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Fiat 2.3 Catastrophic Fail


Willum

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A friends Fiat 2.3 Multijet engined 2013 motorhome has gone bang.

I'm trying to find alternatives to the pricey solution he's been given. In short:

I heard what sounded like a tappet clacking away for 2-3 seconds after engine start on the two or three occasions I heard it start up when they were here visiting. It always went quiet again and ran fine, no smoke, etc and no EML

I suggested he got it looked at - soon - and he did. The place he took to didn't know what it was.

Guess it must have done 1000 plus miles after I first heard it, then it quit ('died with a strange noise like a flat tyre') on a motorway, dash full of lights, etc. He had it recovered and was initially told (by the same garage, I believe) they couldn't turn the engine over till they jacked the wheels off the ground (? - it's a manual), so it was stripped and found that an injector end had broken off and holed a piston.

Now he's told that a new engine is required, plus injectors and a new turbo, plus a 'clutch' (possibly preventative)

The estimate is around £18,000 including labour and VAT. OUCH! Yep, £18K

He doesn't want to risk a cowboy 'rebuilt' and I don't blame him.

Euroserve mentioned a couple of trustworthy re-manufacturers a good while ago. One was Ivor Searle, who I can find, and the other was WEGE. Can't find them but can find a Vege UK.

Anyone know (Nick? :-D ) if they are one and the same?

............ or of anyone else to be trusted with a rebuild/re-manufacture?

Will

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I don't think I'd be recommending scrapping a £40K+ motorhome just yet. His understandable fear is that a second hand engine can be a very suspect proposition. Even a rear-ended unit can have had some potentially catastrophic shock loads to the engine.

A new/properly re-manufactured unit, yes - but finding a reliable source is the question I'm trying to answer for him.

Will

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HI guys,

I still look on here every other day to see if there is anything with my name on it.

I have had an email from Will and have advised that the most cost effective solution would be a damaged panel van from the same period. Remanufacturing costs are determined by the condition of the core unit supplied and while an undoubtedly good job will be done, the costs cannot be fixed at the start. I fear the price tag on this one will be big.

 

In my opinion you could buy 2 used vans, replace the injectors in both engines and do the exercise twice for the potential cost of a reconditioning exercise and 4 vans for the price that has been indicated so far!

 

Right.

Off to Cornwall for a few days.

N

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Well Euroserve is the undoubted expert, but \I'd give a hearty plus for Ivor Searle's in Soham. They rebuilt and remanufactured my Jag V12 cylinder heads that a couple of local garages deemed BER. Damn good and if you ask nicely they might let you wander round the factory and see the job being done if that kind of thing appeals to you.
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andy mccord - 2019-09-27 7:46 AM

 

I would be looking at a scrapyard IMO, find a van thats been rear ended

 

So would I if I was doing it myself.

But what garage would want to spend unlimited time looking round scrapyards, then taking the risk of fitting an unknown engine that turns out to be no good - all to save you money?

If you can't DIY, I think you are stuck with rebuild or new engine.

Please let us know how you get on.

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