Is this the end? (1 Viewer)

[DumfriesDik]

I feel like I have had a punch in the guts.

In September, our trip to Ireland was cut short due to the Fiat Comfortmatic gearbox unable to select 6th gear.

The Carlisle NEVAT have so far proved to be not as on the ball as I would have liked. I have spoken with the poor receptionist and she tells me the work is likely to cost in excess of £3500. WTF? The engineer is always out or not available.

So, it is official, the worst auto box of all time is the Fiat Comfortmatic.

For what it's worth DTC Codes are P2915-72 and P2919-64.

 

[jockaneezer]

I've not had much to do with them for repairs, but their Iveco parts are always too expensive. A gear lever assembly from them was nearly £200, I got one from Coastal Motorhomes for £69.
I wish I could recommend you someone else in the area cos £3.5k for a gearbox repair is ludicrous, they're obviously just thinking of replacing the complete box by the sound of it ?

 

[Spriddler]

I don't know them but there are some Reviews here if you can trust Reviews:

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[RandallC]

The hydraulic actuator/gear selector pack for the gearbox was quoted to a friend at £2,500 4 years ago. That's not including fitting.

 

[Ian Bosman]

I've not had much to do with them for repairs, but their Iveco parts are always too expensive. A gear lever assembly from them was nearly £200, I got one from Coastal Motorhomes for £69.
I wish I could recommend you someone else in the area cos £3.5k for a gearbox repair is ludicrous, they're obviously just thinking of replacing the complete box by the sound of it ?

My son has VW seven speed car automatic. The 8 speed is very reliable but the 7 speed uses effectively two gear boxes, one for the odds and the other for the evens, I gather. He was charge about £3.5 when it went wrong.

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[1967bowesj]

Get another garage, you can pick up a refurbished box for a third of what they asking

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I have no links to seller just first one on a search.

 

[dunnah01]

It's not the gearbox that's usually the problem, it's the garage's lack of knowledge. Get them to enable clutch auto adjust and off ya go. If they say ? then point proven, if they say already done or couldn't find a straight stretch of road then fair doos there may be something mechanically wrong.

 

[Landy Andy]

Put a manual box in.

 

[CazPaul]

Put a manual box in.

I don’t know if it’s possible but sounds a great idea to me.

 

[Hagstrom]

We've just had our Comfortmatic gearbox repaired under warranty by NET&V (York). They have service and repair contracts with public authority vehicles and handle lots of Ducato ambulances etc. They are FIAT Professional workshops and I believe they are best placed to sort your problem but I understand they are very expensive going by their quote of £324 incl VAT for an oil and filter change.
Ours apparently needed a new flywheel and clutch which is about 2 days work. However, because they prioritise non-warranty work, (FIAT pays them less?) it took them 10 weeks to get around to the repair.

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[Just smiffy]

Too many threads lately about the comfortmatic going wrong, a fiat with this gearbox is now bottom of my search for another van/motorhome ..

 

[Wanderlust]

A bit of a trek for you but I had a very poor experience with NE iveco dealers, try a call to the Billingham dealer, same company but the difference in customer service is chalk and cheese, I know of at least 2 HGV recovery companies who won't reccomend breakdown recovery to the Newcastle-upon-Tyne branch.

 

[DumfriesDik]

Thanks for all your support everyone. I am just not used to this kind of stuff and it really did come as a shock. I will have to sell my Sunday Drive (Z4) to pay for it. Such is life, could be worse, could live in Ukraine, poor sods.

As for converting to manual, I need automatic due to disability.

Never having a comfortmatic anything again.

 

[bobnick]

So many report issues with this auto box.
What is considered the BEST auto box in which vehicle chassis.?

 

[WESTY66]

So many report issues with this auto box.
What is considered the BEST auto box in which vehicle chassis.?

Great question, but on the comfortmatic, I would bet there’s at least 75% of them that have no problems at all, I know a kid with a 3.0L comfortmatic work van that’s done 250k miles and never had a spanner on it other than servicing and consumables.

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[bobnick]

Great question, but on the comfortmatic, I would bet there’s at least 75% of them that have no problems at all, I know a kid with a 3.0L comfortmatic work van that’s done 250k miles and never had a spanner on it other than servicing and consumables.

We rented a RV in Aussy with this auto box. It was propper crap. Didn't know what gear it should be in, searching for gears all the time.

 

[poppycamper]

Great question, but on the comfortmatic, I would bet there’s at least 75% of them that have no problems at all, I know a kid with a 3.0L comfortmatic work van that’s done 250k miles and never had a spanner on it other than servicing and consumables.

75% no problems means 25%with problems.
How many 1000's of these have been made.
So 25%of that, IMO is far too many.
To put it in context, if you own a comfortmatic you have a 1in4 chance of having a duff one.
Not very good odds !

 

[WESTY66]

75% no problems means 25%with problems.
How many 1000's of these have been made.
So 25%of that, IMO is far too many.
To put it in context, if you own a comfortmatic you have a 1in4 chance of having a duff one.
Not very good odds !

