Hi,

Used to have a seicento but my girlfriends just bought an 07 1.2 grande punto and is having a couple of issues.

Firstly, the clutch biting point is on the floor. Clutch doesnt engage when the pedal is fully down however it engages as soon as the pedal is lifted (this isnt really an issue but seems odd to me).

Secondly, it's pretty difficult to get into gear more often than not, it varies between all the gears, there isnt any crunching just a resistance through the gear stick. It does cruch into reverse but usually engages fine every time (only gear that does). Tbh I think evey car ive driven crunches into reverse lol


Done a little research and tested the clutch, tried to pull away in third and the car stalls, revs dont rise. When the clutch is engaged to drop down a gear the revs act as they should which apparently suggests the issue isnt the clutch?

Brake fluid levels are fine (apparently the clutch and brakes share?) Pumping the clutch seems to make no difference in making gear selection easier.

Going to get it down to a garage on Monday, just wanting an idea if possible

Also read that its a hydraulic self adjusting clutch that cant be manually adjusted? Could the system just need bleeding? I'm guessing its likely the issues are connected.

She said that on the test drive it went into gear fine, however the car had been sat a while and went to have a new downpipe fitted before we picked it up. Gear selection issues seem to have worsened but the clutch feels the same as it was, weve had it 3 days and used 25 quid of fuel.

Think thats about everything I can add :')

Thanks in advance

sounds like something in the hydraulics. Try bleeding the clutch first

Heading to a garage tomorrow so ill ask them to do that, cheers

Also,the car has started juddering alot as the clutch is released. Only happens as you pull away and the car acts the same as it did in my orignal post tbe rest of the time. Had a look at the front wheels as the car pulls away and they bounce/vibrate. Its not wheel spin though. Also the car seems to emit a very strange smell through the vents when pulling up to lights and stopping, especially after a longer gap without stopping...

From what ive found about that, sounds like either the hydraulics or oil on the clutch/worn clutch?

Heading into the garage tomorrow anyways so we shall see what they find. Unfortunatly bought it from a back street style car salesman, although its going back to him im doubtful of any kind of warrenty :/

Have the same problem with 2008 model 1.3 Multijet Diesel GP:

1) gears 3 & 4 are difficult to engage, reverse gear cries crunch. Would not like to shell out 2 x 90€ for cables if that will not solve the problem. The person who has managed to adjust the cables or otherwise cured this illness would do fine to inform us here, because I am not alone with this problem, rather it concerns every GP at some point. Mine has done 170.000km

2) Clucth bites on the floor only. Fluid levels are ok, bled several times, clutch works ok. Some say slave cylinder be faulty? Might be worth a try 30€. Master cylinder has been changed by the previous owner 2 yrs ago. Anybody solve this without clutch job?

3)There is a judder when starting from a halt unless the revs are kept quite high. The shake&judder I have read is because the original clutch cannot ever be bedded in for some material related issues, so it is always biting bad. Now this might be the cause for the floor bite of the clutch? So we are to live with it, or have the clutch changed, which I won't to this worthless car as it be a 16 hr / 24 beer job for the home mechanic I am.

Thanks, Andy

greyB said:

Have the same problem with 2008 model 1.3 Multijet Diesel GP:

1) gears 3 & 4 are difficult to engage, reverse gear cries crunch. Would not like to shell out 2 x 90€ for cables if that will not solve the problem. The person who has managed to adjust the cables or otherwise cured this illness would do fine to inform us here, because I am not alone with this problem, rather it concerns every GP at some point. Mine has done 170.000km

2) Clucth bites on the floor only. Fluid levels are ok, bled several times, clutch works ok. Some say slave cylinder be faulty? Might be worth a try 30€. Master cylinder has been changed by the previous owner 2 yrs ago. Anybody solve this without clutch job?

3)There is a judder when starting from a halt unless the revs are kept quite high. The shake&judder I have read is because the original clutch cannot ever be bedded in for some material related issues, so it is always biting bad. Now this might be the cause for the floor bite of the clutch? So we are to live with it, or have the clutch changed, which I won't to this worthless car as it be a 16 hr / 24 beer job for the home mechanic I am.

Thanks, Andy

Click to expand...

1) I had uploaded a guide about the cables here, if you can, search my old posts maybe you will find it (I'll try to re-upload it)

Reverse crunching is related to clutch not fully disengaging.

2 + 3) If the engine shakes very hard and you have to rev high then probably the clutch has/had oils on it and needs replacement.

Ok, thanks ever so much for your kind help. Will look into those guides. -Andy, from the Polar beer country

Clutch pedal should not be on the floor. Usually still air in the system. It needs reverse bleeding

A worn disc would mean the clutch point would be all the way up, you would just need to touch it and it would disengage.
Since you are having the opposite problem, i would start with bleeding, then master cylinder, even if it was done 2 years ago, then slave cylinder (if it's inside the bell housing, on the gearbox input shaft.. . i'd do the clutch as well)


Remove the slave cylinder from the car..and fill that up with fluid.. that might be the highest point that has air...fill the line..if possible..etc

Ok thank you. That sounds feasible. Alas our GP now needs a bit more tune up as it burned totally last week along with our garage. So I have a new car now as I need to drive 100miles a day to work and back.

Bit of T-cut and you'll be fine

Quite, just TLC and she'll be right as rain again Best place an ad on the interwebcie of this rare barnfind. Best of times to you all, Cheers!