Water ingress to engine compartment on new Fiat and Peugeot

We have heard reports, from some owners, of a problem with new Fiat Ducato/Peugeot Boxer based motorhomes where water leaks through at the centre of the plastic tray at the bottom of the windscreen. The tray is in two halves and it seems that the seal is ineffective. The water leaks into the engine bay and collects around the injectors causing corrosion.

We now understand that this problem is being addressed by Fiat Technical in Italy and the position is that current production is being fitted with an engine cover, Fiat is looking to release a retrofit for existing vehicles in October. See below for full details.

We are indebted to Colin Treacher from Auto-Trail and Peter Smith from Swift, for giving us up to date information.

See below for information on a recall to be issued by Fiat.

Official response from Peugeot:

Leonie Douglas, Customer Care Manager, told us:

"If a customer experiences a problem with water ingress into the engine bay of a new Peugeot Boxer bases vehicle, they should contact their nearest Peugeot dealer who will arrange for the vehicle to be inspected and any necessary rectification completed."

Peter Smith, Chairman of Swift Holdings gave us the following :

The position with Fiat is that they are first of all arranging to fit engine covers to all product (something they should have done from the start for the motorhome market). I believe this will be done over the next few months as production is now arriving at Swift with them fitted.

The water gets onto the engine bay from a number of points, the main one the centre joint which is poorly sealed, it also gets in by virtue of the rubber deflector which runs along the bottom of the windscreen which does not fit tightly along its length, i.e. it ripples in places and the water floods in there.

The two other problem areas are around the hinges where Fiat have just drilled small holes to let the water flow away by virtue of running into the engine bay but these get blocked!

It's a bloody awful design which I believe they are rapidly (Italian Speed) working on a fix. They are under constant pressure from me to make an announcement but all you get is a wall of silence. They are nice people but they have not handled this well.

Swift are sealing along the length of the rubber deflector and sealing the centre joint. We are also working on a fix for the two small drain holes, this is until Fiats fix arrives sometime in the future!

Fiat have released the following announcement:

UK Release

We have received reports of oxidation to the injector body on the cylinder head of some vehicles built on a New Fiat Ducato base. The entry of water into the engine compartment is taken into consideration at the design stage - and the engine and its associated parts are built to withstand such effects when a new vehicle is developed. In addition to the millions of kilometres of tests carried out under all weather conditions, the engine and its peripherals are specifically tested against water infiltration under extreme conditions, including fords, natural and artificial rain, water jets, immersion of the most sensitive elements etc. to certify their water resistance.

The new Ducato complies 100% with this certification procedure and is not therefore affected by any short or long term technical or operational risk associated with water infiltration into the engine compartment .

The presence of water on the injector bodies was not considered critical because it is a surface effect that does not cause any operational problems to the engine.

We have nevertheless taken into account reports received from some customers on this subject with the usual attention that Fiat devotes to its Motorhome customers and have prepared a special operating procedure to improve this aspect. The problem will be resolved by applying a substance to the injector body to remove any oxidation present and provide additional protection to prevent the problem arising again while also performing an operation to reduce the amount of water entering through the engine guard.

Fiat will be contacting customers over the next few days in order to carry out a minor technical check on the power steering box and the windscreen wiper motor. We plan to take advantage of these checks to carry out the above operation as well, free of charge.

For further information, please contact our Camping Care Customer Care number; 00800 3428 111 (back up +39 0244412160).

Please note that, although the effect described above is unsightly, we pay the greatest attention to the effects of water on the new Ducato. All the possible impacts of water are taken into consideration and guaranteed by having 90% of the bodywork galvanised on both sides and other operations, such as the application of paint even to less visible parts such as the dashboard support beam.

Yours sincerely Fiat Professional

The fix, as implemented by Fiat

Fiat have the new Ducato on show at the International Motorhome and Caravan show at the NEC this week (16-21 Oct). The vehicles on show have the modifications fitted as can be seen in the photos:

	Engine cover
	Sealing of centre join
	Sealing of windscreen join

A Fiat representative confirmed that retrofitting of the engine cover and applying sealant as appropriate will be carried out at the same time as the recall referred to in their press release quoted above. The spokesman said that owners who have registered for the Fiat warranty will be contacted about the rectification work. They will be happy for owners to visit the stand (3100) at the show with their vehicle details and they will be able to register for the work to be carried out. Anyone who is unsure whether their vehicle is registered with Fiat can approach their local Fiat Commercial dealer, or the motorhome dealer from whom they purchased their motorhome, to get the work booked.

The spokesman went on to say: "We are aiming for a 100% fix, we want all our owners to be 100% satisfied"

[last edited 17/10/07]