch is installed or is there another issue?

The pedal will engage higher, since there's more clutch plate friction material and the prongs on the pressure plate are all nice and new.

Over time as the prongs start to fatigue and the friction plate wears out a bit, you'll have to move the pedal more to life the friction plate away from the pressure plate.

What make is the clutch? If it's grabby it could be OE Fiat.. They're made by Borg & Beck which is a good clutch but on the other hand, does grab to the more swathe and smooth Frenchie Valeo.

If the clutch is "unknown" then chances are it's grabby because it's a cheapo one made in China.. but at £127 I'd guess it's OE.


Ralf S.