Picked up this morning, another £120 lighter. They've replaced a potentiometer + a support. Seems ok so far, will have to wait and see. Gearbox appears smoother than its been for a couple of years.

BEEN TOO PATIENT SO FAR. After all the string saga, the gearbox is still leaking oil. The whole episode has been managed by Motorsales of Harlow as the main engineers, with Essex Gearbox Specialist of Harlow as the sub dealing with the specific problem. Despite being assured that it needed the potentiomoter + a support as this was the cause of the oil leaking out under pressure from the gearbox, at a cost of £120 for parts, the problem has not stopped at all and oil is leaking once again. Be interesting to see what they say next. By the way the gearbox did not leak onto my drive before it went in with gear change problems. The sequence goes like this: 1. Towed into Motorsales with gearbox problem .. could not engage any gears.. 2. Motorsales sub the vehicle to Essex Gearbox to find fault and repair. 3.Gearbox repaired but when I went to pick the car up it was difficult to start. Turned out to be a MAP sensor. 4. Sensor replaced and car picked up. 4.Oil leaking onto drive, car back to Motorsales. 5. Motorsales hand car back to Essex Gearbox who tell me that it needs a new potentionometer + a support. They say that this would not nave been examined or disturbed when they completed the other repairs  5. Parts replaced and car picked up Thursday 11.3.2010. 6. Oil still dripping onto drive. Car will be taken back to Motorsales of Harlow Monday 15th March. GOING TO BE INTERESTING AS TO WHAT THEY WILL SAY NOW   

hi reg

i thought the potentiometer and mount seemed odd  ,can't see why the mount would cause a leak ,and  the potentiometer ,is usually found in a throttle pedal ,but i don;t know the fiat box ,so i may be wrong ,will i will say is, do not pay another penny no matter what they say ...after all thee leaks have occurred after they have stripped the box ,you have then paid for the oil leak repair ,so as far as i can see it's a case of ....RECTIFICATION OF FAULTY WORKMANSHIP  or POOR DIAGNOSTICS ...sounds like a mixture of  both..and you have aleady been generous  enough to pay for a oil leak repair ... so it's  now down to the repairer to fix it for free

 

phil

Coincidences already being mentioned without any examination so far. Interesting that no apology has been mentioned though.

Picked up car AGAIN today. Apparently the gearbox was overfilled when last in the garage and the pressure build up caused the leak. Don't know whetheer that's feasible or not. Maybe that was the cause of the leak in the first place and the parts were not necessary. Who knows. Who can tell. 

hi reg

it is feasible ,but in that vein ,was that the original issue as well ??? ie overfilled oops i just noticed you mentioned that ...hope all is well now with the car

phil

Guess what. Few drips in the week. Thought it was just what was left on the gearbox dripping down. No such luck. Cardboard back under car. Car back to garage tomorrow for the 4th time.

Returned to Motorsales Harlow who put it on a ramp. Essex Auto Transmissions arrived and examined. Oil dripping around plastic oil level bottle which seemed to come from a unit above it.They seemed to think that it might be coming from a pressure valve in the box itself. It seeps oil slowly into this thing above the oil level bottle and builds up over a few days, eventually dripping out. Be interesting to see what the real problem is !!!!

Just heard to day more bad news. They now think it's a problem with some sort of pressure valve and sensor that controls the gears. Part costs £750 + VAT. Can the day get any better !!! I've now got Fiat involved so we'll see where this is all going. I'll post the result.

hi reg

so what's happening ref all the previous mis - diagnosis ,that has been carried out on your wallet ,is that being deducted from the £750 ???and before paying another penny ,i'd want to drive the car for at least 2 weeks to make sure it is ok,after all if they are wrong again then what ???say well actually you need a new gearbox ...i think a good will gesture is due  to you from who ever is carrying out the repairs