Whining car :-(

Nagme

Hi all,
I think my car's developed a potential costly fault, I'd appreciate some advice/thoughts;-

It's a 2002 Fiat Punto 1.2. When the engine's cold, it whines as I accelerate, especially uphill. It doesn't make this noise when it's stationary and I just rev the engine. DH thinks it could be gearbox bearings. It doesn't whine if I accelerately very gently.

My questions are - anyone had this problem with a car? Did it turn out to be the gearbox?
If I drive it gently so that it doesn't whine, will this prevent the problem from worsening?

I paid £1100 for it 6 months ago and was really hoping this would be a good bangernomical car

ILW

A gearbox oil change may improve things. Chances are it will keep working fine for years though, if just a little noisy.

Nagme

Thanks, that's reassuring.

DH just topped the gearbox oil up at the weekend, it took about 100 - 150mls, the noise hasn't changed.

TrickyWicky

Nagme wrote: »

Thanks, that's reassuring.

Unfortunately this won't be..

We bought a Fiat Brava years ago which had the symptoms you describe. Great little car, plenty of power, not bad for comfort but like yours it whined a lot. I wasn't sure if this was natural or not.

Within a fortnight there was a bang some strong shaking, more bangs followed by more shaking and then the gearbox exploded all over the road - bits of metal teeth from broken gears were falling out of a large 2" plus hole in the bell casing (the gearbox shell).

That wiped us out financially and when the engine seized a few weeks later... well it went to the local spanner monkey.

You mention that gently accelerating stops this noise... that sounds like the gearbox is on its way out. You have two choices:

1) Keep it, be prepared to put your hands in your pocket for another gearbox plus labour.
2) Run it until it goes bang and then break it or sell it as spares / repair on ebay.

Some would say 3) Sell it to some other mug. That mentality doesn't really serve anyone very well does it because at some point everyone becomes that other mug and thus we never break out of the vicious circle.

chrisw

Try asking on the Fiat Forum. Someone has asked a similar question about whining when cold and the thoughts seem to be water pump or cambelt tension:-

http://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/

Jem8472

I had a 2002 punto. It started doing that whining noise when it was cold about 5 years ago and nothing ever got worse. It would do it when it was cold up to about 3k revs then above 3k would not do it.

The car was still going strong when I traded it in at the start of the year.

Hoof_Hearted

My car had a continuous whine but it seemed to stop when the wife got out.....

Nagme

TrickyWicky wrote: »

Unfortunately this won't be..

We bought a Fiat Brava years ago which had the symptoms you describe. Great little car, plenty of power, not bad for comfort but like yours it whined a lot. I wasn't sure if this was natural or not.

Within a fortnight there was a bang some strong shaking, more bangs followed by more shaking and then the gearbox exploded all over the road - bits of metal teeth from broken gears were falling out of a large 2" plus hole in the bell casing (the gearbox shell).
This is what I'm worried will happen

That wiped us out financially and when the engine seized a few weeks later... well it went to the local spanner monkey.


You mention that gently accelerating stops this noise... that sounds like the gearbox is on its way out. You have two choices:

1) Keep it, be prepared to put your hands in your pocket for another gearbox plus labour.
2) Run it until it goes bang and then break it or sell it as spares / repair on ebay.

Some would say 3) Sell it to some other mug. That mentality doesn't really serve anyone very well does it because at some point everyone becomes that other mug and thus we never break out of the vicious circle.

Thanks TrickyWicky, very useful info.

No, I wouldn't sell it on dishonestly. Maybe spares or repairs, or breaking, or scrap.

I've had 2 quotes, a Fiat specialist quoted £450 to replace the bearings, another garage quoted £875 to replace gearbox and clutch.

Can you remember if your Brava made that noise only on a cold engine, or constantly?

kaya

does it have a turbo? the symptoms you describe could be turbo bearings or possibly a split boost hose

Ransoman

Topping up the gearbox oil won't have made a difference. You need to drain all the old stuff out. Some mechanics assume gearboxes never need their oil changing but the reality is the oil needs to be replaced every 4 years.

The procedure is in the Haynes manual or try fiatforum.com or puntomk2.co.uk. You can DIY it very easily. there is a chance it will fix your problem and will only cost £20 in tools + oil.

Nagme

Jem8472 wrote: »

I had a 2002 punto. It started doing that whining noise when it was cold about 5 years ago and nothing ever got worse. It would do it when it was cold up to about 3k revs then above 3k would not do it.

The car was still going strong when I traded it in at the start of the year.

Thanks Jem,
Can you remember, did the whining noise sound a bit like a turbo on your car?