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Ducato (Gen 3) Ducatcamper

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Ducato (Gen 3) Ducatcamper

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Ducatcamper

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I have a Ducato 2.8d 2001 i converted to a campervan.
Are all these lacking in power on hills or even with a headwind ?
My previous one a 1.9td was far better..
 
Could be servicing, cam-belt timing or gearbox oil contamination. Does your speedo flicker out of curiousity?

They are not fast, I take it you are lwb high top? They should cruise well enough, and happily sit at 70-80mph on motorway.
 
I think the early Ducatos were much better than the later ones. Catalytic converters, EGR, and cutdown injector pumps might be OK for a clean exhaust, but not for getting along up hills or on motorways. Also the weight and shape of the body makes a difference. My 1993 TD10 with the 1929cc diesel gets along very nicely and climbs hills well, but 90kph is a practical maximum except for on motorway downgrades, when I always throttle back anyway.
 
Thanks for the replys..
Crusing on the motorway is ok at 70+ but hit a hill and am down to 3rd gear. strong head wind and i struggle to 60 on a flat road.. was wondering if they are all like this. will do an oil/filter change .. Replacement engine has 70k on the clock and sounds smooth..
Spedo dose flicker, thought it was nervous.. LWB/high top
 
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That answers that then. You have water contamination in the box. You MIGHT get away with it if you change it quickly. Drain from the plug, refill from the reverse switch hole.


Around 2.5 litres.


When you have done that, complete what used to be a recall. Under the scuttle is a rubber pipe that collects water from scuttle and dumps it onto your gearbox mounts whereby it ingresses into the box.
Using a suitable pipe/hose cable ties extend down and secure BEHIND gearbox. Speedo drive if required is £6 odd IIRC.


You should pull a little better without it box building pressure through being effectively over-filled. They are not fast, but shouldn't be that troublesome on a high top.
 
Big thanks for that, its next job on the list (long list) of jobs. A camper is never finished
It just constantly evolves over time.. Will let you know the results..
 
Can't see how gearbox oil contamination would cause the whole engine to be down on power? The 2.8 is a cracker of an engine and loads of power, well more capable than the 1.9! Now timing on the other hand is a different matter! Is the engine smoking? how is the air cleaner? fuel filter?
 
digger58 said:
Can't see how gearbox oil contamination would cause the whole engine to be down on power? The 2.8 is a cracker of an engine and loads of power, well more capable than the 1.9! Now timing on the other hand is a different matter! Is the engine smoking? how is the air cleaner? fuel filter?
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Not about the engine - pressure in the gearbox will build through being overfilled with water/oil. The pressure inhibits the drive ratio.

Imagine walking though ankle deep water - and then walking through waist high water - harder right? Similar thing with the spinning cogs in a gearbox. Being oiled is good - being submerged in a sea of contaminated emulsified oil with building air pressure and they just can't work efficiently.

The driver just sees it as being gutless.
 
lm04 said:
Not about the engine - pressure in the gearbox will build through being overfilled with water/oil. The pressure inhibits the drive ratio.

Imagine walking though ankle deep water - and then walking through waist high water - harder right? Similar thing with the spinning cogs in a gearbox. Being oiled is good - being submerged in a sea of contaminated emulsified oil with building air pressure and they just can't work efficiently.

The driver just sees it as being gutless.
Click to expand...

Theres no way you wouldn't feel that in the gearchange though. The ducato syncros are extremely finnicky about viscocity.

The 2.8d is only 87ps 180Nm (the 1.9td was 92ps 192Nm) so I would expect it to be gutless on the hills but struggling to do 60 on the flat doesn't sound right.

Would be worth turning it over manually with a socket on the crank pulley to check the compression, the n/a engines have very high compression around 21:1 or 22:1.

If theres no smoke rule out fuel starvation:
Tank strainer
Fuel filter
Hoses kinked
Pump strainer in banjo
Stop solenoid / solenoid o ring
Check tamper paint on smoke screw is intact
Throttle cable badly adjusted

If there is smoke when fully warmed up rule out:
Air filter
Intake hose collapsed / kinked / delaminated internally
Intake gunked up
Bad injectors, and if bad injectors probably worn bore.
Bad compression
 
You DO feel it in the gear change - just many do not know what it feels like, so don't notice. Firstly manifests as difficulty going into reverse and first. Often getting blamed on cold oil, or cables. To drive, it is fine at lower speeds, higher speeds it feels like you are driving against a headwind.

I owned a fleet of motorhomes at one point that I hired out. All the used ones ended up having replacement boxes as I knew what the symptoms were having worked at a citroen dealership. All of them had water ingress according to warranty reports, which I knew. Astonishingly, the motorhome dealers claimed not to be aware!
 
You might feel emulsified oil in the gear changes but I still doubt it would have any detrimental affect on the power output of the engine through the box, there is a breather on the box so pressure build up is a non runner. I drove several old machines that had a lovely white liquid that was meant to be oil in the transmission and they all worked well enough, obviously not good for them but no discernible difference in power transmission through the gunge. Many old tractors ran well for years on this gunk.
 
You may doubt all you wish - well known fault in the trade on the sevel with these symptoms. It is one of the most common problems, and even came with a recall modification which involved re-routing the drain away from the gearbox.

Motorhomes were more prone due to standing in the same position for longer periods over winter, but van also suffered with the same failures and still do. Look at the sales sections, and you will find listing after listing, same fault!

I mentioned the symptoms and the recalls cure - if the OP wishes to ignore I really don't care - not me paying for the repair bill! I have seen dozens of people try other options is desperation, even replace boxes and do the same 2 years later because they thought they knew better.

Advice is advice - you don't need to take it. Some people in life need to learn things the hard way, as this is how they roll.
 
OK, pray tell how you can get pressure build up in a system with breather?Even if you had build up it would force oil out the shaft seals anyway, they are only designed to hold back the weight of oil not a pressure seal!
 
When pressure exceeds release volume, it will have these symptoms until the box fails. It isn't disputed apart from on here - known fault at factory level, with a recall and solution.

Oh, and I have been away working - if only you knew who I was advising! lol!
 
Now I am alarmed, the Ducato 2.8 I'm picking up next week has a speedo that flickers a lot and I thought that was normal for an old van. Naturally the van was empty for the test drive so I didn't notice any lack of power.

Is this oil change a difficult job to do? Special tools needed or anything?

Sorry I'f I'm hijacking the thread.
 
CB87 said:
Now I am alarmed, the Ducato 2.8 I'm picking up next week has a speedo that flickers a lot and I thought that was normal for an old van. Naturally the van was empty for the test drive so I didn't notice any lack of power.

Is this oil change a difficult job to do? Special tools needed or anything?

Sorry I'f I'm hijacking the thread.
Click to expand...

If its just flicking the most likely a bad cable, if you keep driving it you'll end up with a worn drive pinion in the gearbox and/or wear at the speedo end.
 
I hope so. The tacho doesn't seem to work so the cable might be kaput.
 
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