Hi everyone; first time visiting, despite being a lifelong Fiat owner. My latest is a Stilo which, for a scouser, is a play on words....!

My 2004 Stilo diesel estate has 2 problems that my friendly village garage can't seem to fix.
1. The gear change has gradually become very loose and indistinct; there's no definite move into the next gear, I feel I could go from 4th to 1st while accelerating. Could it be associated with the cable linkage between the gear change and the gear box?

2. There's a loud clunk from the rear suspension when going over bumps. I suspected the rear shocks but the garage says they and everything else looks good. Having done 75K, is it time to replace them anyway.

Any help would be appreciated.

Not sure about option 1 but Option 2 may well be down to the top strut bearings which are hidden by the rear shocks

Noted. Many thanks John

I do not know the Silo however this noise was a worn Suspension radius arm on my Punto. Hope that this helps.

Thanks for that Kevin, I'll talk to my mate with the greasy hands!

Mike, re your 2nd problem. I have the same problem with my stilo wagon, I have a dull thud from the rear near side, its a dull thud when going over bumps. Many other stilo owners have had same problem, I read its the bushes in the rear suspension, very difficult to change I belive, lets see what other owners say. David

Thanks for commenting David; clearly we're talking about an identical problem. I'll have a word with my local garage and see what they reckon. Thanks again, Mike

Mike, had mine up on the ramps today and after 54,000 mles my new to me Stilo wagon (Reg in Nov 03's) bushes are absolutly shot, never seen any thing like it on the drivers side the bush has collapsed (yet the noise is from the nearside). This is a serious fiat design fault as I never had this on any other car, not even my 13 year old tempra with 108,000 miles. Its a big repair job the rear axle/subframe has to be removed and bushes put in with a press or heavy duty vice. see fiatforum.com, under stilo. Some Fiat dealers will only replace the whole subframe, I guess thats why the guy who sold me mine got rid of it. I only took it for a 2 mile a test drive on smooth roads.

hi there. my 54 plate active estate has only 27,000 on the clock and it thumps in the rear end. had it mot'd march by my mate and he had a good look and found nothing that could cause the thump.