Technical The one and only Dualogic failure thread

[liav24]

Hi guys
Happy to officially inform that im also one of the Dualogic failure owner.

Today i took my 2010, 1.4 Dualogic with 85000 KM to replace the clutch after having some trouble with entering to gear 1 or N at the mornings of after a long stop (had to wait while engine running for about a minut).
I was then told by the mechanic that the problem is not only the clutch, its also in the robot itself!
It was leaking heavily (even tho iv'e never seen any leak under the car, but the protection was darker), and need to be replaced because there is no fix for that for some reason.

Also he asked me if i have ever had the gear going into Neutral while driving - a thing that never happened.

The price of course:
Tadaaa 3000$.

After asking for help with anything he have, got some discount to about 2500$
this is way out of my budget, had to take a loan for that and it for having the whole robot unit replaced - no re-manufactured available.

This is, the last ever Fiat i will ever buy in my life, and i dare anybody of my friends / family kids or wife touching this unreliable garbage car (first the radiator, the dashboard, now the gear), the dealership will not take responsibility for this and its also not their fault, only Fiat's.

For anybody using that Dualogic crap (sorry for the language) - give yourself a brake and get rid of it and fast, friend of mine was cleaver to sell his after a year, i'm not that lucky \=

 

[jrkitching]

Happy to officially inform that im also one of the Dualogic failure owner.

Condolences. That's a bad break.

This thread should be required reading for anyone considering the purchase of a used dualogic 500.

 

[ahmett]

Hi guys
Happy to officially inform that im also one of the Dualogic failure owner.

Today i took my 2010, 1.4 Dualogic with 85000 KM to replace the clutch after having some trouble with entering to gear 1 or N at the mornings of after a long stop (had to wait while engine running for about a minut).
I was then told by the mechanic that the problem is not only the clutch, its also in the robot itself!
It was leaking heavily (even tho iv'e never seen any leak under the car, but the protection was darker), and need to be replaced because there is no fix for that for some reason.

Also he asked me if i have ever had the gear going into Neutral while driving - a thing that never happened.

The price of course:
Tadaaa 3000$.

After asking for help with anything he have, got some discount to about 2500$
this is way out of my budget, had to take a loan for that and it for having the whole robot unit replaced - no re-manufactured available.

This is, the last ever Fiat i will ever buy in my life, and i dare anybody of my friends / family kids or wife touching this unreliable garbage car (first the radiator, the dashboard, now the gear), the dealership will not take responsibility for this and its also not their fault, only Fiat's.

For anybody using that Dualogic crap (sorry for the language) - give yourself a brake and get rid of it and fast, friend of mine was cleaver to sell his after a year, i'm not that lucky \=

ouch! we should make a broken dualogic club!

yes before they die they tend to leak a lot, it usually stops working completely when there is no hydraulic fluid left at all! my mechanic had to put some fluid to get the box to work again after it seized in gear!

Mine is working ok for now, but for how long is anyone's guess.

Simple thing is, the Dualogic is simply not reliable and a dangerous system.

 

[liav24]

Well never thought it will happen to me too, guess i was wrong, that really makes me angry that this system dies so fast, this suposed to be an economic car even more than the manual transmission.
I was saving money for the Abarth, but after that hell no.

Ahmett - did you replaced the whole system like i was suggested? i have to fix it and then i will just sell it..they give 1 year warrenty for that.

 

[ahmett]

Well never thought it will happen to me too, guess i was wrong, that really makes me angry that this system dies so fast, this suposed to be an economic car even more than the manual transmission.
I was saving money for the Abarth, but after that hell no.

Ahmett - did you replaced the whole system like i was suggested? i have to fix it and then i will just sell it..they give 1 year warrenty for that.

yes i replaced the whole system for 1200 Euros. One year/100,000 km warranty. So I am covered until March 2016. To be honest the car is barely worth 5,000 Euros so no point selling it, i'll just maintain it as cheaply as i can without being dangerous and drive it to the ground. I think it will last a few more years with minor faults such as light sensors, nothing enough to fail the MOT = ) Car looks fine on the outside and inside, its just these stupid Fiat style faults.

Did you give Fiat a call? I screamed at them and they gave me a 10% discount, better than nothing I guess.
If it breaks again I would scream at them even more haha.

