Technical Fiat 500 pop Automatic Transmission, Grinding, Can push it in any gear

[IvansFiat]

Howdy,

I have a 2012 pop with auto transmission issues that have been steadily being getting worse.

It started with failing to "engage" sometimes, so I would put it into to Drive and it would just rev (with a bit of a grinding noise). The only way to get it to drive again would be to turn the car off and on again (shifting to P, N or R, or manually selecting a gear didn't reset it).

Just recently it totally failed to engage, and I had to push it home (luckily happened close to home!). It can be pushed no matter where the automatic shifter is, and the display accurately reports the position of the shifter, but the car is in "Neutral" as in I can still push it. There is also a terrible grinding noise if I rev it.

What could this be? Seems like I might need a whole new transmission?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[vexorg]

As I understand it, these are not real automatics, more computer controlled manual gearboxes. No end of things to go wrong, and given they have a very poor reliability from reading on here, I'd never buy one.

 

[jrkitching]

As I understand it, these are not real automatics, more computer controlled manual gearboxes. No end of things to go wrong, and given they have a very poor reliability from reading on here, I'd never buy one.

That's only true for the European market cars, and those sold down under.

North American market 500's use a completely different, conventional automatic transmission.

I've no idea if the US ones can be economically repaired on a >10yr old car, but the first place I'd ask would be a specialist independent transmission workshop.

 

[vexorg]

Bizarre, given the choice I'd have a conventional automatic too.

 

[jrkitching]

Bizarre, given the choice I'd have a conventional automatic too

I'd much rather have a manual than a semiautomatic clutch operated transmission. Fuel economy, transmission efficiency and european emissions regulation will likely be a large part of the reasoning behind this. Bolting a torque converter transmission onto a 69HP 1.2 engine would give the car the performance of a slug. Putting a conventional autobox onto a 100HP 1.4 would likely work from the driveability perspective, but the fuel ecomomy and attendent european fiscal implications would be horrendous.

Also, given than a far higher percentage of automatic sales in the US market, Fiat may have (quite rightly) had concerns about the impact of the failure rate of the dualogic transmission in later life.

 

[vexorg]

I had a 1979 1.3 mazda automatic many years ago, and even then it was old, gave acceptable performance for a 3 speed auto, for around the town car anyway. I'd have thought modern conventional auto boxes would have worked.

It was an odd little car, someone gave it to me free, because they got it free, and I gave it to the next person free too.

 

[IvansFiat]

It turned out the problem was not with the transmission but the differential. Was $1200 to fix in Houston Texas.