AlanS Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hi Your milometer has been programmed to a set speed (presumably by a previous owner ?), i.e. 60 MPH at which point it brings an alarm up. You can programme whatever speed you want as a warning to yourself by pressing the end of the right hand stalk and going into programme mode and then pulse through until you get to speed alert. I have always set mine to 60 MPH just as a mental warning not to get too carried away when on the open road. Alan tonyg3nwl - 2015-07-29 3:28 PM Hi folks, personally , I find it difficult to read the speedo after having driven in very bright ambient daylight conditions, particularly heading south into the sunshine. Also, the speedo on my van is reading 5mph high , ie, travelling at 55mph on satnav, claims to be very nearly60 on speedo..is this a tolerable error, or is there a recalibration that can be done. on a side issue, I have found the the mileometer reading changes to the word SPEED when speedo goes over 60 mph and is accompanied by a warning high pitched alarm..is this a common feature on X250 based Fiat, or is mine a special setting or tweak???. I tend to beleive the satnav for speed, and copilot for early warnings.."this is a 30 limit, she says! Just to ensure I havent gone to sleep..!!! tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I am driving a 2015 Auto-trail like Alan S however my speedo is in klms not miles but makes no difference, you still cannot read the speed.I raised this topic on an AU forum and one suggestion was to lift the top off the dash and place a strip of LEDs in connected to a switch direct wired to the battery. Probably would fix the problem however a lot of work to rectify a bad design. On the current model Ducato there is no parking or side light option it is either daylight running lights or headlights. If there was a side light option that would have brought up the dash lights and solved the dilemma. My solution is to use my TT go60 to read the speed. If you always activate a journey the speed reading is a stronger icon than if no journey is set. Having said that I have now travelled 17000 odd klms since end of Jan trouble free, except for the habitation door bottom hinge pin dropping out in my AT Tracker. I suspect that is more about outback Aussie roads than British coach building. While the Fiat does come in for a bit of criticism I have found the driving position extremely comfortable on longish drives (500+ kms). My daily drive is an E class Merc that does regular one day trips Sydney-Melbourne (900 odd kms), for me the Fiat wins hands down for comfort. I was genuinely surprised as MB seats are said to be great for long trips. You win some you loose some. Now if I could put all the best points of all the cars I have owned into one car it would be well worth owning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Alan Is your advice about the pressing the end of the right-hand stalk correct? I think what Tony asked about is referred to in the Ducato X250 handbooks as “Speed limit (Speed Beep)” and is enabled/disabled (and the speed set) via the dashboard’s MODE button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Hi again, thanks for the suggestion re SPEED alarm/bleep.. I will check it out and see if I can confirm the suggestions. tonyg3nwl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Salisbury Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 This subject is close to my heart. A little further back on this forum I threaded about RHEOSTATS because of the darkness of the instruments. This is now getting serious to warrant a complaint to the manufacturers and getting something done about this problem. To whom do we turn to? I purchased some while ago a LED strip light but with blue lighting and stuck it to the underneath. Of the Cowl and wired to fag lighter. It was not the answer though. I have noticed that when the sun is shining over my right shoulder the dials are as clear as a bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 No mine is also,very difficult to read and impossible in many conditions particularly when heading into bright sunlight. I simply monitor the speed on our TomTom. Both the.last two cars we have had Toyota and Honda have crystal clear speedos. How on earth can Fait/Peugeot manage to get it so,wrong and why in heavens name have they not fixed it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Derek Uzzell - 2015-07-30 8:17 AM Alan Is your advice about the pressing the end of the right-hand stalk correct? I think what Tony asked about is referred to in the Ducato X250 handbooks as “Speed limit (Speed Beep)” and is enabled/disabled (and the speed set) via the dashboard’s MODE button. yes derek you are correct i think alan got mixed up about his stalk and the mode button the stalk on mine resets everything, and i set mine to 65 mph and it beeps, having said that when the speed says 65mph on the sat nav it says 61/62 i tend to use the sat nav! also as said earlier when hwmbo grabs the side of the seat going round corners and screams then i must be going too fast LOL ! jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanS Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Derek Apolgies, you are so right - I should have said the mode button on the right hand dash fascia. However that stalk button still has that stupid feature whereby you have to pulse through the whole of the features to get back to the beginning or the 'home view'. On the point of the difficulty of reading the speedo on the instrument display - instead I too use my Garmin satnav to display my speed in KPH when in France, however my X290 has the built-in TomTom satnav but I haven't figured a way of showing speed on it in KPH yet. If you change the Units