Before my car went in for refurbishment, I drove it a short distance and found the gears tend to crash when I change from 2nd to 3rd and if I remember right even from 3rd to 4th and worse part is down shifting from 3rd to 2nd at mybe 40km per Hour, I am wondering if I am doing this right as maybe old cars cnt be handled likle new ones, should I reduce speed when shifting gears so they dont crash or could the gear wheels be worn out and not falling into place? I notice the gear lever has quite a bit of play as well

Shanil if you are driving a classic FIAT 500 with a 499cc engine and standard gearbox this gearbox doesn't have any syncromesh. If you take it steady going up the box it should be okay but you will need to double declutch going down through the gears to syncronise them.

If you have a FIAT 126 600cc or 650cc with its accompnying 126 gearbox this has syncromesh on the three top gears.

Hi Shanil

It certainly sound s like you have the early type non-synchromesh gearbox.

Are you familiar with the expression "double de-clutching" ?

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch[/ame]

Hi guys, thanks for the suggestions, I have no Idea what Double de clutching is, I think my car is a 479cc first edition engine, please tell me how this de clutching is done????? :worship:

Hi Shanil

I put the link is my previous e-mail - please see below:

oopsadaisy said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_clutch

Click to expand...

When we got our 500 I had a tough time with it also. I was used to double-clutching but with a sports car. In the 500 you have to be patient. You can't just blip the gas like in other cars. If you want to go from 3rd to 2nd for example you have to push the clutch, shift to neutral, release the clutch and mash the throttle. Wait for the engine speed to come up (the trick is to know how much-for a shift at the bottom of second gear use a lower engine speed but to go towards the top of second gear you really need some engine speed)- now get off the gas a little, push the clutch and change down to second.

To upshift you have to pause a half second in neutral and wait for the shaft to naturally loose speed so it will mesh. to speed this up you can double clutch the upshift but you do not need to add the gas.

Now the fun part. Downshift while braking down a hill. You need three feet but you only have 2. This is where you have to mash the gas with the side of your foot while working the brake with your toe.

With practice you will get perfectly quiet and smooth shifts.
Very satisfying and adds to the fun of the car.

Ciao,
dave

Hi Dave Thanks for your advice, it is indeed a challenge to drive this car I managed to get the hang of it to some extent but notice the most difficult part is down shifting from 2nd to 1st, seems that the car must come to a complete halt to do this?

I agree, second to first is not practical.
Dave

Shanil said:

Hi Dave Thanks for your advice, it is indeed a challenge to drive this car I managed to get the hang of it to some extent but notice the most difficult part is down shifting from 2nd to 1st, seems that the car must come to a complete halt to do this?

Click to expand...

Yes Shanil, you really should bring the car to a halt before attempting to engage 1st gear.

I have a 126 with normal 126 gearbox that need to reapair. Could some one help me with bearings numbers, I know that it have 4 bearings, I need the number of the one called needle bearing, but if any one could give me the four numbers is OK for me. I need those to find other factory equivalents, as here in Cuba we have big problems with the spare parts.
Thanks

Hello and welcome to the forum.

It would be difficult to trace the part number unless you have the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) of the vehicle the gearbox actually came from.

Otherwise your best bet would be to measure them very accurately and try to find some generic bearings that will fit.

Good luck!