Gearbox issues - 99T 1.6 16v (48.5k)

[Marko]

Hi All,

I bought my Bravo in December last year, have loved it to bits, cared for it and done 10.5k miles since then.

After about a week of driving I noticed a strange gargling noise from 4th gear during low speeds. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th are all fine, but when you select 4th doing 30+ mph it sounds like a Diesel or so said my now Ex girlfriend. As the speed increases, the noise seems to drop off (possibly because of increased road noise). I took it to the Local Italian Car Specialst in Lincoln (about three weeks ago) to get his opinion. We went for a drive and he suggested that the 4th gear Cog had thrown a tooth (exactly what i said). He got it up on the ramp, had a look at the gearbox oil level - fine.

He said that it would be about £60 for the part assuming that it was only a new cog needed and about £200 for labour. So now i'd like to get this sorted, and i started making an effort to save the money...the following week my back box fell off - literally, the final bracket holding it on was making it lean-on and melt my bumper! £165 later I am now wondering about this driving a FIAT lark.

About a week ago, i noticed vibrations from the clutch pedal which is scaring me. The car seems to judder more when setting off in 1st and i'm totally paranoid about taking it anywhere now. Could the vibrations be from the gearbox problem finally rearing its head in other areas...i'm thinking a cog tooth and other swarf in the GB would be pretty unhelpful to the feel of the transmission.

Finally, it's due a service (48k) and I am thinking very hard about having the belt and tensioner changed.
I am sure I could do the minor bits of the service - oil, sparks, filters etc to save me some money.

So, can anyone tell me if they have had a similar problem with the gearbox and maybe suggest a reason why it might fail like this.
Also, is the clutch about to fail on my car?
Is it worth me doing the minor service bits myself (they quoted me £115 for a service)? Can you usually buy Selinia oil from the Local FIAT monkey outlet (mine is Ilkeston CO-OP FIAT Dealer)?
Has anyone had this much maintenance work done all at once?

Any help, especially charitable donations would be great.
Thanks,
Marko


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give me ambiguity or give me something else

 

[Wimmy]

You can buy the Selinia oil from Fiat. £100+ for an oil change (service) has seemed dear to me so I always do it myself.

Cambelt - get it changed. Your book recommends 72k before a change but the bravo guide suggest 45k to be on the safe side.

As for the clutch, you will prob find that it only judders on damp mornings. Its probably nothing to worry about but dont quote me on that - after all, its a fiat.

 

[SchumaniaC]

Marko, I am really sorry to hear all this stuff cropping up at once on your Bravo. I suppose its just pure bad luck.

It is difficult to tell whats wrong with your gearbox unless we really hear the sound of it. But as for the clutch, you will have to change it. Shuddering in 1st are the first signs of it going bust. So I suggest that while you are at work with the gearbox, you change the clutch as well because you have to do it anyway. In this way you will save some money on labour costs.

With regards to your routine service I suggest that you do it yourself. The most urgent part of the service is the oil & oil filter change.
If you need any help tell me, although you would need some inexpensive tools to work with.

And by the way, you dont have to use the Selenia oil. You can use any other make oil with the same grade.

 

[Tom]

I don't think the clutch is much to worry about as mine has always juddered in 1st. Anyway, you're going to have to take the gearbox out to fix that so might as well change the clutch anyway, or even just inspect it.

As for the gearbox, its a bit irresponsible of the garage to say 'its a broken tooth' and then not drain the oil to try and flush it out. If the broken bit gets between any of the other gears you are F**KED!

I think you need to get the box off ASAP and get it in bits. It will just get worse.

Ignore these doom mongers when it comes to the cambelt, 45k is too early unless your car is over 5 years old. Get it done at 60-70k. A new cambelt is just as likely to snap in 1000 miles as your old one. The Bravo is no more likely to suffer a cambelt failure than any other car. It was only the Punto 8v engine that had problems, not the Bravo/a.

 

[marko]

Re: Re: Gearbox issues - 99T 1.6 16v (48.5k)

Guys,

thanks for the help.

I think in the interests of my already **** poor social life I will do the service myself, forget the cambelt for another 5K miles or so and just get the gear box and clutch looked at. That way I might have enough cash left to put fuel in it and actually enjoy owning the car again.

Tom, the Guy was very genuine about the faults he thought the car had, and even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford to have the repairs done there and then. I did ask about further damage to the car by postponing the repairs and he reminded me that it had been like this since I had bought it at the very least.

once again cheers.

Marko

___________________________________________
give me ambiguity or give me something else