Hi everyone. I have a Fiat Bravo 2008 1.9 D Multijet, for the past few months my gear stick has been extremely stiff and trying to move it left and right takes a tremendous amount of force. Trying to put it into 5th or reverse sometimes requires two hands just to get it to the correct position to slide it to the required gear. The odd thing is, it's fine when first using the car, I can easily put it in 5th and reverse with no problem but after about 15+ mins of driving, it becomes increasingly harder to do so.

I'm not really that car adept and have little understanding of the issue, I could take it to a mechanic, but I'm currently a university student and probably don't have the funds to pay for the labour. So any help on the problem and solution would be much appreciated.

Thae fact it gets harder with time suggests heat. My gears did get sticky after a while of not driving, but changes get easier after the car warms up not harder. In my case, I bet it's gummy gear linkages. In your case, I would check underneath for a transmission leak if I were you. Get under it (if you don't know how to do this safely, look it up and make sure you have the right gear e.g. axle stands), have a look for a lot of oil/dirt near where the drive shafts meet the gearbox (attached a photo of a drive shaft seal leak on my 1.9 MJet sport). You might also want to check the gearbox dipstick, though this is best done when you've got a lift so the car is horizontal. I attached a photo of where to find that dipstick - it's in the black void in the middle of that shot: short white dipstick that you have to reach through and unscrew. Basically, with your problem I'd want to know if the gearbox has low or dirty oil that might be causing it to overheat and stick. You don't want that. Check it as soon as you can. It might just need a gearbox oil change, as that's only really deigned for about 50-60k miles, but look for leaks too.

Thanks for the reply, thesmallprint. So I happened to have a small jack and could just about get underneath. I wasn't able to find the dipstick due to not being able to fully fit under. I did notice some oil drips near the base of the gearbox (I believe it was the gearbox) that were fresh. There were also large patches of caked-on oil around that area too. I took a few pictures, excuse the poor angles I tried as well as I could manage.

Yeah, I'd say don't drive it like that. What it'll really need is someone to work out where the leak's coming from and replace whatever seal is at fault. In the meantime you could drain and refill the gearbox oil as it's probably burnt from overheat, but until it's sealed it will just run back out again, and gearbox oil is pricey. That does look like quite a fast leak. Don't just ignore it though because you will kill your gearbox.

One way to find the leak is to fully clean it off (photo everything first in case a mechanic wants to see), then spray non-flammable foot powder all over the area so it's coated in white, and run it. New oil will run down over the coating. I'd also strongly recommend you don't get under your car without proper axle stands, as scissor jacks and even hydraulic jacks aren't safe by themselves, and Bravos are low to the ground.

I was able to find the dipstick, pretty difficult, Only happened to notice it because it was rubber and stood out from the metal. I pulled it out but... There was nothing on the end of it, it was just the rubber top, so that was a little unnerving. I happened to use a white cable tie to see the level and it was a horrible brown colour. (Please see attached images) It smelt burnt, but it wasn't like a liquid, it was like sludge. Could this be a reason for the sticky gears? Even if not, I still think it needs a change. Could you give me some guidance on how I would do that? I think the drain plug is at the base of the gearbox, but how would I fill it?

Like you said drain the oil trhu the plug, then refill the gear box thru the dipstick hole. You will need a hose to do that.

GreenBear said:

I was able to find the dipstick, pretty difficult, Only happened to notice it because it was rubber and stood out from the metal. I pulled it out but... There was nothing on the end of it, it was just the rubber top, so that was a little unnerving. I happened to use a white cable tie to see the level and it was a horrible brown colour. (Please see attached images) It smelt burnt, but it wasn't like a liquid, it was like sludge. Could this be a reason for the sticky gears? Even if not, I still think it needs a change. Could you give me some guidance on how I would do that? I think the drain plug is at the base of the gearbox, but how would I fill it?

Click to expand...

Ahh ok, thought there would be a filler hole or something. How much do I need? 2 litres or something.