Just found this which could be of interest.....
There is a very common problem with Fiat Ducato which is the most used vehicle to form a motorhome chassis.
On 16 December 2014 I was driving from Bad Waldsee to Isny im Allgau in Germany when the gear stick jumped out. Thinking that I was responsible for the problem, I pushed it back it again and it jumped out again. I held it in and it still jumped out.
This is a problem faced by many Fiat Ducato owners and it is caused by a design fault with the gear system which was originally built for four gears. The fifth gear was later tagged on but without preparing the gear box for it. The shape of the gear box from under the vehicle also gives the idea that the fifth gear was a bit of an afterthought.
There is a problem with lubrication and synchronisation. It would seem that oil does not pass easily from the four speed box to the fifth gear. Furthermore, there is a big jump from fourth to fifth.
The solution to this problem appears to be keep the gear box oil at maximum and to change gear from fourth into fifth at a high rate of revs. Motorhome owners are not racers as a rule, they are quite happy to roll along at 80kmph in fifth gear. According to advice I have seen, it would be better to change into fifth later - maybe at around 100kmph which ironically enough may not only give some protection to the gear box but also improve fuel consumption
Around 2003 Fiat resolved the problem and introduced a new gear box.
If the fifth gear goes, the vehicle will still drive and the problem will not effect the other gears. If you are a motorhome user that does not use the motorway very often - and many of us do not - then the option may be to drive without a fifth gear. The cost to repair my vehicle came to just under EUR800 and for that kind of money you can buy a lot of diesel!
There is a very common problem with Fiat Ducato which is the most used vehicle to form a motorhome chassis.
On 16 December 2014 I was driving from Bad Waldsee to Isny im Allgau in Germany when the gear stick jumped out. Thinking that I was responsible for the problem, I pushed it back it again and it jumped out again. I held it in and it still jumped out.
This is a problem faced by many Fiat Ducato owners and it is caused by a design fault with the gear system which was originally built for four gears. The fifth gear was later tagged on but without preparing the gear box for it. The shape of the gear box from under the vehicle also gives the idea that the fifth gear was a bit of an afterthought.
There is a problem with lubrication and synchronisation. It would seem that oil does not pass easily from the four speed box to the fifth gear. Furthermore, there is a big jump from fourth to fifth.
The solution to this problem appears to be keep the gear box oil at maximum and to change gear from fourth into fifth at a high rate of revs. Motorhome owners are not racers as a rule, they are quite happy to roll along at 80kmph in fifth gear. According to advice I have seen, it would be better to change into fifth later - maybe at around 100kmph which ironically enough may not only give some protection to the gear box but also improve fuel consumption
Around 2003 Fiat resolved the problem and introduced a new gear box.
If the fifth gear goes, the vehicle will still drive and the problem will not effect the other gears. If you are a motorhome user that does not use the motorway very often - and many of us do not - then the option may be to drive without a fifth gear. The cost to repair my vehicle came to just under EUR800 and for that kind of money you can buy a lot of diesel!
