Hi all. My sister has recently purchased a 2010 fiat 500 1.3 diesel lounge. ( lucky.... ). But when driving we noticed a noise when using the clutch pedal . Whenever she is accelerating you can hear a kind of springy , creaking -type sound when she presses the clutch pedal.It's not the gearbox because the noise is heard whenever the pedal is depressed not when the gear lever is used. But when decelerating no sound at all.Has anyone else here had the same experience? She is not sure whether to take it back to dealer for fear of being thought of as being being paranoid lol. The car pulls soothly but the noise has become noticeable after driving it for 3 weeks

kevinski said:

Hi all. My sister has recently purchased a 2010 fiat 500 1.3 diesel lounge. ( lucky.... ). But when driving we noticed a noise when using the clutch pedal . Whenever she is accelerating you can hear a kind of springy , creaking -type sound when she presses the clutch pedal.It's not the gearbox because the noise is heard whenever the pedal is depressed not when the gear lever is used. But when decelerating no sound at all.Has anyone else here had the same experience? She is not sure whether to take it back to dealer for fear of being thought of as being being paranoid lol. The car pulls soothly but the noise has become noticeable after driving it for 3 weeks

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This will sound strange but for about 3 months I had a similar problem in my old fiesta every time a pushed down on the clutch, didn't matters if I put it in gear either. Turned out it wasn't the clutch creaking at all. It was the seat plastic creaking when I pushed my leg/foot down on the clutch

It you're creaking definitely sounds mechanical then it's unlikely to be the same thing but I thought it worth mentioning

Sounds like an issue some people have had with the 1.3 MJ where the clutch itself is noisy.

Thanx for the speedy replies . The noise does only appear on acceleration when going up the gears. But no sound during decelaeration going down throught the gears. Annoying as it wasn't audible before. Only now. Btw maxi360 do u know what others with this issue have done?

It's a well known problem with the diesel 500s. Fiat are well aware of it but appear to have no intention of putting it right. If you do a search you will find a long thread on the matter.

It's the vibration from the diesel engine tavelling along the hydraulic line. You can both feel and hear it.

I was lucky, my dealer called in a Fiat Technician and he fitted a hydraulic damper from another Fiat diesel model. It cured the problem immediately and transformed the driving experience.

Fiat are not recalling as far as I know which is a big shame.

EDIT:

Just found the link to the 'long' thread -

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/161485-gearbox-clutch-noise-new-500-a.html

baxwalker said:

It's a well known problem with the diesel 500s. Fiat are well aware of it but appear to have no intention of putting it right. If you do a search you will find a long thread on the matter.

It's the vibration from the diesel engine tavelling along the hydraulic line. You can both feel and hear it.

I was lucky, my dealer called in a Fiat Technician and he fitted a hydraulic damper from another Fiat diesel model. It cured the problem immediately and transformed the driving experience.

Fiat are not recalling as far as I know which is a big shame.

EDIT:

Just found the link to the 'long' thread -

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/161485-gearbox-clutch-noise-new-500-a.html

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Does anyone know if modification has been made to the new 1.3 to rectify this? If not is there a part # for the damper and where how is it fitted? Apologies if it’s in the thread i looked but didn’t see anything technical.

another reason not to buy the diesel

RobW said:

another reason not to buy the diesel

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Nah.... the diesel is the best engine no questions asked!

Jake_in_notts said:

Does anyone know if modification has been made to the new 1.3 to rectify this? If not is there a part # for the damper and where how is it fitted? Apologies if it’s in the thread i looked but didn’t see anything technical.

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Hi Jake

I still haven't managed to identify the part. Have had a quick look underneath but can't get the car up high enough to get a good view. I think it's the damper from a diesel punto - whichever model uses the same diesel engine. I think it's fitted in the hydraulic line. Very quick to fit I understand.

Surely one of the more Fiat aware forum members can advise on this part. It makes such a MASSIVE difference that if i hadn't already had it fitted I would pay for one and fit it myself. My clutch is as good as the petrol version. Silent and smooth - unlike some petrol 500 owners

Hi baxwalker thanx for a very interesting reply. I hope that some more light can be shed on this damper part. It begs the question . If it's fitted to puntos (possibly) then why not to 500s asa matter of course? If you can possibly find out more concerning the part number etc that would be great!!

I have the 1.3 Diesel. I haven't experienced this issue. Some have had this issue. Did worry me before I bought the car, but since its the best engine option p) I wasn't put off.

