I purchased my Camper, a 1987 Fiat Ducato Maxi 2.5 Diesel which had been converted a couple of years earlier by W-R Conversions of Poole.
It was a private purchase which had been advertised in the Southern Autotrader. I can't say I was a 100% sure as it was obvious that it had had a hard life as van prior to conversion & the gearbox synchromesh was bad. At first I turned it down, but its funny how things pray on your mind, and a couple of weeks later made an offer on it which was quickly accepted. I should have been suspicious from the number (& cost) of the bills the two previous owners had paid out, instead I took it as a good sign that a lot of work had been done.
17/5/96
We took a 140 mile (round) shake down trip to Shrewton & Salisbury, although the gearbox was usable I decided to get it fixed when we returned. I also noticed that the CV's were 'clunking' on full lock, something I missed when checking the van prior to buying it.
20/6/96
I took the van to Briggs Motors, a gearbox specialist in Fareham, (a 30 mile round trip) the estimate was between £200 & £340, depending on the amount of work needed, but the box was worse than anticipated.
25/6/96
The final bill was £453 inc. vat. I collected it but when I arrived home, I noticed a lot of oil dripping from the gearbox, so I took it back the next day, they apologized saying they hadn't drained off the excess oil after purposely overfilling it (Its a practice were they over fill initially to ensure oil reaches all parts of the box, they said).
28/6/96
A 500 mile round trip to Bude in Cornwall for the Folk festival , just a puncture getting there, luckily I had had the foresight to renew the spare the day before. but otherwise there were no problems, & the gearbox was a lot better. We also went to Hartland, Clovelly & Glastonbury on the way back
6/9/96
We went to Swanage (about 90 miles) for another folk festival, we left on the Sunday to go on to Cern Abbas, but 10 miles out the gearbox made a horrible groan followed by a load bang, & we had no drive (a drive shaft had snapped where it goes into the front wheel). I coasted on to a handy verge, & there we were stuck until a recovery vehicle arrived to take us (& the van home). Not a pleasant end to what should have been a pleasant weeks holiday.
9/9/96
Booked with local garage (Chidham Garage) to fix broken drive shaft, but they can't do it until next Tues.
17/9/96
Chidham Garage fixes drive shaft (new CV & wheel bearing: cost £283 inc. vat). They say the reason shaft snapped was due to the gearbox seizing. Phoned Briggs Motors to get it fixed under the warrantee, they say they will send a recovery truck to collect it. The Truck arrives but the Van is too big for it.
23/9/96
After several phone calls, they decide to tow it. The recovery truck arrives but is leaking brake fluid from a split pipe (no brakes).
24/9/96
Recovery truck returns & Van is towed away. (A 3.5 ton van for 15 miles, with a dodgy gearbox, with no power brakes, on a 5 metre cable. Surprisingly enough it got there unscathed !)
7/10/96
Collected Van from Briggs, they were not happy, saying 5th gear had stripped which wasn't down to them & they had to pay out for over £200 worth of parts. They said the gearbox seizing was an 'act of god'. I said they had my sympathy but I was also out of pocket by £283 & wasn't paying anymore money to them.)
9/10/96
Drove Van to Portsmouth (10 miles) to get wheels balanced. Gearbox is noisy & I notice oil pouring out. Drive straight back to Briggs.
15/10/96
Collected Van from Briggs, they say 'that a tooth broke off the main shaft', & the diff. punched it thro' the bottom of the box. The gearbox had to be stripped down & the casing welded. No request for money this time. Van making alarming noises on the way back, found this was caused by the air cleaner hanging off, easily fixed.
16/10/96
Took the Van for a 40 mile shopping run. But mid way noticed a bad water leak, I had to keep topping up to get home. Water pump has failed. Booked it in to Chidham Garage for the water pump, the other CV joint & wheel bearing & MOT. Can't do it till Friday they say.
25/10/96
Get Van to Chidham Garage nice & early at 7:30. They say they can't do the MOT as the Van is too long. (Chidham Garage deals in second hand Motor Caravans, many much larger than mine, but it appears they don't have the facilities to MOT them !) Leave the Van anyway for the repairs. I ring them later that afternoon, they say the parts are on order.)
29/10/96
Phoned for status, but they say they been too busy to start work on it.
