Hey
when driving yesterday, i went to pull away from a set of traffic lights when the car suddenly lost power. no matter how far i pressed my foot on the accelerator pedal, the revvs just built up and the car did not increase in speed. it felt as though the car was in neutral, or that i was using the clutch control after a few seconds, the car didnt move at all.
After trying to restart the car (and holding up angry drivers behind) it failed to start, the starter motor did not even engage and attempt to start or even judder. luckily a couple of policemen helped move my car into a safe spot out of the way of traffic.

I then attempted to jump start the car but still no luck. this was the same with bump starting. as the car was parked on a slight hill, i also noticed that the car rolled fowards and was not held back when the leaving it IN GEAR and the handbrake NOT applied.

After a free tow by a kind bloke in a land rover, and a call to a mechanic, he suspects problems with the flywheel and starter motor. there cant be a problem with the gearbox or clutch as surely the car would still start? at first i thought ECU problems but as the car rolls in all gears this suggests a mechanical fault.
in the mechanics words, "the flywheel has shredded and probably shedded its bolts off". apparently the flywheel is connected with the starter motor? and this is why the car would not start.

I will note that the car has not yet been looked over by a mechanic, only me and my dad, all appears fine but we have yet to look at the flywheel. can anybody back up what the mechanic is saying? if he is right, how could this damage of happened? incorrect mounting of starter motor? (it was replaced by fiat 4 months ago).

luckily the car has a 12 month warranty so i shouldnt have to worry about fixing it. just worried about getting it to the fiat dealers as im not with the AA (yet). lol. thank god for my dad and his stilo 1.9 115 JTD towing machine!
my car is a Mk2 Fiat Brava 1.6i 16v

Look at the crank pulley whilst trying to turn the engine over. If it doesn't turn then there is a problem with starter/flywheel. If it does, it sounds like no compression, probably snapped/stripped cam belt. Ouch.

the flywheel pushes against the clutch plate, this is how the engine is connected to the gearbox. since the wheels turn freely in gear it sounds like your flywheel is no longer engaged with your clutch plate (clutch constantly disengaged).

the starter motor turns the flywheel. the mechanic may be correct that your flywheel is the problem, since your starter motor doesnt turn it and it isnt connected to the clutch plate. it seems the logical place to investigate first, unfortunately you need to take the gearbox off to inspect it.

get someone to try to start the car while you listne carefully to see if you can hear the starter motor trying to engagae the flywheel, if you hear the starter motor it suggests the flywheel is no longer in position so the starter motor's gear is missing the flywheel.

the starter motor does not engage at all. the engine is completely silent.
i have checked the cambelt as it was my first worry and it is still in vgc.

it sounds as though the mechanic was correct, thanks for your help, at least i know what to tell the garage what the problem is in order for them to get on with the job and get my car back soon! just a shame i cant inspect the flywheel myself.

just an update -

the garage have concluded that the car now starts but the clutch needs replacing as it is destroyed (wear and tear)! also CV Boot needs replacing.

they have quoted me £390 inc labour for this to be carried out as this is not under warranty. RIP OFF.
how much should i be willing to pay?

Get the garage to explain and differentiate between destroyed and fair wear and tear! A worn clutch is just that, a destroyed clutch is a fault IMHO!

If its a fault the Warranty should cover it, if wear and tear it wont.

if you get the job done elsewhere you'll be able to get it for half the price so tell them you'll agree to it if they go halfies with you, otherwise buy yourself a clutch kit (£50) and cv boot (£5) and get them both fitted at an independant garage (£120)

The same thing happened to me, flywheel and starter etc etc

Complete new clutch on my 1.4 cost £135 and that included labour.

£135? thats a good price!

some good news, got a friend who can get me a clutch at TRADE price only thing is most garages will only fit parts they order and not ones sourced by the customer as they wont be able to guarentee their work.
oh well its worth trying, il phone around some garages today.

other problem is that the £390 quote was from a FIAT main dealer. so i doubt they will budge on the price but we'll see.

to be honest its most probably my fault the clutch is destroyed. tut tut...lol i better be more careful in the future.

My garage will fit a clutch supplied by me. My 1.4s Brava had terrible fault and clutch went and something happened in gearbox, rattling noise and parts inside gearbox pierced the gearbox housing so all oil lost in gearbox. But the good news is i got a recon gearbox for £70 and new clutch at $70 and garage will fit all for £110.

I did my clutch myself on Sunday with no manual in 4 1/2 hours, and it was very easy. Clutch cost me £45 (recon) from Lowcost spares.
Basic steps to remove the box:
1/ Remove air intake hose, Battery, battery mounting and unplug eclectics from gear box.
2/ Put car on axle stands and remove passenger wheel, and 2 plastic inner arch covers.
3/ disconnect the wishbone ball joint from strut
4/ place 2 jacks under engine and gear box and remove rear engine/box mount and side gearbox mount.
5/ Remove starter motor, and all gearbox bolts, and place a tray under gearbox (where driver side drive shaft connects to box).
6/ "From the top" remove metal clip from driver side shaft boot. Now pull box away from engine. It should move back around 2 1/2" and you can then lower the box to the ground, by slightly turning the box so the end (with mounting on) moves toward the front of the car. You will lose some gear oil when the drive shaft comes out of the box, hence the tray to catch it .

Now remove the bolts holding the clutch and remove it. I used carb/brake cleaner to clean the flywheel and all around the inside of the bell housing.
Then fit new clutch and do everything in reverse to put it back together. It was about 6 hours in total, but that includes food, fags, coffees and posting on here when I'd got the box back in place. It would have also been a little easier if I had someone handy just to help lower gearbox and when lifting it back up, but it wasn't too bad doing it alone

wow you did it with the car on the floor and all by yourself, and you didnt get hurt, well done!

Yeah, I didn't even trap a finger Has to be one of the easiest clutches I've fitted in a while. That's after the MkII Astra that has the best systems ever. Split bell housing and the centre drive can be pulled back from the end of the box. In total 45 mins work at the most, to change a clutch. Shame Vauxhall dropped the idea for the MkIII.
Now I know my way around the Brava, should cut that time down by a good hour or so. Plus the rear mount bolts were jammed solid, so they took a while to get off. Next job is to replace the injectors (as 1 or 2 are a little iffy) and then the car will be 100%:slayer: