General Fiat Marea Weekend JTD130 Problems

[Greyhound_Shrops]

Hello,

I have a couple of problems with my Marea, a Weekend JTD130 and I am looking for some advice.

1. Gear Selection - I believe that the gear selection on Mareas is cable operated and that I have a seized/seizing cable as the gear stick is quite difficult to move about - especially after a journey in the wet. Has anyone any thoughts? Is there an easy way to sort this? Is a new cable required? Where can I get one cheaply?

2. Remote Locking/Alarm Inoperative - The red light on the key still comes on but does not operate the alarm or locking. Fortunately this problem cropped up whilst it was disarmed and open so I just use the key in the good old fashioned way. Is this a common issue with Mareas? Is there an easy way to sort it?

3. Milometer/Trip Meter Lighting - Although everything else on the dashboard is OK, the digital milometer/tripmeter display stopped lighting up a while ago. The info is still there and can be seen if a torch beam is shone on the display (not very practical on the move though). I have a dread that the whole instrument cluster may need replacing but I suspect, like my in-laws Renault Scenic, there will be a small light bulb behind there. Can somebody advise me please?

I am also having trouble with the boot catch but have picked up plenty of info from around the site already for that one.

Regards

Greyhound_Shrops

 

[Hellcat]

Don't say I never do anything for ya!

1. Not sure, have you tried flushing the fluid in the clutch? Perhaps it's not depressing the clutch fully?

2. Try replacing the battery. Mine went a bit funny, light on remote lit but wouldn't unlock car. Took it apart, replaced battery and never had a problem after. Do you have both blue keys?

3. https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-technical/52805-light-behind-mileage-clock.html Took me about 30 minutes to find.. Think I might need to copy it into the Marea section

 

[Greyhound_Shrops]

Thank you Hellcat for your useful information.

1. The gearstick thing is definitely not clutch related, although my car does have a fairly heavy clutch pedal. Gear selection is fine but the lever is quite stiff going across neutral which can't be clutch related. It is annoying because I cannot change gear as fast as I want to sometimes.

2. The battery is on my list of things to do in the next few weeks as well as alternator/cam belt changes and a few other things.

3. Thank you for the link. Hopefully it is an easy job.

 

[Hellcat]

Just want to confirm... battery in the remote!

 

[Venters]

Before changing the fob battery it might be worth checking the key is still programed to the car. Process is described below.


Right according to my manual. You can program the key
By getting in closing the doors but not locking them.
Press a pen into the button by the rear view mirror the
green led will flash keep pressing it and with the key close to the receiver press the
button on the key. the green led should stop flashing on become constant.
release the button on the key then mirror and that should be it programmed!

According to my manual, havent had to try it myself!

 

[Greyhound_Shrops]

Well Mr Beast,

I have tried your thing with the pen but no joy. I replaced the batteries in the key a couple of weeks ago so they are fine. I think Mr Hellcat may have a point about the battery though as mine is in need of replacement. When it is replaced, if the remote locking/alarm still aren't working, I will try the pen thing again and see what happens then.

Thank you

 

[ravenrigger]

Hi There, Your gear change problem is almost certainly the end link head on top of your gearbox. It is easy to do as follows.
1. remove your battery tray to gain access to the head where the gear change goes into the gearbox. Get someone to move the gearstick left to right, and see which rod is moving, albiet stiff. this linkage changes the lateral movement of the gearods into vertical movement in the gearbox and the shaft that sits in that head, gets stiff due to crap. It may have a rubber seal around it so pry it loose.

2. Undo the nut ( facing the front of the car) and push the shaft backwards ( with someone still moving the gearstick left to right). This will eventually come free, but will not move all the way out as there is a brake pipe behind it. Gently move the pipe out of the way and push the shaft free. Clean it with 1000 gris wet and dry, heavily grease it and return it back inside its housing. This should cure your stiff linkage problem.

The dash light problem is the bulb that illuminates the milometer readings. remove the 4 screw that hold the dash shroud in place. remove the 4 screws that hold teh dash clocks in place and pull forwards. Careful does it now. remove teh 3 plugs that are connected to teh clocks and pull dashboard free. When free, replace the bulb behind the milometer readings and relace the whole thing. You may require a 4 mm torx screwdriver to achieve this.

As fro you alarm, i have a similar problem at the moment. The key fob light glows after pressing the fob button, but only after about 2 secs. This is because the car alarm is not talking back to the fob. you can confirm this by pressing the fob away from the car and this happens, if you are near the car it should flash straight away. Mine isnt. At the moment i have teh alarm disconnected until i solve this problem. i will keep you posted.

Andy
[email protected]

 

[Greyhound_Shrops]

Thank you for your info Andy. I will try the gearbox thing in the next few weeks and report back.

I did a fix on the dash light problem but the bulb just blew again in a very short time so there must be another issue back there. There does not seem to be any fault other than the unlit mileage though.

Thank you

Ian

 

[Greyhound_Shrops]

Hello Again,

I have tried what you said to sort my stiff gearstick (remove the shaft, wet n dry, grease heavily, reinsert) and it improved things slightly. I have also worked on the gear cable itself using my wife to move the gearstick from side to side and myself to expel about half a tin of WD40 down the cable sleeve. This has helped a little more.

In a nutshell, this has made my car more pleasant to drive with an easier lighter gearchange.

Thank you for your excellent advice.

Ian