General Replacement Engine vs New Head etc.

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General Replacement Engine vs New Head etc.

Hi mate, i have the same problem, my ulysse is a 2ltr jtd. the belt snapped 5 months ago and they can't get the injectors out without damaging them. in looking for a replacement engine I stumbled upon a place in newcastle who have a 2.2ltr jtd which they had advertised as a 2ltr they wanted £1200 but I haggled it down to £850 but then realised it might not fit mine. I'll try to find the number.
 
I too would be really interested in any advice around the same issue - cam belt snapped on 04 Ulysse 2.0D & nearest Fiat garage advised us to scrap car as it was too much trouble to repair!
Vehicle has done less than 70K & has been serviced as per schedule albeit not always with Fiat dealer(you ought to try finding one in somewhere like West Wales).
The only local garage who will even look at it are estimating £2000 to repair.

It seems from all the comments on very similar lines that there is an underlying technical failure that Fiat ought to own up to & address.

:bang:
 
We may have opened a big can of worms here!!! Why do you think Fiat discontinued the Ulysse where as the 807 and C8 are still going. Iv'e bee in contact with Fiat UK many times even thretened to go to the papers but to no avail. We should all get together on this and contact watchdog. Let me know what you think.
Barrie.
 
It get's worse & definitely follows same pattern as others - injectors won't come out, replacement head not worth effort, & new engine looking like only viable option at something like £5000 with labour.

I'd be happy to join others wanting to take the issue to consumer watchdog of some kind - garage already suggested I get a solicitor to try to reclaim costs from Fiat as fault is down to technical failur, not to any lapse on my part. However it looks like others who have tried that route have not had any success.

Anybody other than Barrie interested in trying to form a united front?
 
Here'a another one.

Comiserations! My 2004 Ulysse had new cambelt at 72k which broke at 94k.

No obvious reason. Warranty company (reputable) not interested.

3 valves replaced. My friendly mechanic sensibly recommended we replace injectors while engine out (you can't replace them with engine in situ). Had to go to specialist place to have them removed from Aluminium head. Now discovered that Injectors cost £150 each - unless anyone knows where to get them cheaper. Nightmare!

Your garage can check if anything else is seized. I was advised that Pistons are pretty tough.

I'm beginning to wish I'd gone for a replacement engine. But did that on previous model of Ulysse - it never ran as well as original, but at least it gave me a fresh start.

Good luck
 
Badgered Fiat HQ by e-mail & phone until I got a response-

initially they insisted that it be taken to a Fiat dealer for dealing with but I insisted that: it was already in pieces to discover extent of damage;
it would need rebuilding before transporting;
that nearest dealer was over an hour away over the mountains;
current garage trade membership, MOT station etc.& had taken photos of work at all stages.

They have agreed that I send them all invoices, details etc. & have given me an official case no.

No guarantee of compensation of course, & I'm still waiting for genuine Fiat parts to arrive from Italy, but at least there is some recognition that there is a case to consider, so I'd urge anyone else in this situation to make a pest of themselves, to see if progress can be made.
 
Well you have inspired me , after just getting a new shape 04 ulysse,
loads of probs with emargecey mode ,and imision failure reports .ihad a mark 1 for 4 years from the same ex taxi co in london (addisonlee)
that problery why they change their whole fleet of 80 ulysse all in one go after
12 or so years with the ulysse for vw shrans/galexey
jay
 
Status Update(.... :eek: )


Hi All,

Thought I would post an update as "finally" got the Ulysse back today after getting replacement engine fitted. (eventually managed to locate a proper Fiat "4HW" engine ..(y))

However all is NOT WELL !! (n)

The garage who carried out the work apparently had a nightmare with the electrics (faults codes etc) and even ending up replacing a some sensors (or so they say!)


Anyway, the car still isn't running well, is reporting various error messages regarding "FAP", "Diesel Particle Filter Additive Level Low" etc etc.... and is running very low on power.


Garage is advising to run for a few days and then return for further assesment/investigation. :bang:

(they started mentioning somthing about a possible fault with the "throttle housing"... but sounded like they were just bullsh*tting for time to me)


Just thought I'd share my experiences with you all.... just in case anyone in similar position.

Basically, even if you do manage to find a proper Fiat "4HW" engine, doesn't necessarily mean all will be well once fitted :cry:.
 
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There's a Ulysse being broken on Ebay at the moment. Item number 360023361618. Might be worth ringing the guy to see what the engine is like?
Just thought I'd mention it?
 
Eventually got my Ulysse back after nearly 3 months to replace engine completely. Even using reconditioned block the whole job cost over £6000.
No blame attached to garage who did a good job sourcing parts.

Fiat considered the case for compensation, but guess what?

They decided they wouldn't contribute at all.

All I can say is that Fiat should not look forward to me purchasing any other vehicles from them, or recommending them in any way.

Seems that this engine has been a turkey from the start, based on all the experiences I have come across.

Best of luck to all others in similar positions
 
Hell

What a sorry set of stories. I bought a 2.2JTD 03 Ulysse last year as had the previous one which seemed OK.

It does seem to be a fiendishly complicated piece of kit and whilst I love the versatility of the beast stories like this bring me out in a cold sweat. Cam belt was changed 20K miles ago so new engine must be just around the corner????:(

Why don't all cars have chains instead of belts. My other cars do Cougar V6 (chain) Saab Turbo (chain). £6000 worth of damage(more than I paid for the car) because an elastic band snapped seems idiotic.(n)
 
Whooah...!!

I guess I should have looked here earlier: Looks like the mechs from my dealer have been posting queries !!!!!

