Water Ingress to engine bay Fiat Ducato based motorhomes

[motorhomefromhell]

In October 2013 we ordered a Burstner Brevio 645 from Camper UK at the N.I.C. caravan and motorhome show in Birmingham. It was delivered in April 2014. There were numerous snagging issues, the main one being a leaking back window.

 

In August, after four months of waiting for the repairs to be carried out, we decided to reject the motorhome. However, following negotiations with Camper UK, we accepted £5,000 in compensation on the understanding that all the snagging issues would be addressed. Unfortunately, the snagging issues were not all addressed. The back window leaked again and further snagging issues became apparent.

 

In November 2014, we discovered water pouring all over the engine and electrical components causing substantial damage. We found, via the internet, that this was a major design fault on motorhomes built on a Fiat Ducati chassis and has been for over several years. John Dabek, a Forensic Engineer who has carried out work for Watchdog in the past, examined the vehicle as Camper UK would not accept the damage this had caused. They only offered a modification to the bonnet seal. The report was very damning but we cannot show it as the matter is now in litigation.

We would not wish this nightmare on anyone. 80% of all motorhomes are built on a Fiat Ducati chassis. Water ingress is a major design fault and is causing thousands of pounds of damage e.g. ECU units, throttle control valves, turbos, various other electrical problems and blown engines. They should be made to reimburse all the unsuspecting customers the thousands of pounds they have cost them after the warranty has run out.

 

We want to warn others that are interested in buying one of these motorhomes on a Fiat Ducato chassis. Take a look through the pictures, videos and forensic engineers report. Bursnter, Fiat and Camper UK are too big to care that they are selling faulty goods. Offering people further poor repairs is just not good enough. We feel the pictures and videos speak volumes.

 

Please visit our website motorhomefromhell.com and leave a comment in our Forum to help stop the dealers and suppliers selling such misery.

[Brian Kirby]

Please, is there some point to these repeated posts giving the same information?

 

Your predicament is already abundantly clear, and most of us sympathise with you, whether we have said so or not. You are not giving access to the engineer's report because, as you have said, the matter is the subject of litigation - which is understood. You have given no further details of what has been damaged, or why in your case this well known problem seems to have caused such extensive damage.

 

You have made a number of generalised claims for items that others have had damaged by water ingress, but no specifics as to how water ingress caused the damage. My point is that, apart from publicising design failings on the part of Fiat (well enough publicised already), plus seemingly other failings on the part of Burstner and the supplying dealer, you are not really advancing our collective knowledge very much.

 

So, may I suggest that you might help others more by identifying why so much water seems to have got into the engine bay on your van, and why, and how, it has apparently managed to inflict so much damage? As you have said yourself, the vast majority of motorhomes are based on the SEVEL vans, but others do not seem to have suffered such severe problems. The most common problems, so far as I am aware, have been corrosion on the cylinder head around the injectors (which is an acknowledged cause of problems should the injectors have to be removed) and some corrosion of engine bay electrical connections (with varying, sometimes bizarre, results). It just seems that your nearly new van has a much more extensive catalogue of damage than that, and it would be very helpful to know what, and if possible, why. Then, we could perhaps all begin to move ahead a little.

 

I greatly sympathise with you over the disappointment and stress this experience must have caused you, and wish you all success with your litigation. Please do let us know the outcome in due course.

[euroserv]

Out of morbid curiosity I just had a look at the photographs and comments.

 

I agree that the water ingress issue is annoying and should have been sorted out a long time ago by Fiat but at the same time would refute the two claims that you have made regarding the Fiat part of this vehicle.

 

You have removed the plastic cover from the top of the engine in order to take the photographs that show rust on the injectors. Rust on the surface of machined steel parts is inevitable under the bonnet of a vehicle and the water that leaks onto the engine is diverted away from the injectors by the cover (that has been fitted since 2008), so I don't believe that this is at all relevant or detrimental.

 

The brake fluid reservoir has a cap on it and even if it were in the line of fire from the leaking water (which it is not); water would not enter the cap. What you see under the cap is merely condensation. This is normal on all vehicles. It is one of the reasons why brake fluid has to be replaced periodically.

 

That concludes the complaints about the base vehicle. Experience has told me that in the long term you are likely to have a problem with corrosion on your alternator that IS as a result of the scuttle leaks but that the other electrical devices and control units are adequately protected from water contact from above. If you drive in heavy rain you will have a vortex of dirty water spraying around under the bonnet and this is potentially more harmful. The same can be said of every other vehicle on the road.

 

The conversion part of it; and where the money has been spent is appallingly badly made. You should definitely have asked for your money back.

 

This is an unfortunate situation and i join Brian in wishing you luck with resolving it but there seems little point in having a go at the Fiat part of the vehicle when it is clearly the conversion that is sub-standard.