Comfortmatic gearbox

madkoka

madkoka

Joined
May 17, 2022
Posts
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88,745
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don’t own one yet
Hi
Newish member here đź‘‹ we are in the market for a used MoHo, I would prefer an auto, at my price range that means mainly the only one will be the Fiat Comfortmatic, how bad are these? There are a few horror stories about but I would like to find out from the experts on here as to their thoughts, I know there are a couple of other makes like ford or merc but most seem to be the Fiat
 
Ours is a manual Ford but having seen the posts on here it depends how lucky you are. Some seem to go for ages with no problems others are one problem after another with eye watering bills. I suspect they have returned to a traditional auto for a reason!
 
No problem with ours except for the usual delay between first and second. You learn to live with it. Driving up steep winding roads it is superb; much better than I could do with a manual gearbox.
 
Be worth a thread poll to get a view.

Ours has comfortmatic on Fiat and 11,000 miles and has performed faultlessly.

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Last van was a comformatic did 28k in 3 years without any problems. Current van with comformatic is 5 years old done 38k had a couple of minor wobbles turn off and on the ignition sorted it.

Online you really only hear about the bad ones.

Important that the clutch fluid gets changed regularly. It has a common reservoir with the brakes and often doesn't get bled when the brake fluid is changed.
 
It’s a complicated system with lots of different reasons why it’s breaks down

All complicated systems can have potential problems, simple is best.
 
It's a great system that seems to be programmed to suit the white van man driver rather than the motorhome driver. The clutch wear characteristics aren't really reflective of the way we use our motorhomes so an error is sometimes thrown up at between around 15-30k. Garages seem to struggle to diagnose the glitch and replace lots of very expensive parts until they fluke it, whereas in reality it is only a simple control module reset that's required. There is also a known wiring loom problem that's easily solved if it occurs. There are also a few real mechanical failures but they are pretty rare.
 
We had our van new in June 2016 and the comfortmatic gearbox has been faultless. :giggle:

No problem going over Austria's highest mountain pass fully loaded - Grossglockner (8,215 feet above sea level). Bog standard 2.3 litre 130 hp engine. (y)
 
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We have comfortmatic and no problems at all so far. I get on well with it. I use it manually quite a bit as well.
Phil

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The company I worked for had 22 small buses with the
comfortmatic gearboxes, 3 litre engines were excellent and very reliable.
The clutch on the one I drove expired at 22,000 miles which was replaced under warranty and again at 38,000 miles and the gearbox expired shortly afterwards, no gears available.
At one time we had seven of the twenty two vehicles off the road with gearbox or clutch problems.
We had to rent a number of Mercedes benz auto buses to maintain a viable service.
All of the Fiat based vehicles were replaced by Mercedes based vehicles and as far as I am aware they haven't had any gearbox problems since.
 
I had one in a transit PVC, I had the van for years with no problems and it worked very well on the hills on Cornwall even when towing a Harley. It did occasionally forget a gear but switching it off/on sorted it. However reading some of the horror stories on the transit forum I did have a sense of relief when I sold it.
 
I'm not an expert on the Comfortmatic. I'm just a motorhomer who has driven over 45,000 in 9.5 years (Covid reduced my annual mileage) with a Comfortmatic without any problems. When I bought the van in 2013, I had reservations.

Get the manual - a few pages - and follow the guidelines or you will have trouble.

The Comfortmatic does have some quirks which can irritate, but the overall ease makes up for these. Would I buy my van again with a Comfortmatic? Yes. Would I buy one second hand? Not sure. If I could get one of many that has been trouble free, yes.
 
Aspenshaw said:
I'm not an expert on the Comfortmatic. I'm just a motorhomer who has driven over 45,000 in 9.5 years (Covid reduced my annual mileage) with a Comfortmatic without any problems. When I bought the van in 2013, I had reservations.

Get the manual - a few pages - and follow the guidelines or you will have trouble.

The Comfortmatic does have some quirks which can irritate, but the overall ease makes up for these. Would I buy my van again with a Comfortmatic? Yes. Would I buy one second hand? Not sure. If I could get one of many that has been trouble free, yes.
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I think thats a good point if you bought from a private seller who had a van for several years with a good service history and no previous problems it's a different kettle of fish to one with several short ownerships and no service history.

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Very good if you uprate the van to at least 160hp (chipped). The 130hp standard makes the comfortmatic hunt for gears all the time.
 
No issues with ours on a 2016 plate. It's a 130hp and doesn't hunt for gears.

Make sure you know how to use the hill assist :)
 
KUSKUS said:
The company I worked for had 22 small buses with the
comfortmatic gearboxes, 3 litre engines were excellent and very reliable.
The clutch on the one I drove expired at 22,000 miles which was replaced under warranty and again at 38,000 miles and the gearbox expired shortly afterwards, no gears available.
At one time we had seven of the twenty two vehicles off the road with gearbox or clutch problems.
We had to rent a number of Mercedes benz auto buses to maintain a viable service.
All of the Fiat based vehicles were replaced by Mercedes based vehicles and as far as I am aware they haven't had any gearbox problems since.
Click to expand...

