General Bravo 1.6 Dualogic gearbox

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
I've just traded my 09 plate Bravo 1.6 Dualogic for an ex demo Panda 4x4. The reason was that the Bravo gearbox had just developed problems (after approx 72000 miles), and the cost to investigate and fix looked to be horrendous. Due to various family health issues I really couldn't take the time to try and argue the issue with Fiat, or have the car out of service for an extended time and the offer from the dealer seemed pretty good. So I'm now the owner of a 4x4 a car I've always fancied since owning the original Panda as a first car (given the rust on that car you would have thought I would have walked away from Fiat by now!).

Anyway having now read the forum (should have done this earlier but didn't really have the time), I see that there seems to be issues with some Bravo gearboxes. Does anyone know if the problems also effect the dualogic, or was I just unlucky? My car spent most of its life in full auto mode. Because of this I suspect that I spent a lot of time accelerating in 6th gear which some people seem to think may be part of the problem. Not much I can do about it now but curious if this is a common problem.

Thanks

Andy

 

[santa]

I can't find the information for the Bravo, but the Lancia Delta (which is basically a Bravo in disguise) are using the M32 gearbox on the 1.6 Multijet Dualogic. The 1.6 Multijet with manual transmission are using the C530 but they opted for the other one for the dualogic.
It's mainly the M32 which is problematic.
What was the problem with your Bravo?

 

[gloomyandy]

Hi,
The gearbox started making a dreadful noise particularly when you lifted off the power. It would also switch to neutral all on its own from sixth gear. Had a mechanic at my local Fiat dealership test drive it and within 100m he said that there was a problem with the gearbox and that I should not drive it any further. Dealer quoted me around £1800 as a probably minimum price to fix it (basically to open up the box and replace bearings. This price also included a change of timing belt (which was due) and a couple of other small things. But they also said that if they found other damage to the box then it could be a fair bit more.

I rang around a few independent Fiat specialists, but they did not seem keen on working on a dualogic. As I mentioned I really could not be without a car for even a few days due to needing to visit my father, so I opted to cut my losses and trade the car in. I'm sure I did not get a very good deal, but I just didn't have the time to sort out much of an alternative. That's how things go really. It had been a great car up until now, but there were a number of things (like the timing belt, discs, tyres etc.) that needed replacing and I didn't fancy having more problems. They offered me a pretty good trade in, (matching on line trade in prices), so I now have a Panda 4x4 which is kind of fun but very different!

While looking at some stuff about the 4x4 I noticed the comments about gearboxes and the Bravo and was curious if this was some sort of common problem.

Andy