My 2.2jtd's been in the shop for 8 weeks at the mo... guess what - snapped cambelt. Dealers cant get head off etc. the previous posts read just like my phone conversations ! Honestly guys you should be ashamed !!

Dont reckon I'm gonna get much joy out of mr Fiat: Ironic because I'd booked it in for an early cam belt change. If none of you is going to go to Top Gear after this I will !

I had two years of hell with my bus (after having an exemplar Mk1 for 6 years): following that I have lived with it's unsolved problems for 18 months: including 3 new RT3s, a complete rewiring (6 weeks) three new headlinings, 2 complete replacement tyre pressure sensors etc.... The only saving grace was the engine (until last month!!!) The only life affirming thing was that I somehow managed to get to the hard shoulder of teh M3 before I got killed !!! Everything shut down: at 70 (ish mph) ! Not good.

Seriously people I think we need to do something about this...
 
Seriously people I think we need to do something about this...

It may be worth contacting VOSA (http://www.vosa.gov.uk/) on 0870 6060440 and then ask for the Vehicle safety inspectors section. The following thread https://www.fiatforum.com/ulysse/116169-crankshaft-pulley-problems.html has an entry from me when I rang up about the known crankshaft pulley failures. As mentioned in the thread they will only take information from people who have actually had a problem. I would have thought just like the crankshaft pulley problem that a cambelt snapping just like that could be deemed as a safety issue and if enough people report it then they may investigate.

Lou
 
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Well I thought I'd better update you guys...
Here we are six months down the line and I'm just a week past Fiat giving me back my bus with it allegedly fixed (Not!) It's been back twice since.

I was lucky - they took the tech's point about premature component failure and gave me a new (recon ) engine - though they havent been able to give me the serial number yet..(DVLA seem to think I should be able to see it ???? )

Any road it has had new engine, injectors, FAP additive topped up @70k, clutch, control unit/fuse box, fly wheel, discs, pads etc. Though they did have no Connect Nav or ABs for six weeks until Fiat Technical came out and flicked the right software switch...(for which they tried to charge me !)

A week ago I got it back - it still has an annoying intermittent fault where it cuts out and loses power 2nd - 3rd gear at around 200-3,500 revs: wont go above 15 mph up hill, but you can coax it up to 50 down hill on the flat... annoyingly despite a 70 mile test run the dealers couldnt get the fault- though I managed it twice going just 3 miles down the road !

On nursing it in to the Dealers with the fault the tech insisted on getting it on the Examiner rather than comming with me and the memsahib for a drive... suprise suprise: no fault indicated !

It was a surreal "Computer says No !" moment.
They now have a £10/day admin fee for hire cars now: despite them having already exhausted my own 90 day courtesy car cover again this year: and possibly having to wait 4 weeks for fiat tech to come out (a £200 admin charge ?) they wouldnt give me a courtesy car (even Fiat UK couldnt get around that) so I had we had to walk home !! That's Customer Care for you....

A few hours later the Dealers rang to suggest it _might_ be the air flow control switch failing, that would be £116 to change (no labour) as it couldnt possibly be related to any of the previous faults on the vehicle !!! Naturally I was unwilling to fund their fault finding by substitution so I got on the blower again... Annoyingly Fiat UK didnt respond to my call until 2 days later and logged the call an hour later than it was made. Do they not think I'm logging all this for some horrendous laegal suit in the very near future ????

Any way after several manic and drawn out chats with Fiat UK, which included the dearest expressing her concern for my mental health they offered to continue the quest for a working vehicle (though they couldnt provide a courtesy car: so losing two days pay it's not exactly free !)

The most annpoying thing is that they raised it as a new case: they actually said " we have already fixed your car once." No ! Even after four years they still havent fixed it: even when they reset the one touch open on the sunroof last week it reset itself two days later.

So here we are now....

It should be back with me again tomorrow: so it you're around in Salford over the weekend and you get stuck behind some idiot in a silver/green Ulysse doing 15 Mph up hill for no apparent reason, or slowing from 70 to 20 mph without due cause, feel free to put in a call to the Fiat Dealers in Poole and help me share my frustration, of course six months without a car is completely reasonable - when you're going to get it fixed... if only !

Not even a mutter of an apology from anyone !
 
Hi got an 04 2.0jtd ulysses with broken cam belt as well they seem to be mostly 04 versions like to bring this to light as well you can talk to me on 07834393669
 
Latest Update... 7 months later !

New Engine & six new CU boxes: have now exceeded value of vehicle and 'Good will' limit of Fiat UK.

Still have intermittent rev cutting fault and now Depollution filter faulty light on (which I have paid to have done.)

It's been 7 months now and the last visit the Dealers even gave me the vehicle back saying that "they hadnt road tested it - I could do that" and earlier that it was "too dangerous to be on the road".

Unfotunately it looks like I'll have to take them to court now.

Also see my rant under - "cam belt jumping?" topic.

What a disaster !
 
The cam belt on my 2005 Fiat Ulysse 2.0 JTD 16V Auto went a few weeks ago and I guess I will need to look at getting a replacement engine.

Has anyone had any luck getting a replacement and fitted for an affordable amount?

Thanks
 
Did you all know that psa know about this problem .....it turns out to be water driping of the expansion bottle from rain snow and condenstion driping on the timing belt cover and on the belt into tiny cracks on the belt surface and rusting the metal braids and snaping it......
and stops the injectors corroding in the head
they now do a drip tray mod under the tank that flows the water away..
but fiat do not:bang:
 
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Sorry to hear all you guys with these problems, I am very happy with my 98 EL so much I was considering swapping for a newer 2.2JTD. I don't think I'll bother, after all its only my second car I do have another vehicle which is new.
 
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