Ducato engine/gearbox given up in France. (1 Viewer)

[Mixyblob]

Our 2014 Ducato based Globecar Campscout ground to a halt yesterday halfway through our tour of France.
It suddenly lost power, accompanied by some weird noises from the engine and gearbox area along with a dashboard that lit up like a 70s disco.
Attempting to restart it resulted in a "donk" as the starter motor tried to turn unsuccessfully.
The vehicle will roll ok as we found out later when recovered by a low loader.
We are luckily now parked at a private aire, awaiting our breakdown company to deliver us to the nearest Fiat garage in Albi once France wakes up after the weekend.
The van has done 22000 miles and had a full service, MOT and timing belt change just before our trip.
No external signs of damage, no leaks, smells or anything obvious.
We were just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience of if any mechanical experts might have a guess as to whats occured, pending a very expensive bill from Fiat.

 

[chaser]

Could be anything but having a cambelt change just before going is a bit suspicious, was it all done correctly?

 

[Jamesh]

Starter solenoid???

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[chaser]

Starter solenoid???

Wouldn't have thought the starter made it stop in the first place.

 

[Podney]

I discovered years ago that having a vehicle serviced just before you go away is the kiss of death! Sid’s law says they will codge something up. Bad enough if not far from home,but very inconvenient if abroad.

I hope that you get it sorted soon so that your journey can continue.

 

[Mixyblob]

Could be anything but having a cambelt change just before going is a bit suspicious, was it all done correctly?

Does sound a bit suspicious to me too, no way of telling until the mechs get their hands on it

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[Emmit]

Obviously I (and you) have no idea what the prognosis is but
is seems like the power train has become seriously faulty.
From being on here a fair few number of years it seems to be
the rule that our french cousins will have your pants down when
it comes to a repair. I'm not saying that they will be unprofessional
but anecdotal evidence suggests that they will charge you for X amount
of days to do the job but they only work a short day.

Time and time again funsters have reported being charged way more than
they would in the UK.
If I were you I would push hard to get your pride and joy repatriated
back to the UK.

 

[chaser]

I discovered years ago that having a vehicle serviced just before you go away is the kiss of death! Sid’s law says they will codge something up. Bad enough if not far from home,but very inconvenient if abroad.

I hope that you get it sorted soon so that your journey can continue.

That is very true, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, has been my feeling all my life.

 

[DumfriesDik]

What a nightmare for you. I hope you can get it sorted without too much hassle, and money.

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[Lofty1]

Did it have the water pump renewed when the cam belt was changed

 

[Mixyblob]

Obviously I (and you) have no idea what the prognosis is but
is seems like the power train has become seriously faulty.
From being on here a fair few number of years it seems to be
the rule that our french cousins will have your pants down when
it comes to a repair. I'm not saying that they will be unprofessional
but anecdotal evidence suggests that they will charge you for X amount
of days to do the job but they only work a short day.

Time and time again funsters have reported being charged way more than
they would in the UK.
If I were you I would push hard to get your pride and joy repatriated
back to the UK.

We have firt hand experience of the French way of charging for vehicle repairs, from one of our previous Iveco vans.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

I discovered years ago that having a vehicle serviced just before you go away is the kiss of death! Sid’s law says they will codge something up. Bad enough if not far from home,but very inconvenient if abroad.

I hope that you get it sorted soon so that your journey can continue.

Who is "Sid"……?

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[Lenny HB]

Hope it's not to serious but does sound like a cambelt jumped or gone to me.
yodeli Frankie may be able to help when talking to the garage.

 

[sonar]

I discovered years ago that having a vehicle serviced just before you go away is the kiss of death! Sid’s law says they will codge something up. Bad enough if not far from home,but very inconvenient if abroad.

I hope that you get it sorted soon so that your journey can continue.

That’s why after every service or any major works are carried out on either a car or in this case a Moho we always flit about for a weekend Local . For three days or more at a time before any trips . Just in case.

local help if something does go wrong ….…

 

[Podney]

Who is "Sid"……?

Sods cousin

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[yodeli]

Hi!
Tell me where you are exactly, address or may be coordinates (I'm not very good with the last one but will try!), and/or where you found a garage next to you with all the details.
Also have you got an insurance covering the towing?
I will get in touch with the said garage as soon as opened. Could be on monday or tuesday depending if they usually open on saturdays or not.
I'll send you my mobile phone number to get easily in touch with me
Only texting please as with little ones screaming around me I won't get more than a few words!
Also mobile is on silence from 1.15 to 4.15 (nap time for the little ones)
We'll get you sorted, no problem!

 

[yodeli]

Obviously I (and you) have no idea what the prognosis is but
is seems like the power train has become seriously faulty.
From being on here a fair few number of years it seems to be
the rule that our french cousins will have your pants down when
it comes to a repair. I'm not saying that they will be unprofessional
but anecdotal evidence suggests that they will charge you for X amount
of days to do the job but they only work a short day.

