Technical The one and only Dualogic failure thread

[davantzis]

Hi irc Liblet,

I'm experiencing a similar issues. I purchased my 2013 Fiat 500c TwinAir Turbo 0.9L Dualogic auto through a dealer on March 6th, 2019. Within ten days of ownership, an error came up saying "Check transmission, see handbook". I took it back into the dealership where they said it was activated by a faulty brake pedal position switch which they replaced and cleared the error codes.

Soon after, I had to take it back in after a "Brake fluid level insufficient do not proceed", apparently the fluid level as correct and the error was cleared.

I had an independent mechanic look at it as my stop/start engine wasn't working and there is a delay in shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. Took it back to the dealership and they replaced the battery and calibrated/reset the clutch.

A couple of days ago, I was driving and my car slipped from 3rd to Neutral at about 45km/ph in the middle of traffic and almost caused an accident which was terrifying. I tried to change gears but it only remained in Neutral. I had to turn the car on and off twice in order to engage 1st gear.

It happened again when I was slowly into my car park and it wasn't until I turned my car on and off again did it eventually engage (managed to capture video of this happening).

It would seem that the "Check transmission, see handbook" error was a genuine warning and I've taken it back to the dealership who are now telling me that they can't find any error codes and as a result, can't diagnose it as they can't even replicate the issue.

I've advised them that I've done a lot of research since the incidents and have found many websites and forums indicating that Fiat have recalled 500 & 500c due to the same issue Internationally but not in Australia. The dealership are telling me that they isn't a technical bulletin released for Australia regarding the issue and that there's nothing to fix. According to the recalls, the dualogic gearbox (accumulator, actuator and pump) need to be replaced.

I'm at the stage where I'm scared for my safety and that of others given the unpredictability of it slipping into Neutral whilst driving. Has anyone had any luck trying to identify/resolve this issue?

 

[Liblet]

Hi Davantzis,
Welcome to the dualogic failure club��.
I am currently in dialogue with FCA re the same fault. Are you able to send me a link to where you saw the recall information? I have not come upon this in my searches to date.
We have been told by the dealership that the car is potentially dangerous
I will keep you all posted on how this progresses with FCA.

 

[Rachel Maryan]

Hi There,

New to the forum, new to driving (we’ll just over a year) and new to having car issues.
I have a 2014 Fiat 500c dualogic, the “check transmission, see manual” has come up every few days. Does not stay on just beeps and is on display but no light on.
My friend has a diagnostic reader and has read it and has no faults showing, car not driving any differently. Any ideas?

Rachel x

 

[jrkitching]

Hi There,

Hi and welcome to the forum :wave:.

Sorry to hear you're having issues with your car.

The answers, if indeed there are any, are probably all in this thread. The cause could be anything from a loose connection, through a failing battery, all the way up to this being the first sign of an impending major failure. No one can pinpoint what's happening just sitting at a keyboard without sight of the car.

Using a diagnostic reader that's made specifically for your car may show up something that your friend's code reader can't see. A tool like multiecuscan may show up errors that can't be seen by a generic reader.

If you let us know your approximate location, there may be someone here with MES that could check it out for you.

Without wishing to be alarmist, if the light comes on more regularly and you want peace of mind, consider trading in the car. If the actuator does fail, there are no cheap solutions.

 

[p6baseunit]

Hello All,
This is my first post. I have recently bought a 2014 Twin Air with 40,000Km on the clock. I was having probs getting it to from reverse into first without having to turn the engine off. I was told before purchasing it that the gearbox had been replaced while the car was still under warranty and before proceeding with sale I verified this verbally with the Fiat dealership who had carried out the repairs. I was told by phone that a new gear box had not been installed but rather all new components had been placed in the gearbox. I was told this work was under warranty.
I took the car to the dealership who had done these repairs to have the car checked out and was told I need a new actuator at a cost of ~ $AU 8000.00.
I asked the dealership to take this up with Fiat Australia ( apparently Fiat Australia will only allow you to go through the dealership in the first instance). FA has come back and said in the first instance I need to replace the accumulator diaphragm at a cost of $AU845.00.
The service guy is very half hearted in his belief that this will solve the problem.
Has anyone out there had any experience of this?
Thanks in anticipation

