Does anybody know what the poition is and what Fiat are doing about this it could be very serious.
I have a X/250 motorhome and am concerned about reversing it up a slope where most of the problems occur.
Colin Frier

Hi
I also have a new Ducato Maxi van and suffer the same judder, but also sometimes it can snatch and judder in 1st when the drive is taken up.
I have spoken to the dealer and the response was that if it didn`t happen at 1300 rpm or above then Fiat won`t recognise it as a fault. Try driving when you have to use 1300 rpm and above!!. Some of the comments from friends are that it could be too high a reverse gear, too small a clutch, clutch material.

I do quite a lot of trailer work and it is hopeless trying to reverse up any incline with an empty trailer never mind when there is any weight on it.
Lots of revs and slip the clutch!!!!

Also am I the only one to be suffering from poor fuel economy?. Without any trailer etc I can`t get better than 23mpg.

Joiner said:

Hi

I have spoken to the dealer and the response was that if it didn`t happen at 1300 rpm or above then Fiat won`t recognise it as a fault.

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That is same with other manufactuers I have worked with.

What sort of damage has been ocurring. Are we talking burnt out clutches or broken gearboxes.
My greatest concern is that once the warranty has expired then we will be left to pay for any repairs to a vehicle with an inherent fault, but which has survived long enough for the warranty to finish!!

Joiner said:

What sort of damage has been ocurring. Are we talking burnt out clutches or broken gearboxes.
My greatest concern is that once the warranty has expired then we will be left to pay for any repairs to a vehicle with an inherent fault, but which has survived long enough for the warranty to finish!!

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Greetings from a man with a Fiat X250 which has broken the gearbox on a steep hill whilst reversing up.
After visiting several forums and speaking to all our local Fiat dealers it is obvious that there is a major problem brewing here.

Joiner said:

Hi
I also have a new Ducato Maxi van and suffer the same judder, but also sometimes it can snatch and judder in 1st when the drive is taken up.
I have spoken to the dealer and the response was that if it didn`t happen at 1300 rpm or above then Fiat won`t recognise it as a fault. Try driving when you have to use 1300 rpm and above!!. Some of the comments from friends are that it could be too high a reverse gear, too small a clutch, clutch material.

I do quite a lot of trailer work and it is hopeless trying to reverse up any incline with an empty trailer never mind when there is any weight on it.
Lots of revs and slip the clutch!!!!

Also am I the only one to be suffering from poor fuel economy?. Without any trailer etc I can`t get better than 23mpg.

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Hi, I have the same van, and the same judder, took it back to the dealer today and the official word form Fiat is that is a characteristic of the van . Never read that one in the brochure!!!!!!!!!1

it is a shame we spend over £40,000 on a new motorhome based on the NEW FIAT 2.3L 130 multijet thinking it was a great vehicle based on the Fiat Hype. THEN we have to endure first the WATER feature (water ingress into the engine bay) and NOW Juddering when trying to reverse up a steep hill/incline!!!

Now we may not have to do this very often but it just isn't ON in my opinion. As I tour a lot in France and often in hilly areas such as the Alps etc I may just have to do this on ocassion. To hear that this could cause me to have a gear box/clutch failure is VERY disconcerting to say the least!!

I thought Fiat put new vehicles through rigourous tests before foisting them onto the unsuspecting public!!! Why should we have to put up with all these problems.

Mine has been in for several recalls already and I only bought the motorhome in Nov 07. I tried reversing up a slope last week and I felt it judder so stopped immediately. It now leaves me worried for my forthcoming trip to France in case I encounter a problem. I have contacted customer services but it seems they have contacted my Fiat dealer re the Water ingress issue!!! and not the juddering!!! Doesn't actually inspire much confidence.

After numerous phone calls, since the original on the 26th of February, I am still no closer to getting any information from Fiat about my vibrating and groaning van.
As an observation does anybody have any experiance of engine stabiliser bars, such as the one fitted to Minis.
Could it be that the complete engine and transmission are wobbling back and forth while reversing due to all revolving masses being in one plane/ direction. Would a different engine mount and a stabiliser bar cure the problem. Surely this wouldn`t be an expensive thing for Fiat to try on a test bed.
Well well I live in hope.

