My Ducato 2.3 Jtd based Motorhome has an annoying noise and vibration when de clutching to change gear ( usually up only).This can also be felt through the clutch pedal.It seems to get worse when the engine is hot and my first thought was that it was the clutch release bearing.However my local garage who are going to investigate for me are sure it is not the release bearing as there is no noise when de clutching in neutral ,only when driving with the engine under load and at mid range revs.They think it could be something vibrating in the engine bay but I am not convinced.
Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the reason.

Brian JP said:

My Ducato 2.3 Jtd based Motorhome has an annoying noise and vibration when de clutching to change gear ( usually up only).This can also be felt through the clutch pedal.It seems to get worse when the engine is hot and my first thought was that it was the clutch release bearing.However my local garage who are going to investigate for me are sure it is not the release bearing as there is no noise when de clutching in neutral ,only when driving with the engine under load and at mid range revs.They think it could be something vibrating in the engine bay but I am not convinced.
Has anyone experienced this and if so what was the reason.

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Hi Brian JP,
Did you find out what it was?
I have got a Ducato 2.3 based motorhome and its making exactly the same noise etc. as you describe. Any advice would be useful.

Thanks.

mrpip50.

Hi

nope never did find the answer to the problem.
As I found it so annoying I eventually bit the bullet and had the whole clutch replaced as bearing noise was suspected. Didn't make any difference except as the replacement clutch itself was faulty (a Valeo OEM unit) it had to be changed again at the garages expense. This time I got them to check everything they could while it was stripped down. eg Crankshaft play gearbox input shaft bearing wear. However they could find nothing amiss.
With second new clutch in place it is exactly the same as at the start so gave up trying to cure it and have just lived with it.
I also have crawled underneath looking for something vibrating and insulated various bits and pieces without making any difference.
Have now done over 20k miles and there is no change for better or worse so am now of the opinion that it is just a feature of this particular vehicle ( and obviously yours and some others).
Would be interested in whatever you may find as it still seems wrong to me that this noise/vibration should be present.

Hello again,

Thanks for getting back to me so promptly. I haven't found out any more than you.

I suppose I'll just live with it for now.

Best wishes.

mrpip50.

It could be a characteristic of the DMF. Anything with springs and mass will resonate at some frequencies. The expense of going over to a solid flywheel just to find out would be too great. I guess when the clutch eventually goes, you could get a solid flywheel put on as you would have to change the DMF anyway.
The only other thing that springs to mind is that when you declutch when the van is moving, the wheels are now driving the transmission and gearbox, rather than the engine doing it. Something like a slightly bad CV joint could vibrate a bit. That could be something for your garage to check over. I've had propshaft joints do a similar thing before.

Salve a tutti, sono nuovo del forum e sono un autoriparatore. I Ducato li conosco abbastanza bene e proprio Venerdì ho sostituito la frizione di un 120 Multijet con motore 2.3 JTD e non montava il volano bimassa. Saluti

the flywheel on my 2.3 is a solid one not a dual mass type is it just noisey or does it shudder as well ?

Check rear engine mounting....the one that supports the gearbox.
The rubber middle part of it - if it's gone soggy/stretched, that can give the symptoms described.

I have the same problem 04 2.8 45000 miles and have spent a fortune trying to rectify this clutch chatter/rattle, even to the extent of gearbox reconditioned, flywheel's been skimmed, and up to now in the space of 3 months it has had 3 luk clutches!! Only to get a phone call from fitter the noise is still there!! :-(((