Engine Power of the Duetto 2.5 diesel

Just back from a trip to Devon and was quite pleased with the overall performance of the camper which sailed along well on fairly flatish roads at a good speed but climbing any hills was a bit of a problem!
Nearly ran out of gears on some hills!
The Duetto seems quite a heavy beast but there was only two of us on board and we hadn't overloaded her with other items.
The engine has done 92 odd thousand miles and seems generally to run well.
My question is do other owners have the same problem with theirs?Ours is an M reg.

Thanks

Tony

Praps it needs an Italian tune up?  

Frank

If its a non turbo engine then struggling up hills is normal.

type your vehicle details on this ford website and you'll get the full spec.

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Hi,   We have the same year as you, and as you say going up hills it does not like.

Does your van have a sun canopy on?   If so you would be surprised how much this weighs.   My partner decided to take this off to clean the van underneath the canopy and he nearly got an hernia, as it weighs so much.    He has taken this off for the winter, as we do not know whether we are going to use it or not as we have now got a drive away awning.  Hopefully this makes the van lighter.

Thanks folks for your input on this.
Will have a look at the link you sent jt2011
Yes you are right Hilda B we do have a Fiamma awning and it is heavy.Had forgotten how heavy!

Tony

Have a look at this , the transit forum guys rave about it .

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ours was not too bad but after a major service , all belts thermostat and water pump a good run has helped as I think it hardly went over 50 before. Now does 70 with no problem(eventually).

jennyandpeter wrote:Have a look at this , the transit forum guys rave about it .

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ours was not too bad but after a major service , all belts thermostat and water pump a good run has helped as I think it hardly went over 50 before. Now does 70 with no problem(eventually).

I know Luke (the Admin of fordtransit.org), from one of the sites I've worked at, he's a good bloke, knowledgeable and fond of his motorhomes too. 

 A close freind of mine repairs diesel pumps for a living and has quite strong thoughts about altering the manufactures settings. They are set and sealed for a reason. As sugested if the fuel filter and timing belt are changed as per shedule, and the timing set corectly, this goes a long way to getting the best power out of an engine.
 My Duetto has 84,000 on it now. When I first bought it had not done much milage for a few years so we put injector cleaner in the tank plus the better Diesel. It took a couple of good runs to make a diference but mine plods along quite well for none turbo engine that is seventeen years old. Having said that some of the hills in Wales made it strugle, as mentioned before this was mostly due to the local speed limits not alowing me to get a run at them.
As a side line my tug has just passed its test with only one advisery" Rear Exaust Slightly Rusty". 
It must have been an efort to find that much to rite about. 
Propshaft support bearings to be done next week before we have a last wekend away to sunny Cromer.

Whilst my recent MOT failure was genuine I have 2 other cars and 2 bikes and in the last 3 years they have all been getting unwarranted advisories.
Car got - Front nearside tyre close to legal limit.
When questioned he told the wife it only had 3mm of tread left on it and would need replacing in the next week or two and he had done her a favour by passing it.
Every year the bikes get an advisory for having excessive slack in the chain. Whilst this would normally be correct for most bikes mine are supposed to have 50-60mm of free play.
I have even showed him the official Yamaha service manual and he still insists it warrants an advisory.
My point is, I think they do it on purpose just to justify their job.

Apologies to any MOTers on here, this is not a sweeping generalisation just my experience with a couple of jobs worths.

Hi celticbiker, Off topic,but i have had the same similar observations.
It shows the tester is working.
regards

mike

Hello Tony. We have been Duetto owners for nearly five years now. Ok, they wont give you the rush a turbo does, but if you treat them gently they give great fuel economy. My experience is not to be afraid to use the lower gears on hills. You dont go up quickly, and can gather a bit of a queue , but , hey so what, you see more at slow speeds. But seriously, use the gearbox, keep it in the green on the rev counter. The engine is bullet proof and it helped win the hearts of delivery men and pop stars over the years. Regards, David.

Many thanks again people.
Your input is very much appreciated on my lack of power on the Duetto subject.

This forum is great!!

Tony