to metric then central display panel adjacent to the speedo changes too and shows the mileage in Km ! or am I loosing the plot ! Alan Derek Uzzell - 2015-07-30 8:17 AM Alan Is your advice about the pressing the end of the right-hand stalk correct? I think what Tony asked about is referred to in the Ducato X250 handbooks as “Speed limit (Speed Beep)” and is enabled/disabled (and the speed set) via the dashboard’s MODE button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 It's just dawned on me that the problem is worse on our current PVC that it was on our AutoTrail which was better no doubt because of the wacking great window above the driver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 It's just dawned on me that the problem is worse on our current PVC that it was on our AutoTrail which was better no doubt because of the wacking great window above the driver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleddytanhouse Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 My X c 290 speedo is also impossible to read in normal daylight conditions. I use my Tomtom, but, surely Fiat are responsible for not providing a vehicle with an adequate means of displaying the vehicle speed..?? I wonder what may happen in 3 years time when the MOT is due??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Colin Leake - 2015-08-01 6:32 AMIt's just dawned on me that the problem is worse on our current PVC that it was on our AutoTrail which was better no doubt because of the wacking great window above the driver!Alan S and I have been on this topic since taking delivery of our AT's earlier in the year. My first thought was that it was the high luton causing a shadow on the speedo area. I emailed AT and asked if they were aware of the problem. The answer was predictable - "no we have never experienced that issue". Alan S who had an X250 AT prior to the X290 put me right by identifying that the hooded binnacle on the X290 extends further out than the X250 and this is the problem. So the responsibility in my mind sits firmly with Fiat. Short of a dash redesign I doubt there is an easy fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I have absolutely no difficulty ‘seeing’ my X290’s speedometer, though actually ‘reading’ the numbers accurately is trickier due to the design of the speedometer face. It needs to be said though that my Rapido motorhome is LHD (which puts the speedo closer to a side-window) and has two massive roof-windows that flood the cab area with light. Is this such a big thing? My Skoda car’s speedometer is much harder to read than the Fiat’s and my two previous Transit-based motorhomes had difficult-to-read speedos. Dial-type speedometers provide an approximation of a vehicle’s speed based on the position of the ’needle’ and, as long as I can see the needle, that’s good enough for me. If I wanted to know exactly how fast I was going I’d want a digital readout. As far as the MOT test is concerned, the latest relevant regulation says that a vehicle will fail the test if a speedometer is not fitted, is incomplete, inoperative, has a dial glass broken/missing or cannot be illuminated. That a speedometer might be hard to read in low-light conditions is academic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Derek Uzzell - 2015-08-01 9:53 AM That a speedometer might be hard to read in low-light conditions is academic. Although saying it's academic probably wont cut the mustard in ones defence if caught going over the speed limits 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Len Salisbury Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Never mind the Speedo what about all the instrument dials fuel and temp, can you see those? I can't at a quick glance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 If all the radar speed cameras were removed this thread would not have been commenced. On my Fiat "distance to empty" is the only other readout of interest while on the move and that is illuminated. If there is a problem with overheating etc there is usually an audible warning or a bright light you can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-08-01 10:16 AM Derek Uzzell - 2015-08-01 9:53 AM That a speedometer might be hard to read in low-light conditions is academic. Although saying it's academic probably wont cut the mustard in ones defence if caught going over the speed limits 8-) “Academic” as far as passing or failing the MOT-test is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleddytanhouse Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 My 4 month old Autotrail Tracker developed a warning light fault. The Fiat dealer informed me today, that Fiat have agreed to a new instrument cluster being fitted. However, it appears that none are available in the UK and none available in Italy, with no anticipated date for availability. I wonder if Fiat have realised that they have not only the technical problem that I have, but also the vision problem that we all have!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 That’s a bit strange as I was under the impression that a Fiat Ducato X290’s instrument-cluster was ‘ambidextrous’, with the only difference between a UK and non-UK version being the speedometer face that has either a kmh-only scale or an mph/kmh scale. As the two faces are interchangeable (my LHD X290’s kmh-only speedo face was swapped for an mph/kmh equivalent and I still have the kmh-only original face), if my impression is correct, an instrument-cluster from a LHD X290 ought to be fittable to a RHD X290 (and vice versa) with just the speedometer face needing to be swapped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugsy Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 If you haven't already found a solution you might want to check this out. We have the same problem in our Autotrail Fiat Ducato and have just purchased this from eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251388214862?