Technical Grande Punto Gearbox Problems & Slave Cylinder Mount

[Vaid]

Hi everyone,

Today I had a bit of a nightmare with my 07 grande punto 1.2. Recently the car has been causing some problems with gear selection, specifically when the drivetrain is hot the gear selection becomes very stiff and the car refuses to go into gear. I suspect the clutch is due for a change but before I bit the bullet on that, I decided to try a few other things which I thought could help. I changed the gearbox oil, and bled the clutch hydraulics. These seemed to help but it did not fix the issue completely.

Today while having a look over, I noticed the slave cylinder is flexing on its mounts whenever it pushed on the clutch pedal, and I noticed that the bolts holding it down had become loose. Unfortunately, when i went to tighten them, one of the bolts sheared and half of it is stuck inside the threaded hole. No matter what I try it does not want to come out and it has driven me crazy. This brings me to my two requests from this post:

1) Does anybody have some wisdom on the gear problems and what could be causing them? Do i need a new clutch or is this slave cylinder the likely culprit. When removing the slave to get to the bolt holes it leaked a bunch of fluid on me too, i'm not sure if this is normal or it means the slave is on the way out.

2) Because of this sheared bolt being such a pain in the a**, I was wondering if i could get around it by replacing the entire bracket on which the slave cylinder, gearbox ground, linkages etc. sit on top of. I've attached some pictures of the bracket with what i think are the mounting points in yellow. I can't seem to find a part number or even an assembly diagram of this part of the gearbox case anywhere, and tbh I'm not even sure if this is something which can be replaced.

Any advise would be really appreciated )

-Vaid

 

[GrandePunto PL]

What "bracket"? This is a gear selector. You can remove it and work on the broken bolt on the workbench, way easier (not on the car).
Gear shifter seal Guide (check also Discussion tab, YT video): https://www.fiatforum.com/guides/guide-renewing-a-gear-shifter-seal.724/

Yes, those slave actuators can leak into the boot, so brake fluid there can be "normal" unfortunately. Just replace it (by which one, metal or plastic version, doesn't matter much, they all have flaws in design). Modifications are not worth the hassle (it was just an experiment).
Guide: https://www.fiatforum.com/guides/cl...ap-air-bleeding-plus-modification-1-4-8v.798/
Healthy clutch system can actually bleed itself (if you do it not-perfectly, it will get better in max. 2-3 days of driving). So periodic need of bleeding is a clear sign of fault somewhere in the system.

1. So first repair the broken bolt(s). Renewing the seal Guide (video) contains the linkage adjustment simple procedure (do it too).
2. Replace the slave cylinder.
3. Then test drive and see what's next (is it really clutch/gearbox). You can peep into the clutch using cheap USB endoscope camera.
4. In case of clutch replacement (or gearbox+clutch), pay attention to procedure. Famous UK mobile mechanic does it wrong, because he will typically leave the worn out lever/fork (and its plastic bushings). It will shorten the lifespan of the new clutch set (throw-off/release bearing). Amateur mistake.
https://www.youtube.com/@WMCS/search?query=Fiat Job is fairly simple, you can DIY. Gearbox (C514) weights exactly 30 kg.

 

[Vaid]

What "bracket"? This is a gear selector. You can remove it and work on the broken bolt on the workbench, way easier (not on the car).
Gear shifter seal Guide (check also Discussion tab, YT video): https://www.fiatforum.com/guides/guide-renewing-a-gear-shifter-seal.724/

Yes, those slave actuators can leak into the boot, so brake fluid there can be "normal" unfortunately. Just replace it (by which one, metal or plastic version, doesn't matter much, they all have flaws in design). Modifications are not worth the hassle (it was just an experiment).
Guide: https://www.fiatforum.com/guides/cl...ap-air-bleeding-plus-modification-1-4-8v.798/
Healthy clutch system can actually bleed itself (if you do it not-perfectly, it will get better in max. 2-3 days of driving). So periodic need of bleeding is a clear sign of fault somewhere in the system.

1. So first repair the broken bolt(s). Renewing the seal Guide (video) contains the linkage adjustment simple procedure (do it too).
2. Replace the slave cylinder.
3. Then test drive and see what's next (is it really clutch/gearbox). You can peep into the clutch using cheap USB endoscope camera.
4. In case of clutch replacement (or gearbox+clutch), pay attention to procedure. Famous UK mobile mechanic does it wrong, because he will typically leave the worn out lever/fork (and its plastic bushings). It will shorten the lifespan of the new clutch set (throw-off/release bearing). Amateur mistake.
https://www.youtube.com/@WMCS/search?query=Fiat Job is fairly simple, you can DIY. Gearbox (C514) weights exactly 30 kg.

Thank you so much for your advice and the guides, I will give them a go today and hopefully all will go well.

I am hoping it will not end up being a clutch replacement but the car has done 110,000 miles now and i'm pretty sure it has never been replaced since new, so it wouldn't surpise me completely.

 

[Vaid]

Hello everyone,

Just a little update. I was unable to remove the sheared bolt despite trying several different methods. I have never seen one to be so stuck and i fear at this point the persistent trying has damaged the threads beyond repair. I started looking at replacing the shifter mechanism altogether, simply removing the broken one from the car and fitting a replacement but I have run into some questions.

From looking around it seems that there are two types of these mechanisms, both of which apply to the early year grande puntos. I was wondering if they are interchangeable, or indeed why they are so different.

My car is a 2007 1.2 with the 5 speed manual gearbox, and has a selector which looks like the first picture (with the little red bookmark icon in the side). You can also see this in the pictures of the gearbox in my car (Second picture).

Having asked some breakers for this part, I have been sent images similar looking, yet slightly different selectors which apparently are from the same grande punto (which i believe are 07-08 or thereabouts). Specifically the differences are seen on the top surface. This is what you can see in the 3rd photo sitting on the bench. Also, in this guide https://www.fiatforum.com/guides/guide-renewing-a-gear-shifter-seal.724/, the poster mentions they have a 2008 1.2, and they also have a selector which looks similar to this 3rd photo.

This has really confused me, did this design change between the 07-08 MYs? Also are they interchangeable? Having a look around at replacement gearboxes for this car, i also see a mix of these two different types of selector.

Thanks for any help in advance.