Derek Uzzell Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Moving a vehicle with a conventional manual transmission from rest will always require gradual engagement of the clutch. Problems moving a motorhome on wet grass (or ice) have little to do with the clutch mechanism itself, it’s just that the slippery surface makes gaining traction extremely difficult. (Besides which, machra has made no mention of wet grass or a low-grip surface when his motorhome has reversing problems.) How easy it will be to move from rest (forwards or backwards) on an incline will depend on the motorhome’s gearing and its motor’s power-delivery characteristics. And the steeper the incline, the slower the vehicle has to move and reversing rather than going forwards will all add to the challenge. When complaints about X250s ‘juddering’ were at their height I owned a 2005 FWD Ford Transit-based Hobby T-600FC motorhome with 2.0litre 125bhp motor and 5-speed gearbox. 1st and reverse gear ratios were high and the motor was ‘peaky’ and stall-prone. I was always very wary of attempting a hill-start on an incline and the only time I reversed slowly up a steep slope the clutch began to smell. Vehicles are optimised to go forwards, and when being reversed ‘under load’ it was plain that the Hobby’s engine/transmission was less well tethered as the exhaust system used to hammer against the underside of the chassis. I can’t find anything else on-line about Euro 6 Ducatos having problems reversing. The only negative comment seems to be in this thread https://www.fiatforum.com/ducato/444425-x290-euro-6-2-3-ducato-any-issues.html where the owner of a brand-new 3500kg motorhome (no make/model provided) with 130 MJ 2 motor was concerned about lack of oomph in 5th and 6th gear. It’s perhaps worth noting that the motorhome was test driven by a Fiat agent and pronounced normal, so it would be wise for machra to ensure that, when demonstrating the phenomenon, the juddering-in-reverse is made very evident by picking a really steep incline to reverse the vehicle up. (It may be recalled that Andy Stothert had considerable difficulty getting Fiat engineers to admit that the juddering his motorhome was displaying was other than a normal ‘characteristic'.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 Well i can tell you this from three years expertise about our dog festivals standing most on farmer lands. A pull out tractor is most welcome on the very weak fiat ducato pull front bolt the transit is much stronger, however they are not made for this exersize. The smell in rear mode comes from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 monique.hubrechts@gm - 2017-10-25 5:31 PM Well i can tell you this from three years expertise about our dog festivals standing most on farmer lands. A pull out tractor is most welcome on the very weak fiat ducato pull front bolt the transit is much stronger, however they are not made for this exersize. The smell in rear mode comes from? Monique, I think there may be some confusion? The thing that makes the vans difficult to drive away on wet grass is that the ground becomes very slippery - almost like on ice. This causes wheel-spin, usually well before clutch damage would result. If this creates a smell, it is more likely to come from they grass/spinning tyres than from the clutch. The best technique for driving away on wet grass is to engage second gear (not first or reverse), and use the minimum possible revs to avoid stalling the engine. If that doesn't work the tractor is invaluable! :-) It is when trying to achieve level while advancing slowly up levelling ramps on good, dry, ground that the clutch is likely to become overheated. If possible, it is better to drive straight up the ramps to the top (needs someone to shout STOP! :-)), and then allow the van to roll back down under control of the brake, until it is satisfactorily level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 For what it’s worth, although earlier model Transits had a strong fixed front towing ‘loop’ welded to the chassis, current Transits have a similar arrangement to that of current Ducatos. The Transit Mk 8 has a ‘recovery hook’ (left-hand threaded and housed beneath a cab seat) that is screwed through the front bumper-moulding once a small plastic cover has been removed. It would be wise for owners of Transit Mk 8-based motorhomes to check that their vehicles have this recovery hook (and to read the relevant section in the Transit Owner Manual). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted October 26, 2017 Share Posted October 26, 2017 Nice comment Brian. Will try out next season.Not sure about the smell appearing quite a time in reverse gear slip.I think that came out of the clutch house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monique.hubrechtsgm Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 I forget to mention that i have also the traction plus button on the dash. It works like a sperr diff on the front axle if i understood correcty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted October 29, 2017 Share Posted October 29, 2017 Traction+ will be effective when one front wheel is on a low-grip surface and the other wheel is on a high-grip surface. But if both wheels are on a low-grip surface, Traction+ won’t work miracles. It was no help whatsover when I bogged my Rapido down on a French campsite’s soft grassed surface - it just allowed me to dig both wheels down into the mud instead of just one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.