Conference terri::cars_uk

>>Its a sort of grinding/scraping noise which is audible when the car is in
>>neutral and goes away when the clutch is depressed. You can also hear it when
    
    
    I thought clutch-release bearing noises only OCCURRED when the clutch
    pedal was depressed,  sounds to me more like gearbox noises.  However
    it'll probably be OK for a while.
    
    Stevie.

    My RS Turbo and my previous XR2 make/made rattling noises when the clutch
    pedal was out, but which went away when pushed in. I thought that this
    was most certainly the clutch release bearing, but I could be wrong.
    With the XR2 a grating, grinding gearbox noise also developed in each
    gear (noticably 1st and 2nd). This turned out to be a gearbox front end
    bearing. I was told to drive away at it until it became appreciably
    worse though. The clutch on my RS Turbo is now slipping after only
    31,000 miles.... but then I guess thats what you get for trying to feed
    197bhp through it :-)
    
    Gary.
                                                                      

    
     Hi,
    
     Welcome to the TIPO mob ! 
    
     I too have a tipo 1.6 DGT, and strange noises came from the clutch
     the day I drove out of the garage (brand new).  Of course I took it
     back only to be told that the noise was normal. 
    
     Only time will tell,
    
    
     Mark.
    
     PS: Seems like a reliable car, nothing has gone wrong yet (touch
         wood). 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for the welcome. 

Are your noises the same as mine or does every Fiat owner get his own 
unique set :-)

/Paul.

 Hi Paul,


 From your description we are suffering from the same noise, mine might be 
 an octave higher or lower than your but basically its the same. 

 Have you met the problem of getting into reverse gear when using the 
 choke (engine above idle speed) yet. That also produces some interesting 
 noises.


 Mark. 

It's a design feature, sir....

Very common on Fiats, in particular, an nothing to be unduly alarmed about.

We've had three Fiats, of varying age and type, and they all did it !

on the last one, I got fed up with it and replaced the release bearing, which
at least made it quieter, but it didn't go away altogether......

The alternative is to get it tuned to a more harmonious note.....


ian

Hi Mark,

Its sometimes doesn't go into reverse on the first go but declutching and/or 
slipping it into 2nd first normally solves this. I haven't noticed this 
connection to the choke or higher revs (mine has an automatic choke).

On the subject of the auto. choke I find when its cold the car
idles at 2200 revs for the first couple of minutes when you start it in the
morning. Does yours do this too?

Thanks for the reassurance about the noises.

/Paul.

    My Alfa 33 1.7 develops the same kind of clutch noise, and it's from
    Italy too under the same Fiat parent. The noise is particularly noisier
    when the A/C is switched on. The agent mechanic told me it's normal!
    However, on some occasions, the noise goes away. My Alfa is quite
    temperamental!
    
    I fully agree with .9; really the Italian boxes are not the best!
    It's difficult to engage 1st and reverse gear. I think the Japanese 
    boxes are very much better and smoother!
    
    	TTH

 Hi Paul,


 Mine's got a manual choke (I cant afford such luxuries as automatic). When 
 the choke is on the engine revs about 2000 at max choke. 

 I wholly agree that the FIAT (does this go for all Italian) gearbox leaves
 something to be desired, I noticed that mine is now starting to crunch on 
 entering gears, time for a service me thinks,


 Mark.

... I now have two and my last car was an Alfasud Sprint!

The Sprint always had a chattering noise which went away when the clutch
was depressed. It was the 1st gear selector. I've heard this noise on every
Alfasud with med-high mileage. Great car though !!!

I also have a Fiat Spider which has a difficult gearbox. I find putting it into
2nd before 1st or (especially) reverse helps. The guy who looks after it changed
the gearbox oil to a lighter oil and this has helped when its cold. I used to
have real problems getting it into first when it was cold but the lighter oil
helps here.


> I think the Japanese boxes are very much better and smoother!