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT If you have a USB port it is easy to plug in and remove, but not pretty with a dangling cable! It's cheap and cheerful (£1.40) and so far works for us. We did contact Fiat and ask if they were working on a fix - I'm sure you can guess their answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleddytanhouse Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 The X290 speedo issue has been a complaint by many owners. Fiat are regularly contacted on the issue and regularly state that they have not heard go the issue before!!!! My now 6 month old Autotrail had to have a new instrument cluster fitted a couple of weeks ago, due to a warning light issue. I had hoped that the Fiat dealer could arrange for the instrument lights to be on all the time as part of the work they were doing, but, they could not do it. They did try though. I use the speed reading on my Tomtom. This is more accurate anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 I was always very disappointed with clarity of the instrumentation on my last 'van, based on a Transit (and renowned for poor visibility in direct daylight), so I was looking forward to an improvement on the X/290. Sadly, not so. In line with the comment above, it appears to me that the design was finalised assuming the instrument lights would come on with the ignition (like all of my recent cars) rather than with the external lighting. It really need the Sevel partners to update their software to do this (it shouldn't be beyond a decent software engineer, but don't hold your breath!) I suspect my experience is exacerbated by the angle at which I view the instruments (being tall, and having swivel seats), but it is disconcerting to approach (or be in) a speed limit and to realise you have no accurate idea what your current speed is, nor can you quickly determine it without contortion and taking eyes off the road for some time. In parallel with this (from earlier in the thread).... frankie640 - 2015-07-26 11:09 PM Bought one of these for my van and it's brilliant. Uses inbuilt GPS sensor for speed readout. http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/speedometers/demon-tweeks-gps-digital-wireless-speedometer ..... I was looking for a simple (albeit possibly expensive) solution. There are cheaper units avaialble, but I didn't want head-up, didn't want anything but a clear speed reading, and didn't want to run wires across the dash. I ended up buying the same unit, but from Amazon, where it is currently cheaper: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mitsugawa-inches-display-Wireless-Speedometer/dp/B009T7QHT8 Unlike (at least some of) the similar ones on eBay, this came with both the suction mount (which is poorly reviewed) and the air-vent mount. I though I'd have to create my own mounting options, but the arms of the air-vent mount clip over the lower windscreen blind runner, and securely hold the unit clearly in view. Being (rechargeable) battery operated with an alleged long running time, this is a neat solution that can be switched to kph on the continent. It's a neat unit and initial tests show it should be good, albeit it is slightly distracting as it updates at very short intervals, so isn't a very static display :-) . I do have a speed display on the Satnav, but it is small and not ideally positioned for continuous monitoring. Another (cheap) option I considered was a free GPS speedo App on my phone, but this would need it to be plugged in in use, and also the phone would be somewhat more intrusive - I seriously nearly went there though!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homenaway Posted November 12, 2015 Share Posted November 12, 2015 Hi, Ive solved the speedo problem by fixing one of these Flexible Xiaomi Mini USB LED LightPlenty of them on ebay. If possible get a black one - I got sent a yellow one which I wrapped in black insulating tape. I used double sided tape to attach it above the speedo at about the eleven o'clock position (can't add a photo at the moment - will put it on our website). It's wired via a trailing 12v socket which has a USB port and plugged into one of the dashboard 12v sockets but I'll use a piggyback mini fuse connector on a live on ignition fuse in the adjacent fusebox eventually. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I’ve resurrected this discussion as there’s a relevant full-page article on Page 26 of the latest (February 2016) issue of MMM magazine. The article says that Fiat has now “...confirmed there is an issue with the backlighting on some Ducato dashboards. It (Fiat) is also offering to modify the dashboard lighting for free.” The modification relates to motorhomes based on the current Ducato X290 model and causes the dashboard-lighting to illuminate as soon as the ignition is switched on. The ‘upgrade’ will become available at the end of March 2016 and cannot be applied before then. To take advantage of the free upgrade it is necessary to contact Fiat’s dedicated free number for motorhome customers (00800 3428 1111) or visit the Fiat Camper website. The issue was mentioned in mid-December here https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/news/fiat-offers-dashboard-lighting-solution Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 I wonder if Peugeot are going to offer the same mod? I've sent em an email and also one to AutoSleeper asking them to use their position to apply pressure to Peugeot to offer the same upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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