I would post this in the Fiat forum but they only seem interested in de-locking doors or adding induction kits so here goes...
Fiat Punto 1.2 8v (2005) with hydraulic clutch and shared fluid reservoir for brakes/clutch.
Topped brake fluid up recently as warning light would illuminate when braking, reservoir was low and light is now off so it wasn't a pad wear indicator.
Clutch bite point used to be quite abrupt but has now become less defined and is very high. If you release the clutch whilst flooring the accelerator it will slip for a few seconds and take up the drive gradually. Clutch was new 12 months ago.
If air had been drawn into the clutch system from the low level in the reservoir, would the bite point move down or up?
Can the slave cylinder go faulty without actually leaking fluid? Would this cause the slow take up of drive? Once in gear the clutch won't slip however much I provoke it, which makes me hope its just a dodgy slave cylinder or even just needs bleeding.
sounds like you may have a leaking slave cylinder which has contaminated the clutch plate.
If air had been drawn into the clutch system from the low level in the reservoir, would the bite point move down or up?
The loss of fluid/air in the system is more likely to cause difficulty in selecting/changing gear. Which can be fun when approaching traffic lights @ red!!!!!
The pedal would start to feel "soft" and bite point would be lower imo.
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Clutch may have been new 12mths ago but do you sit with your fott on the padal? Do lots of town driving?
Part of your description would indicate a worn clutch plate or a worn pressure plate. Was the whole clutch assembly replaced, ie plate & cover(pressure plate)
No problem selecting gears.
Good clutch habits, driving is mixed but overall mileage low.
Not sure how much was replaced but I remember the dealers invoice came to £60 plus VAT.
When we bought the car the dealer had fitted a replacement gearbox and clutch. We drove it home (about 50 miles) and the clutch started slipping, took it back and gearbox had a dodgy oil seal and had leaked onto the clutch. Thought he was replacing the clutch but when we collected it he said he had soaked the clutch in some sort of degreaser and it was fine. And it has been, until now. If I had realised what he was doing I would have given him £60 and saved him the bother of trying to save the 'old' clutch!
Thanks for the reply...will try bleeding it as a first fix. Loathe to spend too much as we are meant to be trading it in within the next few weeks...
My experience of air in a hydraulic clutch on an old series Land Rover was that the bite point gets lower.
One dodgy tip for an oil contaminated clutch (if there is a clutch inspection panel) is to discharge a dry powder fire extinguisher into the inspection panel. Note this is usually only done on dodgy cars being sold via Exchange & Mart, and probably shouldn't be done on a car that needs a clutch replacement that you intend to keep.
Bite point gets lower, as the gas compresses the clutch spring force is overcome when the gas is compressed to a suitable level, which takes more travel to do. If your new clutch is slipping it could be seals as above. Bite point moving upwards is an odd one, unless the engagement point is same as ever but the clutch is just slipping so badly it only really bites right near fully released. I've "fixed" contaminated clutches by giving them a good mechanically unsympathetic thrashing to heat them up and burn off the deposits, but it's a fine line between helping and hindering and may do no good at all if the problem is too bad.
They didn't change the clutch if the bill only came to £60. The parts alone cost that much.
Thanks all.
Rockhopper, he fixed it all under warranty...but he had given me a copy of the original invoice from the motor factors which showed the clutch kit as costing £60 plus VAT.
Maybe I should give it a thrashing to see if I can improve things a little, don't want to start discharging fire extinguishers in there as that's a bit below the belt even as a trade in!
I was gonna say, no way you'd get much change from £300 for a new clutch! 3.5hrs labour'ish for that on most fwd cars.
Anyway i'd try bleeding the clutch first and take it from there.
Get someone to help you, dont bother with the one man kits, they're sheite!
Although I can't identify the fluid, it is moist around the clutch slave cylinder. Will check the brakes for leaks as its lost fluid somewhere, if I don't find anything I'll have a crack at changing the slave cylinder as it only costs £30 apparently. Can't risk it getting any worse!