You didn't say what year the 22 small buses were.

There were reports of some early ComfortMatics matched to 3 litre engines burning out clutches prematurely, in heavy tag axle MHs.

My ComfortMatic with 2.3 150hp is OK after nearly 6 year's sympathetic use.
 
Some great info guys thank you, lots to ponder over đź‘Ťđź‘Ť
 
CazPaul said:
It’s a complicated system with lots of different reasons why it’s breaks down

All complicated systems can have potential problems, simple is best.
Click to expand...
It's the same manual gearbox with 3 servos, a few sensors and some fairly simple logic. Robotising a manual is easy enough that there are some after market kits that do a similar job. It's a lot simpler than a DSG or the hybrid auto 9 speed now in use. I'm not saying it doesn't go wrong, but I don't think it's a complex system.

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We had one for 3 years in our tag Hymer no problem but was never 100% convinced, but there are 1,000s out there all performing well.
 
40k miles on two vehicles and no problem. However some golden rules: Always turn off engine when it is in gear. Never leave it in neutral. Never move the gear lever unless the engine is running. Help it to change by using the throttle to encourage it. Make sure brake and therefore clutch fluid is changed regularly and don 't allow anyone near the "comfortmatic" fluid reservoir who doesn't know how to reset the system. Both boxes have done some hard mountain miles and I would not mind buying another but the problem is you don't know if the previous owner has broken the golden rules.
 
Tighchris said:
However some golden rules: Always turn off engine when it is in gear. Never leave it in neutral. Never move the gear lever unless the engine is running. Help it to change by using the throttle to encourage it.
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Can you explain why these rules are important? I usually do the first 2 but not always. I find the the ecu drops the revs automatically when it is changing and if I ease off the throttle it may encourage it to change up but then usually it changes down again as soon as I apply the throttle needed to maintain my speed. I have had older automatics that were encouraged to change by backing off on the throttle (both torque converter and robotic) but my 2019 Comfortmatic seems to do it all without needing encouraging.
 
The only naughty clog dance is to us the brake pedal left foot to set off (ie: foot on brake with revs rising then release brake pedal to move off). It plays havoc with the calculation of the clutch transmissibility index calculated by the Comfortmatic control unit and causes the clutch to open or close at the wrong bite point which could promote wear or even mechanical damage.
 
I am easily led as I have no technical understanding of why these actually are golden rules. Probably golden guesses on my part really. I found the first two on a cardboard hanger over the gear lever when I picked up the first comfortmatic so guessed that Fiat thought they were really important. Somewhere in the handbook (?) it also said that if you move the lever without the engine running you must wait 5 minutes before moving it again. The second two "rules" were picked up from a Fiat technician. Encouraging the box to change has always worked for me without any problems but not sure if it does actually preserve the box.

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They may have modified the controls and the handbook over the years but this is what the one I have says (2019).
“ With the vehicle at a standstill and the key out, the lever may be moved with/without the brake pedal pressed. The system does not carry out any action after the lever has been shifted and remains in the gear stored before the key was removed.”
It sounds a warning tone if the gear position doesn’t match the engaged gear.
 
Tighchris said:
I am easily led as I have no technical understanding of why these actually are golden rules. Probably golden guesses on my part really. I found the first two on a cardboard hanger over the gear lever when I picked up the first comfortmatic so guessed that Fiat thought they were really important. Somewhere in the handbook (?) it also said that if you move the lever without the engine running you must wait 5 minutes before moving it again. The second two "rules" were picked up from a Fiat technician. Encouraging the box to change has always worked for me without any problems but not sure if it does actually preserve the box.
Click to expand...
The rules seem to be more for safety.
You can only engage gears when the ignition is on so to ensure the box is in gear you need to make sure the lever is in position before turning off the engine, or at least the ignition.
If the box is left in neutral then if the handbrake isn't fully engaged the vehicle can still roll on a hill.
If the lever is moved with the ignition on but the engine not running the clutch could release and allow the vehicle to roll on a hill.
All good advice that you've been given tbh
 
Hi All, i recently joined the group and i am looking at buying a Carthago Malibu 2019 I441 LE 2.3 engine 14000 miles 2 previous owners with the comformatic gearbox. (our first MH to be honest)
Having read the comments some good some bad i am now absolutely petrified regarding the golden rules that apply using the comformatic gearbox.
Its an awful lot of money to spend to inherit any expensive garage bills.
I would like some advice / guidance if possible my brain is aying stay well away - its the design of the above MH that then pulls strings.
Does any have any links to any videos regarding the usage and issues with the comformatic gearbox.
Yours Newbie
 
Ours is 4 years old and worked fine. Often use the manual override too without any issues. I’ve had auto cars for several years too so was happy to go for the comfortmatic.
It’s not complicated to drive and after a couple of trips will be second nature.
Not dismissing people that have had issues, but you do tend to hear more about problems than positive experiences. Which is the same for lots of vehicles.
If it’s been well maintained then go for it, beats driving a manual.

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