Hello,

I have a Fiat Ducato Campervan. The model is a 2010 120 Multijet.

Can someone please give me instructions on how to change the fuel filter. I can see it is located top right hand corner and what looks to be a screw lid?

One of the reasons I'm changing it is beacause it is due (though only done 8000 miles) but also because the "water in fuel" light came on. Drained it via the tap but thought I may as well change the filter as well.

Cheers

search for the fiat manual - it was on here recently.

on one of the motorhome forums there was quite a number of problems reported where the filter o ring was not sealed properly after replacement resulting in leaks and breakdowns.

Fiat say you need a special tool to remove the lid but a guy on you tube says a vice and large vice grips should work so might give it a go myself.
God be with the days of the old CAV filters with just a bolt to remove and bobs your uncle.

Dont use a vice grip on these filters they are fragile and a real pain in the butt




Mike

I've done these with a vice on the bottom canister and a g-clamp on the top to unscrew, yes they are fragile if you get carried a way but if you're sensible then it's not too much of an issue

5 Days ago we descended on the Italian side of the "Nassfeld pass", a murderous steep and narrow road with very sharp turns and not a single mirror. What probably saved our lives was the bad reputation: there was almost no traffic.
We were still between snow walls when my wife said she smelled fuel and I saw a wet trail behind us. Our Ducato camper van has pulled this trick several times already and there was absolutely no place to stop and check, so I continued the descent.
Less than 2 minutes later the engine died, which was new to us and very alarming, but I switched into neutral and continued without brake servo and power steering, except on the meanest "serpentines" where I used 1th or 2nd gear. When we finally rolled out in the outskirts of Pontebba and were pulled to the local Fiat service it turned out there was a large crack in the UFI filter housing that spilled more than half the contents of our fuel tank!

As I already mentioned, the van has spilled fuel several times already, always during or after driving a downward slope when the fuel pump builds up a ridiculous pressure and no fuel is needed. Each time the rubber seal between the lid and the can was pushed out. Last year another Italian mechanic who assisted us in Vicenza said it was a common problem with the X-250 models when the ring nut wasn't pulled tight enough. So he replaced the filter cartridge, inserted a new seal, put the housing in a vise and turned the ring nut until it almost snapped....
By now I understand that his action prepared the filter housing for this latest disaster.

We spent the weekend in Pontebba, on Monday a mechanic drove to Udine and returned with a new filter (240 Euro) in a box marked Ricambi Originali Fiat. They installed it, connected the Fiat Examiner computer and found everything OK, so we drove home (Croatia).
Each time we stopped for a coffee break and fuel, the engine started promptly, but driving was impossible because there was a magic boundary of 1200 rpm. After 1-2 minutes trying, the engine suddenly picked up with a lot of pungent exhaust smoke.
At home I connected the newly arrived code reader and found the cause to be excessive EGR. Removing the vacuum hose was no solution so probably the EGR valve is stuck open. Another expensive and difficult to replace part, so I think I will block the flow of exhaust gas to the valve because that is a lot simpler.

In the meantime I am trying to figure out what can be the relation between going downhill with a dead engine or spilling large amount of fuel and a stuck EGR valve.

"By now I understand that his action prepared the filter housing for this latest disaster."

Are you saying that over-tightened the ring nut caused the failure?

Rigormortis said:

"By now I understand that his action prepared the filter housing for this latest disaster."

Are you saying that over-tightened the ring nut caused the failure?

Click to expand...

Not the tightening itself, but the fact that he used a vise for it.
There is a special 2 part tool on the market to handle UFI filter housings. One part is a cradle that holds the can, the other grabs the ring nut in 4 places. Unfortunately small workshops do not have one, so they improvise.
My personal opinion as an engineer says this is an insane product. The cylindrical shape is interrupted by a recessed rectangular channel. If chickens would lay eggs with such a shape they would all break during transport. The can is made from glass reinforced plastic so it can cope with the 5 bar (72 lbs/sq. inch) fuel pressure, but the fibers are non-directional and cause a rough surface that requires lots of force (30 Nm) to tighten the nut. To keep the can from turning in a vise it must be clamped to the point where small cracks are formed in the edges of the recessed part.

Currently complete original filter in housing can be found on ebay at under £60.
If anyone is not confident to replace the element then a whole unit is a better bet as an element and the tool will cost you nearly as much

Hi Techno 100, your guides are a great help. Unfortunately my 2012 Swift Lifestyle 664 has a metal fuel filter. Do you have any info on whether these have to be replaced completely or is there an internal filter that can be replaced?
Your help is much appreciated. Thanks

Pretty sure the later vans reverted to a spin on canister.Probably due to so many failures

I have a 58 plate Trigano Tribute Fiat Ducato motorhome that I bought secondhand in June 2010 with approx. 3500 miles on the clock. I had a couple of years relatively trouble free motoring. The van was serviced on 25.7.12 at 12867 miles and the fuel filter was replaced. Within 2 months a fuel leakage occurred and the only way the garage could solve the problem was to fit a new filter housing at a cost of approx. £210. The garage advised me that they were aware of a number of problems with Ducato fuel filters and suggested that the filter should only be replaced when the relevant mileage in the service schedule had been reached. The van was next serviced on 24.9.13 at 17848 miles and the filter was not replaced. Another service was done on 249.14 at 23706 miles and unfortunately the filter was replaced. All ok until 24.12.14 when I was travelling from Ivybridge in devon to Setthorns in the New Forest. With about 20 miles to go the van suddenly lost all power and there was a smell of diesel. I managed to pull into a side road but hate to think what would have happened if I had been overtaking on the motorway. On checking I saw fuel dripping from the van but no sign of a loose pipe. I phoned the RAC and a patrol responded within the time given to me. An inspection revealed that fuel was leaking from the joint between the top of the houing and the main body. The housing was removed and the o-ring checked and reassembled and tested. All ok and journey completed as was the return but always with worry that another leak would arise. Will get the housing checked over and have written to Fiat about the latest problem. Seems to me there is a latent defect with the housing and in light of the potential danger VOSA? should issue a recall to force Fiat to act.