Those prices are crazy! Normally replacing the total unit fixes these issues.
There is a new Gearbox Control Unit on ebay currently - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500-0-9-1-2-1-4-TwinAir-Semi-Auto-gearbox-Actuator-Dualogic-Selespeed/173921010990?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D6135ec9fae5945609aec9615595d9566%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D173921029886%26itm%3D173921010990&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507

AU$ 1250 / £760 - Shipping to Australia can´t be that much

 

[Dannileaves]

Hello can anyone help me, I brought my car 7 months ago a fiat 500 twin air Dualogic 0.9. 2013 only done 20.000 miles, in this time it has slammed itself into N on a motorway doing 70mph and on a dual carriage way and once on a round about, I had a diagnostics done and my mechanic got the code up not knowing much about gear boxes he cleared the code hoping that would solve the issue, which of course it didn’t so I opened a case with the garage I brought the car with, and by then it done it again and my mechanic cleared the code again, but now to have to car fixed I have to have a diagnostics done by the garage I brought it from. And of course the code will now not come up ? as this is my first car I’m petrified to drive it and I’m not sure how else I can prove to them my car is defiantly putting itself into neutral.

 

[p6baseunit]

Hello can anyone help me, I brought my car 7 months ago a fiat 500 twin air Dualogic 0.9. 2013

There is a new Gearbox control unit above on Ebay for £760 in the UK, get your mechanic to replace the unit.... It's going to be cheaper than the £3000 that Fiat will want!

 

[LeoPanda2004]

Hi I have a fiat panda 2004 dynamic 1.2 automatic, had robot recently done by this guy as you can see his link on ebay+ kit clucth done. After 3 days it is stuttering on 1st gear and reverse.. Sometimes while on 3rd and 5th gear goes back straight to N, Not always though. He states that he did a full seal changes in the robot etc (read his description on linkl but my car is not working properly no near as to be safe to drive.
Could you help me please?
It is hard to find people to fix as well.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/223506870276

I follow Motortech chanell on YouTube as I am Brazilian living in UK, and I have spent already £600 o this panda to fix this
Could you please give me your opinion? I thought after watching videos it could be the clucth index degradation? If yes what software can I get? Thx a lot.
Fiat panda 2004

 

[SteveFiat500]

Hi irc Liblet,

I'm experiencing a similar issues. I purchased my 2013 Fiat 500c TwinAir Turbo 0.9L Dualogic auto through a dealer on March 6th, 2019. Within ten days of ownership, an error came up saying "Check transmission, see handbook". I took it back into the dealership where they said it was activated by a faulty brake pedal position switch which they replaced and cleared the error codes.

Soon after, I had to take it back in after a "Brake fluid level insufficient do not proceed", apparently the fluid level as correct and the error was cleared.

I had an independent mechanic look at it as my stop/start engine wasn't working and there is a delay in shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. Took it back to the dealership and they replaced the battery and calibrated/reset the clutch.

A couple of days ago, I was driving and my car slipped from 3rd to Neutral at about 45km/ph in the middle of traffic and almost caused an accident which was terrifying. I tried to change gears but it only remained in Neutral. I had to turn the car on and off twice in order to engage 1st gear.

It happened again when I was slowly into my car park and it wasn't until I turned my car on and off again did it eventually engage (managed to capture video of this happening).

It would seem that the "Check transmission, see handbook" error was a genuine warning and I've taken it back to the dealership who are now telling me that they can't find any error codes and as a result, can't diagnose it as they can't even replicate the issue.

I've advised them that I've done a lot of research since the incidents and have found many websites and forums indicating that Fiat have recalled 500 & 500c due to the same issue Internationally but not in Australia. The dealership are telling me that they isn't a technical bulletin released for Australia regarding the issue and that there's nothing to fix. According to the recalls, the dualogic gearbox (accumulator, actuator and pump) need to be replaced.

I'm at the stage where I'm scared for my safety and that of others given the unpredictability of it slipping into Neutral whilst driving. Has anyone had any luck trying to identify/resolve this issue?

Hi mate, did you manage to resolve this issue?
My wifes Fiat 500 sport with only 22.000klms had the same problem, it would drop into neutral and just leave you stranded in the middle of the road. Initially we were quoted $9000 for the repair but after lodging a complaint with VCAT we managed to only pay $1500 and sold the car a few weeks later. The only reason we agreed to pay this amount is just because we wanted to get this over with and get rid of the car.

