Durashift breakdown - expected life of clutch/gearbox?

[Volklet]

I have a 2001 MWB High roof Transit 350 with a 2.4l engine and a Durashift gearbox. It is adapted to drive with a standard pull/push hand control system, and apart from that the only non-standard thing about it is that it has windows fitted in the sides.

I bought it from a main Ford dealer when it was a year old. It was previously their demonstrator, so it has only ever been owned by them and me.

From the start I had problems with it - it had the auto box warning light on, which I did not realise was not normal, and when I took it back in they said it was probably a spurious reading. They cancelled the light and told me to return if it came back on. It came back on and the garage said it needed a clutch part replacing.

This went on, with the van going in periodically for clutch and/or gearbox faults until before Christmas when it had to be dragged into the garage (for the second time in its life) on the back of a truck because the whole thing had jammed in gear.

The garage say that this is wear and tear, and that the fact that most of the problems we have had with the van have been to do with the clutch is just a coincidence.

They are wanting just under £2700 to get the van back on the road, to include replacing part of the clutch and the "gear shift actuator".

Ford say they are not prepared to help with reducing the cost as they consider this fair wear and tear because of the mileage. The van has now done 87,000 miles, not loaded with anything heavy.

Today we got an independent engineer to look at the van, and he won't commit himself to whether he thinks that we should expect these parts to fail after this mileage. We are waiting for his written report before we go any further.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of the expected lifespan of this van? It is only four years old, and while it has done nearly 80,000 miles, it has been regularly serviced, well looked after and not worked hard or abused. The garage people, Ford, and even the independent engineer seem to think that the mileage is unreasonably high, but it has only been used as a day-to-day vehicle and to go to dog shows, as well as one holiday to France last year.

Any help would be really welcome, even if it is just to say that these vans are not capable of that sort of mileage!

Catherine

[Volklet]

I've noticed that other people here also say if it's petrol or diesel, so I should mention that it's a TDi.

[MarkM]

Not to help with the gearbox/clutch issues but the milage is high, average is deemed to be approx 10-12,000 a year anything above is high milage you have been doing just shy of 22,000 a year. this is one of the reasons that insurance companies give discounts to drivers doing low milage and sting high milage drivers. so in your case for the milage to be what is expected the speedo should be reading around the 40,000 area not double this

[MrMPuk]

Trouble is the van has been a demonstrator and they generally get abused, I know when I've had hire cars and demonstrators they don't get driven very nicely.

[Neil]

the problem you have is the van just not built to last anymore they break easy and are expensive to fix

[100ps_drw_hicube]

high mileage dont seem to bad to me

as neil said they dont make anything to last anymore

[daddy cool]

Oh great! My 2001 swb has done 91,000 miles! Didn't I read somewhere on this forum that a diesel engine isn't run in until it's done 100,000 miles? Spose this means the engine will be in the prime of it's life and the rest of the van will be knackered

[madmark]

guys its a tipicle ford auto boxset up! they are known not to be that good ,a frend of mine runs one 15seater bus 90ps it has had many problems , but he is lucky as the van is under warranty!

[john leeman]

I took a SWB smiley durashift gearbox model on a demonstrator when they came out in 2000, loved the van, HATED the gearbox. sham you cannot convert it to a normal box & clutch, OH those stupid dual mass clutches. would have being simpler to have a smiley face, friend of mine drives a M reg with 517,000 on the clock delivering fish.

[FredTransit]

the problem you have is the van just not built to last anymore they break easy and are expensive to fix

True, true. One of our Mk2s (1985 Luton) hasn't reached 100,000 miles yet, but the original petrol engine is no more. I do however reckon the Di we replaced it with is a late 80s so god knows how many miles it's done. In the 4 years we had her, we have replaced the clutch, it cost £50 for the kit and £60 to have it fitted (MT75)

[Neil]

thats it fred good old basic mechanics cant beat em my auto box is 22 year old still works nice just had it serviced 75 quid