X290 2015 Three Year Service - What needs doing

[veletron]

Hi

 

Up until now, my servicing has consisted of changing the oil, filter, air filter, dab of oil etc myself.

 

Van is now due its 1st MOT. What else (apart from the above) needs doing at 3years/25K miles?

 

Thinking I should get the brake fluid changed?, engine coolant? Fuel filter?

 

Not into paying for unnecessary stuff though!

 

Nigel

[Geeco]

Nigel, my 3 year service carried out by a Fiat Pro garage was oil, air & oil filters and a safety check. They replaced the wipers as one had a very worn edge. My brake fluid was changed at the second year service. If you have not changed it in three years it would definitely be on my list. Brake fluid is hydroscopic  & one percent of moisture in the system will reduce the boiling point approx 100deg F.  Cheers, 

[breakaleg]

Just had my first MOT Peugeot x290 at the main dealers.

Just the safety check and and the MOT, service not due until next year.

Pete

[monique.hubrechtsgm]

That is on fiat part exactly stipulated when fluids and filters should be changed by his computer to be read out by your PF dealer. Incl Auto gear box, very popular in the uk,l Not for me at all, did test drive whit it.

[Derek Uzzell]

Nigel

 

As you’ve fitted a K&N air-filter, I assume you won’t be changing that.

 

Brake-fluid and the pollen-filter are scheduled to be changed every 24 months, so at least checking the brake-fluid’s condition would be wise after 3 years. Similarly, it would be sensible to replace the pollen-filter. (My experience of DIY-replacing the latter on my Rapido Ducato X290 was that it’s a fiddly task, but pollen-filters are cheap enough and, as it’s just as difficult to examine the filter as it is to replace it, you might as well replace it!)

 

The fuel-filter is also scheduled to be changed every 24 months, and I’d certainly want to do this at 3 years as it’s not a particularly difficult task. (Probably best to fit the ‘genuine’ Fiat article.)

 

There’s advice in the Ducato Owner Handbook about checking/topping up the engine coolant level, but no guidance in the servicing schedule regarding replacing the coolant. As long as there is nothing that might suggest that the coolant needs replacing, it should not be necessary at 3-years/25K miles.

 

There are other tasks within the Fiat service schedule that a Fiat Professional agent should carry out and these are itemised in the “Scheduled Servicing Plan” section of the Ducato Owner Handbook.

 

One thing (presumably) you won’t be able to address is whether there are any software revisions that could be applied to your Ducato. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, when my 2015 Ducato was serviced and MOT-tested at 3-years of age at a Fiat Professional agency, two software revisions were applied - one to illuminate the vehicle’s instrument-cluster when the ignition was switched on and another that had an unspecified purpose.

[lennyhb]

Nothing needs doing, a service is only required every 2 years or 28,000 miles.

[veletron]

Cheers, folks.

 

Vehicle got a basic DIY service at 2 years (oil, filters). I never did any of the other bits. Will change pollen filter, fuel filter, brake fluid.

 

Re air filter - I simply hoovered and then cleaned/oiled this with the K&N cleaning kit.

 

Since this vehicle will be mine for 10 years total (my ownership plan!), I will just change the oil every year. It costs <£50 incl filters take a half hour so its a bit of a no-brainier.

 

Vehicle will not be going to a main dealer - nearest one is far from handy and requires much messing about with busses and trains to get from there to work and vice-versa (or a day off work - as I ended up doing to get ignition recall done!). Unfortunately, 'local' main dealer no longer does vans - and their cost for a basic service was 200-300quid - ouch!

 

Nigel

[mikefitz]

Nigel,

 

Having worked in a main dealership I endorse your plan to vary out DIY servicing, with suitable skill levels at least things will be carried out correctly. However there are some procedures, as Derek suggested, that will be beyond the skill level of most DIY service unless you have access to dealership software updates. There are often updates for the engine ECU regarding fuel injection procedures, that are applied at service intervals. These are not recalls just modifications to help with efficient running and emissions. Not a deal breaker but you should be aware this occurs.

You will also loose the body perforation guarantee, for what its worth, without dealer servicing.

 

Many service centers now test the brake fluid and only replace if necessary. If you do decide to change then use a pressure bleeder rather than pedal pumping, or just a gravity bleed if you have time. Because of the ABS valve assembly you can never do a complete change without diagnostic kit that can modulate the valves.

 

Whilst on the subject of brakes, carry out a wheel off check on disk/pad conditions and check the calliper slider pins, they often seize up. If you change pads use clamps on the flex hoses when pushing back the pistons and bleed pressure via the bleed nipple. Pushing fluid back down the system may cause problems with the ABS system.

 

Handbrake shoes, adjust on the hub star wheel adjuster first, then the two cable adjustment points.

 

The coolant is long life stuff and should not need replacing yet.

