Fiat Ducato Synchromesh (1 Viewer)

DanielFord

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Jun 1, 2013
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Today it was confirmed that the synchro ring on 3rd gear needs to be replaced. My van is a 2011, and I think this is a very small amount of time for such a failure, however reading around, it seems that the Fiat Ducato seems quite susceptible to this particular failure.
So my question is, how many people out there have had gearbox issues? And, is this perhaps something that Fiat should be addressing via a recall?
 
Dec 30, 2008
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Relative of mine has a 2007 Ducato, syncro on 2nd gear failed at 3,500 miles, he contacted fiat, they were not interested,
He contacted finance co and was given a sum toward the repairs.

Eric
 
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DanielFord

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Jun 1, 2013
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Relative of mine has a 2007 Ducato, syncro on 2nd gear failed at 3,500 miles, he contacted fiat, they were not interested,
He contacted finance co and was given a sum toward the repairs.

Eric
Should have mentioned, the dealer I bought it from has come to an arrangement with me to complete the repairs, so I am happy with that. But it does seem that the Ducato gearbox is very weak!

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Feb 9, 2008
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Ours is a 2008 130, having had a gearbox rebuild by Fiat at 5k we have since done another 40k with no problems. In fact the gearbox I find particularly smooth though I would like slightly different gearing on 1st and 2nd.
 

teensvan99

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May 17, 2015
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Glad I have the 2.2 which is the Ford engine. Been ok so far 14000 mils.

steve & ann. ----------- teensvan
 

MikeD

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I have a 2012 Ducato with around 17k miles and no problem so far (y)

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DanielFord

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Ours is a 2008 130, having had a gearbox rebuild by Fiat at 5k we have since done another 40k with no problems. In fact the gearbox I find particularly smooth though I would like slightly different gearing on 1st and 2nd.
I suspect ours will be fine after it has been rebuilt, it is annoying nonetheless!
 
Feb 9, 2008
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The box was rebuilt because of the reverse gear, I haven't heard of any weakness or premature failure on either Fiat, Peugeot or Citroën vans, all with the same build.
 
Aug 18, 2011
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Glad I have the 2.2 which is the Ford engine. Been ok so far 14000 mils.

steve & ann. ----------- teensvan
14 k,,,should be like new.Our old Trannies used to do 300000 with no gearbox or engine problems...BUSBY.

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Brian_K

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Well, if we are having a competition, do I win?

2015 Peugeot Boxer, 104 miles on the clock, probably needs a complete new gearbox (still under investigation).

Absolutely no oil in the gearbox at all, makes you wonder about Peugeot PDI procedures :worried:

Brian

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Aug 18, 2014
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Well, if we are having a competition, do I win?

2015 Peugeot Boxer, 104 miles on the clock, probably needs a complete new gearbox (still under investigation).

Absolutely no oil in the gearbox at all, makes you wonder about Peugeot PDI procedures :worried:

Brian
If it was mine & it actually had none in it then there wouldn't even be a discussion. I would not accept anything less than a complete new gearbox.
Unbelievable that it can actually happen.:(
 
Jun 23, 2011
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Today it was confirmed that the synchro ring on 3rd gear needs to be replaced. My van is a 2011,

I've got a 2011 2.3 Fiat, reverse is getting difficult to engage when cold, and 2nd, 3rd & 4th get baulky when hot, so your post is quite worrying! I think chances of Fiat doing a recall are nil, sadly!!

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Aug 6, 2013
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I've got a 2011 2.3 Fiat, reverse is getting difficult to engage when cold, and 2nd, 3rd & 4th get baulky when hot, so your post is quite worrying! I think chances of Fiat doing a recall are nil, sadly!!
If Reverse is noisy when trying to engage it & other gears are quiet but baulky it's the clutch that isn't clearing. If that's the case it's worth sorting the clutch quickly before it causes syncro problems in the gearbox.
 

Brian_K

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If it was mine & it actually had none in it then there wouldn't even be a discussion. I would not accept anything less than a complete new gearbox.
Unbelievable that it can actually happen.:(

Agreed. Just had word from the Peugeot dealer (who have been fantastic and kept me informed all the way - Richard Hardie, Ashington) and a new gearbox is going to be fitted next week.

That, along with a £700 bill from me for the hire of a vehicle to go to France last week, has made it an expensive couple of pints of oil for Peugeot.

Brian

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Jun 23, 2011
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If Reverse is noisy when trying to engage it & other gears are quiet but baulky it's the clutch that isn't clearing. If that's the case it's worth sorting the clutch quickly before it causes syncro problems in the gearbox.
Tony, thanks for your reply. Reverse isn't noisy, it just doesn't want to go in when cold, goes in fine when hot. 2nd, 3rd and 4th are the opposite, fine when cold, baulky when hot!
 

jonandshell

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There is synchromesh on some reverse gears too these days.
The clutch adjustment is still a valid line of investigation.
 

colinw

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Tony, thanks for your reply. Reverse isn't noisy, it just doesn't want to go in when cold, goes in fine when hot. 2nd, 3rd and 4th are the opposite, fine when cold, baulky when hot!
Have you had the gearbox oil changed ?
I only ask as a Renault trafic I had a new clutch on had the wrong oil put in by a non Renault garage . reverse gear had to be forced in and the lower gears crunched . took some head scratching until we found the answer .
Good luck .

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Neil Ric Tic

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Nov 11, 2014
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We have a 13 plate Ducato.......Synchro on 4th is weak and has been since about 2500 miles.........not impressed.
 

TerryL

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2007 2.3 Ducato with 60,000 miles on original gearbox, no mods (even the infamous reverse judder). No problems, lovely smooth box.

I feel for those who are suffering problems, and agree it shouldn't happen, but would respectfully suggest that they are probably only a tiny proportion of the number of Fiat Ducatos there are on the roads, especially White Van Man who couldn't give a damn about his gearbox.
 
Feb 18, 2010
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Had 3rd and 4th synchro replaced on a 2008 2.3 Ducato with only 28000 miles , it was crunching badly into 4th gear ,
Can’t understand why it would fail after so few miles , contacted fiat professional,and they were no help at all

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Aug 30, 2021
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Our 2001 Ducato we bought 2 years ago, 40000 miles on the clock and had just had a reconditioned gear box fitted, this lasted for 100 miles and the casing split. another box was fitted this lated 9 month abot 8000 miles when it would not go into 2nd or reverse, Box was reconditiond but was out of warrenty so cost quite a bit, this lasted 15 months as i am now starting to get a crunch when going into 2nd or reverse, Happy days
 

Steve N Tracy

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Short shift gearbox, people keep their hand on the gear lever, and then the selector forks wears causing these issues, we used to have same problem on Hillman Imps.
 

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