Ducato water in gearbox

I had a problem with 3rd gear selection in my Ducato based motorhome. It crunched every time I changed gear even when double de-clutching. The gearbox has now been removed by the repair garage and sent to a gearbox specialist who says that it will need a rebuild due to water in the gearbox. Has anyone else experienced this or can throw any light on the subject? I thought gearboxes were sealed!

vehicle details?

if your ducato is 1999/2002 it is a common problem..as you look at the front of the vehicle from outside, on the right hand side there is a water drain from the windscreen scuttle. the problem is it drains right onto the gearbox and lets water in via the reversing light switch, i extended the pipe on mine with a piece of hose reaching past the gearbox,typical fiat only half a job done

I have the same problem just started this evening terable job selecting gears im going to try adjusting the clutch. but think its job for mechanic

It is a 2000 registered Ducato 14 with a 1.9Td engine in a campervan.

ron youre welcome as far as i know the 1.9td uses the same g/box as mine.. its a common fault if you search at the back right hand side you will see the drain it finishes about 6 inches above the gearbox just extend it down past the box

Ken any chance of a picture of the drain?

As said earlier, this was a common problem with the earlier Ducatos there was a later mod which led the drain pipe straight on to the gearbox casing therefore totally useless however< iwas told that it was due to water collecting between the flutes on the gearbox casting and slowly seeping in to the box via the gear linkage. After having the gearbox expensively repaired once, it did it again even though mods were done and the flutes were filled up with silicon rubber to prevent the water collecting. It was repaired again and put down to the fact that the original manufacturer syncro rings were prone to cracking (all the boxes supposedly made by Citroen) and aftermarket copies were fitted after which, no more problem. It did cost the earth to get it sorted (sorry )

I have a V REG (1999) Fiat Ducato 14 - 2.8d; gears 2, 3, 5 crunches they don't engage, if they do they slip-out; but gears 1, 4, and reverse works normal. I am not sure what seems to be the problem. I have thought of changing the g/box but the 2.8d boxes are hard to come by, are they any other g/boxes compartible to my ducato?

Hi Kahuni,
the bad news is that the gearbox in the 2.8d is specific to that model, not sharing it's ratios with any of the other models. I have a 2.8d sitting for the past 6 months waiting for a gearbox as the one that came out of it is too bad to rebuild as was the replacement I got in a breakers. By the way they also have a weak selector fork, cant remember which one, it was broken in both the boxes.
Keep well,
Torq