Comfortmatic gearbox

[Sus3v]

We love ours and call it Colin, as in "Colin’s changing gear again". It’s such a ponderous gear change that it’s a bit like having an elderly gentleman in the cab pressing the clutch pedal for you.

Called our van Brian after the speedy snail in Magic Roundabout - great minds, eh!

 

[tonyidle]

I still select N even in a full auto

In my case P but manual or auto it's a hard habit to break . I believe driving schools no longer teach "into neutral, handbrake on" at the lights. Mind you I still double-declutch .

 

[Silver-Fox]

In my case P but manual or auto it's a hard habit to break . I believe driving schools no longer teach "into neutral, handbrake on" at the lights. Mind you I still double-declutch .

Yes you can sit at lights in gear with modern driving standards.

They don’t even go down the box now on approach to light

Won’t do for me though

 

[gus-lopez]

We got the Gears not available message a few weeks ago and got stuck in the Outer Hebrides as no local mechanic would look at it and AA had to recover back to the dealer which arrived back yesterday so hopefully will understand soon what the problem is/was.

Good to hear it has actually returned. Let us know what the final outcome is please?

 

[Lenny HB]

Do you have to depress the brake when selecting gears.

I do on the Sprintshift and if I forget it won’t select gears
But that’s operator error

Yep.

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[SpeedyDux]

Do you have to depress the brake when selecting gears.

I do on the Sprintshift and if I forget it won’t select gears
But that’s operator error

Yes, your foot needs to be on the brake pedal before commanding the Comfortmatic to select a gear.

I suppose it's possible that I lifted off the brake too soon before the ECU sent the signal to the activators to engage 1st. I blame the heat and wanting to get home quickly. Comfortmatic doesn't like to be rushed.

 

[Hammie]

i’d change your mechanic , yours & most cars/van don’t have one , they have fill plug you remove & fill to that level

That’s why he can’t find it then . I know the plug may have reversing camera and lights connected to it. The mechanic says the gearbox oil should be good for thousands of miles. Do you find the plug under the air filter or am I getting it wrong

 

[Bessy765]

With the conformatic when first starting turn the ign key on but wait for the check lights to complete their cycle. Press the brake pedal to before starting or selecting any gear, move the lever gently dont rush it.

 

[Speve]

I read somewhere that the 180hp version of the 2.3 has better grunt that the 3.0 had when it was new. Bigger wheels and triathlete hamsters or something. I have the 150hp on a Comfortmatic and it pulls a 3500kg moho and a 1600kg trailer, up big hills, no probs.

I only get the gear changing thing described above, at 50mph on an incline. Other than that, very happy with it.

we have the 180 in our 4500 kg van and tow a car trailer we are close to 6000 kg GTW and comformatic works really well on our trips down through France and Spain
Would not want to go back to manual

 

[Hammie]

With the conformatic when first starting turn the ign key on but wait for the check lights to complete their cycle. Press the brake pedal to before starting or selecting any gear, move the lever gently dont rush it.

That fits also with what my cousin said (former truck driver). He said with diesel give it at least 30 seconds tick over before driving.

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[Steve-N]

I have a 2019 Fiat Ducato whuch I've had from new, it is fitted with the 6 speed Comfort-Matic gearbox, It has been superb having covered over 10k miles (Spain and Scotland being longer trips) without any issues (after getting used to the Comfort-Matic quirks)
Last weekend we had only driven about 4 miles, stopping at a petrol station for some bits and bobs, on re-starting no differently than I have always done, I get a "no gears available" message and and stuck in 1st gear only inc no reverse !!!
After finding somewhere safe to stop (and let the frustrated que go past) I called my local Fiat main dealer to be told they 'think' the gearbox 'control module' has failed !!! (With the ooo ahhh chin scratching warning that they are at least £3k + vat + 9hrs labour to do the job)
As you'd expect its just out of the stingy 2 year warranty that Fiat give on new Ducatos (aimed at the high mileage parcel vans used by DPD etc)
So we sat for approx an hour making phones calls trying to arrange rescue, when we basically gave up and I decided to crawl back home (in 1st gear)
On restarting the engine I was relieved to find everything was 'back to normal' !!

So much for the gearbox control.module being u/s . . so fingers x'd so far no further issues !!

To me it looks more likely to be electric/electronic or a loose connection somewhere, definitely not mechanical ?
Or possible the gear change ecu/system getting its knickers in a twist, and after sitting with everything off for a while it sorted itself out when I re-started ?

Any thoughts (as I cant believe I need to cough up £3k on a 2 year old van with less than 11k miles which has never been driven anything like a builders van !!)

Steve

 

[dunnah01]

You can often drive around the auto problems by using the manual mode. Sometimes you may need to try the +/- a gear a couple of times but usually it gets there in the end. OK as a safe get you home (and beyond) mode if you're feeling stuck.

 

[Lenny HB]

Just getting its knickers in a twist. I've had "automatic mode not avalible" a few times always happened when just pulled up an stopped. Turn ignition off for a few mins and it's all OK.

 

[Steve-N]

Thanks for the prompt replies, so fingers x'd its hopefully no more than a 'blip' . .

I noticed that Fiat no longer fit the Comfort-Matic box having opted for a 'normal' 9 speed Auto . . Just typical !!!

Steve

 

[Lenny HB]

I noticed that Fiat no longer fit the Comfort-Matic box having opted for a 'normal' 9 speed Auto . . Just typical !!!

Good excuse for a new van then.

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[two]

Nothing worse than an intermittent fault.
You never know when it will strike again and you can only detect it when it's misbehaving.

 

[Two of usI]

Despite my last post (5th Aug) getting ready to go last week and errored again, but, wouldn't clear..... AA tried but no, so, taken to local garage ( Fiat Dealer) had it since last Monday, will look on Thursday just hope it isn't predicted at the same massive cost as yours Steve-N

 

[TheBig1]

I have known of several vans with the comfortmatic where the gearbox ecu has had to be adjusted and reset. It has got to be an electrical issue, and my money is on a dodgy earth/ground connection near the ecu

 

[Just smiffy]

I have a 2019 Fiat Ducato whuch I've had from new, it is fitted with the 6 speed Comfort-Matic gearbox, It has been superb having covered over 10k miles (Spain and Scotland being longer trips) without any issues (after getting used to the Comfort-Matic quirks)
Last weekend we had only driven about 4 miles, stopping at a petrol station for some bits and bobs, on re-starting no differently than I have always done, I get a "no gears available" message and and stuck in 1st gear only inc no reverse !!!
After finding somewhere safe to stop (and let the frustrated que go past) I called my local Fiat main dealer to be told they 'think' the gearbox 'control module' has failed !!! (With the ooo ahhh chin scratching warning that they are at least £3k + vat + 9hrs labour to do the job)
As you'd expect its just out of the stingy 2 year warranty that Fiat give on new Ducatos (aimed at the high mileage parcel vans used by DPD etc)
So we sat for approx an hour making phones calls trying to arrange rescue, when we basically gave up and I decided to crawl back home (in 1st gear)
On restarting the engine I was relieved to find everything was 'back to normal' !!

So much for the gearbox control.module being u/s . . so fingers x'd so far no further issues !!

To me it looks more likely to be electric/electronic or a loose connection somewhere, definitely not mechanical ?
Or possible the gear change ecu/system getting its knickers in a twist, and after sitting with everything off for a while it sorted itself out when I re-started ?

Any thoughts (as I cant believe I need to cough up £3k on a 2 year old van with less than 11k miles which has never been driven anything like a builders van !!)

Steve

I had a few niggles with mine, after extensive research I fitted a large earth cable from the engine to the chassis… no problem for the next 30k miles to when it was sold…
It’s only a £10 max fix, nothing to lose..

 

[orridge]

Despite my last post (5th Aug) getting ready to go last week and errored again, but, wouldn't clear..... AA tried but no, so, taken to local garage ( Fiat Dealer) had it since last Monday, will look on Thursday just hope it isn't predicted at the same massive cost as yours Steve-N

Good luck still waiting for mine to be diagnosed & fixed it has now been 7 weeks since we brokedown in Scotland and 5 weeks since back at SMC for diagnosing and fixing.

Starting to get hacked off now had the van since Mid April and it has spent more time back at the Dealers than with us.

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[orridge]

Thanks for the prompt replies, so fingers x'd its hopefully no more than a 'blip' . .

I noticed that Fiat no longer fit the Comfort-Matic box having opted for a 'normal' 9 speed Auto . . Just typical !!!

Steve

Might be worth seeing if you can get the extended Fiat warranty.

 

[carolyn]

We had what sounds like that problem when our van was only a few months old but fortunately we weren’t driving it and I’m afraid it did involve replacing the ECU I believe. Ours had been back to IH in Yorkshire for some warranty repairs and then had another holiday in Nottingham en route. Fortunately it arrived home just as Covid began. Ours was under warranty fortunately.

You can’t take out the extended warranty except within a couple of weeks of purchase, the window is very tight. The dealers know little about it. This last bit is in answer to orridge

 

[Scotch mist]

Good luck still waiting for mine to be diagnosed & fixed it has now been 7 weeks since we brokedown in Scotland and 5 weeks since back at SMC for diagnosing and fixing.

Starting to get hacked off now had the van since Mid April and it has spent more time back at the Dealers than with us.

That will be why I changed to the new auto box , used the (brand new) deathless twice , broke down both times in France , last time it was in France fro 8 weeks , once fixed I drove it straight to the dealer & told him to keep it , got a new pilote with the ZF9 auto box , best move I’ve made

 

[Hammie]

Despite my last post (5th Aug) getting ready to go last week and errored again, but, wouldn't clear..... AA tried but no, so, taken to local garage ( Fiat Dealer) had it since last Monday, will look on Thursday just hope it isn't predicted at the same massive cost as yours Steve-N

Might come to nothing but the local mechanics say Peter Kane at Heathrow Truck Centre knows all there is to know about Fiat trucks and Motorhomes?

 

[Steve-N]

Might be worth seeing if you can get the extended Fiat warranty.

Aparently you can only take out the Fiat extended warranty in the 1st two weeks from when it is 1st registered
Buying from a Motorhome dealer puts you at a disadvantage as they don't have any connection with Fiat, even fi di g out if the PDI had been done by the Elldis (Hymer) assembly factory was far from easy !!

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[Two of usI]

Despite my last post (5th Aug) getting ready to go last week and errored again, but, wouldn't clear..... AA tried but no, so, taken to local garage ( Fiat Dealer) had it since last Monday, will look on Thursday just hope it isn't predicted at the same massive cost as yours Steve-N

Have been and collected yesterday........ seems to be fixed and a cost of £380...... after reading the horror stories on here, I was pleasantly surprised........ but, in the cold light of day its a lot of cash for minimal work !!!

 

[dunnah01]

Have been and collected yesterday........ seems to be fixed and a cost of £380...... after reading the horror stories on here, I was pleasantly surprised........ but, in the cold light of day its a lot of cash for minimal work !!!

Did they say what the cause was?

 

[Steve-N]

Since my last post regarding the intermittent gear select issue (ie no gears available message) we took the van out for a sort run last Thursday and parked up on the edge of a common land area to enjoy the lovely evening and sunset.
On starting up to head home the dreaded message 'no gears available' message came up, and the van was 'stuck' in N, switched off, waited a few minutes, tried again, and thankfully it was ok, and drove home without any issues.
I tried the van on my drive the next day, and same again, stuck in N, after approx. 5 attempts to get it cleared I gave up and have called Greenflag in to help.
Turned up an hour ago with a 7.5 ton low loader and the van is now off to our nearest Fiat Commercial dealer (Motus in Gloucestershire)

Fingers crossed, and pray to all the Gods that it isn't too costly.

I shall be formally writing to Fiat UK to lodge my disappointment, and that the 24 month 'cap' on 'Motorhome/Campervan' warranty is very poor by todays standards and that in my opinion the vehicle is 'unfit for service' now.

Before you all say "you could have bought extended warranty" - I now know that, b ut almost all Leisure vehicle dealers do not advise or offer to arrange thgis, the likes of Hymer/Eldis/Compass don't even do the proper vehicle PDI inspections and register this with Fiat

The whole industry seem to me all about selling Motorhomes/Campervans and providing little aftersales support (for the vehicle chassis) not the habitation parts

Rant over

Steve

 

[Lenny HB]

Hope you get it sorted without too much cost.

The standard warranty on European vehicles 2 years it's only vehicles that are supplied in the UK have a 3 year warranty which the 3rd year is a dealer /insurance backed warranty.
If you have for example a German conversion the chassis will have been supplied in Germany so it only gets the standard 2 year warranty. This is also reflected in higher UK prices.

 

[orridge]

Since my last post regarding the intermittent gear select issue (ie no gears available message) we took the van out for a sort run last Thursday and parked up on the edge of a common land area to enjoy the lovely evening and sunset.
On starting up to head home the dreaded message 'no gears available' message came up, and the van was 'stuck' in N, switched off, waited a few minutes, tried again, and thankfully it was ok, and drove home without any issues.
I tried the van on my drive the next day, and same again, stuck in N, after approx. 5 attempts to get it cleared I gave up and have called Greenflag in to help.
Turned up an hour ago with a 7.5 ton low loader and the van is now off to our nearest Fiat Commercial dealer (Motus in Gloucestershire)

Fingers crossed, and pray to all the Gods that it isn't too costly.

I shall be formally writing to Fiat UK to lodge my disappointment, and that the 24 month 'cap' on 'Motorhome/Campervan' warranty is very poor by todays standards and that in my opinion the vehicle is 'unfit for service' now.

Before you all say "you could have bought extended warranty" - I now know that, b ut almost all Leisure vehicle dealers do not advise or offer to arrange thgis, the likes of Hymer/Eldis/Compass don't even do the proper vehicle PDI inspections and register this with Fiat

The whole industry seem to me all about selling Motorhomes/Campervans and providing little aftersales support (for the vehicle chassis) not the habitation parts

Rant over

Steve

Hope you get it sorted and keen to understand what Fiat have to say as so far still off the road for 2 months with the same issue.

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