Broken down in Albufeira

Julie S

Julie S

Joined
Feb 6, 2013
Posts
112
Likes collected
197
Location
Mirfield West Yorkshire
Funster No
24,583
MH
Dethleffs Pulse G8
Exp
Since 2012
Hi everyone,

My Fiat Ducato 2011, Swift Bolero with a Comformatic engine, (I know.....the eyes will be rolling) has broken down, on the grey waste service area at Camping Albufeira. When I reversed it juddered like crazy; when I drove it, it juddered too and then it seemed to lose gear, yet wanted to keep moving as I pressed the brake pedal and engaged the handbrake. Yesterday I organised help through my breakdown cover; one guy with a low loader eventually arrived, rolled his eyes, turned the engine on and off multiple times, and sent for a diagnostic kit....and left. The next mechanic arrived in a small van, used the diagnostics and told me I had to go to a garage and he would get the low loader to come back today, however, it's a Saturday and they are closed until Monday. There is a Fiat garage in Faro, but it has some dodgy reviews. Does anyone know MCCAR in Faro? Does anyone know of an alternative garage? There is an English guy I spoke to on the campsite yesterday, who had the same engine, one year newer and he had the same problem. He ended up needing a new engine which was done in France and cost €17,000 in total:eek:. I'm obviously worried about being ripped off too. Any help would be gratefully received. Thank you.
 
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Julie S said:
Hi everyone,

My Fiat Ducato 2011, Swift Bolero with a Comformatic engine, (I know.....the eyes will be rolling) has broken down, on the grey waste service area at Camping Albufeira. When I reversed it juddered like crazy; when I drove it, it juddered too and then it seemed to lose gear, yet wanted to keep moving as I pressed the brake pedal and engaged the handbrake. Yesterday I organised help through my breakdown cover; one guy with a low loader eventually arrived, rolled his eyes, turned the engine on and off multiple times, and sent for a diagnostic kit....and left. The next mechanic arrived in a small van, used the diagnostics and told me I had to go to a garage and he would get the low loader to come back today, however, it's a Saturday and they are closed until Monday. There is a Fiat garage in Faro, but it has some dodgy reviews. Does anyone know MCCAR in Faro? Does anyone know of an alternative garage? There is an English guy I spoke to on the campsite yesterday, who had the same engine, one year newer and he had the same problem. He ended up needing a new engine which was done in France and cost €17,000 in total:eek:. I'm obviously worried about being ripped off too. Any help would be gratefully received. Thank you.
Click to expand...
 
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Hope this will help we have a flat near you and last year when are car broke down we used

Bosch Car Service F. Costa Albufeira 28 Parque Industrial R. do, 8200-392 Albufeira, Portugal Broken Link Removed​

Found them very helpful and sorted us out we were recommend by another expat not far from you near the water tower on the hill just down the otherside near Soares wine shop
Hope this helps

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Julie S said:
Hi everyone,

My Fiat Ducato 2011, Swift Bolero with a Comformatic engine, (I know.....the eyes will be rolling) has broken down, on the grey waste service area at Camping Albufeira. When I reversed it juddered like crazy; when I drove it, it juddered too and then it seemed to lose gear, yet wanted to keep moving as I pressed the brake pedal and engaged the handbrake. Yesterday I organised help through my breakdown cover; one guy with a low loader eventually arrived, rolled his eyes, turned the engine on and off multiple times, and sent for a diagnostic kit....and left. The next mechanic arrived in a small van, used the diagnostics and told me I had to go to a garage and he would get the low loader to come back today, however, it's a Saturday and they are closed until Monday. There is a Fiat garage in Faro, but it has some dodgy reviews. Does anyone know MCCAR in Faro? Does anyone know of an alternative garage? There is an English guy I spoke to on the campsite yesterday, who had the same engine, one year newer and he had the same problem. He ended up needing a new engine which was done in France and cost €17,000 in total:eek:. I'm obviously worried about being ripped off too. Any help would be gratefully received. Thank you.
Click to expand...
It called MS Car and the only Fiat Dealer Dealer in the Algarve. Had telephone dealings but they were going to do my timing belt as could net get to do it but put it on hold. I had dealings with
Julie S said:
Hi everyone,