5/11/96
Phoned for status, still too busy to start work, I ask to speak to the owner, after a few sharp words , he says it will be ready by the weekend.
9/11/96
I went to Chidham Garage & said I'd come to collect my Van, the receptionist looks confused & goes to check. It turns out that the Van still hasn't been touched. I find the owner & ask what the hell he's playing at, & rant & rave a bit. He says the Van is drivable if I want to take it away. So I did. They had wasted 3 weeks.
Made an appointment with B & G Motors of Portsmouth, they are commercial vehicle specialists, so no problem with the size of the Van there.
13/11/96
Took Van to B&G Motors. They examined it for the MOT, not too bad, needed a rear wheel bearing & a bit of work on a tie rod bolt. MOT passed OK. But problems with a drive shaft not secured in to the gearbox & both seals need replacing, in addition to work already specified. Sharp intake of breath on water pump, very expensive on diesels (£250 to £300). I go a bit white.
19/11/96
B&G phone to say that the unsecured drive shaft actually has the end broken off, where there is supposed to be a circlip , probably by someone forcing it out of the gearbox, marks on the gearbox casing also bear this out. Someone had smeared sealer round it to try & stop the oil leaking. It will need two new drive shafts & the gearbox sent off to be inspected for damage. I turn a little paler.
I phone Briggs, they say bring the van for them to look at, I say it's in bits & give them the number to ring & talk to the mechanic at B&G, but I didn't hold up much hope of them doing anything & they didn't. I'm not sure it was their fault anyway, could have been Chidham Garage on the first visit.
27/11/96
Phoned B&G for a status, the mechanic says gearbox will be collected tomorrow, it needed two new planet gears at a cost of about £150.
2/12/96
Collected Van, final bill was a staggering £1176
27/6/97
We went to the Glastonbury Music Festival, yes, the mud bath one ! All went well & the Van behaved itself.
7/7/97
I've been having a lot of problems lighting the convector fire, I really needed it at Glastonbury, but it wouldn't light, even tho' there was a good spark. So, switched the butane bottles for propane, it took a bit of trouble to find a Calor agent willing to do it, but a Chichester builders merchant (Covers) said it was no problem. The fire lights much better now (& the fridge). I think it was worth doing. (Still have problems with fire blowing out in high winds, perhaps I'll try making some sort of clip on wind shield)
13/9/97
On way to local weekend music festival at Yapton, exhaust fractures at first box, new box fitted at local Fiat Agent (Perrys) also rear engine mount (gearbox) replaced. Total Cost £165
27/10/97
MOT time again, took it to B&G again (now called Martin's Commercials) .........it passed !
I've been getting increasingly worried about a resonance engine noise at around the 45 mph mark in 5th gear and the other gears at the same rev point. It seems to be coming from the intake manifold. So I asked the mechanic at Martin's to have a listen, he says it could be valve clearances or a dodgy intake valve. I'll have a go at checking them when I have time.
23/2/98
Damn ! just when I thought it was getting reliable, the gearbox failed again. Went on an outing to Arundel and the thing stuck in 4th on the way back. Got home OK, but the gearbox selector is just flapping around and & doing nothing. Back to Martins tomorrow. Perhaps I can get the drive shaft oil seal replaced while its in, lost about a pint of gearbox oil in the last 12 months.
24/2/98
Phoned Martin's, recovery truck arrived within three hours, pretty good, I thought. Until I found out it was costing me £140 !
27/2/98
Well, things aren't getting any better, the internal selector has broken & caused additional damage, intial estimates are it will cost around £765 to fix, an exchange box will be about £1363 & a new one £2362. Decide to get the old fixed. Parts on back order & may take to next Friday to fix.
3/3/98
Decide to query the tow in charge, £140 for 10 miles seems a trifle excessive. Martin's contracted it out to Boar Hunt Garage at Fareham. Gave them a ring, they say the driver booked 2.5 Hrs, but will check it out. Driver phones back an hour later to say he made a mistake and it should have been 1.5 Hrs.........I think the moral is to arrange my own tow next time.
14/3/98
Collected Van from Martins, much difficulty changing gear, traced to
dragging clutch, adjusting it improved problem, but still difficult second
gear selection, also bad gearbox oil leaks. Gearbox had been grossly overfilled
(1.5" above max level).
