Joined the Comfortmatic failure club (7 Viewers)

[Dutch 68]

My Dutch is nicht so gooden, but don't the Comformatics use the same clutch as the manuals ?

Niet zo goed ? Het is een hele gemakkelijke taal om te leren

 

[Lenny HB]

Get real guys the amount of Comformatic failures reported on Motorhome forums is miniscual compared to the amount that have been made. They were in production for 13 years.

The new 9 speed is not without it's share of problems and that is not even made by Fiat.

 

[MichaelT]

Get real guys the amount of Comformatic failures reported on Motorhome forums is miniscual compared to the amount that have been made. They were in production for 13 years.

The new 9 speed is not without it's share of problems and that is not even made by Fiat.

Agree Lenny HB the problem with forums or review sites is generally you only hear the complaints.

I do wonder if its maybe lack of usage and seals dry or seize up or something that cause these issues but who knows. They are designed to be used for 10 hours a day not sitting on a driveway or camp site.

 

[dunnah01]

Get real guys the amount of Comformatic failures reported on Motorhome forums is miniscual compared to the amount that have been made. They were in production for 13 years.

The new 9 speed is not without it's share of problems and that is not even made by Fiat.

And many seem to be regular clutch failures but blaming the Comfortmatic gear change system

 

[CazPaul]

But I know a company that had a fleet of them(30)and got rid saying they were nothing but a total expensive,unreliable , complicated pain.
Even if there was another 50 posts a week on here saying they’ve broken down some would still be saying” it’s just a small amount they’re great, look at the numbers etc”

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[jongood]

By efficient I assume you mean mpg ?

Years ago when auto gearboxes were 3 or 4sp at best that was maybe so, but a modern electronic controlled 9sp auto is way more efficient than any 5/6sp manual, for some reason the UK has a love of manual gearboxes, people seem to think you have more 'control' and they use less fuel, this is simple not true (fact not just my view)
A modern 9sp auto can change gear to correctly match torque and load against optimum performance and fuel efficiency way better than a human can.

I'll await the incoming !!!

I would agree for an A to B car, but not for heavier vehicles. I've driven a lot of commercial manumatics and where they fall down are the things they can't see, like the approaching hill, they also dont like quick changes of pace, like a sudden gap at a roundabout etc. The big thing in their favour is that they are harder to abuse by careless drivers apart from - apparently- the comfortmatic which seems to fail on a regular basis. Its way past time Fiat dealt with this and stopped trying to cut corners.

Tbf this is not helped by the standard of many Mhers driving. Campsites used to be pervaded by the smell of burning clutches while people tried to get on plastic ramps at 4000rpm, these days its spinning tyres.

 

[Lenny HB]

But I know a company that had a fleet of them(30)and got rid saying they were nothing but a total expensive,unreliable , complicated pain.

I can understand that on a fleet, loads of different drivers just flooring them driving like white van man also I bet the clutch fulid & clutch recalibration wasn't carried out regularly.

They are not the best combination but treated sensibly they work.

 

[CazPaul]

I can understand that on a fleet, loads of different drivers just flooring them driving like white van man also I bet the clutch fulid & clutch recalibration wasn't carried out regularly.

They are not the best combination but treated sensibly they work.

Yes you may be right he never said about the maintenance or how they were driven just they were so unreliable.

 

[gus-lopez]

I've posted before about when I was looking for a van to convert in 2018 I came across a extra long wheel base ducato , full height every extra possible to have including the comfortomatic box,full fiat service history , exactly 4 years old & at least 10k euros under the going rate.Probably more like 15.
trawled through an extremely detailed , especially for the spanish, advert looking for why it was so cheap .then found the 889,000kms .that alone wouldn't have put me off as it was all mway ,valencia to madrid but combined with the box I passed.

 

[Lenny HB]

cheap .then found the 889,000kms

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[ChrisL]

I've posted before about when I was looking for a van to convert in 2018 I came across a extra long wheel base ducato , full height every extra possible to have including the comfortomatic box,full fiat service history , exactly 4 years old & at least 10k euros under the going rate.Probably more like 15.
trawled through an extremely detailed , especially for the spanish, advert looking for why it was so cheap .then found the 889,000kms .that alone wouldn't have put me off as it was all mway ,valencia to madrid but combined with the box I passed.

Did it mention how many new gearboxes it had.

 

[poisondwarf]

I've posted before about when I was looking for a van to convert in 2018 I came across a extra long wheel base ducato , full height every extra possible to have including the comfortomatic box,full fiat service history , exactly 4 years old & at least 10k euros under the going rate.Probably more like 15.
trawled through an extremely detailed , especially for the spanish, advert looking for why it was so cheap .then found the 889,000kms .that alone wouldn't have put me off as it was all mway ,valencia to madrid but combined with the box I passed.

Crikey, well over half a million miles.

