[IrishAlfa2016]

Hi,

I have a year old Giulietta 1.6 Diesel. Only bought her February 2016 so I only have her a few months.

All going fine so far but just have two tiny niggles. I've brought her back to the dealer about them already and they said it was all in my imagination probably but I think you need to be driving the car for a while before you notice them at all.

Niggle 1:
Firstly the stop start. How often should it work in real world driving? I mainly drive her through town but generally with little traffic delays but I do a lot of motorway or fast secondary road driving also. It just seems that the start stop system only kicks in maybe 10% of the time at best. Its probably working maybe 1 or 2 days each fortnight. So the Start Stop turns the car off each time I stop during the period of a commute to work one day but then I won't see it work again for another 7 days or maybe longer. Is that normal? I would have thought it would be more frequent than that. I know it only works when the system can cope with it. I drive it in Natural mode 99% of the time as well and I don't have air con on generally so there is no stress on the system beyond the minimum you can generally expect.

Niggle 2:
I've noticed after a few days of driving the car when I got it that going from 1st to 2nd gear isn't as smooth as all the other gears or as smooth as going back down from 2nd to 1st gear. I just feel a slight resistance and a "clunk" as I put her into 2nd gear from 1st. Not all of the time but most of the time. Seems a bit more obvious when the car is started in cold weather. Playing around with it at different rev regions and what have you makes no difference but I did notice that if I delay putting her into 2nd slightly, by maybe a few fractions of a second then the resistance is lessened or gone and the "clunk" feeling can be more or less avoided. Unfortunately its not ideal as I am losing momentum by doing so. The dealer mechanic said he didn't notice any resistance or if he did then it was normal when I brought it back and he test drove it but he was driving it about 5 minutes after I arrived from a long journey so the system was warmed up. Its not a major issue that I am worried about but it definitely feels stickier and clunkier going into second compared to all the other gears which feel nice and fluid as you'd expect. Could it possibly be an issue with a synchro? The fact that it isnt as sticky if I give it that half second before putting it into gear suggests something isnt 100% right.

Thanks!

 

[symon]

Niggle 1: Usually sign that the car requires a new battery. This needs to be an AGM type, which is top-start compatible. The system is very voltage critical and even with a new battery ift often doesn't work all of the time however.

Niggle 2: The gearboxes can be a bit clunky. Some early boxes had to be replaced due to issues mainly going from 2nd to 1st gear, but yours shouldn't have been affected.

You can usually improve the change by replacing the gearbox oil for a thinner type. Autolusso recommend this one.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161133108640?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Isotope]

Symon is alluring to what year build is your car me thinks?

 

[IrishAlfa2016]

Niggle 1: Usually sign that the car requires a new battery. This needs to be an AGM type, which is top-start compatible. The system is very voltage critical and even with a new battery ift often doesn't work all of the time however.

Niggle 2: The gearboxes can be a bit clunky. Some early boxes had to be replaced due to issues mainly going from 2nd to 1st gear, but yours shouldn't have been affected.

You can usually improve the change by replacing the gearbox oil for a thinner type. Autolusso recommend this one.


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161133108640?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Niggle 1: I was thinking that the battery might be the culprit but strange that a car with only 13,000 km on it would require a new battery. This is the first car I've ever bought that had stop start technology so I'm not used to how hard it is or is not on the battery. Is it the case that stop start reduces the average shelf life of a car battery or no affect on battery? Looking under the bonnet this evening I noticed that the garage seem to have smeared a big dollop of grease all over one of the battery terminals which I thought was strange. Any idea what that would be for? I was looking at it wondering could it affect the effectiveness of the battery.

Niggle 2: I'll probably suffer through it for the moment. Its really only a minor issue. I was very conscious of it when I kept feeling it over the first few weeks after buying the car but when I brought it back to the dealer and he told me it was all fine then it stopped grating on me and to an extent I stopped noticing it but I do still feel that odd unhealthy "clunk" on cold mornings. The head mechanic just said don't worry about it as I've a 5 year warranty on the car if it ever grows into a bigger problem (I negotiated a 5 year warranty when buying it even though it was a year old when I got it). When it comes around to the annual servicing in Jan/Feb 2017 then I'll mention it to the garage if they think a thinner oil would ease it up a little as you suggest.

The car was owned and driven by the garage before I bought it. Think it was a demo model that the family/dealer used as their private car. So I'm thinking they'd be aware of any issues with it if there was any.

 

[jaypeebee]

Depends if the car has been sitting around for a while then that could damage the battery even if its not very old. When I got my g last year stop start never worked for about 2 months, when looking around on the forum don't remember there being any causes reported other than a weak battery, replaced mine and its now working.

My g is one of the first on a 60 plate, like yours gearbox could also be a bit smoother just when its cold and very rarely takes a couple of go's to get into first but never been an issue, had the gearbox oil changed but didnt seem to make much difference, worth a try tho. As symon said these gearboxes are known for being a bit clunky so is just a characteristic of the car as long as it's not causing a big problem, and the general opinion regarding the synchros seems to be as long as your not forcing it into gear it shouldn't get worse. Although as you have that warranty you could try and get it perfect but have read plenty of stories on here of having new gearboxes and still having the issue. Depends how bad it is

Sent from my D5103 using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Brand]

Symon is alluring

:thumbup:

 

[epsonix]

Hi,

I have a year old Giulietta 1.6 Diesel. Only bought her February 2016 so I only have her a few months.

All going fine so far but just have two tiny niggles. I've brought her back to the dealer about them already and they said it was all in my imagination probably but I think you need to be driving the car for a while before you notice them at all.

