Last month on holiday, our 2013 Motorhome became erratic and lights on dashboard flashed EBS then ABS Warning.

We drove to nearest diagnostics garage who in turn reset all the dashboard lights stating a speed sensor fault.

We ordered the sensor from Fiat and along with a 15000 mile service done locally, fitted the part, to be told thats not the fault.

We then drove to a well known in the area Auto Electrician and was told its the ABS Pump, that can be renovated at a cost of 250 pounds or a replacement is 1500 pounds.

12 days later we are told that the pump was fine, it had lost some codes, its now the Body Control Module thats faulty.

I'm now told the module has to come from Italy, won't be here for another week and I can be looking to a bill of well over a thousand pounds and already the Motorhome has been off the road for 20 days.

Has anyone out there had the same nightmare as we have had please?.

Deepest sympathy, Norrie.
It is helpful for those of us on here who may have the skills to help you if you include the make of the van, the make of the base vehicle (presumably its a Fiat), the engine size and any other relevant details.

Hi Norrie

When electronics appear erratic, the cause is often something more mundane such as a poor connection. Any place where wires are mechanically joined is far less reliable than a soldered printed circuit electronic module. The more major the connection, the more likely you are to register multiple faults. Try checking simple things like the battery clamps, engine earth strap, connectors etc before delving into changing modules. Simply substituting one expensive part after another in an attempt to find the fault is only fine if someone else is footing the bill !

I'd be looking at bad connection, and earth
Start with replacing the earth strap (gearbox to chassis) replace because the old one may look ok but it prob not, I had a local motor electrical place make a new heavy duty one,

Check battery terminals (sometimes I've known errors show after a battery disconnected and reconnected) they should clear when driving (abs & hill hold were common for me)

Then the old ECU loom, under the ECU cover (n/s headlamp out) remove cover, see if one of ECU looms is cable tied to the ECU bracket, over time the loom wears and the tiniest (I couldn't see it until wire stripped) hole causes water ingress thus shorting any possible number of items out, process of elimination,

Assuming your van is a ducato with an Iveco engine

"Has anyone out there had the same nightmare as we have had please?"

Yes, this forum has numerous such stories. The Ducato is a modern vehicle, equipped with a massive amount of electronics that monitor everything and supply information to the driver that in the old days could only be obtained by taking things apart.
Unfortunately the Ducato is also cheap, so all these sensors and black boxes are of toy quality. Moisture, insects, rodents and even a few hours of bright sunshine can cause erratic performance or malfunctions. If all connectors had gold plated contacts and were airtight there would be much less to talk about here, but the vehicle would be so expensive nobody would buy one.

The garage can't help you because the people there lack education. They just connect their diagnostics equipment and believe what the display says. If you buy a cable and install some software on your laptop or tablet you could do the same and experience the same pitfalls.
I'm afraid there is no real solution, at least not for the average van owner.
You could start by buying the equipment, do the tests and show the Fiat people you are not completely ignorant. If they suggest to exchange some expensive parts, say thank you very much and seek a second opinion.
And of course use the experience of the people on this forum!

This post sprang to mind from earlier in the year..caused various spurious errors.

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/443176-x250-money-saving-tip.html

andytw

[emoji1312] as my post above, money saving tip with pictures, couldn't find my own post the other night lol

rolopolo said:

[emoji1312] as my post above, money saving tip with pictures, couldn't find my own post the other night lol

Click to expand...

Aha didn't realise it was your post. I couldn't find it either but eventually searched on 'saving' in the title.

I haven't checked my own MH yet.