Hi all.

Having got my '17 Tipo (1.4 95ps) in November last year immediately I took it to Fiat to resolve a whine in 6th gear.
I went out with the technician who basically said he couldn't hear it (on the world's worst roads around the dealer).
The noise kicks in at lower speeds but was noticeable only in 6th...i.e at 40-55mph.

Anyway they said if it persists bring it back.
Funnily enough it persisted so I did. This time they acknowledged a noise that shouldn't be there and I am told they replaced;
Clutch
Flywheel
6th gear bearings.

I got it back and the noise was still there, although I could tell they had changed the clutch as the bite was different.
I ran around like this for a little while until I needed to take a long journey in which it started getting very notchy between 5th and 6th.

Back we go for the third time, this time they advise a complete new gearbox will be fitted.
1 week later the car gets delivered back to me and..what's this? It won't go into 5th / 6th gear at all!? The guy who drove it back was keen to go funnily enough.

So off it goes a fourth time... Again the gearbox as fault apparently, so they order another one in from Italy. I get it back and the service manager tells me to "caress" it into 6th because if you bring the stick too far to the right it can catch the gate !?! Never did when I first got it....

Having driven it a while today I've decided I'm still not happy for two reasons:

1) ...Still a whine in 6th gear which makes me think it's driveshaft or engine related?

2) It's actually quite difficult to shift between 5th and 6th without "catching the gate". It has to be a perfect linear shift and whatever you do don't change mid corner. It's easy to miss and struggle to get back into either gear. Now I highly doubt anyone elses Tipos are that delicate between those gears?

So given that I don't feel the issue has been resolved satisfactorily I'll be going back to the dealer to have a 5th attempt at. I might get laughed out of there or have no leg to stand on, so would appreciate feedback from other Tipo owners regarding their gearboxes in regard to the issues I've had.

Apologies for the ramble / rant.

Thanks in advance

Hi.

Are you still on the UK warranty.. or just dealers own aftersales one

If FIAT you can take your claim to a dealer that is competent..

For noises like this 'road tests' are problematic..

6th gear means speed : tyre and wind noise

If you elevate the vehicle and then drive in 6th you get JUST the rotational noises

Far easier to pick out anything amiss

Charlie

Are you 100% it was the gearbox original not a wheel bearing?
I assume it want away if you took it out of gear




That being said they have definitely made Ames's of something when they last removed the box

I think your post was very calm.
You have been treated very badly.
Throughout and you now have a car that is worse than before they started "fixing" it.

Yes the noise did go away when you take it out of gear so can only be relating to gearbox/engine in my opinion (load etc maybe?).
My warranty is out as of last week however I would expect some warranty on the repair to be honest? I agree though, it would've been a good idea during this palava to go to an alternative more competent dealer.

I think they will honour any issue as an ongoing case, but I expect I'll get resistance trying to get them to look at it again.

I let my wife drive it earlier alone so she could assess it too and confirmed noise in 6th gear.

It's the reverse gate that is opened when you lift the gearknob... That gate isn't bang in line with 5th and 6th meaning you can slide into no man's land between 5th and 6th if you apply even the slightest pressure on the gearknob between changes. Is anyone elses like that (I am questioning myself now but I 99% sure it's not right/how it was).

Spoke to the dealer again today.
The first gearbox that was fitted was a recon, the second brand new (as far as they understand as it just arrives from Italy and Fiat HQ make the call as to what is used).
They confirm it's not a common issue but he said the gearbox is a 5 speed with a 6th gear added on so isn't a great design (but probably been around for years without much problem).
He said I am in warranty until July so I could get it looked at again and he would raise a ticket with Fiat Italy as to what to do with the next steps. Probably new gear cables maybe a new reverse gate (should be new anyway with the box?). I think the whine in 6th has to be something else otherwise I'd have had 3x gearboxes that whine in 6th which can't be right. Maybe the cables rubbing/touching something it shouldn't. Who knows. I'll get them to have one more go at it, a bit fed up with the whole process though.