Technical To bleed or not to bleed...

[Unikate]

Hey guys,
Newbie here; thanks for letting me join!

Let me start by saying that I know very little about cars. I drive a Fiat Panda 1.2 2010 here in Southern Spain and am quite happy with it. I recently had some work done on the brakes (including new brake fluid of course) and when I got the car back the clutch pedal felt much harderm than before. It does work, is just very hard to press. I took it back to the garage and asked the (old/seemingly experienced) mechanic whether they may have forgotten to bleed it and he told me that it was not necessary as the clutch worked via cable. He even opened the hood to show me the cable. He also said that the clutch was fine.
Having done some research it seems that the 2010 Panda does have a hydraulic system, so is bleeding necessary or not? And if not, what could have caused the change in the pedal pressure?

Maybe I should add that this was my first time at this garage as my old mechanic retired. I thus have no idea whether this guy knows what he is doing, but he was highly recommended by several friends.

Thank you so much!

 

[bugsymike]

Hey guys,
Newbie here; thanks for letting me join!

Let me start by saying that I know very little about cars. I drive a Fiat Panda 1.2 2010 here in Southern Spain and am quite happy with it. I recently had some work done on the brakes (including new brake fluid of course) and when I got the car back the clutch pedal felt much harderm than before. It does work, is just very hard to press. I took it back to the garage and asked the (old/seemingly experienced) mechanic whether they may have forgotten to bleed it and he told me that it was not necessary as the clutch worked via cable. He even opened the hood to show me the cable. He also said that the clutch was fine.
Having done some research it seems that the 2010 Panda does have a hydraulic system, so is bleeding necessary or not? And if not, what could have caused the change in the pedal pressure?

Maybe I should add that this was my first time at this garage as my old mechanic retired. I thus have no idea whether this guy knows what he is doing, but he was highly recommended by several friends.

Thank you so much!

Unless you had work done on the clutch I can't see how work on the brake will have affected it.
If he showed you the clutch cable it is quite possible that if your vehicle is left hand drive it may have a cable operated clutch rather than hydraulic.
If he has been highly recommended by your friends surely that is a guide to his integrity.
Whilst your car was having the brakes worked on , did you drive a different vehicle , maybe with a softer clutch operation?
The only way I could see a cable suddenly getting stiffer would be if it had been repositioned in to a tighter curve.
If a hydraulic clutch needed bleeding it would be softer / spongy , not hard and would be difficult to engage gears without grating.
A clutch cable can age and become harder to press the pedal over time and need replacing, it doesn't usually happen suddenly.

 

[jrkitching]

Having done some research it seems that the 2010 Panda does have a hydraulic system

RHD cars have a hydraulic clutch system.

LHD cars use a cable.

 

[koalar]

Clutch and brakes no connection, nothing to do with each other, shouldn't have even been touched

Clutch going firmer to press is normally a sign it's on its end of wear limit

How old/miles has the clutch done

 

[Unikate]

Unless you had work done on the clutch I can't see how work on the brake will have affected it.
If he showed you the clutch cable it is quite possible that if your vehicle is left hand drive it may have a cable operated clutch rather than hydraulic.
If he has been highly recommended by your friends surely that is a guide to his integrity.
Whilst your car was having the brakes worked on , did you drive a different vehicle , maybe with a softer clutch operation?
The only way I could see a cable suddenly getting stiffer would be if it had been repositioned in to a tighter curve.
If a hydraulic clutch needed bleeding it would be softer / spongy , not hard and would be difficult to engage gears without grating.
A clutch cable can age and become harder to press the pedal over time and need replacing, it doesn't usually happen suddenly.

Thank you so much - yes, it is a LHD, so the mechanic was right (I must say that I have become extremely suspicious of mechanics here in Spain while looking for a new one after mine retired - the preferred way of diagnosing a fault seems to be taking the car for a spin and then telling you that everything is okay - had to get my car towed twice because of such a "diagnosis").
I did have a rental car for 10 days and at first I thought that that might be the reason, but it is such a very different feeling that I don't believe so now.

 

[Unikate]

RHD cars have a hydraulic clutch system.

LHD cars use a cable.

Thank you, great help!! It is a LHD.

 

[Unikate]

Clutch and brakes no connection, nothing to do with each other, shouldn't have even been touched

Clutch going firmer to press is normally a sign it's on its end of wear limit

How old/miles has the clutch done

Unfortunately I have no idea of its past - bought the car with 120.000 km and it now has 160.000.

 

[bugsymike]

Thank you so much - yes, it is a LHD, so the mechanic was right (I must say that I have become extremely suspicious of mechanics here in Spain while looking for a new one after mine retired - the preferred way of diagnosing a fault seems to be taking the car for a spin and then telling you that everything is okay - had to get my car towed twice because of such a "diagnosis").
I did have a rental car for 10 days and at first I thought that that might be the reason, but it is such a very different feeling that I don't believe so now.

You may find if clutch operation gets a bit stiff or notchy a new cable will make a lot of difference.
However the clutch it's self can be feeling it's age as @koalar mentions.
Cable is cheapest first option though, see what your new mechanic advises.

 

[Unikate]

You may find if clutch operation gets a bit stiff or notchy a new cable will make a lot of difference.
However the clutch it's self can be feeling it's age as @koalar mentions.
Cable is cheapest first option though, see what your new mechanic advises.

I am a bit hesitant to take it back to him again as he already said that the clutch was fine when I asked him about it.
But a friend just told me that a friend of hers just finished restoring a Seat Abarth and would probably be willing to have a look at mine and advise.

Thanks for your help so far, forumites!!