General Downshifting question (Maybe dumb?)

[Mousendahouse]

Hello everyone!
Whenever i want to downshift from 3rd to 2nd. It dosent allow me to do so until the revs are very low. Is this just normal behaviour?
(Sorry if this is a dumb question, i am abit of a new driver)
Fiat panda 2007 1.2 8v

 

[koalar]

is this normal behaviour

no

here another thread identical at the moment keep an eye on it.

If you keep pushing the gearstick towards 2nd will it fall into gear after a few seconds

Are the gears smooth with the engine off


Is your clutch cable or hydraulic ?

 

[Mousendahouse]

Thanks for ur reply Koalar! I have to apply alot of force and it is able to fall into the correct gear, but it sounds clunky. It has a clutch cable
The gears shifts are smooth when the engine is turned off
I am not able to see the thread u are refering to.

 

[koalar]

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/484511-difficulty-shifting-into-1st-2nd-gear-2.html

 

[DaveMcT]

If the clutch is not clearing with the pedal down, you will find that upshifts are easier. The engine revs naturally drop allowing the gears to engage.

Downshifts are difficult, because the engine has to go faster and finding just the right revs is difficult. You "can" deliberately mismatch the pedals so the revs blip and then the next lower gear engages easily. But it takes practice. Get it wrong and you can't find any gear.

Get the cable adjusted correctly. However, Fiat clutches often fail to release properly when worn. It seems strange but this is a symptom of a worn out clutch.

Another cause is the wrong type of gear oil. If it is too slippery, the synchromesh wont work properly making the shifts feel notchy.

 

[Mousendahouse]

I got the gearbox oil changed half a year ago. It has 75w-85 fully synthetic. Also i have the issue of it sometimes being abit hard to put into reverse gear when i start it up. I normally just shift it down into 2nd and it goes in reverse alot easier. Gear cable adjustment sounds like a good place to start. Is that something there is easy enough to adjust urself, or should i bring it to a mechanic

 

[koalar]

very easy to adjust yourself

loose mats sliding under the pedal is quite common?

when starting off at which point does the clutch start to bit

close to the floor

or close to the top

or close to the middle


With Covid has the car been stood for long periods ?

 

[Mousendahouse]

I use it almost every day. I will make sure to pay notice to location tommorow and get back with what i find (and try pay attention to the mat aswell)
. Do u know of any good ressources that explains the adjustment? i'm currently searching, trying to gather some knowledge on it.
This has been a issue for a while though. I tried changing the gearbox oil due to this issue. It didn't help much. It has done 80k miles, not sure if that info is of any help.
Thanks again, i appreciate the help!

 

[koalar]

http://4cardata.info/elearn/169/2/2009000/2000901/2001394/2752652

 

[jrkitching]

Normal gear engagement when the engine is not running, but difficulty in engaging gear, or clunky changes, whilst moving is a sure sign of a problem with the clutch or its actuating mechanism.

If it isn't attended to promptly, it's likely the gearbox will be permanently damaged.

 

[Mousendahouse]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm taking it to a mechanic on monday. If ur interested i can come back with the results.

 

[DaveMcT]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm taking it to a mechanic on monday. If ur interested i can come back with the results.

Please do come back. It's always good to close out threads like this.