Drained some off, but box is still leaking. More worrying is that there
is a large amount of white gasket sealer plastered on the side of the Diff
housing where the leak is, I suspect its been cracked when the mechanic
levered out the drive shafts.
Also it appears that the Tow firm had not been in touch with Martins
over excessive charge, but Martins had complained on my behalf anyway,
so price reduced. Total Bill £807.
18/3/98
Van back to Martins, explained problems & another mechanic adjusts gear selector rod, second gear selection OK now. He also scrapes off some of the sealer & puts a fibre washer under a stud nut he thinks is causing the leak. All this done while I wait. Go home but leak still apparent. Haven't time to return to Martins as I'm off to Devon on the weekend after next & need to prepare the Van.
27/3/98
Off to Devon for Weekend, Van OK apart from bad wheel balance problem at 65mph, I'll get it fixed after Martins have sorted out gearbox problems as drive shafts may have to come out again. Difficulty finding 3rd gear on way back, suspect bias spring problem in gearbox (i.e gearstick not returning naturaly to the 3rd & 4th position).
1/4/98
Van Back to Martins.
8/4/98
Martins say they have had to take out & replace the gearbox
two more times to solve the oil leak but it should be OK now.
They say the Third gear problem is a weak synchro. and not their problem
& shrug when I explain the bias spring problem.
13/4/98
Well, G/B oil leak much improved, altho' not completely eradicated. Have been to the scrap yard & obtained the external bias spring & some less worn gear box linkage ball ends. Its as good as I can get it now (Still crap tho'). The only thing left I can do is buy a new gearbox, but at £2000 & rust spreading fast, I don't think its a serious option.
29/6/98
Back from the Glastonbury Music Fest. no new problems, no breakdowns ! Off to Sidmouth Fest. end of next month. (Fingers crossed !).
1/10/98
No further problems so far this year. Decided to check valve clearances in an effort to reduce this "Induction Noise?" I'm getting.
All clearances were well out of spec. It was a bit of a job to fix them as the camshaft has to come out to replace the shims, but managed to do the job eventually, all now spot on, but no effect on the noise. Also repaired the air intake where it bolts to the front grill as this was broken & leaking badly. Still no change, I give up guess I'll have to live with it. I think the noise is just a characteristic of the engine and I only noticed it because I had been running without the spare wheel in situ,the noise level dropped dramatically once I had put the wheel back under the bonnet !
3/11/98
MOT Time again, it passed with no problems !
23/11/98
Have decided to get the 3rd gear synchro fixed & while its in bits get it checked over. Took it to Briggs again. They say all the synchros need replacing. I said, but its only done 8000mls since the last time! They say that the clutch is worn & causing the problem & needs replacing.
3/12/98
Van ready, all new synchros & a clutch for a mere £451, phew! hope its worth it.
22/4/99
Noticed an outer CV boot was split, got a local mobile mechanic round to fix it, he had to do the inner one as well.Just under a 100 quid for the pair.
5/5/99
Battery won't keep its charge, got a new one from ATS. £68
9/5/99
Short Break in the Forest of Dean, one of the rear wheels shed a tread at 70mph on the way there, dented the rear valance a bit. Otherwise it was a nice break.
21/5/99
Bought three new tyres, the one that shed its tread & the two others that were also old Conway remoulds
17/7/99
Went to a music festival at Grantby near Nottingham, excellent festival. Having problems with the Van on the way back, 3rd gear synchro almost none exsistant, & massive clutch juddering on the M25. Exhaust tail pipe fractured on A3. I also forgot to lock down the external mains socket flap & I could see it flapping in the door mirror as I drove along, by the time I could stop it had disappeared.
28/7/99
Complete new exhaust, both boxes as first part was also cracked, 99 quids worth at Waterloville Exhust Centre.
Date2/8/99
Took it to Briggs again. They said a bolt holding the gearbox to the engine had sheared which is what caused the juddering & they have overhauled the synchros again. They had it for 3 weeks. There was no charge for the work.
1/9/99
The outer CV joint has split again, got mobile mechanic round again, no charge under warrantee.
7/9/99
Back to Briggs again to fix bad gearbox oil leak.