Unfortunately anyone in Australia having this issue is in big trouble as FCA has the worst customer service and will only try and rip you off. There are so many complaints and they still fail to recognize this problem.

They actually told me during the hearing that starting/stopping in traffic causes the transmission to wear and when i said "but this car has only 22k klms on it" they said yes its possible for this to happen in lower klm cars also!!

Anyone with a FIAT car in Australia should seriously think of selling it to avoid getting themselves into situations like this.

If you need any help, let me know. Thanks

 

[HilaryC]

Hi .. I have a 2018 fiat 500 automatic and I'm sure that the transmission is faulty. Intermittent problem that car will not go from reverse into drive. When this happens I can only get car into drive if I put car back into reverse gear again.Car under warranty but dealer in Melbourne is being difficult and advised that they will not fix car unless the problem happens when they have the car. Given the fact this is an intermittent problem, I am in a real dilemma. Had a near miss today as car got stuck on road and I couldn't get car into drive. I think my car is a LEMON. Any help would be greatly appreciated.. many thanks

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi. And welcome

Intermittent is a real pain..

The one thing I could suggest.
(Other than attemtimg a different dealer)

Take notice of what the dashboard display states

If there is an error displayed.. it should log a fault that can be retrieved by anybody plugging in a device

As you may well be aware..
The gear changing is performed by a 'robot'

The operation needs both electrical input and hydraulic control.

A good workshop should be able to check and reset these functions

Charlie

 

[jrkitching]

Re: transmission problems 2018 fiat 500 .. help please

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Sorry it's in such sad circumstances.

You will see from reading this thread that you are far from being alone.

At least with a 2018 car, you have some recourse under the warranty if the issue persists. Repairing this outside warranty will likely cost serious money, so don't be fobbed off.

 

[John202020]

Install a dash cam that shows the inside and dash such you can show video evidence of the events?

 

[Alfa1750]

Hi new to this forum but I do have an Alfa. We just bought a Fiat 500 dialogic (which my wife loves), from a used car dealer after 3 days whilst braking the gear went until neutral with the warning buzzer it took a couple of minutes to get going, the garage said they would fix it, the concerns me, should we try and get out money back or let them fix it?

 

[typecastboy]

Re: Should we fix!!! Dualiogic HELP!!!

I don’t think you can demand your money back. They have the legal right to fix it I believe.

 

[chris3234]

Re: Should we fix!!! Dualiogic HELP!!!

I don’t think you can demand your money back. They have the legal right to fix it I believe.

This I think you have to give them at least one attempt to fox the issue first

 

[John202020]

Re: Should we fix!!! Dualiogic HELP!!!

I would try and obtain a refund, a decent garage may opt for this rather than repair given they will know this type of transmission can give real headache?

 

[varesecrazy]

Re: Should we fix!!! Dualiogic HELP!!!

Do you need an auto?

If so.. you may as well get the issue dealt with by them.

( most used duologics will need attention )

This may even be the rear hatch wiring..
So fussy is the system.. that seemingly unrelated issues will effect the gearchanging- clutch control


If you can get away with a manual.. then take the cash..if offered.

I like the way the system works.. but it can be a real headache in later life

Charlie

 

[jrkitching]

Re: Should we fix!!! Dualiogic HELP!!!

I don’t think you can demand your money back. They have the legal right to fix it I believe.

You're thinking of the old Sale of Goods Act.

This has now been replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which gives the purchaser the legal right to reject the car for a full refund in the first 30 days if the car is not of satisfactory quality, not fit for purpose or not as described. If any of these three conditions apply, then the buyer is not obliged to give the selling garage a chance to repair it, unless they have owned it for more than 30 days.

Speaking personally, and given the poor track record of successful repairs to failing dualogics, I'd give serious consideration to rejecting the car.

 

[snuffalicious]

Guys!

I have a 2008 Fiat Punto 1.4 v8 Dualogic with just 61.5k miles on it and I'm in the UK.

Unfortunately, a Fiat authorised garage has said that the gearbox solenoid is leaking. They tell me the whole Dualogic unit must be replaced.

I've attached a picture of it.

The garage want £1,900 to do the work including parts and labour

Are there any other options?

Will the leak get worse?

It doesn't seem a big leak and if it doesn't get worse and I cleaned it up and put the aluminium tray over it, would the MOT man notice?

Is the car a scrapper?