Hymer C 644

[donal]

I have recently purchased a second hand 2 year only Hymer C 644 2.8l desiel Fiat with 25,000 miles, it is an ex rental. This is my first motohome and I bought it in good faith from the dealer based on a one year warranty and the assurance offered of "come back when anything is wrong and we will fix it". Prior to purchasing I identified an number of items that needed to be corrected following a test drive. The primary one was with wind noise around the drivers door at speeds above 55MPH ( I could see day light between the door and the rubber seal). I was assured that this could be rectified by the salesman however when I returned to get it repaired the service manager said that nothing can be done about this that it is normal in this type of motorhome. Has anybody come across this and is it normal and if so is there some way of correcting it? The level sensor on the fresh and waste water tanks also read eratically again the servcie manager says this is normal? Is he wright? Aslo the cagin door seems to not close flush with the body, I only noticed this after purchase again the service manager response to this was even new Hymers come in with doors like that? Is he wright? I live in Republic of Ireland however the van was first registered in the UK can anybody tell me what the duration of the Hymer and Fiat warranties on this van should be? I would really appreciate any advise/help with these problems? (lol)

[colin]

I read recently(well might have been up to 6 months ago) in MMM that Fiats etc with this type of body generaly suffer from wind noise at higher speeds because the top of door is 'sucked out', this was first time I had heard of this and I did think that people would not allways find this out when test driving so should have been mentioned on all test reports.

[Mel B]

The 'flappy/noisy' fiat door is well know, however, some van's suffer more than others so it's up to you when you test drive the van's to see for yourself. We had a fairly noisy (and draughty) one on our Swift Suntor 590RS (before the current model), due to the overcab being large we assume. On our low profile Rapido we don't have as much of a problem but it still does get a bit noisy at speed and/or when it's quite windy. There is a fix that I believe Essanjay can do which involved a bit of 'manipulation' with a bit of timber I believe (no, not hitting it!), it was mentioned in an article in MMM I think, possibly last year. Other than that you'll probably have to live with it. As for the water gauge, what a load of cobblers, they are there for a purpose, we did have problems with the one on our Swift which had simply been very badly installed by Swift and after it was removed and re-sealed worked perfectly. Can't help with the warranty I'm afraid.

[Guest peter]

If you mean the habitation door is not flush, this can be adjusted on the hinge mounting screws I believe.

[donal]

Yes, that what I meant, thanks very much.

[donal]

Thanks, that what I thought about the water guages. Donal

[Derek Uzzell]

Donal: As Mel B says, poor sealing of Fiat Ducato/Peugeot Boxer cab-doors is well-recognised. It has been a recurring complaint since the 1994-onwards model was introduced and has been regularly mentioned in motorhome reports when the fault has been evident in the vehicle being tested. Although seal modifications were introduced at the last Ducato/Boxer revision (I believe your Hymer would have been built on the latest chassis version), these do not appear to have provided a certain cure. The problem of wind-noise/draughts through the door seals on SEVEL-based (Citroen/Fiat/Peugeot) motorhomes is usually blamed on the aerodynamics of coachbuilt (particularly overcab) models. This is an educated guess (and perfectly believable), but I suspect the common practice of cutting away the cab roof further exacerbates what is really an inherent 'factory line' design weakness. I recall a comment on this forum from someone who regularly drove SEVEL commercial panel vans that door-sealing on some was OK and on others not. On your Hymer it may be possible to improve matters by replacing the seals or by adjusting the fit of the doors at the hinges or lock (if that's practicable). I don't remember reading about the Essanjay wheeze that Mel B refers to, but judicious use of brute force can be surprisingly effective. Essanjay are Fiat authorised dealers and motorhome specialists so are in ideal position to advise on this. Their website is www.essanjay.co.uk if you want to contact them. As far as the misaligned entrance-door is concerned, whether any improvement can be made will depend on the door's design and why it isn't currently flush-fitting. The doors of modern German-built motorhomes are sophisticated pieces of kit far removed from the simple caravan-style stable-doors of 10 years or so ago. It's irrational for your dealer to suggest that Hymer can't fit doors properly at the factory or, by implication, that buyers of Hymers wouldn't play merry hell if their new motorhomes were supplied with cock-eyed entrance-doors. Certainly I've never come across complaints about misfitting doors on Hymers (though I have heard it said about other makes!) If the rear edge of the entrance-door isn't flush with the bodywork then it may well be possible to rectify this straightforwardly by adjustment of the locking mechanism(s). Misalignment at the front edge may be harder to fix and will depend on the hinge arrangement. (As an example, my Hobby's entrance door has hinges that only permit door adjustment in the vertical plane.) If you examine your Hymer's door hinges, it shouldn't be difficult to decide what types of adjustment can be achieved. I guess it also needs to be said that bodywork peculiarities can be the result of repairs to accident damage. Even brand-new vehicles can have received repairs before they are sold and, as rental motorhomes tend to lead a tougher life than privately owned ones, it's clearly something to be extra vigilant about. My own requirement for a motorhome water gauge is that it provides accurate readings when the fresh-water tank is full or empty. Because water tanks are often odd shapes and the attitude of the vehicle (ie whether it's level or not) is bound to affect the level sensors, I'm not too concerned over intermediate readings as long as they are somewhere near and predictable. So, if the gauge always shows half full when my 100 litre tank still has 65 litres in it, then that's acceptable to me. It would be great if motorhome water gauge readings were always truly accurate but, in my experience, they often aren't. Of course, if the gauge on your Hymer is showing daft or wildly fluctuating readings, then something's wrong. Based on MMM test reports, if your C644 was sold in the UK via Hymer(UK) it would have had 2-year duration warranties for the base vehicle and the conversion. You could check what (if any) part of the base-vehicle warranty remains by providing a Fiat main agent with the 'VIN number' found on the vehicle's data plate. If you've got no documentation for the conversion warranty then I suggest you contact the original importer. There would also have been a 6-year duration warranty against water ingress. To maintain validity this will have required an annual damp-test and you will need to confirm from the motorhome's documentation whether or not this has been carried out. If an annual inspection has been missed it's probable that the 6-year warranty cannot be reinstated. Any remaining valid warranties will need to be transferred into your name. It's possible that the terms and conditions of Hymer-related warranties preclude use of the motorhome for commercial purposes (eg. rental), but you'd need to check this out yourself.

[donal]

Thanks. The dealer did adjust and now the door is much better.

[donal]

The dealer adjusted the door however I still think there is some wind noise. I will just of to live with it and crank up the radio.

[donal]

Thanks for the advise. I went on the Hymer website and I am still waiting a reply. The dealer said the Hymer guarantee is up. I will await further info from Hymer direct.