The most I have done in a 3 year period was 245000. Mercedes Vito from new.
6 speed manual gearbox with no issues whatsoever.

Older and wiser now. Much happier covering around 30000 miles a year these days.

 

[bubble63]

It’s a fair point that people only post when they are faced with a bad situation but that rule applies to manuals and 9speeds as well as comfortmatics, and there seem to be more negative comments about comfortmatics than any other

 

[ChrisL]

There must be a few on here that have Mercedes automatic motorhomes, how many have experienced issues and were those just the sprintshift or has anyone experienced issues with a Merc torque converter gearbox?

 

[MichaelT]

There must be a few on here that have Mercedes automatic motorhomes, how many have experienced issues and were those just the sprintshift or has anyone experienced issues with a Merc torque converter gearbox?

I would say that 9 out of 10 are on fiat bases but happy to be disproved.

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[Steve-N]

Agree Lenny HB the problem with forums or review sites is generally you only hear the complaints.

I do wonder if its maybe lack of usage and seals dry or seize up or something that cause these issues but who knows. They are designed to be used for 10 hours a day not sitting on a driveway or camp site.

The new Fiat auto is a 9 speed ZF box; proper auto and an absolute dream to drive according to those who have one.

Next van will almost certainly have this option

Having had a Comfortmatic (which broke down at 10,800 mls, and would have set me back almost £4k had Fiat not honored the warranty that was 4 mths expired) I can 100% vouch for the 9sp auto version (which we got this March after a painful 14 mth wait)

It drives to a totally different standard, in a word its superb, no slamming into a low gear as soon as you touch the brakes on a downhill, or hesitating to change down on a uphill and then thumping down a gear only to immediately change up again !!!

The 'series 8' Fiat is also so much better in several other aspects too, nicer dash, door cards loads better, steering so so nicer, and they've also tweaked the suspension, it deals with the UK roads in a more refined way.
Maybe I was unlucky, but I would not recommend the 6sp comfort-matic to anyone (although I sure there are many that have had no issues and their owners love)

Steve.

 

[Smudger55]

I suppose we, I complain about the Fiat comformatic /clutch/gearbox (apologies for my non mechanical brain) because it has gone wrong within an expensive MHome having only done 19,500 miles following an expensive Fiat repair for a Limp mode problem within a year of each other. IMHO its not fit for purpose, your dream of enjoying life on the road is shattered.

We bought the MHome with Fiat ducato chassis never ever thinking these problems would occur, why would we. We can only go by our experiences of owning cars and would assume, wrongly in this case, that there should be longevity and pleasure, accepting wear and tear, in owning a MHome.

Sorry but it's crap and for those of us without the mechanical know how your left wondering how to overcome this huge financial burden and carry on MHoming. Not sure we will.

 

[Smudger55]

Sorry just had a rant, however we have cut our holiday short further to our clutch problem and leap frogging home. Currently at Bay View Bolton-le-sands and hope to drive home on Monday.

The repair though, provided we don't breakdown, the current stressful worry is where to go.

Exeter Fiat do not take our length of MHome, previous centre in Holsworthy are no longer a Fiat Service centre. I have been in touch with Adams Morey in Southampton who sound very knowledgeable but you then wonder if the cost is just going to get out of control. It's a trek to Southampton, management probably will have to follow in the car and MHome will have to be left their.

I feel I need to stay with a Fiat Service centre as I will be seeking recompense from Fiat.

Anyway we've got to get home yet without breaking down, fingers crossed.

 

[Dutch 68]

Sorry just had a rant, however we have cut our holiday short further to our clutch problem and leap frogging home. Currently at Bay View Bolton-le-sands and hope to drive home on Monday.

The repair though, provided we don't breakdown, the current stressful worry is where to go.

Exeter Fiat do not take our length of MHome, previous centre in Holsworthy are no longer a Fiat Service centre. I have been in touch with Adams Morey in Southampton who sound very knowledgeable but you then wonder if the cost is just going to get out of control. It's a trek to Southampton, management probably will have to follow in the car and MHome will have to be left their.

I feel I need to stay with a Fiat Service centre as I will be seeking recompense from Fiat.

Anyway we've got to get home yet without breaking down, fingers crossed.

It is well worth travelling to a place you can trust, as you spend a fair amount of cash on the repair distance shouldn’t be of issue, too many cowboys out their with no knowledge, get it done properly the first time so it will last and you can enjoy your motorhome once again without worry

 

[dunnah01]

For all the white noise around Comfortmatic failures I can only think of two reported failures on here of a component. One was a cracked solenoid casing and one a seal failure in the Master/Slave unit, although even these may be questionable diagnoses. All the other failures seem to be the regular clutch parts failure or an electrical gremlin exacerbated by poor knowledge or training of mechanics/fitters.