 

[liav24]

Well lol for me here its almost twice as what you paid. They gave me about 10-15% to 2500$ including a new clutch and the whole hydraulic system - the robot and the pump and al around with 1 year warrenty for it.. so i don't have a choice..i prefer to replace it all and sell the car.

My car here worth about 14000$ (2010 - yes that alot)
The prices here are very high, about twice more than Europe, a new one costs about 28K$ (0.9 MA).

This is really the most unreliable car i have ever had (old fun days with mitsubishi lancer 1998 with 200K on the gauge).

 

[Mercedes]

This is only my 2nd post on this forum, shame it's about something negative.

I bought my 2012 Fiat 500 Twinair at the end of July, just as the manufacturers warranty had finished. I got a 3mth mechanical warranty with it.

After a few weeks I noticed that if I reversed out of my drive and went into Auto1 quickly the car was still in neutral and only after a bit of learning to press heavier on the brake pedal did that problem seem to resolve itself.

However this past week it's been doing more weird things and having read this thread I'm wondering if there is something amiss with the dualogic box.

This morning I was trying to reverse out of Tesco's car park. As soon as I started to reverse I could see another car coming so I braked, waited till it was clear and tried to carry on reversing, but nothing happened and when I looked at the display it was reading N. This happened a further 2 times before I could get out of the parking bay, which was a bit of a worry.

The car has only done 20,800 miles, so it's not that many at all.

Can't say I'm happy at the prospect of possibly paying out a lot of money for a car that I've not had long and hasn't done many miles though

Lyn

 

[varesecrazy]

This is only my 2nd post on this forum, shame it's about something negative.

This morning I was trying to reverse out of Tesco's car park. As soon as I started to reverse I could see another car coming so I braked, waited till it was clear and tried to carry on reversing, but nothing happened and when I looked at the display it was reading N. This happened a further 2 times before I could get out of the parking bay, which was a bit of a worry.

The car has only done 20,800 miles, so it's not that many at all.

Lyn

hi,
the basics of the gearchange operating system are based on an oil pump..it's quite possible that the oil level is low,

it's a relatively cheap and simple thing to check, CAR needs to be up in the air though..

Charlie - Oxford

 

[Mercedes]

hi,
the basics of the gearchange operating system are based on an oil pump..it's quite possible that the oil level is low,

it's a relatively cheap and simple thing to check, CAR needs to be up in the air though..

Charlie - Oxford

Thanks for that. I had the car serviced at the end of August, so I'm assuming the oil level is okay. My other half thinks it's down to the way I drive the car, saying maybe I don't press hard enough on the brake pedal. I've driven tons of other cars over the years and never had this problem though!

Lyn

 

[liav24]

Hi
This happanes to me too, and this accured just before i was told few days ago that i need to replace the robot unit.
I'm not saying its the same issue (and i really hope its not), just that you should know.

In the mornings - if i dont wait for about a minute the car will not enter gear and you can hear noise / hits from the gearbox tryig to work properly, youll have to play with it sometimes.

Next time you enter your car - leave it for about a minute and then enter Revese - try that maybe.

 

[44sunsets]

Thanks for that. I had the car serviced at the end of August, so I'm assuming the oil level is okay.

Does the invoice specifically list servicing of the gearbox oil? If not, then they wouldn't have done it.

 

[Mercedes]

Yes it has all this on it

Oil changed
Oil filter replaced
Sump plug washer replaced
Air filter replaced
Pollen filter replaced
Engine diagnostic check
Fuel filter replaced
Airbag diagnostic check
Transmission diagnostic check
Diagnostic error results recorded
ABS diagnostic check
Door lubrication
Service light reset
Bonnet lubrication
Boot lubrication
Full vehicle saftey check
Written vehicle report
Service book stamped

It hasn't played up since Saturday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Lyn

 

[ahmett]

Yes it has all this on it

Oil changed
Oil filter replaced
Sump plug washer replaced
Air filter replaced
Pollen filter replaced
Engine diagnostic check
Fuel filter replaced
Airbag diagnostic check
Transmission diagnostic check
Diagnostic error results recorded
ABS diagnostic check
Door lubrication
Service light reset
Bonnet lubrication
Boot lubrication
Full vehicle saftey check
Written vehicle report
Service book stamped

It hasn't played up since Saturday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed

Lyn

When it starts playing up it can be a year or even 2 before it breaks completely. You know what my advise is? Eventually, unless its only low oil which generally shouldn't happen in the first place, the Dualogic Box will break. Unless you want to spend 1200 or so GBP to fix it, my advise would be to cut your losses and sell it and never buy a dualogic again, assuming you want to keep your car for longer than 3 years that is. Because if it starts playing up, it may be harder for your to sell if there is a warning light every time you start the car, like what happened to me.

