General Fiat Punto Selecta - gearbox problem, please help!

[hdavies]

Hello,
I have a Mk1 auto fiat punto 60 selecta with about 70,000 miles on it.

Firstly, the gears are a bit stiff to get into, especially so when moving from neutral. My partner believes something in the gearbox is dragging but doesn't know exactly what is wrong. Is there any solution apart from getting a new gearbox to solve this problem?

It is fine to drive once in gear, apart from a funny squealing noise (from the gearbox or maybe powder clutch? Not the brakes) and sometimes a slight judder when coming to a stop when cold. Again, any ideas what could be wrong?

The oil, transmission oil (definitely the correct oil), radiator and cam belt have been changed recently. The spark plugs have also been checked and are fine.
Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Thanks!

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Hi, welcome to FF.

When you say the correct transmission oil was use, what was it??

Also, does the stiffness of gear selection happen when the engine is off?

Jon.

 

[hdavies]

The stiffness does not happen with the engine off no.

The oil was tutela cvt oil, the oil fiat recommend in the service manual and was bought from Fiat themselves. However, before it was changed (a few months back) we believe the wrong oil had been put in.

Heather

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Ah, good its CVT oil you've used, and not conventional auto gearbox oil, as that will definatly kill the box.

Sounds to me like clutch is constantly enguaging, causing the stiffness in enguaging gear. Does it ever cause any grinding?

Possibly caused by defective micro switch on the accelerator pedal. Disconnect the two mirco switches each in turn (small plug in the wiring about 10-15cm from the switch), each time checking to see if the problem is still present with the engine running.

Hope this helps.

Jon.

 

[hdavies]

It does cause grinding yes. And I'm afraid disconnecting the switches made no difference.
Well, I suppose if the wrong oil was put in before that could have made the damage..it may be that the only solution is to change the gearbox/clutch..I hope not! Although I'm not sure it would be worth doing since only £250 was paid for the car in the first place!

Heather

 

[DaveMcT]

Although it was cheap, the car itself may be worth keeping.

Is it practical to fit a normal engine/gearbox from a breakers?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

It does cause grinding yes. And I'm afraid disconnecting the switches made no difference.
Well, I suppose if the wrong oil was put in before that could have made the damage..it may be that the only solution is to change the gearbox/clutch..I hope not! Although I'm not sure it would be worth doing since only £250 was paid for the car in the first place!

Heather

What colour was the fluid that was removed?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Also have you tried disconnecting the clutch and trying to enguage drive with the engine running?

Jon.

 

[hdavies]

Sorry about the delayed reply. The old oil was red. Yes that has been tried - it still dragged and would move the car forwards slowly but only with very high revs. My partner thinks the clutch works but the bearing has failed and is dragging, he also thinks the syncro has failed, not enabling it to go into gear smoothly (that is what he thinks anyway, of course it could be something different)

We have just found a selecta auto gearbox with powder clutch on ebay though (the car had been smashed from behind). It is £200 buy it now and about £50 delivery. I think this sounds like a good option?

 

[GraKar]

Hello,

We've got the same problem, will an overfilled gearbox cause it?

Regards

Graham

 

[hdavies]

I wouldn't know that but what I found out when removing the gearbox was that the powder clutch was long gone. I think that was the problem (unless it was something else ruining the clutch - I don't know and no longer have the car)

 

[Pink192]

Hello,
I have a Mk1 auto fiat punto 60 selecta with about 70,000 miles on it.

Firstly, the gears are a bit stiff to get into, especially so when moving from neutral. My partner believes something in the gearbox is dragging but doesn't know exactly what is wrong. Is there any solution apart from getting a new gearbox to solve this problem?

It is fine to drive once in gear, apart from a funny squealing noise (from the gearbox or maybe powder clutch? Not the brakes) and sometimes a slight judder when coming to a stop when cold. Again, any ideas what could be wrong?

The oil, transmission oil (definitely the correct oil), radiator and cam belt have been changed recently. The spark plugs have also been checked and are fine.
Does anyone know what could be wrong?

Thanks!

We have the same car and it sounds like, and you're going to be happy
The powder in the clutch, ours had this a few years ago at 60,000 miles, it has now done 66,000 miles. It started with having slight problems getting it in to gears, and the slight judder when coming to a stop, could not take foot off brake or car would move forward, this over time got worse, and upon travelling a long distance and it failed.

What happens is the powder in the clutch system starts to become solid, think of it as a mixer with flour, eggs etc and then mix it up it become a dough, this is what happen to us.

Cost was about £300! but now it's sweet, no more keeping foot on brake and smooth drive and gear slection.

Rgds
Steve Pink

 

[Palio]

We have the same car and it sounds like, and you're going to be happy
The powder in the clutch, ours had this a few years ago at 60,000 miles, it has now done 66,000 miles. It started with having slight problems getting it in to gears, and the slight judder when coming to a stop, could not take foot off brake or car would move forward, this over time got worse, and upon travelling a long distance and it failed.

What happens is the powder in the clutch system starts to become solid, think of it as a mixer with flour, eggs etc and then mix it up it become a dough, this is what happen to us.

Cost was about £300! but now it's sweet, no more keeping foot on brake and smooth drive and gear slection.

Rgds
Steve Pink

Hi Steve,

Sounds like I may need this solution with an Uno Selecta I've just acquired - can you point me in the right direction for this repair please? Who did you use & where did the parts come from?

Any help gratefully received!

Many thanks, Gavin.

 

[Pink192]

Hi

They are in Overton, Hampshire, they are called BK Transmissions ltd, they sourced the items.

Link below:

http://www.bktransmissionsltd.co.uk/bktransmissions-pages/Contact

Hope this helps.

Rgds Steve.

 

[homeward]

They are in Overton, Hampshire, they are called BK Transmissions ltd, they sourced the items.

Thanks for this... -- I'm having similar(ish) problems with a 1993 Panda Selecta.... :bang:

VmanC...?! :devil:

PS: Just emailed them -- shall see what happens....

 

[Palio]

Hi

They are in Overton, Hampshire, they are called BK Transmissions ltd, they sourced the items.

Link below:

http://www.bktransmissionsltd.co.uk/bktransmissions-pages/Contact

Hope this helps.

Rgds Steve.

Brilliant, thanks Steve.

As you've probably gathered homeward with a Classic Panda has problems, and I'm pretty sure something's going amiss with my Uno. Good to know there is someone with decent knowledge. Overton's quite handy as VmanC is fairly nearby - plus CarFest of course!

Thanks again, Gavin. :worship: