Tam & co the great winter escape

Northernraider said:
Aye but unfortunately the mechanic has now stripped it out again and says he did fit it the correct way so hes currently not sure what the problem is ☹️

But from what he says its now slipping real bad which it wasn't before .

Im in the van now and hes still under the front of it .
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sounds like your luck is like mine at the moment.:cry:
 
The poor mechanic has just left for the night. I actually feel for the lad as he's been on this himself since 8am this morning.. its a heavy box to be lifting in and out.

Anyway it looks like the wrong clutch has been supplied or something. This apparently has a pull clutch rather than a push clutch. Side by side the old and new look the same but when bolted to the flywheel the fins on the pressure plate are bending right out which is effectively taking up all the pull play. So he needs to check with supplier tomorrow.. they are meant to close at 2.30 tomorrow but he says he wont leave till the clutch is done and we will have to sort out the cambelt on another day.

His boss is obviously not happy either but they both have been very apologetic and saying they will get it sorted one way or another.

Its a pain and bloody inconvenient but i can sympathize that its not ideal for them either and they aren't hiding anything from me at least.

So im just having to see how it turns out.

Bloody motorhomes ...we do this stuff for peace of mind and something always goes wrong. I said it before you're better just running old buckets and never maintaining them as they never seem to have problems.

Im just hoping this a works out as im getting stressed now. It also buggers everything else up as im meant to collect the scooter on Saturday but i need the van with the rack fitted to go do that too.
 
Northernraider said:
The poor mechanic has just left for the night. I actually feel for the lad as he's been on this himself since 8am this morning.. its a heavy box to be lifting in and out.

Anyway it looks like the wrong clutch has been supplied or something. This apparently has a pull clutch rather than a push clutch. Side by side the old and new look the same but when bolted to the flywheel the fins on the pressure plate are bending right out which is effectively taking up all the pull play. So he needs to check with supplier tomorrow.. they are meant to close at 2.30 tomorrow but he says he wont leave till the clutch is done and we will have to sort out the cambelt on another day.

His boss is obviously not happy either but they both have been very apologetic and saying they will get it sorted one way or another.

Its a pain and bloody inconvenient but i can sympathize that its not ideal for them either and they aren't hiding anything from me at least.

So im just having to see how it turns out.

Bloody motorhomes ...we do this stuff for peace of mind and something always goes wrong. I said it before you're better just running old buckets and never maintaining them as they never seem to have problems.

Im just hoping this a works out as im getting stressed now. It also buggers everything else up as im meant to collect the scooter on Saturday but i need the van with the rack fitted to go do that too.
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I could see this just running on and on for a while. Hope it is sorted quickly though, feel sorry for the mechanic.
 
Tam I fitted a clutch (Volvo 240) many years ago for my father in law as I had a pit in my garage I said I’d do it for him (he was a great man, I’d do anything for him on the car) anyway after chucking the gearbox on and off by myself and slackening off the pressure plate and re centering it again and again I pulled it all off and counted the splines on the plate, should have been 12, the supplied clutch had 10:doh:

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Well that was another not so great night. Its noisy in that garage so thats the second night of not a great sleep and getting up at 7am .

Im starting to get crabit and worried now. Both battery banks low this morning my 400ah was at 250ah and my 300 is at 200 . So ive had to switch off the inverter etc so the fridge isn't running as i don't want that bank going below 200ah .

Which means the stuff in my fridge and freezer is gonna end up ruined.

Ive not tried plugging this van in to hook up before as not entirely sure how that would work now. I do believe the inverter is an inverter charger though so if anyone has input on that it would be handy.


So the mechanic has phoned supplier this morning regarding the clutch. They only have one clutch listed for this van, no specific one for a pull clutch etc.

So mechanic is working on the theory that the clutch supplied has a defective pressure plate ...which may or may not be correct. I can see why he thinks this as on the old clutch the fins definitely point inwards and are pulled out when clutch is pressed but on the new one the fins seem to point outwards when fitted so theres little left to be pulled out.

Im hoping hes right but worried that if he isn't then what else can be the problem.

The supplier is sending a Sachs replacement today to see if thats any different from the LUK .

He's intending to work late if need be to have it refitted and test driven today before i go to work .either way he will have to park it outside today so i can sleep in it etc ...if it works i can at least bring it back to mums over the weekend and take it back there for the cambelt. If it doesn't work im gonna have to be driving back and forward there for work which is not ideal.

The joys of living in your van fulltime. Its a nightmare when stuff like this happens.