My Fiat Ducato 2011, Swift Bolero with a Comformatic engine, (I know.....the eyes will be rolling) has broken down, on the grey waste service area at Camping Albufeira. When I reversed it juddered like crazy; when I drove it, it juddered too and then it seemed to lose gear, yet wanted to keep moving as I pressed the brake pedal and engaged the handbrake. Yesterday I organised help through my breakdown cover; one guy with a low loader eventually arrived, rolled his eyes, turned the engine on and off multiple times, and sent for a diagnostic kit....and left. The next mechanic arrived in a small van, used the diagnostics and told me I had to go to a garage and he would get the low loader to come back today, however, it's a Saturday and they are closed until Monday. There is a Fiat garage in Faro, but it has some dodgy reviews. Does anyone know MCCAR in Faro? Does anyone know of an alternative garage? There is an English guy I spoke to on the campsite yesterday, who had the same engine, one year newer and he had the same problem. He ended up needing a new engine which was done in France and cost €17,000 in total:eek:. I'm obviously worried about being ripped off too. Any help would be gratefully received. Thank you.
Click to expand...
I started to answer but lost the thread. We have dealings with MS Car the only Fiat dealer in the Algarve. I booked with them because I could not a timing belt changed any where else because 4.2 ton MH but that’s another story. Used Google translate for emails.
Here is the following:

Jéssica Sousa
Centro de Atendimento ao Cliente Após-Venda

MSCAR, S.A.
Estrada Nacional 125, Km 98,6
Sítio do Arneiro, Apartado 325
8001-904 Faro

Adrian aka The Pops
 
Upvote 0
Julie S said:
Hi everyone,

My Fiat Ducato 2011, Swift Bolero with a Comformatic engine, (I know.....the eyes will be rolling) has broken down, on the grey waste service area at Camping Albufeira. When I reversed it juddered like crazy; when I drove it, it juddered too and then it seemed to lose gear, yet wanted to keep moving as I pressed the brake pedal and engaged the handbrake. Yesterday I organised help through my breakdown cover; one guy with a low loader eventually arrived, rolled his eyes, turned the engine on and off multiple times, and sent for a diagnostic kit....and left. The next mechanic arrived in a small van, used the diagnostics and told me I had to go to a garage and he would get the low loader to come back today, however, it's a Saturday and they are closed until Monday. There is a Fiat garage in Faro, but it has some dodgy reviews. Does anyone know MCCAR in Faro? Does anyone know of an alternative garage? There is an English guy I spoke to on the campsite yesterday, who had the same engine, one year newer and he had the same problem. He ended up needing a new engine which was done in France and cost €17,000 in total:eek:. I'm obviously worried about being ripped off too. Any help would be gratefully received. Thank you.
Click to expand...
We had same problem with the juddering same gear box, broke down in France, the garage wanted to charge us for new engine. Shipped back to UK was the auto clutch £2,000.
 
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The one thing I'd add, Spain & Portugal are generally much cheaper on everything than France & the UK. If you can get it to someone knowledgeable their, it could be cheaper getting it repaired. Maybe you could get a loan van whilst it's been sorted...?
 
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Check the clutch fluid......it may just be low ?

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Mad dog said:
The one thing I'd add, Spain & Portugal are generally much cheaper on everything than France & the UK. If you can get it to someone knowledgeable their, it could be cheaper getting it repaired. Maybe you could get a loan van whilst it's been sorted...?
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That’s the key point - getting to someone knowledgeable. They are around but …

I did a simple brake pad replacement for my Land Rover Discovery at a big tyre place and they made a real mess of the wear sensors, which they hadn’t seen and didn’t know (but pretended to be on top of).

Local guy we work with subsequently said that was a mistake - for such a job on a vehicle that’s a bit exotic there we should always use the main concessionaires (there is one in Faro).
 
