General 2.8 Ducato seems underpowered

[m4mike]

Hi everyone.

I have just bought a 2000 W Kon Tiki S on a Ducato 2.8 diesel non turbo (I think it's non turbo!)


It drives good on a straight road and going down hill, but when I go up a hill I have to drop right down in the gears almost to a snails pace and everyone else is overtaking me,

is this normal for a non turbo to be so underpowered?




Cheers.
Mike

 

[rayc]

I think they are only 86 bhp so will struggle especially on hills.
A link to a motorhome web site on one drivers experience.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=12&TopicID=274313

 

[m4mike]

Hi there and thanks for your reply,
I thought it was just me with something wrong, but it does seem it is very underpowered, guess I'll just have to live with it, and as one guy said "What's the rush we are on holiday"
Cheers
Mike

 

[pushrod]

I have the same engine in a 'crew cab' van. It probably weighs about a ton less than yours, but it will generally maintain 70mph on motorway hills and 60mph on the steeper ones ( in 4th. ). My 1990 Talbot camper, 2.5D, weighed about the same as yours and only rarely had to drop below 4th gear on steep hills. Have you thought about having an expert put your engine settings back to the 'norm' - it may well be that they're just a little bit out, which sometimes makes a lot of difference...

 

[m4mike]

Hi Pushrod,
Sorry what do you mean having the engine settings being put back to normal?
Cheers

 

[pushrod]

It's just that with a bit of wear and tear that comes with mileage ( or standing, sometimes ) cam timings may be a bit out, filters a bit gungy, pump/injectors a bit worn, oil needs changing, etc. Again, in winter, engine may not get hot enough for peak efficiency. Sometimes all the little percentage errors add up to something you notice.
Silly question: do you know if the cambelt has been renewed lately?

 

[m4mike]

Hi there,
The cam belt was changed in 2012 about 15,000 miles ago, the vehicle has done just over 100,000 motorway miles to Spain and back and has been regularly serviced with normal service bits.

 

[DavyS]

I had a 2.8 non turbo ducato 3.5t motorhome and did find it a problem. Above 50mph is was very noisy and thus tiring. And on 1:4 hills it needed 1st gear and a very fast change down if it was not to come to a halt. Unfortunately the 1st gear syncho was weak so I had to learn double declutching very rapidly!
I was also concerned about the spares situation cos the engine and gearbox was quite rare.
Trading up to a 2.2 litre turbo was a revelation - I could change UP going uphill!!