Time and time again funsters have reported being charged way more than
they would in the UK.
If I were you I would push hard to get your pride and joy repatriated
back to the UK.

From my own experience, not with me in the way!
I'm very able to leave a very french and detterent review!
Of course sometimes , funsters think they can cope and talk to the mechanic their way.....

 

[Mixyblob]

That’s why after every service or any major works are carried out on either a car or in this case a Moho we always flit about for a weekend Local . For three days or more at a time before any trips . Just in case.

local help if something does go wrong ….…

Just as we did, including a couple of thousand km in France before it happened.

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[pappajohn]

It suddenly lost power, accompanied by some weird noises from the engine and gearbox area along with a dashboard that lit up like a 70s disco.

Did the noise only occurs while slowing to a halt after losing power then stop making noise?

Yes?

Cambelt snapped. The noise you heard was the pistons knocking hell out of the valves
Probably severe damage to pistons and cylinder head.

 

[Guigsy]

If it clanks when trying to turn it over, but is still rolling in neutral, then it's unlikely to be the gearbox. Running out of oil or water or having a pump failure would probably given you at least some warning.

As Lenny HB and pappajohn said, a cambelt issue seems more likely. Maybe in the service they've not torqued something up properly and it's come loose after a few days? If so, the cambelt could have slipped or broken and it's lost timing. So now the valves have been mushed against the tops of the pistons. A very expensive failure. Sorry.

 

[Mixyblob]

We were doing about 60kph on a flat road, sudden loss of power, lots of unusual noise from the oily end of the van and an awful lot of dash warning lights. Engine wont turn over, so, as a lot of people are surmising, snapped/slipped belt?
At least we might have some redress against the garage who did the work, assuming, of course, it is cambelt related.

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[Coolcats]

Wouldn't have thought the starter made it stop in the first place.

Russian Diesel?

 

[Guigsy]

We were doing about 60kph on a flat road, sudden loss of power, lots of unusual noise from the oily end of the van and an awful lot of dash warning lights. Engine wont turn over, so, as a lot of people are surmising, snapped/slipped belt.
At least we might have some redress against the garage who did the work, assuming, of course, it is cambelt related.

It could be an idler or tensioner has just worked loose because they didn't tighten it up properly. So the cambelt is still on there, just it didn't have enough tension and its been allowed to slip on the timing gears. So the belt might be a bit floppy, but they'll have to check the timing marks to be sure.

Another much less likely failure is something has given up at the bottom end of the engine. Such as a rod bearing failure or a crank bearing failure. This is normally caused by oil starvation. If there's still oil in it, it's unlikely to be that unless they put totally the wrong type of oil in it. Oil will look like it's got glitter in it from bits of mashed up bearings. But a bottom end failure would also lock up the engine and cause similar symptoms.

 

[PhilandMena]

Why was the cam belt changed ? 2014 and 22000 miles?

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[Jamesh]

Wouldn't have thought the starter made it stop in the first place.

Good point!

 

[Mixyblob]

Why was the cam belt changed ? 2014 and 22000 miles?

Because its 8 years old, made of rubber and I wanted it changed.

 

[The Old Man]

Who is "Sid"……?

Sid

"We're going to stop this thing, and you'll get married, bada bing, bada boom! Well not boom. Forget I said boom." ―Sid determine that the herd can stop the asteroid.[src] Sidney, known more commonly as Sid, is a ground sloth who was part of a herd of different animals after a number of...

iceage.fandom.com

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[PhilandMena]

Further to my last, if it does indeed prove to be a failed cambelt, I would ask the garage to take pictures when they strip down the engine and give the cambelt a thourough examination to confirm it is a new one.
Cam belt change on Fiat is every 5 years so I can't get my head round why yours was only just changed. We're you advised to have it changed by the garage that did your service? As you say, you have done a few thousand Ks since it was changed so perhaps its not the cambelt at all.It will be interesting to know what the actual cause of failure is and perhaps this is dsonething you would consider posting on here as all too often members do not follow through with information leaving interested members in the dark. I do hope it's not a catastrophic failure.

 

[Diabalo]

Changing an 8 year old belt is the right thing to do.

Hope you get sorted.

 

[Mixyblob]

It could be an idler or tensioner has just worked loose because they didn't tighten it up properly. So the cambelt is still on there, just it didn't have enough tension and its been allowed to slip on the timing gears. So the belt might be a bit floppy, but they'll have to check the timing marks to be sure.

Another much less likely failure is something has given up at the bottom end of the engine. Such as a rod bearing failure or a crank bearing failure. This is normally caused by oil starvation. If there's still oil in it, it's unlikely to be that unless they put totally the wrong type of oil in it. Oil will look like it's got glitter in it from bits of mashed up bearings. But a bottom end failure would also lock up the engine and cause similar symptoms.

Cheers Guigsy, you really know how to make a poor man feel poorer

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