14/9/99
They blame the previous repairer (Martin's) and say its being caused by two blanking caps missing from the diff. planet gears allowing oil to leak past the drive shafts, seems a bit far fetched to me, as I thought that was what oil seals were there for. Otherwise why would the workshop manual advise putting a bowl underneath to catch oil when the drive shafts are removed ? They say they had great difficulty getting the caps. But to be fair, it does seem to have cured the problem.
Funny tho', although they told me this, the bill doesn't mention it, just says two new oil seals & a second hand casing. Total cost this time £96.51
1/11/99
MOT time again, failed, rust holes in inner wing & sill, cost £213 to fix.(must buy a welder !).
1/8/2000
Front box on the exhaust broke again, got it replaced under the two year warrantee.
7/8/2000
Getting a bit sick of fractured exhusts, so I've replaced both front engine mounts. Did it myself, N/S one is a bit of a pig requiring the engine to be lowered to enable enough clearence to get at the bolts, got there in the end tho'. The O/S one tho' easier to get at was complicated by a change in its design, requiring a different retainer. Total cost for both mounts & retainer was around £100
1/11/2000
Back box on the exhaust broke, got it replaced under the two year warrantee. That's the whole exhaust replaced now again.
10/4/2001
MOT time again, failed, rusted rear spring hanger, track rod control arm bush split & another hole in the outer sill. Total cost £281
(I decided to slip the yearly MOT date so that when I eventually sell the van at the beginning of the season it will have a fresh MOT).
23/1/2001
The both outer CV joints have split again, Decide to do it myself this time, can't afford these bills anymore & tired of getting ripped off. Speaking of which !- I find that the driveshaft with the broken end (see 19/11/96) had not been replaced ! I should complain to Martins but its been too long now and I'm sick of garages and mechanics. Anyway, have successfully replaced both CV boots now at a cost of £35. (and as I expected, no oil leaked out when I took out the drive shafts due to the new caps)
27/2/2001
Have been reading up on transmisson oils and have found out that this transmission needs a particular type of oil (SAE 80w90 GL3 non EP). The EP additive in some oils is sulphur which attacks the yellow metal bearings, it can also mess up the syncho operation by being too slippy. To this end I've changed the transmission oil to the Fiat specified Tutela ZC90 which cost the princly sum of £8.62 for 2 litres (2 x 1litre packs) and even leaves about half a litre left for top ups.
1/5/2001
Bit of a disaster, caught the side of the van on hidden steel post in a council car park, stove in the side of the Van and compeletly wrecked the side door. I managed to get a perfect side door from a breakers that specialised in Vans, for 60 quid (it was off a face lift model so the lock was different in some subtle way and took a bit of sorting out, but its on now. I just have to swap the windows across. He also had a pair of perfect rear doors (mine are very rusty at the bottom) but it is a bit beyond my means as yet.
23/7/2001
After reading an another letter (this time in MMM), I decided to get the now famous Delfin Design's gear linkage modification fitted. Its certainly an improvment, it takes most of the sloppyness out of the gear lever and makes gear changing less hit or miss, however it can't compensate for bad sychro's, so I still have problems with the lower gears. Derek Findley is very helpful and knowledgeable on the Sevel base vehicles including body (rust) repairs. The only thing I wasn't too happy about was that when he changed the gearbox oil for one of his own formula, he said that the old oil was in very bad condition, which is strange as I had only changed it a few months ago. Which is a bit of shame because I think I was noticing an improvement in using the Tutela oil. I can't say Derek's formula is any better, perhaps slightly worse.
2/8/2001
Exhaust broke again, nearly caused an accident as it fell into the middle of road in front of following cars. Back box replaced by Waterlooville Exhaust Centre at £48.12
Year Ending 2001
Didn't get much use out of the van this year. Unfortunately our nieghbour, who looks after our Cats and Geese while we're away, had to have a couple of operations, then one of our Cats wrecked its leg somehow, costing around £600 at the Vets which crippled our already weak finances. Still managed to get to music festivals at Reading, Belton House & Sidmouth and a holiday on the Isle Of Wight, so not too bad.
Hopfully off to Ireland next year (But not in the Van!)
14/2/2002
No major problems this year yet, just a leak in the windscreen and some odd gear selection problems (altho' the cat cost us another £90!) But I'm dreading the MOT in April!
