Over the time I have had her Bertha has developed a nasty squealing sound from the front end which is only really noticeable at speed. The sound, which I can only liken to that of a failing wheel bearing would get progressively worse once you got above 40mph. It started so that you could only hear it over when the window was open. However, over time it got worse and you could clearly hear it with the window closed.
Thinking it was just a wheel bearing that was on it’s way out, I wasn’t too bothered, I’m mean it’s just a wheel bearing right, how bad can it be? However, I found out that I was being a bit naive and it probably wasn’t that. When my car was in for a service, I was talking to the garage owner, who I have know for 20+ years. Handily, Neil just happens to be a Fiat specialist, as well as doing a lot of work on motorhomes. Discussing the symptoms and noises with him he was very quick to suggest I was wrong, without even hearing it for himself.
Fiat Ducato vans such as Bertha that were made in the 2000s were prone to gearbox failure, something that saw many of them off before the rust could. The 5 Speed Gearbox fitted to the Fiat Ducato was particularly prone. Whilst Bertha has a 6 speed gearbox, the fact that it was gears 5 and 6 pointed us the same direction given it was 5th gear that regularly failed.
Gearbox Oil Change
For those that are regular readers of this blog, you will know I have already had to do a gearbox oil change. I covered this in an earlier post. However, it is still relevant to this issue as when I did it, there were some signs of sparkly bits. Although at the time I didn’t think it was too bad
Clearly there was wear to some of the gears judging by these sparkly bits. Over teh course of the last month I spent quite a lot of time looking into the issue and also solutions. A replacement gearbox was out of the questions. Sadly with a cost of around £1,000 just for the transmission itself, this was going to spell the end when you factored labour costs in too. As this was a bit of a non starter for an 18 year old van, I set about looking for other options.
LIQUI MOLY Pro-Line Gear Oil Additive
Having read a number of forums, and seen others experiences, I started looking at this. Granted the experience of others wasn’t with a Fiat Ducato transmission, however they had same or similar symptoms.
Many other internet users had success quietening noisy transmissions by adding a specialist fluid to the oil. I’ve historically always used Liqui Moly as I’ve had a lot of success with their products. As such, I dived on to their website to see what options they had. The one I went for in the end was the LIQUI MOLY Pro-Line Gear Oil Additive. This had the same benefits as others, but was a bit more expensive as it claimed to also rejuvenate tired and leaking seals that had gone hard. Hopefully I thought this was a solution that may kill two birds with one stone. The gearbox has long had a leak from one of the output seals, not serious just enough to annoy. All in all I knew it was a bit of a punt. But for what is cost, it was a tiny fraction of a replacement transmission.
The Results
Liqui Moly say this product may take 6-800 miles to start working fully, however I believe that is just in reference to the seals. What I had was an almost instant victory. Within a mile or so leaving the village, the noise was gone. Well nearly, however 100 miles in it is definitely gone. Now all I have left to contend with ist the annoying wind noise that can be a problem with Ducato door seals.
It’s too early to tell if it has solved the problem with the leaks. Bertha is due a MOT in a few weeks, so I shall soon have her up on the axle stands and will give the output shaft a clean. A bit of brake cleaner and blue roll normally does the job with that! Once I’ve done that we will be able to tell if she is still leaking – fingers crossed we have a double win. Not bad for what was a £35 punt
CLICK HERE TO SHOP FOR LIQUI MOLY GEAR ADDITIVE ON EBAY.
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