Technical Gearbox 5th gear cap cover woes...

[Eternal Optimist]

Hi all,

As a newbie I may well have posted this in the wrong place so I hope the mods will act accordingly.

Anyway, I recently bought a vintage Ducato powered Laika motorhome. It does need a coupe of things attending to, but that's fine as I've owned many motorhomes in the past and quite enjoy getting my hands dirty.

One of the most pressing tasks was to swap the gearbox oil. No problem removing it - which, by the way, resembled hot chocolate - and should be no problem slinging in the new stuff, but while I was down there I noticed the 5th gear cap plate looking decidedly rusty. A previous owner seems to have coated it in what looks like underseal, but the rust is clearly grinning through...




Despite my best efforts, I can't find a replacement. No surprise as the van is 20+ years old. Several varieties (generally with 8 fixing holes) available, but none with the required 5 hole arrangement.

I'm hoping one of the many knowledgeable members can suggest a source for one of these. Failing that, I'd be happy to remove it and take it to a metalwork shop for refurb/rebuild if anyone knows one?

TIA.

 

[bugsymike]

Hi all,

As a newbie I may well have posted this in the wrong place so I hope the mods will act accordingly.

Anyway, I recently bought a vintage Ducato powered Laika motorhome. It does need a coupe of things attending to, but that's fine as I've owned many motorhomes in the past and quite enjoy getting my hands dirty.

One of the most pressing tasks was to swap the gearbox oil. No problem removing it - which, by the way, resembled hot chocolate - and should be no problem slinging in the new stuff, but while I was down there I noticed the 5th gear cap plate looking decidedly rusty. A previous owner seems to have coated it in what looks like underseal, but the rust is clearly grinning through...

View attachment 466808


Despite my best efforts, I can't find a replacement. No surprise as the van is 20+ years old. Several varieties (generally with 8 fixing holes) available, but none with the required 5 hole arrangement.

I'm hoping one of the many knowledgeable members can suggest a source for one of these. Failing that, I'd be happy to remove it and take it to a metalwork shop for refurb/rebuild if anyone knows one?

TIA.

You didn't mention engine size and Series.
If it has a rubber mushroom holding the speedo cable in the gearbox , then it may be Renault/Peugeot based.

 

[Eternal Optimist]

You didn't mention engine size and Series.
If it has a rubber mushroom holding the speedo cable in the gearbox , then it may be Renault/Peugeot based.

Oops. It's the 2.8JTD.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Re. the series - the plate reads 'MOTORE 8140.43S'. Is that it?

Just popped out to take a squint at the speedo entry point by torchlight, but I can't see anything like a mushroom on the gearbox.

 

[bugsymike]

Oops. It's the 2.8JTD.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Re. the series - the plate reads 'MOTORE 8140.43S'. Is that it?

Just popped out to take a squint at the speedo entry point by torchlight, but I can't see anything like a mushroom on the gearbox.

Oh right!, The gearbox with the rubber mushroom was the smaller 1.9 engine vehicles, some had Fiat versions and some had the Renault/Peugeot ones.
However the 2.8 Sofim engine was used in Front Wheel Drive Citroen Relay, Renault Traffic and Master? Also Peugeot Boxer vans so there where quite a few derivatives around in their day although sadly a long time ago so many have not survived as they were working vans doing much higher mileages than Motor Homes. It will have to be of the same era as your van as later models used 2.0 litre more modern design engines from Peugeot group.
Iveco also used that engine in their Daily vans, but note they were Rear Wheel Drive so totally different gearboxes and the engine lower half was different also so not much similarity overall.

 

[Eternal Optimist]

...However the 2.8 Sofim engine was used in Front Wheel Drive Citroen Relay, Renault Traffic and Master? Also Peugeot Boxer vans so there where quite a few derivatives around in their day although sadly a long time ago so many have not survived as they were working vans doing much higher mileages than Motor Homes....

That's useful info, thank you.

I've had a quick look on eBay and sure enough, there are a few 5 speed Relay/Boxer gearboxes for sale and the images seem to confirm they used the 5-hole end cap/cover I'm trying to source. Obvs, I'd rather avoid buying a complete gearbox, but it's a great pointer. I'll keep looking.