10/4/2002
Dammit! Spoke too soon. I've been getting increasing worried about a very loud tapping from the engine & can no longer pass it of as 'diesel noise'. After some initial investigation, I decided to drop the sump & take a look at the Big Ends. To my horror I found lots of bits of a piston, No. 3 piston is missing most of its skirt on one side.
12/4/2002
I've decided I can't afford a re-con engine at £1300 nor to take it to a garage (which would probably cost even more). Looks like I'll have to do it myself (I haven't stripped & rebuilt an engine since 1975 when I had a 998cc Sunbeam Imp Sport).Start to dismantle the engine, head off, Christ it was heavy especially as it had to come out complete with manifolds. Pistons, conrods out. Found that the pistons have been hitting the cylinder head due to the timing belt slipping, looks like it was never tensioned correctly when last changed. No damage to the bores or other pistons & very little wear, so looks like I'll get away with just one piston.
13/4/2002
Decide that if I'm taking the engine apart I might as well change the big end shells as well. Get some prices. Fiat Agents will only sell a full set of pistons at around £550.Try my local motor factors, not quite so bad, a single piston is £123 but will have to be ordered. Can't get the Big End shells from the Motor Factors so order a set from the Main Agents at £30.
15/4/2002
Off to Ireland for touring holiday in the car.
24/4/2002
Back again. Ireland was mostly wet, Food & Guinness were great tho'!
2/5/2002
Lot of problems getting the right piston, the AE parts book at the Motor Factors has misprints in the engine type numbers, so much toing & froing as wrong piston ordered at first. Get it sorted out in the end.
7/5/2002
Gapped the new piston rings in the bores & they are well within spec. Also removed the rings from the 3 old pistons & gapped them as well, the gaps don't need measuring they are so big. Need new rings for the other pistons.....
28/5/2002
Another £130 from the Motor Factors. Also other sundry bits, Gaskets, hoses, hose spigots, jubelee Clips, cam belt, special tools etc. Plus more to-ing & fro-ing to Main Agents as wrong bits arrived.
26/6/2002
Wrong cambelt supplied, they gave me a turbo one, doesn't even touch the tensioner. Got it changed but had a lot of problems fitting it as its quite tight even with the tensioner fully retracted, got there in the end tho'.
1/7/2002
Engine finished & it starts OK, bad oil leak from the front tho'. Can't see where its coming from but head gasket looks OK. Could be the crankshaft oil seal. Total cost of this little episode was around £600, hate to think how much a garage would have charged me.
8/7/2002
Take it down for the dreaded MOT. It fails of course, but surprisingly on only minor things, O/S headlamp aim, parking brake ineffective & rusty o/s/f wing with dangerous edges. Order Oil seal. If the rain ever stops I might try fitting it. There were dark comments about extensive rust on the report sheet, must learn how to weld!
17/7/2002
Fitted new brake shoes to the back wheels (went a bit mad & got fitting kit of pull off springs etc.as well). Total cost was £57.72. Cleaned, greased & adjusted the handbrake cables/compensator. Filled in the rusty wing & re-sprayed it, looks quite good, must do the other sometime. Head light aim was a bit tricky because it doesn't get dark 'till late, had to remember to nip out just before bed time.
18/7/2002
Back in for the MOT, passed OK this time, no problems, they didn't even charge me a re-test fee. So looking good for the Hols & Sidmouth later this month.
5/8/2002
Back from Sidmouth & also stayed a few days at Axmouth (nr Seaton, Devon). Excellent time, stayed at a good site at Axmouth which had two good pubs adjacent to it, good food, beer, scenery & trips out. The Sidmouth Music Festival was the best we've been to with lots of free music & singing in the pubs. Wild camped in one of the car parks so that was cheap too. Van behaved itself, tho' I was very nervous going there, every change in engine note got me worried & took a gallon of oil with me in case the leak got more serious. I tried not to go over 50mph, but took it up to the max on the way back, seems OK so far. I think it's been one of the most enjoyable weeks holiday we've had.
April 2003
A few days near Devizes, stayed at the CC&C Devizes site next to next to the Canal at Sells Green, weather could have been a bit better, but an enjoyable trip non-the-less.
August 2003
Back to the Sidmouth & Axmouth again, just as good as last year excellent time had by all. We camped again in the Connought Gardens Car Park, tho' we did find a warning ticket on the Camper on the Monday, so moved to a secluded on-street parking spot for the last night just to be safe.
