It's a 2001 motorhome on the Ducato chassis, low miles at 38k

Got two problems just bought and the seller will not refund or even pay for repairs so I need to get it sorted, but need to get some clues.

Problem A.

Although we did take it for a run of about 4 miles, but it was on the roughest roads known to man so never felt the steering wobble (yes my fault) the whole van shakes at around 35-40mph, I had to drive about 5 miles to get to a decent road on the way home, then it kicked in, I managed to drive though it and it got batter, but there was a lot of play, I won't say I struggled to keep it in the same lane, but if Mr Plod had been following me I might have got a tug, At rest with engine on or off, there seems to be no play at the OSF wheel.

Problem B

The injector light is on, van will get to 70mph, but it really struggles, loads of power in the lower gears, pulls well to about 40, then seems to just slow off, I had it at 50mph on long Mway hill at it just dropped right off, had to drop to 4th, had one of these engines before in a bigger Motorhome, and it played withe hills.

I'm no mechanic, but have built engines etc many many years ago, so if simple might try a DIY fix, or at least have some info to give to the local garage to stop them racking up a bill I can't afford having just emptied the bank account.

Cheers Kev.

I Should have known better than to post on a Friday evening, come back this instant I couldn't sleep last night.

Kev.

Problem A would seem to be "Two Fold"....the Wobbling S/wheel & the failure to keep a straight line.....

i would suggest that the front Tyres need Balancing (Probs been "Kerb Bashed" & knocked off the Weights ect) this would DEFINITELY cause the S/Wheel to wobble & (as you say) you "drove Thru it" tells me its a wheel Balance problem .... but if its been a "Long standing thing" (& obviously you cannot tell if it has) this would also Shake the Track Rod ends to bits & cause you to "Wander" from left to right .....

so, wheels off & get them checked fer Balance ... while their off check fer excessive play in the track rods ends & replace as necessary ....(TBH track rod ends will set you back £30/£40 quid so I'd just change em if I were you)

with regards to the "Injector light" & struggling fer Power ect ect .... VERY VERY COMMON fault on Ford Iveco engines this is ... & its "USUALLY" caused by the Pressure Sensor on the back of the Injector pump ....its a "Swine" to get at but is held in by 3 Torx Bolts ... should take you about an hour (with a 15 Min Brew & Butty break) ....

let us know how yer get on Kev

regards

Keith

Cheers Keith, would you happen to have part number/price for the pump pressure sensor, oddly I used to be a courier, and had 5 different vans with the same engine and never came across this problem on mine or any of the other lads, I wonder if it is a post 2000 problem, maybe they changed something.

Will the new sensor turn the warning light off or will that be a OBD" plug in job.

Speaking of which do you know where the OBD2 socket is on these vans, I might plug mine in to see if it says anything, forgot I'd got one till just now

I just spent 30 minutes looking for the OBD port/socket but no joy.

Front bushings on the wishbone if its so bad you though plod might notice. You can check with a large prybar. They are super cheap only £7 or something for spurious. Obd port is a three pin one up around the fuel filter.

ecunotemu said:

Front bushings on the wishbone if its so bad you though plod might notice. You can check with a large prybar. They are super cheap only £7 or something for spurious. Obd port is a three pin one up around the fuel filter.

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Thanks, going to book it into the local garage, no decent jack or ramps, plus sloping drive, just too dodgy for a DIY job.

One thing to check is whether the front tyres are, or have in the past been, massively over inflated.
I had the exact same problem after buying our first motorhome about 8 years ago now. Took it to local garage where old chap, who REALLY knew about vehicles, used trolley jack to left each front wheel off the ground and span each by hand, whilst feeling all round them.
Told me to get tyres changed as they'd warped due to over inflation and were now slightly oval rather than round. He said he saw the problem quite often, as many motorhomers way-over inflate their vehicles tyres.
Did as I was told, he fitted two new tyres, and problem instantly disappeared.

Had a full day at it yesterday amidst much hanging around.