 

[Mercedes]

I hate the thought of having to sell it and find something else as the Fiat 500 was the only small car I saw that I actually liked, in fact I love the look of it. I know I could get a manual car but I really do prefer an auto box. I'm not getting any warning lights as such when the car plays up, just tells me on the display to press the brake. My other half reckons I just don't press hard enough on the brake in general when starting the car or getting it in and out of parking spaces, could this cause the problem

Lyn

 

[ahmett]

I hate the thought of having to sell it and find something else as the Fiat 500 was the only small car I saw that I actually liked, in fact I love the look of it. I know I could get a manual car but I really do prefer an auto box. I'm not getting any warning lights as such when the car plays up, just tells me on the display to press the brake. My other half reckons I just don't press hard enough on the brake in general when starting the car or getting it in and out of parking spaces, could this cause the problem

Lyn

Yes could do, i mean unless I see it i am not sure.
If you are prepared to deal with the consequences then keep your car, just dont come back and make me say i told you so if it breaks and you pay 1200 GBP for a new actuator.

 

[Mercedes]

I don't think I could handle driving a manual, even my husband drives an auto Mercedes and like the Fiat you can drive it in manual or auto and I assumed the Fiat would work as efficiently.

My husband works in the motor trade, no longer as a mechanic, but he is qualified as one so I'm hoping he might be able to help sort the car out. Having said that I know lots of problems are not easily solved by someone who doesn't have the diagnostic testing equipment.

Lyn

 

[ahmett]

I don't think I could handle driving a manual, even my husband drives an auto Mercedes and like the Fiat you can drive it in manual or auto and I assumed the Fiat would work as efficiently.

My husband works in the motor trade, no longer as a mechanic, but he is qualified as one so I'm hoping he might be able to help sort the car out. Having said that I know lots of problems are not easily solved by someone who doesn't have the diagnostic testing equipment.

Lyn

unfortunately the dualogic box is extremely difficult to fix. the only 'real fix' is to replace the whole unit which costs 1200 GBP. It has nothing to do with how good the mechanic fixing it is, once its messed up its messed up and you need a new one!

 

[Mercedes]

I realise it's not possible to fix the actual unit but what I meant was is it possible to fit a new one if you are a mechanic, but don't work in a Fiat garage? My husband is in the middle of rebuilding a 1958 classic car so knows his stuff, but we are both aware that modern cars have a lot more electronic equipment that you need specialist equipment for.

Lyn

 

[ahmett]

I realise it's not possible to fix the actual unit but what I meant was is it possible to fit a new one if you are a mechanic, but don't work in a Fiat garage? My husband is in the middle of rebuilding a 1958 classic car so knows his stuff, but we are both aware that modern cars have a lot more electronic equipment that you need specialist equipment for.

Lyn

That's what i mean, the price of the part is 1200 GBP. It only takes at most an hour to fix so labor is only 100 or so at main dealer rates. So you will only save at best 100 GBP if you fit it yourself = )

 

[ahmett]

Well lol for me here its almost twice as what you paid. They gave me about 10-15% to 2500$ including a new clutch and the whole hydraulic system - the robot and the pump and al around with 1 year warrenty for it.. so i don't have a choice..i prefer to replace it all and sell the car.

My car here worth about 14000$ (2010 - yes that alot)
The prices here are very high, about twice more than Europe, a new one costs about 28K$ (0.9 MA).

This is really the most unreliable car i have ever had (old fun days with mitsubishi lancer 1998 with 200K on the gauge).

mind you liav i had already changed my clutch at this time and a fiat dealer would easily charge like 800 USD for a new clutch so your deal isnt that bad for Fiat standards = )