I don't want to sound like a moan but its seriously getting me down now.

I can sympathize with the garage too as theyve obviously spent a lot more hours on this than they expected. But its not my fault and they cant pass that charge on to me but someone's got to cover that .

Im just praying the second clutch solves the problem but i can't help having this niggle that its unlikely to be a faulty clutch. But im lost as to what else it could be.
 
If the clutch manufacturing process has any human interaction then there is room for mistakes. Someone might load all the bits on to the machines and could have put the pressure plates on the wrong way round .......

Let's look on the bright side until all hope is lost :love:
 
I don't know anything about mechanics Tam so can't help there but send my sympathies. Hope it's sorted today.

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I know as much about mechanical things as I do nuclear physics, but just wondering as I do, could it be possible to fit said plate wrong way round?
 
The Dotties said:
I know as much about mechanical things as I do nuclear physics, but just wondering as I do, could it be possible to fit said plate wrong way round?
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Unfortunately not. You can fit the friction plate the wrong way which was the mechanics worry yesterday hence bim staying back last night to strip it back out . He hoped he had done that as it would have been the simple fix but unfortunately not.
But the pressure plate can only go on one way.
 
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A friend had their motorhome serviced last year, on logbook it was Fiat (can’t remember build make and model but think it had something like Sunlight in it). When VIN was entered it offered two different options for filter, Fiat and either Peugeot or Citroen engine. They arranged with factor to take both sets and return whichever was wrong.
Hour or so later when they go back to fit they found it was neither of these, it turned out to be the one that wasn’t listed (either Peugeot or Citroen). Is it possibly something like this with yours Tam?
 
I think my clutch was a Luk one and they admitted that there was a fault with it. It was biting right at the very top of it's stroke.

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Northernraider said:
Well that was another not so great night. Its noisy in that garage so thats the second night of not a great sleep and getting up at 7am .

Im starting to get crabit and worried now. Both battery banks low this morning my 400ah was at 250ah and my 300 is at 200 . So ive had to switch off the inverter etc so the fridge isn't running as i don't want that bank going below 200ah .

Which means the stuff in my fridge and freezer is gonna end up ruined.

Ive not tried plugging this van in to hook up before as not entirely sure how that would work now. I do believe the inverter is an inverter charger though so if anyone has input on that it would be handy.


So the mechanic has phoned supplier this morning regarding the clutch. They only have one clutch listed for this van, no specific one for a pull clutch etc.

So mechanic is working on the theory that the clutch supplied has a defective pressure plate ...which may or may not be correct. I can see why he thinks this as on the old clutch the fins definitely point inwards and are pulled out when clutch is pressed but on the new one the fins seem to point outwards when fitted so theres little left to be pulled out.

Im hoping hes right but worried that if he isn't then what else can be the problem.

The supplier is sending a Sachs replacement today to see if thats any different from the LUK .

He's intending to work late if need be to have it refitted and test driven today before i go to work .either way he will have to park it outside today so i can sleep in it etc ...if it works i can at least bring it back to mums over the weekend and take it back there for the cambelt. If it doesn't work im gonna have to be driving back and forward there for work which is not ideal.

The joys of living in your van fulltime. Its a nightmare when stuff like this happens.

I don't want to sound like a moan but its seriously getting me down now.

I can sympathize with the garage too as theyve obviously spent a lot more hours on this than they expected. But its not my fault and they cant pass that charge on to me but someone's got to cover that .

Im just praying the second clutch solves the problem but i can't help having this niggle that its unlikely to be a faulty clutch. But im lost as to what else it could be.
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Got any photos?

Only "pull" clutches I know of are on the Alfa romeos & if it was it doesn't have a release bearing as the arm clips in to the fingers of the pressure plate when assembling the gearbox.
Northernraider said:
You can fit the friction plate the wrong way which was the mechanics worry yesterday hence bim staying back last night to strip it back out
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I thought even that possibility had been done away with ? It has on my transit , it isn't possible to fit the friction plate the wrong way around.
 
Northernraider said:
Well that was another not so great night. Its noisy in that garage so thats the second night of not a great sleep and getting up at 7am .

Im starting to get crabit and worried now. Both battery banks low this morning my 400ah was at 250ah and my 300 is at 200 . So ive had to switch off the inverter etc so the fridge isn't running as i don't want that bank going below 200ah .

Which means the stuff in my fridge and freezer is gonna end up ruined.

Ive not tried plugging this van in to hook up before as not entirely sure how that would work now. I do believe the inverter is an inverter charger though so if anyone has input on that it would be handy.


