Hello all, I have quite a big problem with my Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Active Sport.

Yesterday evening I was driving down a dual carriageway doing 40-45, when I changed up to 5th and the car kinda jumped a little, and made a thudding noise only for a split second.. like a crunch?

So I thought hmm maybe I was too slow to shift up and it made that crank noise... I was wrong :-S This morning on the way to college, every single gear was scary as hell, I was driving in 1st and the car began to shudder and slow down and really crunch and rattle, second was no better, third was slightly better but still heard the crunching and felt the rattles, I couldn't even get near 4th it just made everything worse, and 5th well 5th was just a stall waiting to happen, anyways, the car seems to jump a lot as almost as if someone has just hit me from behind in my car, the car shudders and crunches and it's very scary...

Today I was driving at lunch in college down the dual carriageway to get some lunch and I had to pull over in a bus lane and put my hazards on because I was really scared... I managed to take it on the chin and get the car back into college safely and without putting anyone at risk... (no-one was in my car at the time)..

My questions are:

Is the problem my gear box or my clutch?
If I need a new gear box or clutch, how much will one cost?
How much on average will the fitting cost?
How long will the car be off the road (average/approx)

Get to a garage mate, they can answer all your questions, will only be guess work on here.

Okay thanks a lot for your reply, i've asked my dad and we're ringing the AA tomorrow thanks again buddy

No worries, if you want proper diagnosis that's the way to do it. Good luck, keep us updated.

Sounds Nasty.

To answer your questions, it all depends on where you take it.
If you take to a Fiat dealers, then they will fit new/genuine parts.
For a clutch I'd say expect to pay in the region of £400 with labour, and for a gearbox i'd probably say £600- £800, plus they may try to sting you for a clutch on top of this.

Take it to your local back street, and he will probably use none genuine parts, plus his labour will be cheaper.
I'd say expect to pay around £100 for a clutch, and maybe £150 for a second hand gear box.
Labour will probably be a full day, so expect about £150 on top of parts.

Just bear in mind that your local one man band, friendly village mechanic will probably charge £150 for a days labour. A main dealer probably £75.00 per hour.

If your'e really lucky, then its a CV joint or wheel bearing.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

Defo doesn't sound like a cv joint/wheel bearing/driveshaft or even diff.

Sounds like a ruined gearbox.

Hi all, I took your advice and visited a local garage literally on the street next to mine, I told him what I posted here and he said okay let's test drive it to see if we can get the problem, so we had a little drive and he straight away said its not the clutch its the gearbox, so he said can I have your phone number and i'll price a box up for your and ring you later on, so I've just received a phone call from the garage and he said i'm looking at 550-600 which includes the box, fitting and what ever else comes with it (I think those two are the only things lol) but yeah, just keeping you all updated with whats going on

Phil

Aye a clutch going would be lots of slipping.

That's about average for a box plus fitting, is out brand new or recon box?

That was a fast reply haha :-o and i'm sure he said recon'd or re conned not sure how you spell that but yeah, quite a blow to the bank but I suppose it's gotta' be done. Do you know any likely causes of this? I mean the collapsing of the gearbox, or is there several causes that could have happened? thanks

Phil

Mileage? Age?

Previous owner might have been a terrible driver?

I have the exact same car btw.

Between 66100 and 66300 miles and it's a 56 plate. There were two previous owners, fair enough then. I'm just curious because I only rev it till around 2500-3000, only time it's been above 3k is on the motorway doing 60-65 and it was on maybe 3100 in 5th but yeah... and aww nice! Is it just standard or have you made some modifications to it?

What mileage has the car done?

I'd get a new clutch fitted while they're at it if thats not already included within the price as there will be no extra labour costs involved

Brindleyx said:

Between 66100 and 66300 miles and it's a 56 plate. There were two previous owners, fair enough then. I'm just curious because I only rev it till around 2500-3000, only time it's been above 3k is on the motorway doing 60-65 and it was on maybe 3100 in 5th but yeah... and aww nice! Is it just standard or have you made some modifications to it?

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It's moving part does loads of work etc. two previous owners may have abused etc

I've had a box fail on me at 66k miles too, and a diff at 75k.

Not on this car on previous ones.

No car is well looked after, totally standard plan to keep it that way.

Between 66100 and 66300.

Is there any need for a need clutch? does it have to match or correspond with the specific gearbox?

If you recommend it then i'll ask if it is necessary

thanks, phil.

Magic Johnson said:

It's moving part does loads of work etc. two previous owners may have abused etc

I've had a box fail on me at 66k miles too, and a diff at 75k.

Not on this car on previous ones.

No car is well looked after, totally standard plan to keep it that way.

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Ouch, that's a coincidence! I hope mine doesn't fail again at 75k :-/!!!!

And fair enough :-D

Brindleyx said:

Between 66100 and 66300.

Is there any need for a need clutch? does it have to match or correspond with the specific gearbox?

If you recommend it then i'll ask if it is necessary

thanks, phil.

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Hi Phil, it's not nessecary, but might for example already be 1/2 or 2/3 through its working life. It'll cost about £60 for the part, but will be no extra labour cost on the job your having done. You could use the existing clutch though, but if that fails 20k later, you'll have the labour cost of splitting the engine and box again.

I suppose it depends upon the mileage you do, and if you plan on keeping the car for a long while.