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PaulW2 said:
Yes, I met a good one in Germany
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Looked on OLX (popular Portuguese site). 69 used Fiat Ducatos for sale in the country. Auto or semi-auto? Zero. Almost an unknown beast.

In the Algarve? Porto and Lisbon smile indulgently.

My only advice would be to ensure that the person you deal with has experience of this particular problem and/or has access to the knowledge network of the manufacturer.

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PaulW2 said:
My only advice would be to ensure that the person you deal with has experience of this particular problem and/or has access to the knowledge network of the manufacturer.
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Yes very important they are familar with Comformatics otherwise they will just keep changing bits and it will cost a fortune, it's expensive enough when they know what they are doing.
 
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Mad dog said:
The one thing I'd add, Spain & Portugal are generally much cheaper on everything than France & the UK. If you can get it to someone knowledgeable their, it could be cheaper getting it repaired. Maybe you could get a loan van whilst it's been sorted...?
Click to expand...
Thank you for that info
The problem I found was knowledge is very good here but few in Potugal can accommodate large Motorhomes. We are not the biggest by all means but our hight (3.1m with solar panels) length (7.4m) and weight (4.2 tonnes).
As quite a lot of jobs needs a winch or a pit to do jobs like timing belts or in this case a break down, it seems to cause a few problems for many it seems.
 
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I’ve just read this string. Sorry to read about your problem Julie and hope it’s fixed today. I’m between Lisbon and Faro, about 1 1/4 hours from Albufeira. Give me a shout if you need help.
 
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gwyntaxi said:
Hi

Hi Julie S👋 ,
As other funsters have said this is a gearbox problem and not an engine one I have a friend in Portsmouth who used to take his Bolero to Adams Morey and he always praised Simon, so it would be well worth contacting him for his advice, as I personally think the same as Lenny said, that it might just be a gearbox Fluid contamination issue,
and a fluid change might just sort the problem and I would be inclined to take that option first before embarking on Major trial and error work, Camperserv has been mentioned who are only a few miles away from you but I can say from previous experience that he is also very expensive, also the English speaking Mechanic is also very expensive, he "repaired" friends of ours
van last winter in Albufeira and strung the job of replacing all the injectors out over 5 weeks but only coming to the site to work on it for 1day a week the bill was £2.5K I kid you not, so despite the fact that the Fiat main dealer is expensive it will probably be the cheapest option in the long run, Speak to Adams Morey and see if Simon can shed some light on your problem. If he advises you to try and get repatriated it may be a better option, Really sorry for the long negative post but just sayin it as it is, Good Luck. 👍
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Hi,
Well, it's been around 9 weeks since I broke down and I am still no further forward. I don't suppose you can recall the name of the English mechanic as we have been recommended an English mechanic. My van eventually got taken to the Fiat garage in Faro (after it's first visit on the 6th of November), where it sat for over a week in the car park. We had to go in every day and hassle them to do something and yesterday they finally got it up on a ramp. They have quoted me 5,062.49 for repairs, although they say they can't find a fault code. There is a small leak of black fluid coming from the flywheel area. They were so rude and unhelpful, so I don't trust them and have not authorised the repairs. When the van first broke down, a mechanic on site diagnosed 2 fault codes P2908 and P0720 which are speed sensors. My breakdown people suggested taking the van back to the UK, however, I'm unsure of what to do next. 2024 has not got off to a good start.
 
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Julie S said:
Hi,
Well, it's been around 9 weeks since I broke down and I am still no further forward. I don't suppose you can recall the name of the English mechanic as we have been recommended an English mechanic. My van eventually got taken to the Fiat garage in Faro (after it's first visit on the 6th of November), where it sat for over a week in the car park. We had to go in every day and hassle them to do something and yesterday they finally got it up on a ramp. They have quoted me 5,062.49 for repairs, although they say they can't find a fault code. There is a small leak of black fluid coming from the flywheel area. They were so rude and unhelpful, so I don't trust them and have not authorised the repairs. When the van first broke down, a mechanic on site diagnosed 2 fault codes P2908 and P0720 which are speed sensors. My breakdown people suggested taking the van back to the UK, however, I'm unsure of what to do next. 2024 has not got off to a good start.
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If it was mine I would want it bringing home.

