I was driving the Exxy one day a few months ago when it started making horrible mechanical crunching noises from the gearbox, and then lost drive almost instantly. After finally getting around to having a look, I have discovered the tripode joints on the end of the driveshaft have decided to relocate themselves to other parts of the diff. My question is, is it safe to simply replace the tripode joints, and anything else that I can see damaged, or should I have the gearbox rebuilt just in case there is metal hiding somewhere else I couldn't find?

The simple answer is to drain the gearbox of oil and take a look at the oil coming out - if it looks like a metallic slurry then you probably need a rebuild, if it comes out clean then you're probably safe.

In general if any loose pieces of metal are floating loose in the gearbox then you will have done some damage - the real question is how much and without at least opening it up you won't know.

bludvl_x19 said:

I was driving the Exxy one day a few months ago when it started making horrible mechanical crunching noises from the gearbox, and then lost drive almost instantly. After finally getting around to having a look, I have discovered the tripode joints on the end of the driveshaft have decided to relocate themselves to other parts of the diff. My question is, is it safe to simply replace the tripode joints, and anything else that I can see damaged, or should I have the gearbox rebuilt just in case there is metal hiding somewhere else I couldn't find?

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Well... If it were my car, I'd pull the transmission, open it up, and clean out every one of those damned little needle bearings that go everywhere when a tripode disintegrates... especially considering that getting the driveshafts out to replace the tripodes is already halfway to pulling the transmission. If you don't do this, you might get lucky (many people have) or you may find a needle bearing in the differential in a few thousand miles.

Take a look at the "Transmission" section of the xweb wiki at http://x19.xwebforums.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page for much good advice on how to get the gearbox out and open.

Just one last thought - a good friend of mine used to have a very hot X1/9 (in the days when they were new) and while pelting down the motorway at thoroughly illegal speeds he had the transmission lock solid as the result of something floating loose.

His experience as a racing driver saved his neck and the car despite leaving skid marks the best part of quarter of a mile long. If there is any doubt as to the content in the gearbox or the state of the internals I would strongly recommend not taking a chance.

I've just pulled the box on my son's car because of doubts - as it happens so far all I found was a cracked diff housing but I'm not done yet. He isn't too happy about it but he doesn't really appreciate what can go wrong...

The oil had lots of little bits in it, my mechanic mate told me that it's glitter, and it makes the oil pretty. I think that I will be pulling the gearbox apart.
Any tips, tricks, need to knows or special tools that I will need? I won't be doing this job alone, aforementioned mechanic-with-sense-of-humour will be helping me out.

No special tools

bludvl_x19 said:

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Any tips, tricks, need to knows or special tools that I will need?.

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You'll need a torque wrench and a decent pair of snap-ring pliers, but those aren't exactly special tools. Other than that, just the standard collection of metric wrenches and sockets, and jackstands to support the rear end will do the trick. The official Fiat shop manual talks about a bunch of special tools, but none of them are needed - look at that wiki I linked to above.

Order a gasket set, and order a pair of replacement inboard driveshaft boots complete with seal carriers and seals.