Technical 2016 Fiat Ducato Motorhome coolant loss Mystery help needed

[carl1977]

Hello im a newbie here and hoping someone can help.

I have recently purchased a swift motorhome on a Fiat Ducato cab and it overheated on my second journey.

The RAC guy could not find any obvious coolant loss roadside so it had to go into a Fiat dealer.
The overheating caused the head gasket to blow and the dealer i bought the motorhome off paid for this and i had the motorhome back but the coolant was still leaking out very minimal.

It was returned back to Fiat and the EGR cooler they checked had failed so they thought this was the main cause.
Fast forward 2 weeks waiting for the part to arrive from Italy and there is still a loss of coolant.

Fiat have done all the tests and still cannot see where the coolant is leaking.

The dealer i bought the motorhome off has today gone into liquidation so this is very bad news for me as i will be forced to sort this myself.

Has anyone came across this issue before with the leaking of coolant with no trace?

Fiat cannot look at this again for the next 10 days so any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[theoneandonly]

Not had this problem with a ducato but previously with a cavalier. Was the head skimmed after the first gasket failure? Another problem ive had with different engines (rover 3,0 and Imp is the o-ring had been left out. Dont even know if the ducato has any in the head gasket system.

 

[carl1977]

Thanks for the reply, im not sure if it has been skimmed to be honest but i could ask the question although Fiat said the gasket is fine now after the recent checks they done.
The leak is definitely not external so it has been tough to locate.

 

[lancepar]

If it is external as you suspect.............Have a peep under the MoHo, the dried coolant will leave a stain, then work up from there.

 

[varesecrazy]

Heater matrix?

 

[RalphM]

With it being a Motorhome is there any heating in the back that uses
engine coolant heat if so it and it's pipework would be worth a look.

 

[carl1977]

I have mentioned the heater matrix to Fiat as this is another possible cause that the Rac mentioned.
Will also mention the heating in the back to them.
They cannot look at it until next week so anything else i come across i will mention to them.

They have had it up on ramps and running for hours and there is no loss, when you take it our for a good run and come back and let it settle it then seems to lose the coolant but very slowly.

Thanks for the replies this far guys.

 

[cris1117]

Could be heater but you will normally smell the anti freeze.
The only times I have had this type of thing was water pump it only dripped after a run and after the engine had been switched off for 5 minutes.
The other time was a tiny pin hole in a hose which sprayed a very fine mist onto the hot engine and was evaporated almost instantly, took me ages to find that one.

 

[carl1977]

Could be heater but you will normally smell the anti freeze.
The only times I have had this type of thing was water pump it only dripped after a run and after the engine had been switched off for 5 minutes.
The other time was a tiny pin hole in a hose which sprayed a very fine mist onto the hot engine and was evaporated almost instantly, took me ages to find that one.

Interesting about the hose, they say they have checked them as standard but maybe they are missing something. This seems to be common to miss whilst i have been digging around on the net. Thanks

 

[jackwhoo]

Which engine is fitted?

 

[carl1977]

Which engine is fitted?

Hi, the engine is the 2.3L 130BHP Multijet Engine.

Thanks

 

[tiger19]

When was the Cambelt last changed? Could be a small leak from the waterpump which should be replaced at the same time as the belt, this could be difficult to spot.

 

[carl1977]

Fiat say that they checked the water pump and it fine.

I have decided to pull it out of Fiat now as it needs further investigating and have booked it into a good reputable garage near me.
Fiat are expensive obviously as a main dealer so i needed to make a decision and think this is the best for me.

It is going into the garage next Monday 16th August and will give any updates here when hopefully leak found and fixed.

 

[johng2017]

Any update on this?