Leaks always occur some time after a service. I do not accept that the UFI filter housing is responsible as it is fitted to very many more vehicles than Fiat.
Garages are generally flippant "we know what we are doing"
The use of the correct tool and tightening torque is ESSENTIAL.
The last one I changed for someone was after it leaked 3k after a service and whilst I fitted a complete new unit to resolve the problem I checked the torque of the leaking unit and it was under tightened. It takes maybe 10 minutes to swap a unit without any tools so a no brainer to buy a genuine spare for currently around £62 ebay

Techno100 said:

Leaks always occur some time after a service. I do not accept that the UFI filter housing is responsible as it is fitted to very many more vehicles than Fiat.
Garages are generally flippant "we know what we are doing"
The use of the correct tool and tightening torque is ESSENTIAL.
The last one I changed for someone was after it leaked 3k after a service and whilst I fitted a complete new unit to resolve the problem I checked the torque of the leaking unit and it was under tightened. It takes maybe 10 minutes to swap a unit without any tools so a no brainer to buy a genuine spare for currently around £62 ebay

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What should the torque be so I can advise my garage accordingly?

It is clearly stamped on the securing ring 30nm
The problem is without the correct tool some mechanics are using a vice and grips with obvious consequences.

Thanks for the advice re the correct torque. The RAC patrol used a vice to take the casing apart and hopefully no damage was done! Hopefully the correct torque was used as well.

Techno100 said:

It is clearly stamped on the securing ring 30nm
The problem is without the correct tool some mechanics are using a vice and grips with obvious consequences.

Click to expand...

The RAC patrol used a vice to take the casing apart so I hope no damage was caused and hopefully the correct torque was used. Time will tell.

As far as I know the Euro 5 engines now have the metal filter casing. I got one from MANN filters for £53 plus VAT. They assured me it would fit as it looked identical. However it did not fit and I had to get an original from Fiat at a cost of £79.50 plus VAT. On my old Ducato (57 plate) 3.0 160 it would take the cartridge which you can get on ebay for less than a tenner. I cant believe the prices that Fiat are now charging for service parts. My local garage has just done me a 30000 miles 1st service for £205 which included the Fiat Filter. I supplied my own oil, oil filter, air filter and pollen filter which were all fiat originals bought on ebay for a fraction of the cost. The garage even took off all the wheels and cleaned the discs etc which I dont think Fiat do.

Pasty007 said:

As far as I know the Euro 5 engines now have the metal filter casing. I got one from MANN filters for £53 plus VAT. They assured me it would fit as it looked identical. However it did not fit and I had to get an original from Fiat at a cost of £79.50 plus VAT. On my old Ducato (57 plate) 3.0 160 it would take the cartridge which you can get on ebay for less than a tenner. I cant believe the prices that Fiat are now charging for service parts. My local garage has just done me a 30000 miles 1st service for £205 which included the Fiat Filter. I supplied my own oil, oil filter, air filter and pollen filter which were all fiat originals bought on ebay for a fraction of the cost. The garage even took off all the wheels and cleaned the discs etc which I dont think Fiat do.

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I would agree with Pasty as far as the Prices that Fiat are charging ....... I have an 07 Van conversion & a small water leak developed on the hose to the Oil cooler (hose was "Z" shaped about 4 to 5 inches in length .......

Rang Fiat....................... £64.95 + VAT ................. SOD THAT !!!!!!!!!!

Rang Ford (it is a Ford Duratorc in mine)....... £7.98 + VAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its the SAME BLOODY PART fer Gods Sake!!!! ... just HOW can Fiat justify that amount of "Uplift" on a part !!!??????

Keith

Techno100 said:

It is clearly stamped on the securing ring 30nm
The problem is without the correct tool some mechanics are using a vice and grips with obvious consequences.

Click to expand...

Since my last post I have received a reply from the DVSA about my submission of a recall request because of the potential danger of fuel leaks from the UFI fuel filter housing. To quote from the letter
"DVSA are aware of this issue and have previously investigated it with Fiat, in regard to the issue of different filters. Fiat has stated that the reports on the internet refer to fuel leaks that have normally occurred following the servicing or repairs on the fuel system of the vehicle. Fiat have stated that to change the fuel filter it requires special tools to tighten the filter body to the mount."
"Following the previous investigation into this issue, we (DVSA) have concluded that there is insufficient evidence for VOSA/DVSA to require the manufacturer to conduct a safety recall."
If you want to see any action taken on this serious safety issue I would urge you to contact [email protected] and let him know of your experience. If sufficient evidence can be gathered then hopefully a recall will be issued.