 

The pollen filter is a bit of a chore to change, (usually the instructions are supplied with the filter) be advised there are two types of replacement, a simple paper type and carbon impregnated and anti bacterial type ( at twice the price)

Euro car part codes

Mann filter 507545319 low cost paper element

Mann filter 507580149 carbon impregnated

 

Without diagnostic kit you may not be able to reset the service indicator.

For DIY work on the Ducato this is useful and almost as good as dealer kit., Multiecuscan, complete with interface,

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/MultiECUScan-Hardware-Software-Diagnostic-Bundle-for-Fiat-Alfa-Romeo-Lancia-/161932211672

 

Don’t miss the check on condition of drive shaft and steering boots, suspension bushes, shock absorbers and suspension springs if you have access, otherwise the MOT check is very good in these areas.

 

The gearbox oil is a non service item but I would suggest its changed at say 50k miles or if there is any concern about the box, for example noise. Getting the gear oil analysed is useful as this can be an indicator of internal damage.

 

Apologies if you are aware of the all the above or if its been discussed previously on the forum.

 

Mike

[Derek Uzzell]

Some add-on comments...

 

The brake-fluid reservoir also provides fluid to the cluich operating cylinder. I’m not sure whether a Fiat Professional agent bleeds the clutch cylinder when changing the brake fluid, but I was told that there is a bleed nipple for the clutch cylinder.

 

The instructions supplied with the pollen-filter I bought suggested that replacement would be easy and just involvie undoing a couple of screws. I think 11 screws needed to be removed to gain access to the filter on my Rapido and some of these were an odd size. There are photos of the procedure on this German webpage

 

https://www.ducatoschrauber.de/innenraumluftfilter-pollenfilter-wechseln-fiat-ducato-typ-250/

 

Scheduled-servicing and oil-change readouts can be displayed using the dashboard MODE menu system. If I remember correctly, it is possible for the vehicle owner to reset the scheduled-servicing readout through the menu system, but resetting the oil-change readout will require diagnostic equipment. Not resetting the oil-change readout may eventually result in the vehicle’s software becoming bloody-minded.

 

(Some while ago a question appeared in the Telegraph newspaper’s “Honest John” column asking about fitting a K&N air-filter to a Ducato-based motorhome (presumably to improve the vehicle’s performance). The advice given was that the vehicle’s software and fuelling system would need to be modified to ‘match’ the K&N product and that the motorhome owner would also need to inform his insurer about the change. Just thought I’d mention this... ;-) )

[mikefitz]

Derek Uzzell - 2018-06-06 1:41 PM

 

 

(Some while ago a question appeared in the Telegraph newspaper’s “Honest John” column asking about fitting a K&N air-filter to a Ducato-based motorhome (presumably to improve the vehicle’s performance). The advice given was that the vehicle’s software and fuelling system would need to be modified to ‘match’ the K&N product and that the motorhome owner would also need to inform his insurer about the change. Just thought I’d mention this... ;-) )

 

I expect the engine ECU will automatically adjust everything needed for correct fueling, its doing this all the time. It has to manage the different states of a normal filter as it becomes less efficient in use. I doubt very much that the K and N filter will do anything on a turbo diesel regarding performance, the only advantage is that it can be recycled. I do wonder if a K and N is more or less desirable than the standard filter as a rodents 'happy meal'.

 

Mike

[Derek Uzzell]

K&N’s advertising claims that their cotton-gauze air filter “...allows dramatically more air into an engine, is washable and reusable”, though USA comparative testing has suggested that a K&N filter may well be less efficient in passing air than the ‘paper’ filter factory-fitted as original equipment (OE) by a vehicle manufacturer.

 

I’ve only fitted a K&N filter to two of my vehicles. The 1st time was in the 1980s and the vehicle was a VW Golf GTi. The filter was a flat-panel design and the K&N product fitted poorly in the Golf’s filter housing, had little structural stiffness and was sucked into the filter housing when the car’s engine was revved hard.

 

The 2nd time was last year and the vehicle was my Ducato-based Rapido motorhome. Its air-filter had not been replaced during the 2-year service and I assumed that a filter-change would be made when the vehicle would be serviced at 3 years. As I was going to replace the screws that attach the top of the filter housing to its base, this would provide the opportunity to examine the OE air-filter and decide whether to replace it myself on a like-for-like basis or fit a K&N filter instead. I wasn’t greatly impressed by the construction of the OE filter (though I’m sure it did its job OK) so I opted for a K&N filter.

 

https://www.knfilters.co.uk/search/product.aspx?prod=E-9283

 

The overall diameter of the K&N filter is significantly less than that of the OE paper filter and (perhaps!) the metal mesh K&N use might make the filter less vulnerable to rodent attack. I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in the Ducato’s performance - positive or negative - after fitting the K&N filter, but I never expected there would any noticeable change. I advised the Fiat Professional (FP) agency that would be servicing the Rapido that I had replaced the pollen and air filters and, afterwards, the mechanic said “I see you also replaced those useless filter-housing screws”, so FP agents are clearly well aware of the potential difficulty involved in removing the OE screws.