General gearbox

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General gearbox

marvtab

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Is it normal for gears on a new car to be a bit 'grindy'? I've had 1.4 sport for almost a month, only 300 miles so far, and notice that gear changing is not smooth. It sometimes takes a fair bit of force to push stick into right gear - particularly when going down gears. Is this usual behaviour for a new gearbox that will loosen up and get smoother or a potential problem? (I'm sure it's not my driving - I'm not aggressive with it and never had this on 9 year old car I traded in)
 
Make sure you are fully depressing the clutch pedal - you probably didn't need to in the last car because of clutch plate wear.

Secondly if it won't go in easily I usually lift the clutch in neutral (whilst matching the engine revs to roughly what it will be in the lower gear), then when the clutch is pressed again it should slip in easily.

HTH
 
Mine is "grindey" and my clutch pedal clonks. Fiat not really caring though. Been back twice, they have put double sided sticky tape on the back of the clutch stop so it makes less noise, and told me to wear in the gear box. Not very happy bout it!! (n) Let me know if you get any further!!
 
Is it normal for gears on a new car to be a bit 'grindy'? I've had 1.4 sport for almost a month, only 300 miles so far, and notice that gear changing is not smooth. It sometimes takes a fair bit of force to push stick into right gear - particularly when going down gears. Is this usual behaviour for a new gearbox that will loosen up and get smoother or a potential problem? (I'm sure it's not my driving - I'm not aggressive with it and never had this on 9 year old car I traded in)
Just remember it's cold and you've got a brand spanking new car. Things will be tight with a new car but the cold just makes things tighter. The wifes Subaru has 200k miles on it and first gear is always difficult to get in at the best of times but it's near on impossible to get it in when it's this cold. Let things warm up and the car get a bit of wear in it then see what it's like :)
 
They do loosen up a bit after about 5k miles. Or at least mine did. They're not what you'd call rifle bolt actions or silky smooth at the best of times though. The cold weather really doesn't help either. Mine is stiffer until it's warmed up.
 
Hi

This may because its a new car and you are changing gear in the same manner as your last car.
You'll soon adapt to the gear positions and angles required to change gear in your new 500 in anougher week or so.
 
yea rifle-bolt action it sure aint in the 500 - one of the few crappy aspects of the car imo.
 
About the only thing i liked on the 1.4 was the smooth little 6 speed box, much slicker than the notchy 5 speed on the Abarth (really wish they'd put the 6 speed GPA box on it!) But i should imagine it will get better with time, the one i had for a month had 2500 miles and that was pretty smooth. Patience (y)
 
its not that theres anything wrong with it, and i suppose its easy and smooth enough. just feel that, especially for the abarth, it should be a faster, more satisfying change.

suppose i remember the mini cooper i had a test drive in before getting my abarth. hated the car, but the gearchange was like moving a finely counterweighted lever....wow was it sweet.
 
I think its the cold, as others have pointed out.
Mine has been fine up til now, lovely n smooth gears (and the car is only 3 months old), but in the last week I've noticed the gears have felt different, a bit more grindy as you say, so since reading other comments on this thread I am sure it is purely down to the cold.
 
its not that theres anything wrong with it, and i suppose its easy and smooth enough. just feel that, especially for the abarth, it should be a faster, more satisfying change.

suppose i remember the mini cooper i had a test drive in before getting my abarth. hated the car, but the gearchange was like moving a finely counterweighted lever....wow was it sweet.
Yea i know what you mean, German cars certainly know how to define smooth when it comes to gearboxes! It would finish the A500 off nicely to have a silky shift, but it's a mere thorn in a bed of roses to me! (My first gearbox was even worse!)
 
Yea i know what you mean, German cars certainly know how to define smooth when it comes to gearboxes! It would finish the A500 off nicely to have a silky shift, but it's a mere thorn in a bed of roses to me! (My first gearbox was even worse!)


Never driven a manual merc then!! german manuals are useless!!

some of the slickest changes on boxes come from italian boxes especially a nice six speed coupled to an 24v alfa V6, but its all in matching the engine speed to the box even in a 1.2 500
 
report it to your fiat dealer so they can at least take note of it. In this case they will not be able to blame you if something goes wrong after 10,000km. (e.g. abuse). You could tell them the gearbox has been like that since and you knew it was only a matter of time before something happened.

But hey, it could be nothing but at least let your mind rest
 
Mine was a bit 'notchy' when new but after around 4000 it became quite acceptable. Now at 20,000 - and it's perfect for me. Slips in and out of all gears with no baulking.

I have always 'followed' the gate when changing gear rather than just aiming at angle for the next gear. Goes back to driving many old wrecks in my youth and was the only way of ensuring you hit the right gear!

My first car was a Mk1 Ford Consul costing me £5. It had a three speed column change and 2nd gear was absent. Took some doing but it got me to work for a year or so. I then went up-market and bought a newer one for £9 and it had all three gears!!

Then the MOT came in and that put paid to those low cost fun motoring days :(
 
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And all the pounds of filler and cardboard to replace the sills. Buying second hand was well dodgy. Once looked at an old Simca where lots of the chassis was cardboard and fresh underseal.

And throwing dust and dry mud over the filler before it set - got a couple of motors through the MOT like that. Happy (and dangerous) Days :D
 
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