Hi all,

I bought my 3 yr old Doblo JTD with 43,000 on the clock about 6 weeks ago from D&J Autos a fiat dealership in Leighton Buzzard, Beds. I love it However, about three weeks ago I noticed a judder on the clutch - once the engine is hot - on 1st gear as you pull away. I ignored it for a couple of weeks but and the other day in heavy traffic, it was pretty bad so I thought I'd take it in. The vehicle came with a 6 month warranty, so I had no worries.... Or so I thought.

D&J confirmed the judder (nice of them) but said that since the car hadn't actually broken down, the warranty didn't cover it. This is despite their vehicle protection booklet saying that the clutch is covered... but to be fair the schedule does say "breakdown cover".

So I asked how much it would be to replace the clutch. They quoted me £670 This sounds a bit steep to me - what do people think? Anyhow, I hopped up and down a bit and they offered to meet me half way - so £335. This is still £335 on a car I have only had for a few weeks.

Then I was reading around these forums and spotted that this is not an uncommon problem- Niall_G posted something back in February saying that the sleeve around his thrust bearing had corroded and caused pretty much the same problem. When I spoke to D&J they agreed that this was a known problem - but stood by their quote of £670 to fix it.

Anyway, before I decide whether I want to shell out £335 on my juddery Doblo, I thought I'd ask you all about how reasonable this quote is - £670 I mean, for a clutch. I'm inclined to keep my juddery Doblo and my £335 and hope that the clutch goes altogether within the 6 month warranty period - because then of course D&J will replace it for diddly squat. What say you?

I say rag the thing around till you tear apart the clutch ... NO, wait! I was only joking

I must admit starting off on hills in first you can sometimes get a slight, well judder from the clutch on mine mostly noticed when slipping the clutch on a hill but we all know we shouldn't do that. I would say if you can live with it then don't bother and if it goes completely your lucks in - just don't go slipping that clutch! However saying that, sods law that it goes completely after the 6 months is up and you may end up paying more than your £300 odd then if it affects other bits too.

Maybe someone can come along with more sensible answers

Kin Ell!

Surely a vehicle sold as a retail sale must be expected to be free of defects for at least 6 weeks.

How many miles have you put on it during that time?

'Fit for purpose' and 'Merchantable quality' are phrases that spring to mind. Along with parking the Doblo outside the dealers on a Saturday morning with a notice detailing how well this dealer stands by the cars they sell.

Get yourself down the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) and ask one of their solicitors to write the dealer a letter. By offering to split the cost with you (their 'half' costing them nowhere near as much as your 'half' by the way) they have shown that they know they are on dodgy ground.

Don't give in.

ok this is weird...I have an 06 new shape 1.9 multijet diesel doblo which I use as a taxi
it has 11300 on the clock and when its hot it judders and sometimes badly
we have 8 doblos on our firm and 5 of them suffer this juddering

one of the doblos has had 2 new clutch and freewheel changed and it still judders

IT is very frustrating and My local Fiat dealer cannot give a reason

I'm no expert but:

I suspect the problem is down to either engine/transmission mounts being too springy (is that a word?) or the clutch not operating in a smooth linear fashion due to the sleeve corroding (almost certainly spelt wrong) and letting the clutch move in small 'jumps' along its travel - giving a little bit too much bite than intended by the driver hence the snatch/judder.

Of course I'm probably wrong. T... will almost certainly have a much better idea of what needs doing as he's the guru on this forum.

Hi our punto does the same.Fiat said they cauldn't find a fault!
learned to live with it for 22k. not got any worse so far.

My '03 Doblo has the same intermittent clutch problem.
Annoying, but seemingly common and without a cheap (if at all) solution.

When I drive cars with soft, progressive clutches I remember what a clutch can be like. As I said though, I live with it and it isn't omnipresent.

Where's the Forum by the way - new Bravo tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My doblo has had this judder since i have had it. When I bought the doblo it had done 50k it has now done nearly 150k on the same clutch with the same judder. I have found it judders worse some days than others and sometimes it stops doing it all together for a few weeks at a time. Its up to you but if I were you I would leave it and see if it breaks as when I bought the doblo it had just had its clutch changed by the garage. So I don't think changing clutch would make any difference.

Hi spider, I've had the same problem it occurred on my vehicle around 15k and only when the car had covered at least 50 miles. I put it down to the very hot summer but I asked my dealer to investigate when it was due for a service.

