Hey, i've just got may panda last month, a black 'M' reg 1000CLX Fire, i think its great love the car could not have asked for a better first car! HOWEVER the guy we got it from was not exactly reliable! before we got it we got him to fix the broken speedo and fuel relay, but now it turns out that the gearbox has been leaking, have no idea how long. We took it to the main fiat dealer and they said that the whole thing would need to be replaced along with the clutch and a a squeeling noise that was being made when it is started needs a new Cambelt tensioner.

Sorry long winded i know!

Now me and my dad, before we knew the gearbox was leaking, filled up the gearbox with some new oil gave it a good ol' home service, clean new engine oil, filters, plugs, now the oil has leaked but the gearbox is fine it doesnt exhibit any signs of needing to be replaced although OCCASIONALY i stress this becuase it is rarely it will not let me put it in fifth without double clutching, it making a horible grinding noise and spits it out.

now has anyone ever had this problem before? will it go away with refitting a new gaitor on the drive shaft and giving it some new oil? or is it as they say time for a new, and very expensive gearbox, and clutch? if this is the case i'm afriad i can't afford to do this and will have to try and find a new panda or worse get a CORSA! please help....

Try the scrappy for a tranny, i´ve taken 2 trannies last week from my local scrappy for 80 euros

_____________________________________________________________
If you have any questions don´t be afraid, ask away. I´ll be glad to help.
If i´m online you can try my site, it´s mostly storage http://www.smokeme.ipupdater.com/everything

hey man thanks for the reply.

I think we might try and hope for the bet with a a simple replacing of the gaitor, seeing as its is only a occasional problem, but we are worried that if its begining to have problems like this now it may not pass the MOT either in oct.

The peeps at the Fiat garage made up bill of 1033 pounds (GB) which don't have! i'm only poor student. Also i don't trust thier diagnosis as they said to replace the clutch whihc to me seems like overkill seeing as the clutch if fine it dose not slip, hte moment you put it in gear it accelerates and it accelerates pretty darn well for a 999cc engine leaves other cars for dead at the lights. Also if the gearbox was damaged would it not affect the whole range of gears and be a more persistant rather than ocassional thing? As for the cambelt i'm sure it is what they say and its only a 40 quid job according to our friendly neighborhood mechanic.

tis would be sad and i may shed a tear seeing as it took months to find a black panda and she is one of a kind with a her psychadelic brand spanking new Orange red and pink interior, although the pink has made the butt of all my friends jokes and has called my sexualioty into question on more than s few occasions! Is it normal to be so attached to a panda? its only been one month!

Thanks also sorry for the long windedness of my reply, all help is very much appretiated.

Ya everyone likes pandas. I was really happy driving a 300ZX TT and a Calibra 2.0turbo AWD until gas prices forced them in my garage, That´s when i found my 88 red panda 750(it had a 999cc fire swap) loved the way it handled and now have 3 pandas(5 cars total so insurance is happy even though only 4 have it). The calibra is my daily though, i just love the way it looks.

_____________________________________________________________
If you have any questions don´t be afraid, ask away. I´ll be glad to help.
If i´m online you can try my site, it´s mostly storage http://www.smokeme.ipupdater.com/everything

Go with the gaiter, and fresh oil.
Leave the clutch if it's working OK.

Check the other gaiter while you're there - it may be worth doing it too.
Be sure to get the correct ones - there are several different types.

The gearbox on "M" plate (94-95) is the later gearbox, and it's quite strong - compared to the earlier ones.

The "M" plate CLX my daughter has is a bit obstructive into 5th, sometimes, but doesn't make odd noises.
The "spitting out" sounds like you haven't managed to engage the gear fully.

It may be worth putting a drop of oil on the few external lingages you can get at on the gearchange cable/rod ends - it has helped ease the change "feel" on Pandas I've had.

The timing belt and it's tensioner can be ignored, provided you have breakdown recovery
I understand it's FIAT practice to replace the tensioner when they do the belt - but I've been lucky enough so far not to have that fail, and I don't recall any posts here where it has been flagged up as a problem.

If the timing belt snaps, the engine is most likely to survive undamaged.
It's not too difficult to change though - and it costs just over 13 UKP.

===========later===========

Oh, just had a thought about the squeel on startup:
might be a skack alternator belt[:0]

Try switching everything on when it's going - heated rear window, blower, all the lights, then rev it up a little bit.
You might get a squeel when the revs increase if the belt cant transfer the load.

If you change the belt ISTR it's a wider "flat" belt on the later Panda.

hey thanks for the replies guys. Very much apretiated!

me and mydad are gonna attempt the gaitor thing som,etime this week, will tell you how i get on with it. i think you might be right about the spitting being due to not engagining prperly cos thinking about it its been when ever i'm heartlily p*****d off at something or someone. As for the belts i'll try ehat you told me and tell you what happens. May change both if its poss cos the cras gone 82,oooo miles and we have no idea when it was last serviced. when we changed the plugs they were really baldy eroded and the filter (Oil) was beging to rust and looked very old. also toda when i was driving back home the plastic cover over the cambelt assembly thingy on the side fell off and hit the cambelt and has a got a hole init where the cambelt melted right through the plastic cos of the friction....

anyway i'll keep you posted how the gaitor thing goes.