Hi people.

I went to view a Punto HGT today with a view to buying it. The car had a few issues, although non of which couldn't be easily sorted, however.. There appeared to be an issue with the gearchange.

The gearlever was very stiff, and you had to be very deliberate with gear changed to avoid crunching. Basically I had to concentrate hard to avoid driving like a learner

The seller tried to assure me that all Punto HGT's are like this, but after owning several Alfa's and Fiats I wasn't prepared to believe him.

I have seen threads on here about the linkage becoming stiff, and it being an easy fix, but would this also cause crunching between gears?
The clutch appeared to be disengaging fine by the way.

The car is going to be quite cheap, and I may take a gamble on it if you guys think I should. (I am talking under £1000) I am pretty handly with a spanner.
Cheers,
Simon.

Maybe I better make that last post a bit clearer.

If the selector mechanism was stiff would it also make the box crunch into gear occasionally?

Bear in mind it was the first time I had driven that particular car and I wasn't used to driving a car with a stiff gear mechanism.

It probably needs a new clutch and probably a new release arm. The clutch should be silky smooth and light all the way down.

Any stiffness = worn out clutch pressure plate.

New clitch kit is about £80 fitting no more than £150 a bit more if the operating lever has got bent.

Also walk away if the cam belt and variator are more than 40,000 miles or 4 years old. They WILL fail if left any longer. If the belt goes at speed it can damage the crank bearings as well as take out loads of valves.

Cam belt kit and Variator about £100 each. Labour to fit £300. If the belt fails add another £500 at least to the bill.

Brakes cost about £170 to replace all 4 discs and pads. Its worth spending a bit more on better stuff. See recent posts.

Its stiff because the linkage needs removing and cleaning (not a problem ) ,




The crunching is the synchro's are worn (very common). Fiat revised the 3rd and 4th gear synchro's on later Hgt's. (An expensive problem, Aka a trip to your local gearbox rebuilders with some KY time ).

So by the time you've paid for that you'll also be looking at the timing belt/Variator replacement (every 36k or 3 years), a service. So a £1000 car will stand you at around the 2k mark. If the box is crunching its a sign its been thrashed, thats not a big problem if its been looked after but its a buyers market so i'd look elsewhere.

Thanks guys, I will give it a miss. The annoying thing was that the ebay listing makes no mention of the issues. If they did I wouldn't have bothered to drive 50 miles to view the car.

The cambelt wouldn't have bothered me (providing it doesn't snap on the way home), I have done a few Alfa TS cambelts which is basically the same setup.

I have another car which I am planning on viewing in the week, it is a little more expensive but I am prepared to pay more and get a better one.

Thanks HGTBill. I drove through a big puddle on the way home and the left-right motion of the gearstick was really stiff (forward-backward was fine), so I struggled to get 3rd and 4th. I actually cleaned it up in situ with WD-40 and it sorted it straight away. If it happens again though I shall be taking it out and giving it a really good clean.

My gearbox was stiff and the clutch action was lumpy sorted with a new clutch.

Be careful if the cam belt age is suspect. I got my HGT cheap and immediately ordered cam belt variator etc. 2 days later the belt stripped its teeth and I was stuck with 8 bent exhaust valves.

I still suspect my clutch actuating lever was bent but I didnt do the work so never got to see it. The action is smooth but it fully releases only at the very bottom of the travel.