Technical Panda Cross spongey gearchange

[mikerf]

Recently, my 15 plate Cross has developed a 'stirring a bowl of porridge' gearchange. It's very spongey and difficult to locate the correct position to slip into any gear and neutral feels stiff with no clear indication that it's actually in neutral.

My first guess would be linkage bushes (if, indeed, there are any) otherwise I'm at a bit of a loss. Definitely NOT clutch release bearing as, once I find the gate, it slips in easily enough, it's actually finding the gate that's the problem.

Anyone else had this issue and, if so, how was it resolved?

Finally, how the f*** do you get into the gear linkage?

Thank you.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

This guide might at least provide some pointers... and maybe the whole solution? Your car may have the ECU in a slightly different arrangement - it moved when the Euro6 engine came out.

Cure for a stiff gearlever, Multijet 4x4

One or two folks have reported issues with the gear-lever becoming stiff to move, and not freely springing back to the centre position. I investigated the issue, and managed to cure mine by removing a rod on the outside of the gearbox and...

www.fiatforum.com

I don't think you'll need to do this, but... to reach the top (gear lever in the car) end of the gear cables: undo the Velcro section of the gear-lever gaiter. Reach in through that opening to press upwards from underneath on the plastic 'ring' (its square though!) that secures the gaiter to the dash surround. The whole gaiter and that ring are just clipped in, so should just pop out. With care, you can slide the whole gaiter over the top of the gear-lever knob to get it out of the way. then you will see the big plastic ball the lever sits in, and the cables running down and away from that.

 

[mikerf]

Thanks very much for that link. Looks like that's the problem with mine too. I'll let the forum know how I get on once I've had a chance to tackle the job.