N/S Front Driveshaft Replacement - Fiat Rip Off (1 Viewer)

JockandRita

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 2, 2007
11,402
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Lincs/Cambs border
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49
MH
N+B Flair 8000i
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Since May 05 (Ex Tuggers).
Hi all,

Having noticed a sort of gentle knocking from the N/S front of the MH, when slowing down at junctions and roundabouts, etc, accompanied by a sharp pull to the left when driving away from a standing start, I suspected either the driveshaft, or the CV joint to be faulty.

As I don't have the right heavy gear for the job, my pal from Royal Mail Workshops who does most of the mechanical maintenance on the MH for me, obliged once again.
Fiat Commercial (Ford & Slater) wanted just short of £300 for a new CV Joint, or £720 for a new complete driveshaft. :Eeek: :Eeek: :Eeek: That does not include fitting either. :Eeek:
When questioned how many they had sold since being established in Peterborough (some years now), "None yet" was the reply. No blooming wonder, eh?
(These are the same shower that wanted £1800 + VAT to take my engine out to change a clutch. Three independents quoted around £300 - £350, to drop the gearbox and change the clutch.) Sorry, I digress slightly. :winky:

Anyway, a complete new driveshaft with a 12 month replacement warranty, was sourced from a reputable Motor Factor, along with a new rocker cover gasket (small oil leak), and for parts and labour (mate's rates), including a gearbox oil top up, the total for the two jobs was......................£145. :thumb: ::bigsmile: :thumb: ::bigsmile: :thumb: ::bigsmile:

My one concern is that the driveshaft failed at only 90,000Kms (56,000mls).

The previous symptoms have disappeared, and the MH drives well again. A happy chappy indeed.

Cheers for now,

Jock.
 

Jim

Ringleader
Jul 19, 2007
36,187
128,609
Sutton on Sea, UK
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Since 1988
Thanks for that Jock, I'll be letting my service manager know about checking this for me.

Champers!! make sure John sees this, thanks:Smile::thumb:

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Snowbird

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Apr 24, 2009
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Having had a new clutch fitted to a Fiat the camper and whilst the drive-shafts were off I had them checked and one required reconditioning I know what a horrendous job changing a clutch is on these vehicles. Also its not a job for someone with little mechanical expertise. Refitting of the drive-shafts correctly is critical.

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JockandRita

JockandRita

LIFE MEMBER
Aug 2, 2007
11,402
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Lincs/Cambs border
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Since May 05 (Ex Tuggers).
Was there any grease in the old CV joint, was the gaiter intact or damaged.
The old gaiter was starting to split, but not enough to lose any grease, or to do me out of an MOT Pass Certificate last week. :winky:

wivvy's dad said:
Expect the other driveshaft to fail fairly soon
I bl##dy hope not. :Sad:

Cheers,

Jock.
 
Aug 27, 2009
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[HI]The old gaiter was starting to split, but not enough to lose any grease,[/HI] or to do me out of an MOT Pass Certificate last week. :winky:
I bl##dy hope not. :Sad:
Cheers,
Jock.
The reason I asked was I had the same problem on a similar vehicle to yours. I changed it myself but the rubber was split with an ingress of road shite inside. Cant remember what it cost but the other side was fine. If I remember one side was more vulnerable than the other but cant remember why.
 
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JockandRita

JockandRita

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Aug 2, 2007
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Since May 05 (Ex Tuggers).
The reason I asked was I had the same problem on a similar vehicle to yours. I changed it myself but the rubber was split with an ingress of road shite inside. Cant remember what it cost but the other side was fine. If I remember one side was more vulnerable than the other but cant remember why.
Most problems I have had involving brakes, calipers, gaiters, etc, have all been on the N/S, ie, the side nearest the gutter, where they are exposed to more than their fair share of gritty water and "road shite", as you so eloquently put it. :ROFLMAO:

BTW, on the bench, the old joint didn't show nor display any signs/symptoms of wear when handled manually.

Cheers,

Jock.

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Busterbulldog

Free Member
Mar 18, 2012
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14
South Wales
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Riviera 1000
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Virgin motorhomer
Ive just replaced both cv joints on mine,I had a wobble at the rear around 40mph ,replaced both the driveshafts complete ,we went away last weekend,my god what a difference.Firstly to not have any wobble,but mainly the steering,its become so light.No more achy arms.Its actually lighter whilst driving than my mk7 tranny with power steering.
Money well spent....strange thing is they passed the mot without an issue
 

yorkshirepudding

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Nov 7, 2009
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It brings to mind when I had a Punto. Probably 12 years ago. Went to FIAT for a quote for a service. £300 I was told. "Ah" I said "is it cam belt replacement time?" no that was for oil, filters and labour. Not even spark plugs! Needless to say I went elsewhere. Great cars and vans but find an independent to work on it.
 

darklord

Free Member
Apr 28, 2011
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Oh dear,............another thing on the list of "what to worry about instead of enjoying my motorhome"::bigsmile:

Most front wheel drive cars on the road have CV joints, ..most motorhomes are front wheel drive, because people would get pee'd off with tripping over a propshaft while trying to walk down the motorhome:RollEyes:, SO, if the rubber gaiter is intact, and there is grease in it, there ainto nothing else you can do. If you hear a rumble when turnign left or right, especially when loaded, a CV joint would be your first port of call, but as the OP pointed out, DONT be scared, your local factor/spares shop will; have a Quinton hazell replacement handy for not a life changing amount of money.

