Technical Loosing power when driving

[Aimgel36]

Fiat 500x 2017 plate. As I’m driving and press the Acceleration pedal the revs shoot up and the car struggles to go faster. I’ve been to two garages and they said the car seems fine and nothing showing on diagnostics. Even if I’m driving in cruise control and then the road raises slightly (not even a hill) the car knocks itself out of cruise control and the revs go high then back to normal. It’s like the car is struggling to get power and sometimes the acceleration works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Anyone any ideas? Or had this themselves.

 

[Greasytrucker]

Sounds like a slipping clutch but I’m sure if it was the garage would have found it. How many miles has it done?

 

[rmjbn1]

I agree it sounds exactly like a slipping clutch. Hard to imagine what else it could be.
Is there any oil on the bottom of the bell housing underneath the car?
And if so, does it have a strong smell?
Engine, gearbox and clutch fluid levels OK?

 

[Aimgel36]

Sounds like a slipping clutch but I’m sure if it was the garage would have found it. How many miles has it done?

It’s done 40k

 

[Aimgel36]

I agree it sounds exactly like a slipping clutch. Hard to imagine what else it could be.
Is there any oil on the bottom of the bell housing underneath the car?
And if so, does it have a strong smell?
Engine, gearbox and clutch fluid levels OK? can I do this myself

 

[Aimgel36]

No strong smell, I don’t think I can check the bell housing without going back to the garage

 

[varesecrazy]

Fiat 500x 2017 plate. As I’m driving and press the Acceleration pedal the revs shoot up and the car struggles to go faster. I’ve been to two garages and they said the car seems fine and nothing showing on diagnostics. Even if I’m driving in cruise control and then the road raises slightly (not even a hill) the car knocks itself out of cruise control and the revs go high then back to normal. It’s like the car is struggling to get power and sometimes the acceleration works and sometimes it doesn’t.

Anyone any ideas? Or had this themselves.

Hi
Is this a diesel, petrol, manual or Auto?

On Cruise you should notice very little on a gentle incline, on an Auto you MIGHT see it "kick down"..

40k in a manual COULD be enough to have clutch issues..

If it's an Auto.. There are Lots of variables

Tell us more

 

[s130]

Agree with others in a possible slipping clutch. There is a way to help diagnose this.

The clutch will want to slip more as the torque / drive power is increased. As you know from normal driving 1st gear is the easiest gear to get the car moving. 4th the most difficult.

Find yourself a nice quiet road / car park. Drive in 2nd gear and then gently accelerate. You will probably find all is normal. Repeat repeat but accelerate a little harder. Do this for 3rd and 4th and 5th. If you find that the problem gets worse as the gears go up then it is 99% a clutch problem. Also when doing this test the speedometer and rev counter should rise together. If the rev counter starts to rise faster than the car speed then 100% it is the clutch.

 

[Aimgel36]

Hi
Is this a diesel, petrol, manual or Auto?

On Cruise you should notice very little on a gentle incline, on an Auto you MIGHT see it "kick down"..

40k in a manual COULD be enough to have clutch issues..

If it's an Auto.. There are Lots of variables

Tell us more

Hello, it’s manual

 

[Greasytrucker]

No strong smell, I don’t think I can check the bell housing without going back to the garage

All depends on what undertrays your vehicle has. All you need to do is drive 2 wheels up a drop kerb to give you a bit of clearance underneath. Then look underneath and see if it’s dry where the gearbox mounts onto the engine, if there’s oil there then there’s possible contamination. 40k seems low mileage to me for a worn out clutch, although depends how it’s been driven obviously

 

[Aimgel36]

All depends on what undertrays your vehicle has. All you need to do is drive 2 wheels up a drop kerb to give you a bit of clearance underneath. Then look underneath and see if it’s dry where the gearbox mounts onto the engine, if there’s oil there then there’s possible contamination. 40k seems low mileage to me for a worn out clutch, although depends how it’s been driven obviously

Thanks so this I will have a look asap - I personally feel like the clutch is very high when i bought it I got used to but compared to other cars it seems high

 

[Aimgel36]

Agree with others in a possible slipping clutch. There is a way to help diagnose this.

