Hello, after i bought my new Ducato, i have a couple off problems.

I have a water leak from the sealing above the right wheel arch, where the pannels cum togheter is dripping water true, when it rains, when i wash here...

There is a roof rack instald from kingpin.

Also the alarm from the doors is going on/off when i drive.

I clouse the doors and lock them (the lock !) i open the front doors, start the engine and the first time i had it was after driving 10m, the sliding door jumpt out off the lock and the "beep" was going.
I get out of the car whant to open it= can't open it, i press the button to unlock it and then i can pull it open.

Butt now last friday i whent to the official dealer where i bought here, the workt on the roof rack en with a silicone kit sealed everything extra on the roof, en he workt on the sliding door, i leave= everything wase fine .

When the evening falls it starts to rain (real heavy rain and wet snow) it became night and morning= i whant to go get some working tools and others..., i open the sliding door the hole floor wet (its wursher then before) i clean everything up, and go to the shop, after i just wase off the driving line "beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep beeeeep beep beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep beep beep" then it stops, en the indicator in the dashboard is gone.

I thaught hmm thats funny, butt everything is fine and closed. 400m i hit al litlle bump in the road and agian the beep sound...

I stop get out en everything was cloused and lockt, i unlocke it open the door en cloused it agian, i press to lock and dussent whant to lock .

Now oké, you can say its garranty/warranty, butt its realy crap for a new car/working van...

Is there somebody thats reconisses these problems?

Ps: i am sorry for my bad english.

Greetings Dimitri.

Dimitri, I also have a Ducato which I got in October 2007.
The side door problem was pointed out to me by another owner of a Peugeot Boxer. It seems that the electrical contact pad, which is fixed to the main body of the van, can work loose and not make contact with the pad on the sliding door. I have no idea how to fix this, because luckily I do not suffer from this problem, but it seems to be a common fault.
As far as water leaking goes, I also had water coming through the roof where the pin for mounting the roof rack is. I sealed all around the bracket which holds the rack on and this cured it.
The other water area is at the side door ( I have 2 sliding doors ) . The design of the roof lets water run down into the door opening and the only thing that seems to be there to keep the water out is the rubber door seal. So consequently if the door doesn`t close properly then possibly your water will be getting in past the seal.
I had terrible squeakes from the side doors when it rained, which I cured by putting grease on to the door seal rubbers ( special grease for rubber brake seals etc).
They must be building these vans too quickly and not taking care to seal joints etc properly.
By the way does your van judder and vibrate when reversing up a steep slope. If it does go back and complain!!

Joiner said:

By the way does your van judder and vibrate when reversing up a steep slope. If it does go back and complain!!

Click to expand...

Hi Joiner,

This appears to be a common fault with the new Ducato. I am a member of a motorhome forum (our Ducato is actually converted to a motorhome) and there is much talk/ill feeling about this issue. Several owners have destroyed gearboxes and clutches. Fiat, as expected, are denying there is a problem and insist it is a "characteristic" of the van. I'd be interested to hear what the commercial drivers feel, as I suspect these guys do a hell of a lot more driving around that me. Is there an opinion this is a big problem?
Also would be interested to hear if complaining has got you anywhere.

Regards,
b6x

Evening.
Well I hope that you never have to deal with the customer care dept of Fiat. You won`t get very far, if my experiances of complaining about the juddering are anything to go by. Fiat say it is Ok and close your case file.
The service manager at the dealer who I bought the van from does seem to pay some service, but his hands are tied by Fiat.
I have been taking the van in every few weeks to complain about the problems, if for no other reason than to keep a trace on their system so that when the clutch or gearbox do pack in then at least I can turn round and say that I have been telling you so for ages, and hopefully get it sorted under warranty.
I must say in defence of the vehicle that when going in a straight line, or during simple manouvers, it is great to drive and fits my requirements perfectly. It`s just a bloody shame that these issues spoil the fun.

Hope that your van gives you good service,and many happy holidays.

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

I have also tried the customer services department of Fiat to no avail. I basically get told I need to get the van booked into a dealer to diagnose the fault, the dealer just says there's not a great deal they can do about as they don't seem to know what the problem could be. There seems to be no single advice given... Fiat say to rev the engine to 1300 and then reverse, which is downright dangerous in my opinion as apart from smoking the clutch it also means you are travelling backwards way too fast. Some owners have reported the judder is minimised if the throttle is not used at all. It also seems the 120bhp 2.3ltr is the most affected.

Just another thing added to the ever growing list of problems with the van... windscreen scuttle leaking water into engine bay, some reports of faulty paintwork on silver metallic vans, the clutch/judder problem. And thats not including the problems that Fiat have admitted to and issued recalls on.

You are right, it is a great drive - but until Fiat take a more proactive stance at getting the problems solved, or even just acknowledging there's a problem and offering an extended warranty on the affected parts, I will definitely steer clear of one of their vans in the future. It's little wonder motorhome converters are migrating "en mass" to the Tranny.

Regards,
Steve

Sliding door contact can be fixed by releasing one screw and placing a spacer (I used a peice of card) behind the fitting to tighten it up once screwed back into the van body..... a bit heath robinson but worked a treat!

I have had the van since the model came out with no serious problems apart from a niggling wind noise from the mirrors when over 70mph..... I do Germany a lot and it's noisy on the autobhan.

I have over 25000 miles on the van and still it looks and drives well.

Hello everybody!

Long time ago .

Well i have great news, mij problem is fixed whit my ducato gearbox/clutch.

After several complaints to the dealer, and i needed 1time road assistance ( i was reversing on my own drive way, and after 2meters it blockt up and stopt again ,) after several time's i was tired off it, and called the dealer.
They sendes road assistance, en the guy had the same thing when he tried.

After a few week's later (apointment) i brought the ducato to the dealer.

The replaiced the rear gear, first and second gear (forward), the shift lifters/forks, synchro's etc... they checkt the clutch and adjustet it a bit.

And finaly it's reversing very great, no judder, no blocking/stopping up.
Best off all, i even don't have to give gas to drive in reverse (only on steep hills/drive ways al little bit), nice and easy she drive's now.

The rear gear was for a great part gone/broke, the tands (sorry don't know the proper word in english) from the gear was for 45% gone, the peaces (metal splinters etc...) had damaged the synchro's and there whure little dent's/marks in first en second gear, nothing realy bad, butt the desided to replace them to be sure .

I am verry happy that its finaly oké .

Only a couple off things are a little bit of a problem:

Cold mornings (now freezing -1 to 2°c) starting good (thakes 3seconds longer) butt it runs very poor, less power, lots off noise. Smoke's very hard (white smoke, from condens i think).

- When the engine is on normal temprature and i pull fast away , ore when driving on the freeway from 100 to 120 km/u its smoke's very hard (black, little bitt bleu smoke (not mutch) only whem reving it a little bitt higher than normall (not to the end).

When its just running in neutral after a minute off 2 to 3, there lying black oily/whatery drups/spots on the ground (not 1's butt always).

Also the feul (diesel) consumption is very high for a 100 multijet, with 75L i drive +/- 580 to 620km. not loaded. Only freeway i did with 87L +/-700km no crazy things, normal driving max 70kilo' loaded.

It hase now 67xx km i hope its gone be beter when its over the 10000km.