So the mechanic has phoned supplier this morning regarding the clutch. They only have one clutch listed for this van, no specific one for a pull clutch etc.

So mechanic is working on the theory that the clutch supplied has a defective pressure plate ...which may or may not be correct. I can see why he thinks this as on the old clutch the fins definitely point inwards and are pulled out when clutch is pressed but on the new one the fins seem to point outwards when fitted so theres little left to be pulled out.

Im hoping hes right but worried that if he isn't then what else can be the problem.

The supplier is sending a Sachs replacement today to see if thats any different from the LUK .

He's intending to work late if need be to have it refitted and test driven today before i go to work .either way he will have to park it outside today so i can sleep in it etc ...if it works i can at least bring it back to mums over the weekend and take it back there for the cambelt. If it doesn't work im gonna have to be driving back and forward there for work which is not ideal.

The joys of living in your van fulltime. Its a nightmare when stuff like this happens.

I don't want to sound like a moan but its seriously getting me down now.

I can sympathize with the garage too as theyve obviously spent a lot more hours on this than they expected. But its not my fault and they cant pass that charge on to me but someone's got to cover that .

Im just praying the second clutch solves the problem but i can't help having this niggle that its unlikely to be a faulty clutch. But im lost as to what else it could be.
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Would it be worth it to take your old clutch and your vin number to a official fiat commercial garage and get the right part, compare the new with the old, manufacturers change stuff various times each year in the manufacturing proces, the official fiat dealer should know their unions better as your local garage…..
 
I thought you had got your van done 😊and gone to a THS near Lincoln
image.jpg

It’s a bum when thing don’t go right, I had the same problem when I had a cam belt done on my Hymer, they got sent the wrong kit but luckily they got correct one sent out quick, just ment van wasn’t ready until 5pm instead of 2pm
 
gus-lopez said:
Got any photos?

Only "pull" clutches I know of are on the Alfa romeos & if it was it doesn't have a release bearing as the arm clips in to the fingers of the pressure plate when assembling the gearbox.

I thought even that possibility had been done away with ? It has on my transit , it isn't possible to fit the friction plate the wrong way around.
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Yep the alfa romeo has one too.

It does have a release thrust bearing but it pushes in to the pressure plate and once fitted it doesn't come back out , so unlike some motors you can't just change that bearing without replacing the pressure plate too.

I don't have any photos but if you google fiat Ducato pull clutch you can find videos.

Its a bit of a faff removing the box too because of it .. you need a special tool to remove the pin that holds the fork/claw
 
Tam, I feel for you. Sounds a bit like our Norway saga a few years ago. Different parts, but a similar scenario. I hope your final bill is less than ours 💜🍀
 
Just spoke with the garage owner. He says the sachs one looked a lot better and the mechanic is fitting the gearbox as we speak. So fingers crossed.

He's obviously still got to put it together and road-test but here's hoping.

I start work at 4.30 till 10 but im going to see if i can finish earlier as i will have to leave dogs with mum and then pick them up after work and drive back to the garage
 
jumartoo said:
Tam, I feel for you. Sounds a bit like our Norway saga a few years ago. Different parts, but a similar scenario. I hope your final bill is less than ours 💜🍀
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Aye im hoping the only extra charges ill have are for the crankshaft oil seals. We will see
 
Ok well quicker than i expected but they've just phoned saying thats the clutch all done and its working fine now , been a test drive etc. Seems quick from when i phoned but hopefully . So they will leave it outside for me and leave keys with harry the auld rv boy .

Booked back in for Tuesday to do the cambelt.


Fingers crossed its all ok . Will find out tomorrow i guess when i drive it home
 
Northernraider said:
Just spoke with the garage owner. He says the sachs one looked a lot better and the mechanic is fitting the gearbox as we speak. So fingers crossed.

He's obviously still got to put it together and road-test but here's hoping.

I start work at 4.30 till 10 but im going to see if i can finish earlier as i will have to leave dogs with mum and then pick them up after work and drive back to the garage
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Pop a takeaway round to the the poor mechanics to cheer them up?!🤔🤣

Ps too late!
 
Onemanandhisdog said:
Even when you're not travelling you're good entertainment, looking forward to next Tuesday 👍👍
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Lol im glad someone is enjoying it. Living it is starting to drive me nuts. Im dreading the bill and im dreading getting the cambelt done in case of any other problems.

And i really hope its driving ok as otherwise i think ill be jumping off the bridge
 

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