Niggle 1:
Firstly the stop start. How often should it work in real world driving? I mainly drive her through town but generally with little traffic delays but I do a lot of motorway or fast secondary road driving also. It just seems that the start stop system only kicks in maybe 10% of the time at best. Its probably working maybe 1 or 2 days each fortnight. So the Start Stop turns the car off each time I stop during the period of a commute to work one day but then I won't see it work again for another 7 days or maybe longer. Is that normal? I would have thought it would be more frequent than that. I know it only works when the system can cope with it. I drive it in Natural mode 99% of the time as well and I don't have air con on generally so there is no stress on the system beyond the minimum you can generally expect.

Niggle 2:
I've noticed after a few days of driving the car when I got it that going from 1st to 2nd gear isn't as smooth as all the other gears or as smooth as going back down from 2nd to 1st gear. I just feel a slight resistance and a "clunk" as I put her into 2nd gear from 1st. Not all of the time but most of the time. Seems a bit more obvious when the car is started in cold weather. Playing around with it at different rev regions and what have you makes no difference but I did notice that if I delay putting her into 2nd slightly, by maybe a few fractions of a second then the resistance is lessened or gone and the "clunk" feeling can be more or less avoided. Unfortunately its not ideal as I am losing momentum by doing so. The dealer mechanic said he didn't notice any resistance or if he did then it was normal when I brought it back and he test drove it but he was driving it about 5 minutes after I arrived from a long journey so the system was warmed up. Its not a major issue that I am worried about but it definitely feels stickier and clunkier going into second compared to all the other gears which feel nice and fluid as you'd expect. Could it possibly be an issue with a synchro? The fact that it isnt as sticky if I give it that half second before putting it into gear suggests something isnt 100% right.

Thanks!

There are plenty of reasons why start-stop does not kick in - may be some problems like battery, but may be also normal thing - as far as I remember e.g. air-con request (air-con would not work with engine stopped) or engine not warm enough. I think also in Dynamic mode start-stop does not act. (at least in my G). There is much more cases, I just can't remember - I have my start-stop turned off - I just do not like it (luckily my G remembers the setting - I know that some older versions don't and some tweaks e.g. fuse removal or cable cut were needed to turn that bloody thing off)

 

[Argo]

I'd definitely ask for a new battery but make sure they fit the correct Varta AGM model (covered in many of the S/S threads). Mines a 2010 model and S/S works most of the time even with Climate Control in full Auto but that wasn't the case when I just had any old (new) AGM battery fitted.

Difficult to comment on gearbox but an oil change might be the solution (it worked for me when I changed to Castrol).

 

[IrishAlfa2016]

There are plenty of reasons why start-stop does not kick in - may be some problems like battery, but may be also normal thing - as far as I remember e.g. air-con request (air-con would not work with engine stopped) or engine not warm enough. I think also in Dynamic mode start-stop does not act. (at least in my G). There is much more cases, I just can't remember - I have my start-stop turned off - I just do not like it (luckily my G remembers the setting - I know that some older versions don't and some tweaks e.g. fuse removal or cable cut were needed to turn that bloody thing off)

I know what you mean. It can be annoying having the stop start working. Come to a hault. Take her out of gear. Foot off the clutch. Engine turns off. And straight away the traffic moves on ten metres. Just enough that you have to start her up and move her on ten metres before stopping again. She's so handy on the juice anyway that the stop start not working doesn't bother me. I might get the battery tested/replaced in a few months if it continues.

 

[IrishAlfa2016]

As symon said these gearboxes are known for being a bit clunky so is just a characteristic of the car as long as it's not causing a big problem, and the general opinion regarding the synchros seems to be as long as your not forcing it into gear it shouldn't get worse. Although as you have that warranty you could try and get it perfect but have read plenty of stories on here of having new gearboxes and still having the issue. Depends how bad it is

Sent from my D5103 using Tapatalk

Yeah I won't be kicking up a fuss about it anyway but it gave me peace of mind just to mention it to the dealer and get him to just check it anyway. I barely notice it most of the time since the garage checked it. I wouldn't be calling on warranties in the hope of getting the gearbox perfect unless it developed into more of a problem. I've had some horrible experiences with mechanics working on my cars in the past so I prefer to leave it unless it is a real problem that has to be done.

The Giulietta is such a nice car I'll probably keep it as long as it runs and after the 5 year warranty runs out I should have enough money put aside for all eventualities. To my mind, the Giulietta has classic car potential already so I hope to keep it indefinitely. I had a 2003 Mazda 6 in metallic black with a rear spoiler previously which was a stunning car to look at although not as nice on the inside as the Giulietta is. I had hoped to hold onto the Mazda and keep it locked up after it passed its best before date as it was a future classic in my mind. Unfortunately, I had nothing but trouble with it after I bought it in 2008 until I sold it in 2015 and because it just felt so underpowered for a 1.8 litre petrol it somehow managed to wear me down and I got rid of it when I was offered 3,000 euro for it. Still regret selling it everytime I see someone with the same model (even though theirs is never as nice as mine was :biglaugh. So hopefully I've learned my lesson and won't make the same mistake with the Giulietta.

 

[krusty]

Hi, bought my 1 year old G in January, it was about a week before the stop start worked - switched it straight off! Alfa's don't always like the cold wet Irish winters, they're more comfortable in the slightly warmer cold wet Irish summers so best suck and see with the gearchange, it can be a bit stiff when cold. Enjoy her good points!