The clutch will want to slip more as the torque / drive power is increased. As you know from normal driving 1st gear is the easiest gear to get the car moving. 4th the most difficult.

Find yourself a nice quiet road / car park. Drive in 2nd gear and then gently accelerate. You will probably find all is normal. Repeat repeat but accelerate a little harder. Do this for 3rd and 4th and 5th. If you find that the problem gets worse as the gears go up then it is 99% a clutch problem. Also when doing this test the speedometer and rev counter should rise together. If the rev counter starts to rise faster than the car speed then 100% it is the clutch.

Thank you I will try this today -it’s kind of already happening thinking about it. on the motorway yesterday I increased my speed or tried to - the rev counter shot up from 2 to 4.5 then back to 2 but the speed didn’t happen. It sounds like over reving just after I’ve changed the gear and I’m accelerating trying to gain speed but it takes a while for the speed to happen. This happens in all the gears. Seems to be worse the longer the drive is.

 

[s130]

I think clutch slip is confirmed by your post.

You now need to drive without pushing to hard and letting this happen. If you don't then you may cause extra damage or fail to get home before you can get a garage to fix the problem. Sadly a new clutch will be required. Also I would get the internal to bell housing concentric slave cylinder changed as well.

I'm fairly sure all 500X cars, as do most modern cars, has a dual mass flywheel. This need to be checked for wear as well.

Sadly all this is not going to be a cheap job.

 

[Aimgel36]

I think clutch slip is confirmed by your post.

You now need to drive without pushing to hard and letting this happen. If you don't then you may cause extra damage or fail to get home before you can get a garage to fix the problem. Sadly a new clutch will be required. Also I would get the internal to bell housing concentric slave cylinder changed as well.

I'm fairly sure all 500X cars, as do most modern cars, has a dual mass flywheel. This need to be checked for wear as well.

Sadly all this is not going to be a cheap job.

Thank you for your help. Do you have a rough idea of the maximum price I could be looking at?

 

[s130]

Thank you for your help. Do you have a rough idea of the maximum price I could be looking at?

I don't want to really answer this as it is easy to get things wrong. That said and assuming a traditional manual gearbox and using Autodoc prices

Labor around 3 to 5 hours. With an independent non main dealer at say £60 per hour plus VAT.
Clutch kit excluding slave at say £150 inc vat
Slave/Release bearing at say £70 inc vat
Dual mass flywheel at say £290
Flywheel new bolts at say £20

Fiat dealer prices will be higher. They should be able to give you "fixed price including parts". Also Fiat parts and labor comes with a 24 month guarantee. That said the clutch plate in considered to be a consumable it. However the slave, flywheel, and hopefully the pressure plate would be covered.

I would certainly get a fixed price quote from Fiat for with and without flywheel. This will give you a top whack price.

 

[Aimgel36]

I don't want to really answer this as it is easy to get things wrong. That said and assuming a traditional manual gearbox and using Autodoc prices

Labor around 3 to 5 hours. With an independent non main dealer at say £60 per hour plus VAT.
Clutch kit excluding slave at say £150 inc vat
Slave/Release bearing at say £70 inc vat
Dual mass flywheel at say £290
Flywheel new bolts at say £20

Fiat dealer prices will be higher. They should be able to give you "fixed price including parts". Also Fiat parts and labor comes with a 24 month guarantee. That said the clutch plate in considered to be a consumable it. However the slave, flywheel, and hopefully the pressure plate would be covered.

I would certainly get a fixed price quote from Fiat for with and without flywheel. This will give you a top whack price.

Brilliant thank you, just so I have a rough idea.