My carthago has a comfortmatic, (42k miles so far) my sonic before had a comfortmatic, (17k miles) both coupled up to a 3.0L engine with zero problems on either. The 75% was a guess, could be more could be less but you only hear about this box when people have problems with it.
If the 25% figure is right, out of that there could be 5% with genuine problems like the OP and possibly 20% not driving it correctly or trying to drive it like a true auto box! It is a crude box, and can’t be rushed, it is what it is, I drive mine like I drove the old Cat 771 dumptruck we used to have at work, it pretty much drives the same

 

[L' Hobo]

I know nothing about Comfortmatic boxes but, in my x250 Ducato, there is not much ratio difference between my 5th & 6th gear. Cannot it not be held in 5th and used until an exchange box can be sourced at a decent price?

 

[dunnah01]

The comfortmatic will always be slightly more efficient than any of the true slush boxes so I'm sticking with mine, especially as all the problems of 'gear not available' and limp modes have now been sorted for just a few minutes of my time. How garages and dealers can get away with charging £1000's to fit a new box and selespeed actuator when not required is bordering on criminal

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[Grianan]

I think Manxcat had problems with his Comfortmatic gear box and needed recovering from France. Not sure it’s fixed yet but he may share experience with OP?

 

[Bubba]

My carthago has a comfortmatic, (42k miles so far) my sonic before had a comfortmatic, (17k miles) both coupled up to a 3.0L engine with zero problems on either. The 75% was a guess, could be more could be less but you only hear about this box when people have problems with it.
If the 25% figure is right, out of that there could be 5% with genuine problems like the OP and possibly 20% not driving it correctly or trying to drive it like a true auto box! It is a crude box, and can’t be rushed, it is what it is, I drive mine like I drove the old Cat 771 dumptruck we used to have at work, it pretty much drives the same
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Oh come on Westy. Still carrying around that photo of a lost love. Let it go, she's not coming back after all this time.

 

[Scotch mist]

I had to change a brand new deathless due to comformattic, used the MoHo twice , twice breakdown
both times in France , f####n piece of shit , regardless of reliability it is a horrible box to use , biggest problem is very few people have good knowledge of how to fix them so just change the hole mechanism at our cost , good garages avoid repairing as fiat don’t pay well ,we couldn’t risk keeping the MoHo , I felt it was cheaper to cut our losses & get a new MoHo with the new ZF9 auto which is awesome

 

[WESTY66]

Oh come on Westy. Still carrying around that photo of a lost love. Let it go, she's not coming back after all this time.

No she’s not, she’s still grafting in Egypt, she was better than that pile of s##t that replaced it but hey ho!

I still think it’s the nearest thing I’ve driven that resembles the comfortmatic gearbox. As I’ve said I have the comfortmatic in my moho, but I’d be scared to death of having an agile that’s fitter to the Iveco!
Different boxs, same principle, same/different fears

 

[WESTY66]

biggest problem is very few people have good knowledge of how to fix them.

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head

And/or set them up/calibrate them properly

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[SpeedyDux]

How about a poll of Funsters who have or have had ComfortMatic gearboxes? Or a spreadsheet?

We would need to have categories for the X250 and X290 vans and their engines. MTPLM and mileage too. We need to know whether the problem was diagnosed properly as due to the ECU, or actuators / hydraulics, or clutch / dual mass flywheel failure. The latter being an isolated problem with some MHers with 6 speed manual gearboxes.

I feel sorry for the unlucky owners who have posted about their problems and the apparent inability of some Fiat workshops to diagnose and fix the issues quickly and relatively cheaply. Including the set-up and calibration procedure being applied incompetently as WESTY66 said. These are sorry tales of woe, but a figure such as 25% is only speculation or guesswork.

My concern is that this kind of anecdotal experience is giving rise to a general phobia about ComfortMatics that will hit residual values for those who have reliable ones. Dealers will grab any excuse to mark down trade-ins.

 

[poppycamper]

I had to change a brand new deathless due to comformattic, used the MoHo twice , twice breakdown
both times in France , f####n piece of shit , regardless of reliability it is a horrible box to use , biggest problem is very few people have good knowledge of how to fix them so just change the hole mechanism at our cost , good garages avoid repairing as fiat don’t pay well ,we couldn’t risk keeping the MoHo , I felt it was cheaper to cut our losses & get a new MoHo with the new ZF9 auto which is awesome


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That's good photo on back o truck Scotch mist . Surprised front wheel of truck still on road!

 

[Wildbill]

As long as I can push a clutch I will drive a manual.
I don't ever see me getting a comformatic driven vehicle even in a gift
But why do folks have so much problem's with them.
Bill

 

[Landy Andy]

The nice thing with a stick shift is you can still drive it if an issue occurs. This is an option if the auto poops it’s self.

 

[1967bowesj]

As long as I can push a clutch I will drive a manual.
I don't ever see me getting a comformatic driven vehicle even in a gift
But why do folks have so much problem's with them.
Bill

Bill, people drive them like a true liquid auto. They are nothing like one.
You have to drive them as they are, a electronic gear change!
Strangley enough certain parts of the pfa group call these boxes just that. If the box isn’t changing correctly for you, use the manual selector.
No with the 3.0 but with the same tech box I covered well over 100k and drove it very quick, but I used the flappy paddles that mine had.
Remember these box’s haven’t had much change in ages that’s why people think the zf box is so good- it’s a different type

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