Technical DESPERATE HELP. Fiat 500 2008 automatic transmission problem

[Fiatakie]

Hello.

I have a Fiat 500 of 2008 with automatic transmission. The last month I started the engine and the sign of the broken transmission showed up and I couldn’t change gears, it would stay on neutral.

I took it to the mechanic and he told me that the there is a problem in the selespeed and that we need to change the whole system. He told me that was too expensive so I chose to buy a used system 500€. He installed it and after 2 weeks the same sign appeared. I took it back to him and he told me that a safe was burned.

He changed that but he told that he doesn’t know what caused this burn. So he gave me another safe in case it gets burned again.

After 2 days when I got in the car, the same sign appeared, I changed the safe and still it didn’t work.

What may it be? Do u think that the used system that he bought is broken?

What can I do??

 

[jrkitching]

Firstly, hello and welcome to the forum.

Secondly, sorry to hear about your problem. Sadly, I don't think your problem can be easily fixed.

I took it back to him and he told me that a safe was burned.

I think by 'a safe was burned' you mean 'a fuse has blown'.

What can I do??

The short answer is take it back to whoever did the work and see what they can do. If they can't do anything, then try to get at least some of your money back.

The long answer is that fuses blow in order to protect some other component from damage; the idea is that the fuse blows before the component itself is damaged. But the system isn't foolproof, and sometimes the component is damaged before the fuse blows. That may be what's happened here, and would explain why replacing the fuse no longer makes any difference.

It's considered bad practice to replace a fuse without first finding the fault that caused it to blow in the first place and rectifying that fault before replacing it.

Bottom line is that a 15yr old dualogic 500 with a major transmission fault can't be economically repaired. Your least worst option now is probably to scrap it and buy something else. Spending more money trying to fix it is likely just to be a waste of that money.

 

[Fiatakie]

Firstly, hello and welcome to the forum.

Secondly, sorry to hear about your problem. Sadly, I don't think your problem can be easily fixed.

I think by 'a safe was burned' you mean 'a fuse has blown'.

Thank you so much for ur response!

And yes exactly the fuse has blown.

Today I noticed that the fuse wasn’t blown again and when I turned the engine on the sign of the transmission didn’t appear but the sign of the broken steering wheel did.

To mention here last year my steering wheel broke and it went to mechanic mode it was super heavy but I fixed it and now this.

My battery also lately is not functioning well so when I told to my mechanic what happened today he told me that maybe the battery affects some of these things.

He also told me that maybe I need to change a selespeed sth like that but I told him that we already did it and he said that we changed the pump of it.

Personally I believe that the pump that he changed is not functioning well since it was used, but he insists that this is not the problem.

 

[aidanc94]

Thank you so much for ur response!

And yes exactly the fuse has blown.

Today I noticed that the fuse wasn’t blown again and when I turned the engine on the sign of the transmission didn’t appear but the sign of the broken steering wheel did.

To mention here last year my steering wheel broke and it went to mechanic mode it was super heavy but I fixed it and now this.

My battery also lately is not functioning well so when I told to my mechanic what happened today he told me that maybe the battery affects some of these things.

He also told me that maybe I need to change a selespeed sth like that but I told him that we already did it and he said that we changed the pump of it.

Personally I believe that the pump that he changed is not functioning well since it was used, but he insists that this is not the problem.

You should hear the pump whirring for 3-5 seconds when you open the drivers door after unlocking the car. Any longer and there could be an issue with the pump or could be leaking selespeed oil.

I recently had an electrical fault causing the selespeed pump to not receive any power, the fuses were blown and same thing, replaced the fuse and it blew straight away, turns out there was a damaged circuit in the selespeed computer that was causing it. What caused the faulty circuit, we won't know but could be to do with the battery being installed wrong or another form of short circuit.

I also had to replace the clutch and when the mechanic pulled the selespeed unit out, there was oil all over the selespeed and in the solenoids which needed cleaning as well.

 

[irc]

The pump motor has been known to fail internally, which in turn blows fuses.
This is often caused by a failed accumulator, which causes the pump to run almost constantly, leading to internal insulator failure, worn brushes, or partial seizure.
I have replaced motor brushes in the past, but have found it is only a temporary fix, and he motor is unreliable.
Replacement motors can be bought separately, although the pump end needs to be swapped over.
However, if the cause is failed accumulator and it is not changed, the motor will fail again quite quickly.

 

[aidanc94]

The pump motor has been known to fail internally, which in turn blows fuses.
This is often caused by a failed accumulator, which causes the pump to run almost constantly, leading to internal insulator failure, worn brushes, or partial seizure.
I have replaced motor brushes in the past, but have found it is only a temporary fix, and he motor is unreliable.
Replacement motors can be bought separately, although the pump end needs to be swapped over.
However, if the cause is failed accumulator and it is not changed, the motor will fail again quite quickly.

Yes we had a leaking accumulator causing the pump to cut in and out constantly. The mechanic said we would get away with not replacing it but we decided to go ahead and replace it anyway and then they found the oil in the solenoids as well so good thing we did replace it! Working ok now for the past few days, only picked it up 3 days ago with this exact issue.