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If the breakdown company will transport if back to the without charge I'd go for that.
Adams Morey, Portsmouth branch are one of the best places to take it to with Comformatic problems. Very few Fiat garages understand Comformactics.
 
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zedman said:
Black fluid...........I'll ask again....have you checked the clutch fluid level ?
Believe me that's all it might be.
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It would have to be seriously contaminated for the clutch fluid to be black wouldn't it? That sounds more like rear crank oil seal failure to me.

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9 weeks :Eeek: how the hell do folks put up with this.
This isn't the first we have heard of similar things.
What have you done in this time , have you lived in the van or had to find somewhere else or what?
Why hasn't the breakdown people done something about this before now.
The only good thing about this is you are close to faro airport and can come home for less than £50 but no help in getting the van home.
 
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ChrisL said:
It would have to be seriously contaminated for the clutch fluid to be black wouldn't it? That sounds more like rear crank oil seal failure to me.
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No..........by the time it's found its way through all the clutch plate dust in the clutch housing and out the bottom it'll be black as engine oil .........it'll take two minutes to check.
 
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Julie S said:
Hi,
Well, it's been around 9 weeks since I broke down and I am still no further forward. I don't suppose you can recall the name of the English mechanic as we have been recommended an English mechanic. My van eventually got taken to the Fiat garage in Faro (after it's first visit on the 6th of November), where it sat for over a week in the car park. We had to go in every day and hassle them to do something and yesterday they finally got it up on a ramp. They have quoted me 5,062.49 for repairs, although they say they can't find a fault code. There is a small leak of black fluid coming from the flywheel area. They were so rude and unhelpful, so I don't trust them and have not authorised the repairs. When the van first broke down, a mechanic on site diagnosed 2 fault codes P2908 and P0720 which are speed sensors. My breakdown people suggested taking the van back to the UK, however, I'm unsure of what to do next. 2024 has not got off to a good start.
Click to expand...
Hi, I have followed the thread and please dont be cross i cant believe you ask for advice and many experienced people advise bring it back ,I think even the recovery people why are you unsure. ????
Julie S said:
Hi,
Well, it's been around 9 weeks since I broke down and I am still no further forward. I don't suppose you can recall the name of the English mechanic as we have been recommended an English mechanic. My van eventually got taken to the Fiat garage in Faro (after it's first visit on the 6th of November), where it sat for over a week in the car park. We had to go in every day and hassle them to do something and yesterday they finally got it up on a ramp. They have quoted me 5,062.49 for repairs, although they say they can't find a fault code. There is a small leak of black fluid coming from the flywheel area. They were so rude and unhelpful, so I don't trust them and have not authorised the repairs. When the van first broke down, a mechanic on site diagnosed 2 fault codes P2908 and P0720 which are speed sensors. My breakdown people suggested taking the van back to the UK, however, I'm unsure of what to do next. 2024 has not got off to a good start.
Click to expand...
Hi ,I have been following the thread

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Julie S said:
Hi,
Well, it's been around 9 weeks since I broke down and I am still no further forward. I don't suppose you can recall the name of the English mechanic as we have been recommended an English mechanic. My van eventually got taken to the Fiat garage in Faro (after it's first visit on the 6th of November), where it sat for over a week in the car park. We had to go in every day and hassle them to do something and yesterday they finally got it up on a ramp. They have quoted me 5,062.49 for repairs, although they say they can't find a fault code. There is a small leak of black fluid coming from the flywheel area. They were so rude and unhelpful, so I don't trust them and have not authorised the repairs. When the van first broke down, a mechanic on site diagnosed 2 fault codes P2908 and P0720 which are speed sensors. My breakdown people suggested taking the van back to the UK, however, I'm unsure of what to do next. 2024 has not got off to a good start.
Click to expand...
Would take them up on that offer very quickly, let them pick it up and drop of in Portsmouth 👍
 
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