hi
had a small merc doing this,
merc took ages to fix it, had a hire car for2 weeks,
good start is to interrogate the computer for stored events

mine turned out to be the injector pump/ unit.

they don't want to change some large things because of cost,
much cheaper to change probes, check wiring

why not lend a vehicle from them during the time you are without one.

do agree with not fit for purpose comment.

hope the nightmare ends soon

neill Cambridge

We have a 2007 transit chassis and experienced the same problem. It turned out that it was a faulty earth lead on the battery. Once this was replaced it was fine and we have never had any problem since. When it happened to us we lost all electrics etc. but then everything would come back. We discovered that waggling the earth lead sorted it out so thats how we worked out the diagnosis. Hope that helps you.

Re: Ford Autosleeper Amethyst help needed
 

Tell them they have 7 days (or whatever) to fix the fault and return the vehicle to you in a working condition or you will formally reject the vehicle as "not fit for purpose" and/or "not of merchantable quality" in accordance with your rights under the Sale of Goods Act.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advic...e/forcustomers

This is the most compact and accurate advice I have ever seen on rejection. I often quote it:
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/

Giving the dealer 3 opportunities to fix, the 6 month rule, and following due process in you rejecting are all key. YOU have the upper hand in law; don't let the dealer out manoeuvre you, but keep civil at all times, and log everything.

Dave

Thanks everyone, they have now agreed to loan us a motorhome until ours is fixed. We have issued the letter giving them 7 days to fix it or we choose a garage of our choice. They don't seem to be able to isolate the problem, they have taken it to Fords but because the problem is intermittent it seems to have the at a loss. Yesterday they were taking the petrol tank off!!!! Your advice has been really useful :D

Hi Poppet,

Glad to hear you have been loaned a temp MH to use until your is fixed and although it's an inconvenience, at least you can enjoy life on the move again and attend Peterborough as planned.

We are in a similar position to you at the moment as our Fiat Comfortmatic developed a fault (long story which I've posted an account of in another thread) so I know how you feel and how soul destroying it is when you spend all that money on a motorhome and are then unable to enjoy it due to a problem that seems really difficult to pinpoint! That said, our dealer has been fantastic and very supportive and besides loaning us a brand new vehicle, we are having our 12 month MH replaced with a brand new 2011 one! It won't come off the production line until June/July though, so in the meantime, our dealers are swapping things like our Oyster satellite and our solar panel over to the temporary van so as to not inconvenience us too much.

Sounds like the Ford specialist who looked over your van, was as much in the dark as the Fiat one who was sent out to look at ours! In our case even the top Fiat specialist that came out out 3 times failed too correctly diagnose the problem and so Burstner have now decided to transport our MH back to Germany for a thorough investigation and health check over there!

We too are attending the Peterborough show (we're hoping to collect our temporary van on Weds) and it would be nice to meet up and share our experiences with you. I'll pm you my mobile number and if you fancy a chat then just give me a call.

Good luck and I hope you get everything sorted out to your satisfaction soon.

Sue

But if his engine has already cut out, he will already have no power steering and therefore turning the key to Off and then to start, will make no difference.

Dougie.

Don't under any circumstances, take it to another garage. As others have said, just give them 7 days to fix, or reject it as not fit for purpose and demand your money back, or a replacement, near identical MHome at no extra cost. As this will be almost impossible for them to source, just get your money back, plus any expenses you have incurred.

If you take it elsewhere, your case will be greatly weakened.

This is a sad case all round.
You losing your new van and I suspect some confidence in it.
Both garages who have been unable to locate an intermittant fault, who will certainly be losing money at this point but that is where my sympathy ends. Basically (sorry to use that cliche), all vehicle engines do work when all functioning components are in place and sound. The garage took your money with no doubt a hefty profit, now whatever needs replacing, even the whole engine or whatever, then they should do so. Good luck!
Alan

Still ongoing
 

Well we finally got our camper back on the 11th June only to plan a weekend away on the 18th for it to cut out again, the AA returned us to the storgage unit and we phoned Leicester at Lazy Days to ask for our money back, he refused. We have started the process with trading standards and it is now 21 days since we sent the letter asking for repair or refund. They cannot find the intermittent fault, but that is not our fault, so not we are paying to store a van that is totally unusable until the case has been dealt with. Our summer and all out plans have been ruined. All I can say is don't buy anything from there