'93 Ducato - broken gear shift

zagmund

Oh no . . .

I was just driving the van today after not using it for a few weeks and while changing gears (steering column mounted) something broke and now I can't get it into gear at all.

When I try to put it into 1st, 2nd, etc . . . the stick just kid of flops down or returns to neutral. There's no feeling of anything engaging at all.

I'm wondering if anyone who is familiar with Ducatos knows what this sounds like ? I appreciate this is a long shot, but if I can fix it without having to get it towed it would be cool. I can't imagine that towing a campervan is going to be easy/cheap.

Thanks,

z

zagmund

Right, I've had a chance to check it out and I can see the gear shift going down from the column, into the engine compartment and then I just see it sitting there, connected to nothing. I guess that's my problem right there.

There's what looks like a head that goes over a nut which is connected to the gear block, but there's no sign of the nut, so my guess is that it must have sheared off.

I guess I better get in touch with the recovery people.

z

Malta1

Doh

Sorry to hear that Zag

Would be interested to hear how you get on with the recovery crew

Best Regards

zagmund

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, but it took ages to get everything sorted out. Here's a summary -

I got the van towed by ringing Axa who provide the recovery service. Because I was less than 30km from home (or whatever the minimum distance is) I had to pay. Despite confirming with them 3 or 4 times that this was a *big* vehicle and coulnd't be towed by yer basic towtruck they said it would be €75. This seemed a bargain, but they did confirm it a few times. On the day it was picked up I rang them to arrange a tow and they said it would be €300. Grrrr. This was after me telling someone else that their quote of €250 was nowhere near good enough. I think they thought I said Bugatti (which is so small you could probably stick it on the roof rack) instead of Ducato.

The driver was supposed to be an hour away, but about 5 hours later he eventually turned up. That was a bit of a drag. He did have what sounded like a valid excuse for getting distracted, but it wasn't fun for me waiting around for the pick-up.

When he got here, everything went well and the actual service went to plan. Picked up, dropped off at the garage, €300, thanks very much.

I eventually got the van back after about 3 weeks I think and I was over €2k lighter - ouch. The fix of the basic problem was easy enough as expected and was done in an hour or two, but as during the service they found quite a few bits that had siezed up and broken after a good 6 months or so sitting in the driveway - my own fault really.

Unfortunately it looks like parts for the van itself are now being de-stocked since it is so old - 1993 - so as more bits go over the next few years it's going to get more and more expensive to replace them.

z

dudara

Where in country are you based?

zagmund

I'm based in Dublin.

z