SmoothHound said:

I have the 1.3 Diesel. I haven't experienced this issue. Some have had this issue. Did worry me before I bought the car, but since its the best engine option p) I wasn't put off.

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I have the diesel too, and I haven't experienced any problems either.

Rather than rely the diagnoses of people who haven't driven your car, why not give your dealer a call and get it looked at? They really won't mind you calling them - I'm sure many dealers would like the opportunity to show just how good they can be.

And don't fret - you've bought the best 500 engine by far! ;-)

Zakt said:

And don't fret - you've bought the best 500 engine by far! ;-)

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This again?

306maxi said:

This again?

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I was refering to the post you made above, in which you stated "Nah.... the diesel is the best engine no questions asked! "

I'm glad you agree to such an extent ;-)

Zakt said:

I have the diesel too, and I haven't experienced any problems either.

Rather than rely the diagnoses of people who haven't driven your car, why not give your dealer a call and get it looked at? They really won't mind you calling them - I'm sure many dealers would like the opportunity to show just how good they can be.

And don't fret - you've bought the best 500 engine by far! ;-)

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I had a 1.3 diesel 500 for a week as a courtesy car while my 1.2 lounge was in a bodyshop for paintwork attention. I was able to do a direct comparison. The diesel pulled very strongly fron 2,500 rpm, noticably more so than my 1.2 8v petrol. That doesn't mean that my 1.2 is underpowered. The diesel that I drove had a noisy clutch, but only under strong acceleration changing up. When changing down, it wasn't apparent. I think you could possibly avoid the noise from the clutch when changing up by taking special care with the gearchanges and not rushing, you shouldn't have to though. On a sprint from 30-60 out of a built up area, the diesel was quickest, but not by much. The biggest difference was the silky smoothness of the 1.2 8v petrol compared to the diesel. The diesel gave a noticable vibration through the steering wheel at idle. With the 1.2 petrol, at tickover the engine is almost silent in my car. At an indicated 70+ on the motorway, the 1.2 petrol is smoother than the diesel, though less punchy. The torque delivery of the 1.2 8v is very good, in my opinion. On a steep upward gradient on a motorway, near to where I live, I had four adults on board. The 500 1.2 petrol accelerates from an indicated 70 to close on 80 in fifth every bit as quickly as my wife's 1.6 Ford Focus under the same loading.

A little off topic, but I don't think the 75bhp 1.3 diesel is the best engine by far, and that clutch noise on some cars is annoying.

thanx a lot for your replies guys. Going in tomorrow with my sister armed with this info for moral support (lol). From what i understand the dealer sale assistant has already booked time in the garage for the mechanics to look at it. hopefully we can sort it out soon enough. Great little I have to say!!

Well as an update took the car to Thames Fiat in slough.technician had a drive. Felt that it wasn't the clutch possibly something else. Said to my sister " how could u stand that sound.. definitely don't sound right.." So booked in to be looked at soon. Hopefully will be sortedout. Must say they have given great service up till now. Haven't raised any issues yet.

kevinski said:

Well as an update took the car to Thames Fiat in slough.technician had a drive. Felt that it wasn't the clutch possibly something else. Said to my sister " how could u stand that sound.. definitely don't sound right.." So booked in to be looked at soon. Hopefully will be sortedout. Must say they have given great service up till now. Haven't raised any issues yet.

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When I first reported the problem, a new clutch and release bearing was fitted. It made no difference whatsoever. Thats when they called in a Fiat Techie and he tried the experiment with a hydraulic damper from another diesel model. The result was immediate and I've had no problems since as already stated.

What I find unbelievable is that Fiat now know how to solve the problem but are not advising dealers. The dealers are then wasting hours of time trying to work out what the problem is.

What was the other Diesel model they took the damper from?

baxwalker said:

When I first reported the problem, a new clutch and release bearing was fitted. It made no difference whatsoever. Thats when they called in a Fiat Techie and he tried the experiment with a hydraulic damper from another diesel model. The result was immediate and I've had no problems since as already stated.

What I find unbelievable is that Fiat now know how to solve the problem but are not advising dealers. The dealers are then wasting hours of time trying to work out what the problem is.

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I'd suggest that the damper has masked the problem, rather than fixed it. If your clutch was working perfectly well before, and works perfectly well on the thousands of other diesel 500s on the roads (including my own), fitting this part shouldn't be necessary.