We also visited Chard but weren't too impressed, found a car park OK, but as we walked out I noticed a sign saying no large vehicles, not wanting move the Camper I decided to take the risk, but it does nag at you. As it was, there wasn't a ticket when we got back, but the town was hardly worth the visit anyway.
This the last trip out in the Camper this year as the rust in the sills is very bad (See link above) & I dare not take it in for the MOT in the state its in. So instead I've taken it off the road for the winter (SORN completed) so I can have a go with the welder to replace the rusty sills. I've welded the inner wings OK. but after cutting the outer sills off, found the mid sills almost non-existent & holes in the inner ones also the floor needs a patching (& that's the better side!) looks like its going to be a long job. I've had to buy a little Metro to keep me mobile.
May 2004
Resumed working replacing rusty sills etc.
June2004
Still working replacing rusty sills etc.. (see Rust above)
July 2004
Mon 12th: It's that time of year again with Sidmouth getting nearer on the 30th, Van is almost ready (see Rust) with repairs on schedule & MOT booked for the 19th. But then disaster struck, I hurt my back on Friday replacing one of the wheels, so am laid out now. Had to cancel the MOT for Monday & re-book it for Friday. Hope it leaves me enough time to do any necessary repairs.
Fri 23rd: It Failed, not too major tho', one headlight insecure & out of alignment, plus rear brakes binding & uneven. Have booked retest for early Monday Whipped the drums off & found both wheel cylinders sized (3 out of 4 pistons). Got some new cylinders & a litre of brake fluid (All for £45).
Sat 24th: Couldn't undo the brake pipe unions so jumped in the car to get a flare nut spanner from Halfords. Couldn't get a 11mm one so had to settle for a 7/16AF. Another setback - Dam car wouldn't start outside Halfords, looks like the starter motor has packed in, had to get a bump start to get back home. Spanner was no good anyway, had to resort to mole grips. Both Cylinders now replaced & bled. Brake fluid was very dirty, bit like old engine oil! Have used almost the whole one litre to flush it thro'. Will have to bleed the fronts when I have more time & fluid.
Sun 25th: Fixed & realigned the head light. Seem to have a weird electrical problem where the battery rapidly discharges after I switch off the engine. Its done it a couple of times now in the last few weeks. The fault disappears a while after I disconnect the battery +ve. An ammeter connected in series goes off the scale (10a+) but re-connected a couple minutes later shows no drain at all & I can then safely reconnect . I suspect an alternator diode, but as its charging OK & I have a new dual purpose 85a leisure battery as a backup, I'll leave it until I have more time.
Monday 26th: Passed MOT no further problems, Sidmouth here we come ! Now I can spend a bit of time taming my neglected garden.
Tuesday 3rd Aug: Back from Sidmouth, great festival, tho' could be the last due to lack of the local council's support. Initially we stayed at a campsite at Axmouth (Two good pubs nearby) on Friday & travelled into Sidmouth early Saturday, planning on wild camping in the Manor Road Car Park (as we've been doing in previous years). First shock was the increase in charges - £5.40 a day now, which would make our stay cost over £16. Then the council started putting 'No overnight Sleeping' notices on all the Campers (Not ours tho'), many of the Campers left the car park, but we stayed, only to be surrounded by new age travellers in the evening, lots of banging of doors & bongos 'till 4am, I slept thro' OK but the wife had a bad night. So moved the Van early Sunday morning to a nearby quiet road with free parking & stayed there for the duration. The Van battery just about held out & was well down by the time I needed to start up to come home, but luckily the engine fired up on the first turn of the key.
Monday 16th Aug: Decided to fix batter discharge problem which now seems more permanent, eventually found a short in the cigarette lighter socket, the plastic insulator had melted for some reason & as it got hotter so the resistance decreased, so have removed it, will have to check the scrappy fro a replacement.
Wednesday 25th: Took the Van out for a run, still a problem with the battery not charging correctly & discharging after the engine is switched off. Out with the meters again, didn't take long to find this time, it was the heater plugs control module. Its a sealed unit but didn't take much to unseal it, found the return spring on the Relay had broken off & the relay wasn't positively breaking the circuit. the little post the spring attaches to had broken off. Made a new bracket & bolted it in. Repair successful (& Cheap) !
