Advice appreciated

danielley

Hello all

I have a 51 plate Fiat Punto, which I bought at 6 months old and have had for 8 years now.

It only has about 40,000 on the clock as I mainly use the car for home to work and visiting family, just very short 5 mile round trips.

Over the past 3 to 4 years it has cost me about £300ish a year at MOT and service time in the odd thing here and there, but nothing serious too serious and I have never noticed any performance issues myself.

It was last serviced in December 2009.

I have started to notice that the car is struggling to accelerate, especially when starting off and I am going up hills. The revs are going very high but the car doesn't seem to be responding to me frantically try to accelerate.

Since I have noticed this I have avoided going anywhere that I would have to do over 30mph.

I know I need to take it to a garage and have it checked out, but I would like a bit of advice about;

a) If I should expect to pay for a diagnosis
b) How many garages I should take it to (i.e. is it worth getting a few diff quotes)
c) I have googled the issue and this came up with all kinds of potential reasons (blocked fuel filter etc) Is it worth mentioning any of these or should I just leav eit to the garage to diagnose...

Like many people, I am so sceptical about a garage ripping me off, as I have heard so many horror stories and if the fault is going to cost me a lot of money, I need to question if it is worth spending anymore on the car.

Many Thanks

LandyAndy

Sounds like the clutch has gone.

High revs but lack of progress, classic symptom.

Inactive

Agreed, sounds very much like the clutch is on it's last legs.

flutterbyuk25

I also have 51plate Punto and have had similar probs with it but this was due to the lamba sensor in the engine. Have any lights come on the dashboard?

I've taken it to Fiat garages before who either diagnose for free or they change ~£40, depends on their mood! But I've now found a local garage that are great, who disgnose for free and are reasonalbly priced.

vaio

don't really see how anything other than clutch could give the symptoms of high revs without a corresponding road speed

rev_henry

Another vote for clutch. I'd probably budget £300, maybe a little less. Have a ring round a few places to get quotes, and I'd suggest including in there a fiat dealer, a chain like HiQ or National, a couple of independents and a independent fiat specialist if you have one locally. Not exactly an obscure classic car so any garage should be able to do the job.

rev_henry

And if you're wondering its not an unreasonable length of time for the clutch to last; its fairly good really, considering the age of the car and the type of driving you do.

To make sure it IS the clutch and nothing else do the '4th gear test'. Find a flat bit of land (car park etc) and stop the car. Foot off footbrake and handbrake off, put the car in 4th, don't touch the accelerator and slowly raise the clutch. If your able to bring the clutch right up beyond bite point without it stalling its definitely the clutch. Cars with ok clutches will stall when the clutch reaches bite point. If I've got any of this test wrong I'm sure someone will correct me.
In the meantime, be gentle with the accelerator when trying to accelerate. If you rev it to high heaven trying to get it to go you'll make the clutch worse and won't get it up to speed very easily. If your very gentle with it and speed up more slowly it'll be ok for a bit, but still get it done.

Once you've done this test no need for 'diagnosis', just get quotes for a replacement clutch.

I'd also say keep the car, it seems fine.

DaveMacD

One way to check. Park your car, handbrake on, then select first gear and let the clutch up slowly. If you get way up past the biting point, and the engine hasn't stalled, then your clutch is well shot.
Haven't you noticed a strange burning smell when you've been driving?

LandyAndy

If you don't know a decent small garage in Warrington I can recommend Arnold Beckley (ALB Jaguar) On Errwood Street at the back of Tannery Court just on the town side of the Rugby stadium. Don't be put off that he is a Jag and Rolls Royce specialist, Arnold is a nice guy and does a good job at a sensible price. He works on all makes.

I think his phone no. is 01925 575828. If you ring him be prepared for the strong Caribbean accent.:D

vaio

DaveMacD wrote: »

One way to check. Park your car, handbrake on, then select first gear and let the clutch up slowly. If you get way up past the biting point, and the engine hasn't stalled, then your clutch is well shot.....

rev_henry wrote: »

.......To make sure it IS the clutch and nothing else do the '4th gear test'. Find a flat bit of land (car park etc) and stop the car. Foot off footbrake and handbrake off, put the car in 4th, don't touch the accelerator and slowly raise the clutch. If your able to bring the clutch right up beyond bite point without it stalling its definitely the clutch. ......

As you can see there are differences of opinion as to how to diagnose it, I stick to the “driving along, floor the throttle and see if the revs increase without a corresponding increase in road speed” method myself

babyshoes

Any of the three methods above should help with diagnosis, but 4th gear one is probably safest... Make sure it is done in a large open space with nothing close by you can crash into. The aim of the game is to stall the car, but if it doesn't you may shot forward, so large, empty car park is ideal.