They must have done something to it because it did not happen again and no new parts had been fitted to my knowledge, I remember something being said about peddle free play at the time, sorry I can't be more pacific.

We've got a 52 plate 1.9jtd elx.
It judders whether its hot or cold. but.. does'nt do it constantly.

(63 thousandish miles)

Should probably get it looked at.

I'm sure my Doblo developed a judder after I towed something far too heavy for it... So I had this theory that the clutch had worn crooked and was causing the judder ( sounds like I'm on the quare stuff, but bear with me ) so I did a few hill starts when she was warm and wore the judder away and now I've no judder. The clutch feels fine and smooth just like when I bought her. Worked for me - don't try this at home...

speaking of this clutch juddering.
i just experienced it yesterday ( had 30 cartons of drinks in the rear)
average 5kg times 30 = 150kg
i was wondering if the weight can be the cause.
as 3 adults weight ard 150 to 200kg .

1st gear was pretty fine,, it only came on in the 2nd gear.
and not at once, after the 2nd gear is in, step on it, half way, thru the 2nd.
the judder can be felt..
off loaded half of the goods late last night.
and so far it's no judder..
puzzled

by the way , my doblo had done 63000 km which is abt 30k miles.

I've found it to happen both unloaded and loaded. Did you have your foot anywhere near the pedal at the time?

One thought that crossed my mind for those of you with older clutches, due to clutch and spring plate wear, it could cause the clutch to engage even sooner and so even putting your foot just a touch on the pedal could cause it to slip.

My 06 GP (four months old, 2000km) has the same problem. What I don't understand is how this can happen on such a new car. So in a nutshell, is there a solution to this or not?

Not so much a solution but more of a suggestion...

Keep your foot well away from the clutch pedal as it's very sensitive! You only have to rest your foot NEAR it and if you accelerate hard it will slip.

Sorry I forgot to mention that mine's a Dualogic. I've been told by the dealer that its a software issue, then someone else on this forum said they're getting the clutch replaced, others are saying its normal. I don't know what to believe anymore..

after offloading the goods, the problem had not came back since sat morning.


the left foot was definite not touching the clutch.
and i give the clutch pedal an examination,, it's not loose nor anything.


at the same time . on sat afternoon.
detected a leaking boost gauge pipe in the engine bay, ( no wonder feeling lesser power lately ) got it fixed.

wondered if they are related ?

will keep monitoring.

I just got my first doblo this weekend. 2004 1.9 JTD active, i was wondering whats going on with this clutch judder, mostly at moving up to 30mph. in first and second. It feels like if i do not get the hang of it the drivetrain will be wrecked.

From what i can make out, its highly sensitive, and also has a different bite and rev point depending on whether the vehicle is going up or down a gradient with more or less of its own weight.

So far to master it, on straight roads i barely touch the clutch and keep my heel on the floor to fine control the release.

When going up a gradient, even slight it can almost be used like a normal clutch

When going down, a gradient i will say go from 1st to 3rd and miss out 2nd totally

From what i can make out, the judder seems to be indicating the clutch is getting too much power for the situation.

mingsect said:

will keep monitoring.

Click to expand...

just an update,

finally one morning in dec 2007, it judder so bad, until the doblo cannot be driven

i tot it's the clutch ,

but after the gearbox was taken out

culprit was flywheel issue.

after kicking up a fuss .. and meeting a rear senior management

In the end i managed to claim and replace a flywheel from the dealer:slayer:

just to add, i notice that if i tip the dobo seat forward its less comfy, but my foot seems to able to control the clutch and prevent judder.

From reading all these posts, and my experience of first week as doblo driver, its difficult to understand if this is a real problem or a characteristic due to gearbox mounts that needs different seat position, driving method and adjustment of clutch bite point to deal with it.

I'd quite like to know exactly what is going on here as i'm covered for wearable item mechanical repairs for only another two weeks, (i just bought the doblo from a main dealer with double warranties last week) then it switches to driveline component warranty.

If its a clutch component problem interacting with a driveline component, then the dealer and warranty cover are going to be blaming each other, unless i have some case evidence to present to the dealer which makes it clear, that both wearable and main components need to be looked at for an interaction.

regardless of that, why have people been putting up with it. Juddering is both dangerous for pulling out at junctions and has got to be bad for the major components. ?

..