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Technical New gearbox only 4 years old!!!

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Technical New gearbox only 4 years old!!!

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Carlymcxx

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Hi I'm only new to this but thought I would come on and see if anyone else is having any problems like mine.

I have a 2008 fiat 500 sport, it was just over a year old and had around 7,500 miles on it when I bought it and seemed in pretty good condition. I have had my car for 3 years now and have only drove around 8,000 miles.

Just recently I was hearing a crunching noise when putting my car in to third gear, it then got alot worse and wouldn't go in to third gear at all, so I contacted my local dealership. They said that my 2008 fiat with just over 15,000 miles needed a new gear box and the price was £2155!!!

Have contacted fiat uk and they were willing to pay for a very small charge but I thought when buying a fiat 500 i was getting a good quality car!! Not a money box!!!
 
As for your original question, no, it's not a common problem. I suspect that possibly the previous owner wasn't all that kind to the box perhaps? That said it can take only one bad gearchange to cause permanent damamge. Definitely do not go for a new gearbox, that's waaaaaaay too much money.
 
I thought that then I was told by fiat service that a used box or relacing parts wouldn't work and I would be out even more money, they said my gearbox is disintegrating and it is full off metal flakes!!! Think they are trying to cost me more money!!
 
Carlymcxx said:
I thought that then I was told by fiat service that a used box or relacing parts wouldn't work and I would be out even more money, they said my gearbox is disintegrating and it is full off metal flakes!!! Think they are trying to cost me more money!!
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No disrespect to Fiat CS, there are some lovely people working there, but they really don't have any idea about the mechanics of the car. A replacement gearbox (assuming that gearbox is alright of course) will be just fine and a shedload cheaper than 2k!!!!! Do you have a trusted independent that you can go to? I doubt that fitting a gearbox to a 500 will be especially expensive in terms of labour.
 
Yes I have found someone who can fix it alot cheaper and gearboxes are their specialty, just thought fiat themselves and my local dealership would have been alot more helpful, I waited over a week to hear from fiat and received a phone call every other day from my dealership sales man trying to buy my car!! I will look into getting the clutch looked at aswell! Thank you
 
Carlymcxx said:
Yes I have found someone who can fix it alot cheaper and gearboxes are their specialty, just thought fiat themselves and my local dealership would have been alot more helpful, I waited over a week to hear from fiat and received a phone call every other day from my dealership sales man trying to buy my car!! I will look into getting the clutch looked at aswell! Thank you
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Clutch kit is under a 100 quid from here btw :)

http://shop4parts.co.uk/?name=store&op=Details&ProdID=3171&sku=7703

Assuming that it's a petrol 500 and not a diesel :)
 
on fiat boxes of old the 3rd gear syncro was notoriously week, I bet that is what is broken and bits of it have fallen in such a way as to prevent selection of 3rd. A rebuild of your box with one or 2 new parts shouldn't be too expensive from a specialist gearbox place.
 
the ones we've had problems with were on a 1989 Lancia Delta, a 1981 Fiat Strada (both 5 speed) a 1990 fiat Panda (4 speed) and a friend had 2 replacments on a late Model Alfa 155 (the 16v model), the earlier 8v model had a different box (maybe Alfas own to match its own engine), which gave me no probs in 100,000 miles.

(Not Fiats problem but the 2nd gear syncro on the rear drive 105 Alfa is also notorious, mine needed doing when I bought it, that only cost around £400 including labour 8 years ago)
 
alfatastic said:
the ones we've had problems with were on a 1989 Lancia Delta, a 1981 Fiat Strada (both 5 speed) a 1990 fiat Panda (4 speed) and a friend had 2 replacments on a late Model Alfa 155 (the 16v model), the earlier 8v model had a different box (maybe Alfas own to match its own engine), which gave me no probs in 100,000 miles.

(Not Fiats problem but the 2nd gear syncro on the rear drive 105 Alfa is also notorious, mine needed doing when I bought it, that only cost around £400 including labour 8 years ago)
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Touch wood never had issues ourself, its know if the wrong gearbox oil is used when its changed, that certain ones can eat away at the gold metals cause extreme wear, but other than that they're normally ok.

Not that the wrong oil is likly to be the cause of failure in OP's case, as I suspect its still the origional.
 
Carlymcxx said:
...Just recently I was hearing a crunching noise when putting my car in to third gear, it then got alot worse and wouldn't go in to third gear at all, so I contacted my local dealership. They said that my 2008 fiat with just over 15,000 miles needed a new gear box and the price was £2155!!!
Click to expand...

Which engine do you have ?:
With less than 16K miles I'm surprised that it's gone.
 
My first 500 6 speed was getting a bit crunchy in 3rd after 15k miles. When I swapped in the new gearbox with the quaife fitted I've not had a hint of crunchies in third in 85k miles.

My car was an early 2008 1.4 and I believe Robw had a 2007 import that had a 1.4 and his gearbox was getting a bit crunchy into third towards the end. No idea if the early ones were more prone to this?

It would be interesting to see the inside of your box with the metal flakes inside. Synchro or actual gears? In the interests of forum curiosity I think you should take it apart and take pics for us :)
 
jnoiles said:
My first 500 6 speed was getting a bit crunchy in 3rd after 15k miles. When I swapped in the new gearbox with the quaife fitted I've not had a hint of crunchies in third in 85k miles.

My car was an early 2008 1.4 and I believe Robw had a 2007 import that had a 1.4 and his gearbox was getting a bit crunchy into third towards the end. No idea if the early ones were more prone to this?

It would be interesting to see the inside of your box with the metal flakes inside. Synchro or actual gears? In the interests of forum curiosity I think you should take it apart and take pics for us :)
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Many premature synchro failures are the result of dodgy clutch hydraulics. I've said it before, but it's cheap insurance to change the clutch fluid every 2 years when you do the brakes. My clutch fluid was shot after a year. And don't continue to drive any distance if you notice the clutch starting to drag.

The system on RHD 500's looks more like an afterthought than a deliberate act of design. Give me a cable clutch any day. At least they fail outright, which protects the 'box from those 'carry on regardless' drivers.
 
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The six-speed in my Panda 100HP was initially crunchy - especially into third but also from a standstill - indicating clutch drag. The clutch was changed under warranty when the car was a few months old. The problem with third remained but I learned by experimentation that it depended on the way you pushed the lever into third gear - I'd driven a Cinq Sporting for 100K plus miles and second to third was just as a diagonal push across the "gate" with rightward pressure on the lever - not so in the 100HP, which requires the lever to be pushed either straight forward or even with a slight leftward pressure - result - no graunches. Now on 42k miles with no issues, though the advice on clutch fluid is sound and will be changed at major service when we get back from Italy in October.
 
jrkitching said:
:yeahthat:

Many premature synchro failures are the result of dodgy clutch hydraulics. I've said it before, but it's cheap insurance to change the clutch fluid every 2 years when you do the brakes. My clutch fluid was shot after a year. And don't continue to drive any distance if you notice the clutch starting to drag.

The system on RHD 500's looks more like an afterthought than a deliberate act of design. Give me a cable clutch any day. At least they fail outright, which protects the 'box from those 'carry on regardless' drivers.
Click to expand...

How easy is it to flush the fluid in the clutch hydraulic system?
 
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