Swift Sundance 630G, 2003 questions (1 Viewer)

[Wollow007]

Hi Guy's

I have just returned from a blustery overnight in Wales. I brought the Motorhome around 2 weeks ago and decided to give it a run out prior to traveling further afield, get myself familia with all the knobs and buttons. I have a couple of niggles which I'd like to pass by you guys prior to approaching the dealer and looking a complete plum when nothing's wrong.

I have a warranty, 3 months on a motorhome over 6 years old.

The 630g, Fiat Ducato 2.8 JTD has only 14,500 miles, the engine runs pretty well, pulls well in all gear, the 5th is like an overide gear but works fine. I have noticed that around 2,000 rpm the engine sounds like its drawing to much fuel, like a whering notice, could be that rpm is to low though. If I drop a gear and spin the motor up to 3,000-4,000 rpm then change gear all is well. Do these motors need to be kept at a higher rpm?

Second question, the Fiat engine takes an age to heat up. Maybe 10-20 miles prior to getting to the correct temp. I think the thermostat is stuck open as heater inside the cab works, warms up pretty quickly.

Third question is for the dealer to correct, only right speaker working in the cab. It appears that there are 4 speakers but only front top right works. I have tried all the radio setting without any joy.

Last question for now. The rain in Wales was pretty horrific, the wind was rocking the motorhome pretty well. After a monster downpour I noticed a small puddle of water at the bottom of the main door (hinge side). On closer inspection there appears to be a little water damage, nothing major, it looks like is water were to get thought the door or water was brought in on shoes etc it would collect by the door. I just drove back through torrential rain and no puddle. Is this common?

Any help greatly appreciated. The Motorhome is in amazing nick for its age, everything works and I'm aware that the dealer will need to rectify the radio and potential engine warming up issues but I'm happy with my purchase and look forward to many adventures! :thumb:

 

[darklord]

I have that very model and year,...............and can answer your 1st question. the answer is WOW tuning, the cost is £250, the difference is immediate, you stay in 5th a lot longer, you save fuel and it is more driveable.

you were stiffed on the warranty unless you paid thirty bob for it, it should have a 1 year vehicle and habitation parts and labour warranty.

have you owned a diesel before? they take time to warm up, but if the thermostat was stuck open, you would not get heat inside the motor.

Ther was a problem with the floor inside the door being weak (johns cross mentioned this when i bought mine) but the door seal at the bottom (rubber strip) is a lso crap, change it, water ingress for any reason is a no no.

 

[Wollow007]

Sounds interesting, where would I get such a thing, or is it a mechanics job?

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[darklord]

WOW Tuning advertise on the right hand side of where you are reading. It is a remap of your ECU whcih alters the factory settings to make the motor much more driveable.
When i picked ours up, I drove from Norwich to Essex, then threw some gear in it dropped of a grandchild, and hoofed it up to the Lincoln show. While there, WOW did the remap. The difference on the drive home was VERY noticeable, the power band suited my driving style, and because it gives you 33bhp more, if you use your right foot intelligently, you save some fuel.

 

[Wollow007]

Do you find that yours takes an age to warm up?

Heater matrix pretty quick, engine temp takes a good ten miles?

 

[darklord]

Most diesel engines are overcooled, I,m used to landrovers which run cool anyway. Make sure the fan is not running, if its not, you can get the thermostat checked out, but, if you get heat into the cab before the engine guage rises to normal, I doubt that it is stuck open.

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[Brisey]

Hi Wollow, we have a Peugeot 2.8hdi engine on our Autosleeper Ravenna. We too experienced a long warm up time and so I asked the question to a Peugeot / Fiat engineer. His reply was as follows.

Diesel engines take longer to heat up compared to petrol engines due to the following reasons.
diesel engines are very efficient and the energy used in combustion is used up giving power to the engine, therefore there is very little heat left over to heat the water jacket to exchange to the vehicle heater.
In petrol engine a greater amount of heat passes to the water jacket therefore the engine water system heats up much quicker.
The Hdi diesel engine is even more efficient with power for heat exchange therefore this type of engine takes longer to heat up.
This can have an effect on the interior not heating up quickly and you are unable to defrost the screen on cold days.
The maker get over this problem by fitting additional heaters to the engine, they can be water jacket heaters (electric elements) or small electric heaters fitted in the interior heater matrix box air intake)
I am not sure if any of these are used on the 2.8 Hdi or not but it could be they don't use any. therefore it would seem to take longer to get up to normal temp range.
A simple way of looking at this is petrol engine needs a choke when cold but diesel once started don't need to use a choke.
I do hope this explains the reason and I don't think you have any reason to be concerned.

 

[spannermanwigan]

sounds more like you have false reading on gauge.

if your heater warms up quickly this is telling you that engine and coolant are
apparently working as normal.

2.8jtd do seem to suffer from temperature gauge problems.see the following link to were
this has been covered before with some excellent advice given.

Broken Link Removed

I would ask your supplier to look at all the points you mention and dont be fobbed off with
"Oh thats normal". strange noises are not normal and usually prove to be expensive!

Regards
Steve

 

[EJB]

A diesel engine also has much more mass than a petrol engine to heat.
Thermostat stuck open:- Around town with lots of gear changes and a slow speed the temperature gauge should give a 'normal' reading. When on the open road the reading will go down due to more airflow and a high gear (low engine revs).

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