gearbox problem: Fiat Cinquecento

Almost certainly wear on the synchromesh clutch for that gear - usually called a baulk ring. The only cure is replacement of this inexpensive part

- but the labour cost is likely to be high. If you can live with it, do so

- it's unlikely to cause other problems.

Syncromesh Gordon. Mine doesn't do it and it was one of the things I checked for when I bought the car....

Learn to live with it!!

Eric

Does sound like worn/inneffective syncro. The sound you hear is the engagement dogs smashing into each other. These are pretty strong, but will wear eventually. If you can heal and toe, then you can make this gearbox last, if you dont and are heavy handed, you can trash the gearbox fairly quickly.

If it were me, I'd nurse it - I learnt this as a 17 year old kid driving knackered old heaps with weak syncro - it enables fast changes with minimal wear and tear, AND you dont end up wearing out clutches on the down shift because there is no need to slip the clutch !

I only wish my 4 year old 323i had decent throttle response and better pedal positioning to enable easy heal and toe because, contrary to popular belief, the ultimate driving machine after 20,000 miles as a company car ( previous owner ) has weak syncro :-( . Every time I hear some guy quoting the myth of "quality german cars are barely run in at 100,000, bla,bla", I rip another tuft of hair out........

Best of luck,

Steve