Only problem is the're in Japanese cars ;-)

/Paul.

�                    -< Why DO we buy Italian Cars !!!???
 >-
    
    Hard to say, but I'm likely to carry on doing so...
    
    J.R.

�I keep wondering if something like mobil 1 would help 
    
    I think I've read somewhere about Mobil 1 being used in gearboxes.
    It may have been in this notes conference though...
    
�and i've toyed with the idea of a gear box oil cooler.
    
    I've heard of rally cars having rear axle oil coolers, driven by
    an electric pump, so a cooler for a gearbox sounds reasonable.
    
    Do other racers tend to fit them ?
    
    J.R.

�                            -< Which lighter oil? >-
�
�The alfasud says 80W and since it gets @#$%^ hot 
    
    Derek,
    
    Perhaps this extract from the 4WD conference may help :-
    
             <<< GENRAL::DISK$OURDISK:[NOTES$LIBRARY]4WD.NOTE;10 >>>
                               -< 4 Wheel Drive >-
================================================================================
Note 194.13                  Differential Gear Oils                     13 of 14
CADSE::ANDERSON                                      27 lines   2-NOV-1991 09:25
                     -< SAAB dealers have 75 wt gear oil >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    
    [ ... ]
    
    SAAB required the use of 75 weight oil in their manual 
    transmissions for many years. You should be able to pick some
    up at a SAAB dealer. Keep in mind that straight 75 weight will
    shift a lot better in cold weather that either 80-90 or 75-90
    gear oil.

    A lot of SAAB enthusiasts now use a sythetic gear oil made by
    RED LINE I believe. I don't because I have learned from hard
    experience that it is best to use the exact lube recommended
    by the manufacturer.

    /Bob Anderson

================================================================================
    
    Note cross-posted without notification...
    
    J.R.

    I had a few "BL" cars that used to have a chatering noise when Idling
    that went when the cluch was pressed in. I was told it was the Idler
    gear or the thrust bearings. It was more pronounced after a long hard
    drive.
    
    Dave
    

    
    
    	I drive a Vauxall Nova 1983 model.When i press my clutch down i
    here a small whinning noise.Also is it a sign of a good engine when you
    can lift you clutch pedal up and the car starts to move,this is done
    without pressing the accelerator???????????
    
    	cheers
    
    
    	Andy......
    

    Point 1) Probably clutch release bearing, maybe the start of its
    decline.
    
    Point 2) Not particularly, its usually a sign that your idling speed is
    too high !
    
    Phil Gill.

    
    	Can anyone help me?
    		Is it easy to make clutch adjustments? I ask this because
    when i'm sat in traffic and I put my car in neutral and then try to put 
    it back into first it occasionaly doesn't want to go!(I usually manage
    to get it into gear after a couple attempts).Could this problem be
    solved with clutch adjusting?
    
    	By the way I drive an Astra.
    
    	Andy...The gate cruncher....
    

Try pulling it back into second gear first, and then into first gear.
Putting it into second gear aligns the gears, which helps when trying
to engage first gear. 

The other solution if it won't go into first, is declutch and try
again.

I doubt that adjusting the clutch will help. This is a common "problem"
with most if not all cars that I've driven.

    
    RE-1
    
    	Thanks,I'll try that tonight.I've tried the other solution of
    declutching and re-engaging,that method occasionaly works.
    
    	Thanks,again!
    
    	Andy...
    

    Back in the good old days, when most cars didn't have a synchro 1st
    gear, you *had* to put the thing in 2nd and slide up to first to make
    it work. This is a habit I have to this day....
    
    Another way that often works, is to rev the engine, and feed into the
    gear as the revs die away. You'll soon get the hang of the timing. As
    .-1 said, it very common for 2nd to play up, especially on FWD cars.
    
    Laurie.

    I had this problem and the solution was to readjust the cables (rods ?)
    from the gear lever to the transmission.