Got it plugged in at last, the stupid OBD was a 3 pin on the computer, but was actually a two pin, only one garage for miles had the right plug, but it was wired backwards but did eventually talk to the ECU, which came up with all kinds of faults, but the most serious was that the cooling fan relays were stuffed, so off to get them sorted to day.

Steering problem still persists, despite all four wheels being checked for balance and runout, they were all out a bit but not much, pressures were all okay.

So we started looking at play and only found a tiny amount on the left front wheel bearing, but by god the engine mountings are shot, top and bottom, and the wobble/shake goes away when you press the clutch, so they're getting done tomorrow hopefully.


Also getting a the cam belt sorted today, and a partial service the aunt who had it last only changed the oil and filter, air is the original one as is the diesel filter, not sure if these would make much diff to the power, but it is related and nothing else seems to be wrong.

Will report back once the above has all been done, hopefully with a good result.

What a day,been trying to get engine mounts and cambelt etc, none of the usual have anything correct Reg brings up a Fiat 500, Err it's a 500L model thicko, look harder, one place looked at them yesterday and still got the wrong ones, I've had to go to the Fiat main dealer.

Going ever so slightly barmy, and getting grief of SWMBO who of course knew it would be a problem

K13ehr said:

What a day,been trying to get engine mounts and cambelt etc, none of the usual have anything correct Reg brings up a Fiat 500, Err it's a 500L model thicko, look harder, one place looked at them yesterday and still got the wrong ones, I've had to go to the Fiat main dealer.

Going ever so slightly barmy, and getting grief of SWMBO who of course knew it would be a problem

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Dealer is crazy price for the older model vans, post the VIN and I'll tell you the part numbers,

OOH yes please, Prefer best cam belt, but rest can be what's more or less the cheapest.

No mistakes with a piccy

(1326573080, 1333573080, 1308696080, 1310575080 ) are the mount part numbers:

Are the top ones rubbers split if not you may just need the rear.

Febi 14492 Engine Mounting: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

Febi 14491 Engine Mounting: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

It looks like the later model mounting may be a direct swap, the full set is very cheal from axel augustin in germany:http://www.ebay.de/itm/Satz-Motorau...14?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item1c50fd3f6e

I would email him and make sure but they are listed as 230/244 on his site.

For cambelt I would just use a gates kit.
K015334XS without the tensioner, K025334XS with tensioner:
http://www.gatesautocat.com/pdf/english/TB026_SOFIMDiesel.pdf

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1x-Timing...012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cf39ac42c

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gates-Tim...856?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item259185a538

Wow!!

Thanks for sorting those out for me, I think it is just the back one which needs immediate attention, can't really get to see the gearbox one, and the right side one seems okay.

Re the belt kit, big diff between them, van is 2001 with 38k on it, would the tensioner need doing at that mileage??

K13ehr said:

Wow!!

Thanks for sorting those out for me, I think it is just the back one which needs immediate attention, can't really get to see the gearbox one, and the right side one seems okay.

Re the belt kit, big diff between them, van is 2001 with 38k on it, would the tensioner need doing at that mileage??

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the tensioner is a bearing..sat DRY in the air,
I would change it as part of a set / service,
engine will be trashed if it seizes and snaps cambelt, :bang:

Charlie

I had a feeling in my water that someone would say that but it being a motorhome all it's life, and even then by an old guy, I wondered I wondered if it might be ok for a while yet, but message received and understood full kit to be gotten next week.

varesecrazy said:

the tensioner is a bearing..sat DRY in the air,
I would change it as part of a set / service,
engine will be trashed if it seizes and snaps cambelt, :bang:

Charlie

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The bearing comes with both kits its the spring thats not with the cheaper set. Once it's all tightened up the spring does nothing it just for setting the tension

I am now officially confused, spring? Tensioner?

Took the plunge and ordered the full cam belt kit and the full mounting kit, if we keep the van it's done and if not it's a selling point, just need to sort out the inside now.

Wish I knew someone local to me (Pudsey, Leeds) who had the right plug to look at the dash light though as the repair to the cooling fans has made them come on eventually (very slow to warm up) but the injector warning light is still on.

I wondered if there was anything I might be able to use to see the faults and clear codes myself and found this

Has anybody got one or tried it