Technical 2017 Fiat Ducato Motorhome wiring loom

[Kon Tiki]

I have the above van, 2017 2.3ltr 6 speed auto. 7 days into ownership there was a fire in the engine bay, possibly caused by the DPF breaking down. Anyway the wiring loom needs to be replaced. My question is, does the engine need to come out to fit the new looms ( 2 of them apparently)?

 

[Anthony489]

Hi

Sorry to hear about your fire - eek !

Only Fiat could tell you for sure, but I think it rather unlikely that removing the engine would be necessary. There is a small clearance all round the engine, and looms are flexible things so it should be possible to work round it. It may be the case that smaller items need to be removed to get access.

I believe there are multi-way connector pairs between the engine bay looms and the rest of the vehicle, so you don't have to thread anything through the bulkhead.

No doubt Fiat have a standard table of repair times for every item, which will be used by the insurance industry.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Thanks. That’s really helpful. Hoping to finally get it back this week after 7 weeks. Luckily the fire extinguished itself when the engine stopped but I had visions of the whole van going up! Glad I found this forum.

 

[Mick58]

Hi,
I am interested as to how this worked out for you. I am having similiar problems and waiting on insurance to comment but I might have to rewire the loom. Not sure where I will get parts or what sort of job it will be to fix. 2014 model

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[Communicator]

Hi,
I am interested as to how this worked out for you. I am having similiar problems and waiting on insurance to comment but I might have to rewire the loom. Not sure where I will get parts or what sort of job it will be to fix. 2014 model

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Hi Mick58,

Welcome to the forum. I hope that you will keep everyone posted as to your progress.

I suggest the following actions.

1. Enter your vehicle's VIN into ePER which is available at the top of the page.
2. Obtain full part number for fusebox, which is partly obliterated in your photo.
3. Armed with the full part number, try searching Ebay, or even a Google search.
You do need the exact part number.
If lucky, some advertisers of pre-used pre-used fuse boxes on Ebay, also include sections of the wiring harness which could access permitting, be grafted onto the existing harness.

 

[DP60]

Hello, I’ve just joined this group as I’ve been scouring the internet for any clues as to why the engine compartment fuse board and wiring harness melted in my 2019 Ducato. The photographs I’ve seen in your post match mine, what was the outcome Mick, on the insurance claim. My van had been parked up for a couple of weeks, when approaching I heard the radiator cooling fans running, so before I tried to start it, I,opened the bonnet and smelt burning. I found the exact same damage. Could this be water ingress from the scuttle causing a short?

 

[Mick58]

Hi. Insurance wouldn't cover it as they called it a wiring problem. I had to replace the fuse box - £220 from fiat. When I stripped out the loom only 1 earth wire was damaged so wasn't a big job. I got the brown plug from a breakers yard and just swapped 1 wire over at a time. Slow work but not as bad as it looked at the start. I believe that the issue could have been caused by a bad earth connection so I disconnected every earth I could find and cleaned the connections. Back on the road again

 

[DP60]

Hi. Insurance wouldn't cover it as they called it a wiring problem. I had to replace the fuse box - £220 from fiat. When I stripped out the loom only 1 earth wire was damaged so wasn't a big job. I got the brown plug from a breakers yard and just swapped 1 wire over at a time. Slow work but not as bad as it looked at the start. I believe that the issue could have been caused by a bad earth connection so I disconnected every earth I could find and cleaned the connections. Back on the road again

Hi, thanks for the reply, Im having a battle with my insurance company as it’s not just the fuse but its burnt the harness with the brown connector .You make an interesting point about a bad earth as I’ve also seen damaged wiring to one of the earth points. Like you I think I’ll try the DIY route as the harness is £550 from Fiat and then the hassle of tracing where it goes. (Dash out job I think)

 

[Mick58]

I also had Autoguard electrical and mechanical breakdown cover and they wouldn't cover it either as they don't cover problems with faulty connections. When u get it stripped out send some photos and I'll see if it looks the same as mine.

 

[DP60]

Initially I saw some issues around Fuse 14 & 24, took the fuse block out and the loom to the brown plug has melted. I opened the fuse board itself and i was shocked to see the damage.

 

[Mick58]

That looks exactly like mine. My problem was also fuses 14 + 24. It also looks like you have 1 single wire burnt all the way down to where it connects with the body of the van along with a bunch of other earths. The pins inside the brown connector are easy to remove, you just need something narrow and flat to slide in along side to release them. If you are buying a 2nd hand connection ask for some of the wires to be left intact so that you will have replacements for any damaged wires in your van. I replaced 1 wire and just fitted a standard wire connector to the end and bolted it back with the original bunch. You can see the bunch in photo 2 attached and in photo 1 you can see the single stripped wire beside my finger