By the way have a look at the Transit forum ( or any of the other manufacturers )and find out about their problems.

mk2 transit was (still is) the best....the mk3 was a disaster! Dunno much about mk4 (latest) to be honest.

Your quite right. But the Mk 3 wasn`t that bad. I had a 1998 LWB and gee whiz it never cost me a lot to run as far as repairs were concerned. And previous to that I used to run the Mk1 and the facelifted Mk1 Talbot Express and Ducatos and they weren`t bad if you drove them yourself ( numpties could destroy various bits ). One of the reasons for buying a new Fiat.

All I remember of the mk3 transit was locking/door problems,HP pumps failing,cutting off rear drums to get to the brake shoes....and loads of electrical problems which I admit there was a large percentage due to wood liner screws being screwed right through looms

Latest news lads.

Have a look on the" xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" website forum.

You will find a thread on "serious Fiat problems".

The thread is quite long but you will find a submission ,on the 20th I think, from a lad who had an independant survey on his motorhome. The conclusion was that the clutch pressure plate is too small ,and the engine mountings are too soft.

Seems rather obvious due to the characteristics of the juddering when you think about it.

Don`t hold your breath for a solution from Fiat!!!

Interesting read.......but not that many complaints about the actual judder infact most of the posts seemed to be about asking the mods to make it a sticky

To some extent you are correct. The forum seems to suffer from a fair bit of stupid" bumps and farts etc".
But of coarse we here on the Fiat Forum are the models of sense and sensibility!!!
By the way, but pardon my ignorance. Whats a sticky?

we try and divide the posts up into general/technical & styling so its easier to find what you want & you get less 'bumps' as you put it.We also have a leisure lounge so folk can talk about anything there & keep it off the model specific sections.

A sticky is a thread that stays at the top even if no further posts are made so its more visable.....like the 2 at the top here;(welcome & recall)

https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/

Even though these are almost new vehicles with very low mileages and have a pampered life driven by very mild mannered folk there have been 4 gearbox failures and 7 clutch failures. All of the failures have occurred on the 6 speed variants.
A new development today has seen Fiat attempt to make the owner of one of these (2007 regsistered, 3000 miles) pay for a clutch replacement which failed whilst juddering its way backwards up a hill.
IF YOU HAVE A FIAT DUCTO X250 (VAN OR MOTORHOME) I SUGGEST YOU REGISTER AN OFFICIAL COMLAINT WITH FIAT IF IT JUDDERS - ITCOULD SAVE YOU ABOUT £1000 IF THE CLUTCH FAILS.

Thanks Andy. We dont really get many motorhome owners here but for the few that do pass by i'm sure they will read this post.

Can you confirm what the actual cause/damage was to the 4 gearbox failures and 7 clutch failures.

For those of a non technical bent like myself the gearbox failures suggest that the juddering is the cuprit as (so Fiat tell me) reverse gear is situated between 1st and 2nd and the gearbox problems have been that of the synchro cone on the upward change from 1st to 2nd being damaged by the juddering causing reverse gear to come into contact with the nearest bit of metal - the synchro ring on 2nd.
That's what they reckon, but the official line from Fiat is that they will not comment on any of these failures.

There are now nearly 100 motorcaravan owners who are very unhappy with this potentially serious defect, and I have recently borrowed two bog standard vans from two hire fleets (one an X250 5 speed SWB Citroen, the other a 6 speed MWB Fiat) and both juddered very badly in reverse on a steep hill.
From the data collected from motorhomes it seems that the 6 speed models (Fiat 120, 130 and 160) are very definitely worse than the those fitted with the 5 speed box.
Fiat have known about this issue since BEFORE October 2006, but have still not acknowledged publicly that there is a serious problem with the Ducato.
In the case of my own vehicle (plus many others in similar circumstances) the dealer has told Fiat that the vehicle is likely to suffer from premature component failure, and that is not operating within Fiat's 'normal juddering' parameters (an incredible term really) but Fiat now refuse to discuss the findings of the dealer.

This is the third time i have put this post here but each time i return it has been removed why ???????????????

colinfrier said:

This is the third time i have put this post here but each time i return it has been removed why ???????????????

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because your constantly spamming for these other sites, one link is enough!