General X290 & Euro 6 2.3 ducato any issues?

[rolopolo]

Hi folks,
Will be taking delivery of a 2.3 130 Eu 6 xlwb van hopefully next week,

Just wondering if the X290's have any niggles or issues?
Have they sorted the water ingress (compared to X250) or does it still get in? Drain pipes?
Should I remove scuttle and seal it like the X250?

Any other problems I should look out for or fix before an issue?

Cheers

 

[rayc]

I have two friends with the X290 and neither of them have problems with water ingress via the scuttle. It is a completely different design from the X250 one.

 

[rolopolo]

Cheers Rayc, yes aware of the redesign, and I would hope that if there were issues that the Euro 6 update would prompt a re-re-design lol,
Will be giving it the full hose pipe treatment mind,
Cheers

 

[Herne Bay Bill]

Hi,
I am new to this forum having taken delivery of a new 2.3 130 Euro 6 motorhome in October. Driving home from the dealer I was concerned at the apparent lack of power and acceleration in 5th and 6th gear. Going uphill or even an incline meant coming down the gearbox in one case as low as third. I just couldn't seem to get it to go any faster than about 60/65 on a level road. I had it looked at by an authorised Fiat workshop in Sittingbourne who took it out on a test drive with me aboard. Ive got to say that he drove it better than I did but again it was not very responsive in the higher gears. His conclusion was that there was nothing wrong with it and that I would just have to get used to the characteristics of the new engine having just come from a Transit campervan. Is it me?, do the Fiats normally drive like this, perhaps I need to drive with a heavier foot on the throttle. Ive still only done about 300 miles in it and will be driving to Spain after Christmas so I hope that this is not a problem on the horizon for the Euro 6 engine.

 

[rolopolo]

My first question would be what's the weight of your MH?
I've only driven the vans
A 57 plate 120hp
A 62 plate 130hp
A 62 plate 180hp

The 120 (pre dpf) Euro 4 was great, good on fuel and pulled fine,

The 130 euro 5 was a pig, bad on fuel, slow, sold it back and bought the 180

Am taking a risk with the new Euro 6 130, but hoping it's not a pig this time,

They can take over 20,000 to bed in and start showing good mpg (my 130 I did 30,000)

My personal view on motor homes if they weigh 3.5T or more then a 130 is going to struggle

More emission controls slow them down

A proper remap will improve it, quantum did my 130 twice, (2nd time to return it to standard for it going back, but they messed up and retuned the tuned map! Went from 25mpg (std bad) to 36mpg (good) to 43mpg and a flying machine! On my set daily route)

As I say, weight will have an effect and bed the engine in, an empty L4 H2 van is approx 2 tonne a motor home could be twice the weight

 

[Herne Bay Bill]

Hello again,

The motorhome is 3.5T fully loaded. I know it has extra emission control to avoid the need for Adblue. I don't think that the vans have this. It is currently doing 27 mpg. I think that I'll give it about 5000 miles to loosen up and then take a view on it. It's just that it came as such a shock to find that it didn't seem to have any pull at the upper end. I can see the need for an update from Fiat once a few more owners give negative feedback.

 

[rolopolo]

When I had my 130 e5
I did the same route each night, Watford hert's up to Tamworth @50-55mph then Nuneaton to Woking, (half was loaded with up to a tonne other half was under 100kg ) 60mph ish then back to Watford. Same each night, 120bhp avg 36mpg the 130 avg 25mpg but that was new, due to the remap I couldn't say the actual after 20,000 miles when they bed in,

That was on mainly flat motorway, resetting the trip each fill up at Watford gap.

If your mpg is not on flat roads and driven in an eco fashion, and at 3.5T I reckon that's about right

Remember the figures are given based on engine tests done in a factory, not with a full 3.5T load with hills, let her bed in too.

 

[varesecrazy]

A proper remap will improve it, quantum did my 130 twice, (2nd time to return it to standard for it going back, but they messed up and retuned the tuned map! Went from 25mpg (std bad) to 36mpg (good) to 43mpg and a flying machine! On my set daily route)

did I read that correctly,
@43MPG , and it "shifted"..!!??

having been the owner - driver of an SWB transit sized Autosleeper,
with a 1980's 1400cc PETROL.., I can fully appreciate the issues lugging the additional weight of a "camper".

Charlie

 

[rolopolo]

A remapped remap, yes, they tuned the already tuned map.
Was rectified after a couple of days before it blew up, I would say similar power to my old 180 3.0 after super chips did a custom map

 

[varesecrazy]

A remapped remap, yes, they tuned the already tuned map.
Was rectified after a couple of days before it blew up, I would say similar power to my old 180 3.0 after super chips did a custom map

but gave 43mpg..??

 

[rolopolo]

Yes? Remember it was a van driven on flat motorways steadily compared daily, not on urban or hilly roads, stopping and starting,
Mph was worked out from daily fill up and mileage, not display

 

[rolopolo]

Mpg not mph

 

[Mohojo]

Hern Bay Bill.
Did you not take it a test drive? It's a bit late to find a driving problem when your on the way back from the dealers......

 

[Herne Bay Bill]

Hello Mohojo,
I ordered this in June before they were even in the country. Its a 2017 model at 2016 price. I have friends with Ducato motorhomes who swear by them. I knew I wanted this particular motorhome and just thought that the Fiat part of it would be ok. I think that the new engine has suffered in the power department in an effort to meet the new emission standard. It now has two ERG systems instead of one. Maybe I'll get used to driving in a different way to overcome it or maybe as I said earlier, Fiat will come up with an update.

 

[rolopolo]

Can't see fiat doing anything to be fair, they don't build or order iveco engines for motor homes, but for the vans,
Let it bed in, it may take time but will get better, I've had enough of them to know, I will have mine bedded in by Christmas, just drive it today for first time. It's no 3.0 180, but seems better than the VW 109bhp with 120,000 on the clock I've been running for 6months. For a zero mile engine.

 

[Mohojo]

If they are quoting 130bhp on the 2016 as well as the 2015 the driving experience should be the same regardless of any additional emission equipment?
My 2015/130bhp drove ok but did seem to be a little underpowered. Having the engine remapped might be the way to go. It can make a big difference for a small outlay.

 

[Herne Bay Bill]

This is a brand new vehicle so I would be concerned about the effect third party works would have on any warranty issues. I'll give it a while to see if things improve but its certainly an option to consider. I wonder if Fiat themselves would do it?.

 

[Herne Bay Bill]

I should have added that this is one of three new engine options for 2017.

 

[Mohojo]

Surprisingly the manufacturers don't offer this service although it could be a nice little earner for them!
Sensible Remapping mods cannot be detected by the dealers......

 

[vito115]

does the euro 6 use adblue ?