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[Pausim]

For all the white noise around Comfortmatic failures I can only think of two reported failures on here of a component. One was a cracked solenoid casing and one a seal failure in the Master/Slave unit, although even these may be questionable diagnoses. All the other failures seem to be the regular clutch parts failure or an electrical gremlin exacerbated by poor knowledge or training of mechanics/fitters.

My only Comfortmatic breakdown was as you suggest an electrical gremlin, caused by chaffing. It wasn’t even Fiat’s fault, Carthago paid the Fiat repair bill. The same fault would have caused a breakdown on any automatic whether robotised or torque converter.

 

[Ditcha]

Sorry just had a rant, however we have cut our holiday short further to our clutch problem and leap frogging home. Currently at Bay View Bolton-le-sands and hope to drive home on Monday.

The repair though, provided we don't breakdown, the current stressful worry is where to go.

Exeter Fiat do not take our length of MHome, previous centre in Holsworthy are no longer a Fiat Service centre. I have been in touch with Adams Morey in Southampton who sound very knowledgeable but you then wonder if the cost is just going to get out of control. It's a trek to Southampton, management probably will have to follow in the car and MHome will have to be left their.

I feel I need to stay with a Fiat Service centre as I will be seeking recompense from Fiat.

Anyway we've got to get home yet without breaking down, fingers crossed.

I wouldn't buy a comfortmatic now I would rather have a manual if that was the choice just wouldn't feel comfortable going abroad etc in it would be stressful, but that also goes for the sprintshift and agile gearbox to.

 

[Al n Val]

I had a comformatic box on our Fiat for 3 years with no issues whatsoever, our son has had his 5 years, once again no issues.

You only hear about the negatives and rarely the positives

 

[L' Hobo]

As there is no clutch fluid change on ANY manual Fiat service schedule (brake fluid,yes) and Fiat seems to think that the gearbox oil will last the lifetime of the manual vehicle, do you think this optimism also extends to the Comfortmatic gearbox?
I changed my gearbox oil 2yrs ago and it was a much smoother gear change after. I will be doing it again next year.
Perhaps an gearbox oil change would benefit the Comfortmatic box?

 

[Fragle]

I had a comformatic box on our Fiat for 3 years with no issues whatsoever, our son has had his 5 years, once again no issues.

You only hear about the negatives and rarely the positives

I have said before and we have a Comformatic.

Driving style will make a big difference to how you enjoy a Comformatic. It's not fully auto and needs to be driven at a more relaxed pace. It then performs impeccably.

Our first time in the mountains I did wonder what we had done and expected better from the gearbox. A better understanding of the system and a simple change of driving style has made all the difference.

This year in the Picos de Europa. Captain slow mode was employed.

I really enjoyed the driving with the Comformatic. Up and down hills given time to think the performance and fuel economy were excellent and a pleasure to drive.

Driven in the style of a modern car won't work with this system and I wonder how many issues are raised by confusion/expectation

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[Smudger55]

As there is no clutch fluid change on ANY manual Fiat service schedule (brake fluid,yes) and Fiat seems to think that the gearbox oil will last the lifetime of the manual vehicle, do you think this optimism also extends to the Comfortmatic gearbox?
I changed my gearbox oil 2yrs ago and it was a much smoother gear change after. I will be doing it again next year.
Perhaps an gearbox oil change would benefit the Comfortmatic box?

Our gearbox oil was OK and have been assured it didn't require changing at this point.

 

[Smudger55]

I have said before and we have a Comformatic.

Driving style will make a big difference to how you enjoy a Comformatic. It's not fully auto and needs to be driven at a more relaxed pace. It then performs impeccably.

Our first time in the mountains I did wonder what we had done and expected better from the gearbox. A better understanding of the system and a simple change of driving style has made all the difference.

This year in the Picos de Europa. Captain slow mode was employed.

I really enjoyed the driving with the Comformatic. Up and down hills given time to think the performance and fuel economy were excellent and a pleasure to drive.

Driven in the style of a modern car won't work with this system and I wonder how many issues are raised by confusion/expectation

The reasonable expectations are that you buy a vehicle fit for purpose, why wouldn't you?

 

[Smudger55]

Sorry but this has really got to me. If you drive at a relaxed pace you, in our experience, could encounter emission problems as we did last September with Limp mode loss of power resulting in £6k bill. Advice from that was to in effect "burn" the soot by driving in 3/4th gear at high revs for a while. You can't win

 

[L' Hobo]

Our gearbox oil was OK and have been assured it didn't require changing at this point.

That maybe true, but as I say, Fiat believes that the oil will last 'the life of the vehicle'.
I disagree and to eliminate any risk of ingress of particles etc, I would want it changed.
Good luck!

 

[Larrynwin]

Statistics on the number of Comfortmatic failures and numbers in use would be more useful than continued individual opinions putting comfortmatic owners on edge, perhaps unnecessarily.
Yes there are a handful of owners on this forum that have been unfortunate but just how big or small is the failure rate.

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