Hi Guys, first post for me. I have a 2012 Fiat 500 Twinair that's just ticked over 60K miles.

I'm coming to sell the car soon so I wanted to give it a onceover. I feel like the gear changes are not as slick/buttery as they could be or compared to other cars I've drove. I jacked the car up today to have a visual of the gearbox and it looks to have leaked to me, so the oil could need topping up. Would appreciate to know if anyone else has experienced this or have any incite into what it could be.

I'm toying with the idea of doing an oil change on the gearbox. Can anyone recommend what oil to use? From the attathced image, am I right in thinking the lower nut is to drain the oil and the upper nut is for filling? I understand that the gearbox is "full" when level with the upper nut and should take about 1.5L to replace the oil.

While i was under the car I also noticed a wire hanging loose near the horn. Could find where it goes or if it part of a wiring lomb that my car does not use. My car doesn't have front fogs so it could be that, although i couldn't see a wire on the other side? Everything on my car work correct apart from the start/stop so nothing is glaring obvious what it could be for. The clutch sensor has come loose and looks damaged so I think this is the reason s/s is not working as I have checked the battery level.

Many thanks for your replies. Will let you know how I get on with any fixes.

Leave the gear box oil.

As for the wire, whatever it plugs in to will only be as far as the wire will reach so look around?

That cable/plug is for the foglights. Sometimes they used the loom with the plug even though the car doesn’t have them. It’s normally tucked up out of the way.

The recommended gear oil is 75w-85 GL4. At the very least I would 'crack' those drain and fill plugs and check the level. They look quite corroded and the longer they are left, the harder they will be to remove. Gear oil is supposedly meant to last the lifetime of the car. I always feel happier, however, changing it in all my cars, every 50k or so.

Yeah, I think I'm going to have a look at it for what it's worth. I had a look in the cars manual which says to 'check' gearbox oil at 90,000km (55,000 Miles) so it is slightly overdue. Will let you all know if the gear changes feel better after replacing the oil.