Fiat Ducato service

RichardP

Full Member

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Apologies if elsewhere, but ..
I had my 22 plate Ducato Moho serviced at an independent. £260 Vs £400+ at Fiat and some confidence it has been done. However the filter light needs to be reset which is greyed out on his diagnostics - an effort by Fiat (and Alfa Romeo) to blank independents. This left us in limp mode and he's looking into resolving the issue.
Has anyone any experience of this issue and knowledge of how to get round it please?
 
If you are going to travel in Europe do get the service done when on holiday. A service done by Fiat Professional garage will be much cheaper than in Rip Off UK.
This also applies to any repairs.
 
I had this problem,its a real pain in the rear.
Talking to the main agent and looking on the Internet there may be possible for a DIY reset.
This involves pressing the brake pedal and pumping the throttle for X number of times.
This didn't work for me. I ended up going to a diagnostic specialist who reset the system, then all sorted. He is in Cornwall, not sure of that's a help.
If you can't find a local "2nd level" of diagnostic reset I would suggest the main agent. From memory they were talking about £100, that was 2 years ago.
 
Glass man said:
If you are going to travel in Europe do get the service done when on holiday. A service done by Fiat Professional garage will be much cheaper than in Rip Off UK.
This also applies to any repairs.
Click to expand...
I have also found that. I had a job done to my Mercedes Sprinter while in France. The franchised MB dealer here charges £180 / hour. the francised MB dealer in France charged varying rates according to the skill of the job. The cheapest rate was €78 / hour, and the most expensive rate was €110 / hour. Moreover they only charged to the nearest 0.1 of an hour for each section of the job. In other words, diagnosing the fault on their computer was 0.2 hr at €110/hr, whereas changing the servos and reprogramming them was 1.7 hrs at €93 / hr. The end result was that to diagnose and change three air direction servo motors in the dashboard they charged €683 incl €113 VAT. This broke down to €236 + VAT for the parts: labour was €334 for 3.4 hours labour at €98 per hour. In fact they had the van in the workshop for 6 hours, but that of course would include their 2 hour lunch break. So that's 4 hours they had it in the workshop perhaps including some time doing something else while waiting for the engine to warm up (it was a repair to the air conditioning system). They didn't charge for that, just the 3.4 hours. I was well pleased and will return to France to have any further work done that I can't do myself.
 
Be careful about cheap services, as various elements are fiat pro only, like the ECU updates/checks.
The failure to update ECUs to the latest software is likely to be the main reason of a batch of issues on the euro 6 non ad blue versions of the ducato causing physical damage which is costing ££££ years down the line.

And yes, not always needed, but when they are they are, and they aren't overly advertised even if important.

But I hear you!

We use a 3rd party Fiat Pro garage (Chestleton Motorhomes) - and they are priced between cheap and fiat but have access to the full fiat kit, and actually did everything I requested and everything they said. (ECU was dumped pre & post service). And yes, even on a MY20 van the software was updated and drivability improved.

And whilst we'll DIY most things, the van we'll just put the cost down as a running cost and smile!
 
Alternatively, you can get an old camper like my Pollensa with no ECU to bother with. Windey-up windows, mechanical injector pump, no air bags, no air con (open the windows), no electronic speedo. It's dead easy to immobilise to hopefully prevent theft. I can just open the bonnet and just slightly disconnect the injector pump plug (it does have some wires going to it which I haven't worked out yet). Then it won't start and they'll have to spend time trying to work out where the OBD connector socket is (which it hasn't got).
 
gasgas said:
Alternatively, you can get an old camper like my Pollensa with no ECU to bother with. Windey-up windows, mechanical injector pump, no air bags, no air con (open the windows), no electronic speedo. It's dead easy to immobilise to hopefully prevent theft. I can just open the bonnet and just slightly disconnect the injector pump plug (it does have some wires going to it which I haven't worked out yet). Then it won't start and they'll have to spend time trying to work out where the OBD connector socket is (which it hasn't got).
Click to expand...
Don't disagree apart from the aircon . First van was an oldish renault . Went over a lot of Europe that spring and summer .Right elbow was virtually black
 
Barbecued Elbow. Now that would go down nicely with a glass of Merlot.
I have just fitted an electrical extractor / impeller fan in the kitchen area. Standing underneath it with it on impelling at full blast would blow all my hair off . . . . if I had any. I realise it will be hot in southern France in the summer, but there are always supermarkets you can cool off in, but if they are closed, standing under this hurricane fan would be second best.
 
Well I service mine myself.
But the oil the oil filter and fuel fitter gets renewed twice a year

Just leaves the air filter once a year
And maintaining fluid levels that get checked before every trip.

Everything else that comes up is done right away
 
Brunhilde is in for a full service, brake check, including caliper strip and clean if needed, and check of suspension on nearside after hitting a huge pothole on A34 2 weeks ago on the journey back from Spain. Probably need to sell a kidney or two to pay the bill ... :rolleyes:

Steve
 
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