Reconditioned Fiat 500 Gearbox

A city car that's anything but straightforward: manual or Dualogic, the Fiat 500 has never had just one gearbox

A city car that faces daily stop-start traffic, repeated load changes, and is sometimes resold and fitted with a different engine: the Fiat 500 puts its transmission under very different stresses than a road saloon. Between 2007 and 2020, it was produced with eight distinct engine variants and three gearbox families — 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual, and Dualogic — and the combinations are not random. Knowing exactly which gearbox your engine takes will save you from ordering the wrong reference.

What each engine means for the transmission

The 1.2 (engine code 169A4000) comes with either a 5-speed manual or the Dualogic. The 1.4 (engine code 169A3000) is paired with a 6-speed manual or Dualogic. The 0.9 TwinAir (engine codes 312A2000 and 312A5000) covers all three gearbox families depending on the year and market. The 1.4 T-Jet (engine code 312A1000, 135 to 160 hp versions, including the Abarth 500/595) is only paired with the 6-speed manual. On the diesel side, the 1.3 Multijet (engine codes 169A1000 and 199B1000) is available with a 5-speed manual or Dualogic. The 1.0 (engine code 199B7000) is only available with the 6-speed manual.

Dualogic: what it is and what it isn't

The Dualogic is an automated manual gearbox, not a torque-converter automatic. In heavy urban use — repeated starts, stop-start traffic — it is put under considerably more strain than on open roads. The gearbox is sold without the actuator or robot unit: if it is the actuator that has failed, it is not the gearbox that needs replacing. Identifying which of the two components is at fault before placing any order will prevent a misdiagnosis. Two purchasing options are available in this collection: exchange, with the return of the original unit, or a rebuild of the customer's own unit, which is then returned to its owner.