If you had nothing better to do, you COULD, check things yourself to a degree. Firstly, get two glossy magazines, place one on the floor in front of each wheel, then drive onto them. With your good lady/son/grandson/mate turnign the steering wheel from side to side, LOOK at the ball joints, and see if there is any play (you WILL notice it), put your hands ON the CV joint and see if you can feel anything untoward there, like a clicking or clunking.
If at this stage, you are feeling brave, you will see that the rubber gaiter has a "tie" of some description at the wide end and the narrow end. Spui the one at the wide end, and slip it off of the metal, you will now be able to see if there is ant grease in there, if it is lacking, and you do NOT have any other cause for concern, I would do the following.
Go back to your factor, and ask for two "SPLIT" gaiters and some grease. These gaiter are as described..split the length of the gaiter, what you do, is remove the old one with a stanley knife, plug plenty of grease in your CV joint, THEN, slpi the new gaiter around the joing, glue it together with the glue supplied, stick a cable tie each end......and bobs yer mothers uncle so to speak.
Doing it this way, saves you undoing ball joints to get a normal gaiter on.

As for clutches, a clutch can be sourced for around £150-200, any self respecting fitter would probably do one in four hours (4 X £50), so dont be paying the £700 plus figures ive seen quoted.



(please note, i dont care if YOUR fitter charges £65 pH, or £25 per hour, or does it in two hours or ten hours, my post was to allay unjustified fears).

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Snowbird

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Have you ever had the gearbox out of a Ducato and changed the clutch. Believe me its NOT for the faint hearted.
 

darklord

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People who work in commerccial vehicle workshops are never fainthearted:thumb:::bigsmile:
 

Forestboy

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Jul 31, 2007
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Replaced the clutch in mine back in February before going skiing. Got the local commercial garage to do it, good lads always seviced my trucks when I had the business.
Genuine parts were only £25 more than none genuine total cost parts and labour £500.00 done in a day. Can't be that difficult can it, its only a small truck not the Apollo spaceship, we just get ripped off because its a motorhome and motorhome dealers charge what they can get away with. Shop around and haggle:thumb:
 

Geo

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Jul 29, 2007
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To old skool spannermen like myself and Dave
The Transverse engine gearbox and drive shaft set up is an abomination upon the world they are all a pain in the arse exept for those that you have worked on a regular basis
My boy Steve doesn't know the joys of working on real rear wheel drive set ups so he's quite happy working with them all
we have the Ducato down to about 4 Hrs and our last invoice for a clutch job was in line with Rory's inc the dreaded Vat
what ever happend to the early Datsun transverse and the Vauxhall transverse set ups
You could chabge a cluch with the gearbox's still fixed to the engine they slipped in, CD style through a slot in the gear box:thumb:
Geo
I was puzzled by a previous post why would you remove a perfectly good CV boot re pack with grease and fit a split DIY cv boot in its place:whatthe:
Why not just remove the clip re pack and then re fit the clip:Doh:
As for the split CV boots Dont even go there, Iv'e failed more DIY split boots tahn I have damaged ones
there good for about a month at best, thats assuming you get em to stick in the first place
 

injebreck99

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Dec 5, 2011
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Fiat Ducato clutch

I have a 2009 Swift Bolero 600EK Ducato 130, and the clutch seems a bit weak compared to other M/H and vans I have driven, it had done 5k miles when I bought it, I am concerned that when I tow my Smart car on a trailer it might not like this treatment, I must add that I was in the garage trade all my life, am not a clutch rider, and have never worn a clutch out on any vehicle I've owned, including my Nissan XTrail towing a 1550kg caravan, also do engine upgrades(remaps) affect the clutch driven normally,?

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Geo

Trader - Funster
Jul 29, 2007
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45 +years with breaks
There has been two cases of clutch failure reported on here recently, both instances followed a re map
Personally I dont belive the re map was the cause, merely a case of the extra torque showing up a weak/worn clutch, neither of the reported vehicles were high mileage
It seems that the latest Ducatos are not the most reliable in the clutch department:Doh:
Geo
 

Snowbird

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Regarding CV boots and the things you stick together with glue. Have never seen one of the glued ones last yet, but my little man that I now use for jobs I have no intention of doing has one of those compressed air things with fingers that open up and you slide the boot on. Jesus that thing has made the job a lot easier.
 

Geo

Trader - Funster
Jul 29, 2007
11,757
14,563
Mansfield,Notts
Funster No
35
MH
Autotrail Tracker FB
Exp
45 +years with breaks
Regarding CV boots and the things you stick together with glue. Have never seen one of the glued ones last yet, but my little man that I now use for jobs I have no intention of doing has one of those compressed air things with fingers that open up and you slide the boot on. Jesus that thing has made the job a lot easier.

Us too Dave, and I can think of one or two customers i'd happily use it on and you know where:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:

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darklord

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Apr 28, 2011
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Replaced the clutch in mine back in February before going skiing. Got the local commercial garage to do it, good lads always seviced my trucks when I had the business.
Genuine parts were only £25 more than none genuine total cost parts and labour £500.00 done in a day. Can't be that difficult can it, its only a small truck not the Apollo spaceship, we just get ripped off because its a motorhome and motorhome dealers charge what they can get away with. Shop around and haggle:thumb:


Spot on, there is no group of people more overcharged fpr goods and services than motorhome owners,...but there is no group who deserve it more either.:thumb:
 

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