Fooking diesel engine faliures !

Fooking diesel engine faliures !

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Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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What ho chaps.

Changing from using a 2.8 litre six cylinder BMW 5 series to a 69 BHP diesel VW Caddy van to save some pennies on running costs has backfired spectacularly on me.

Why can't diesel engines, even simple ones like the VW SDI pumper diesel just go wrong, why do they have to self destruct ?

Despite maintenance above and beyond what VW recommend, injector number one failed fully open, and the engine has hydrauliced on me.

Savings in fuel costs amount to around £1,300.00 in the time I've used the van, a second hand engine, all fitted and fettled is going to cost me the thick end of £2K, a reconditioned one the thick end of £4K.

I'll be going back to petrol, and thus probably a car as petrol vans seem very rare, on my next vehicle.

TheRainMaker

6,306 posts

241 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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The price of diesel parts can be truly shocking....

We have a transit on 150000 miles which needed new injectors + fuel Pump etc etc over 2k eek

thatdude

2,654 posts

126 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Well, I always wonder...what is the cost of a full replacement vehicle? And if you divide the cost of replacement parts per mile, how much is it?

If I had a 150,000 mile vehicle and it needed £2000 spent on it, I would think "not bad" considering a new vehicle is quite a bit more

Was there any tell-tale signs the injectors were sticking open? Or did it just decide to happen all of a sudden?

t400ble

1,804 posts

120 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Had a Transit Connect that needed 4 new injectors

£600

Sold it straight after


BugLebowski

1,033 posts

115 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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I was chatting about new diesel reliability and longevity with a mate the other day, I mentioned the SDI engine as being supposedly bulletproof, whoops!

lbc

3,212 posts

216 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Small engines, be it petrol or diesel have to work harder than a large engine, and this is why they don't last long.


anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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The only diesel engines worth having IME are the older less stressed ones. Modern ones with all the associated emissions crap are a pain in the rear and can be ruinous if an injector or pump decides to fail.

Fattyfat

3,301 posts

195 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
Berlingo with the old NA XUD is what you need. Bullet proof and not much less gutless than a SDI Caddy

Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
BugLebowski said:
I was chatting about new diesel reliability and longevity with a mate the other day, I mentioned the SDI engine as being supposedly bulletproof, whoops!
Everybody is telling me how unlucky I've been.

I don't like diesel engines much, they sound ste etc etc, I did a lot of research before I bought it, and was also advised that the SDI was the way to go for reliability.

Warning signs ? It's been difficult to start very very intermittently, and on the odd occasion whilst ticking over the engine has started to shake (even more than a diesel normally does), it has been investigated for both on a couple of occasions, and my mechanic could never find anything wrong with it, he's never seen anything happen, and the diagnostics has never stored any faults.

I'm having a secondhand engine fitted after lots of discussions, it was a hairs breath from being scrapped, as for the same price I can buy a 1.8/2.0 litre petrol Mondeo estate with 50 - 80,000 miles on the clock, and they only do about four miles to the gallon less, on cheaper fuel, with the added benefit that the engines have the ability to go wrong and be repaired.

Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
Fattyfat said:
Berlingo with the old NA XUD is what you need. Bullet proof and not much less gutless than a SDI Caddy
I agree with the sentiments towards older diesels, however, we are gradually being restricted as to where we can take them (London being the main restriction at the moment), and I can only see that getting worse.

I honestly think we'll see petrol variants becoming available once again on vans in the not too distant future, as diesel reliabilty is becoming shocking, and the repair costs quite ruiness.

MrHanky

64 posts

206 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Started with a DC5 Integra Type R which I was using for a 100 mile a day commute. After a year I decided I needed to save money and sold it. Bought a 1.4D Yaris which was actually alright and extremely cheap to run. Was averaging 62.7 over a year and a half and 37k miles.
Then head gasket went. A mechanic friend did the work to take it all apart and fix but it cost over 1k to fix still as 3 out of 4 injectors had to be refurbed at a cost of £700 and also head needed skimming. New injectors would have been about £500 each or something silly.

Really put me off having another diesel.


DrDoofenshmirtz

15,187 posts

199 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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My Brother bought a diesel Mazda 6 to save fuel money.
He owned it for a couple of years...rust, gearbox failure and eventual terminal engine failure cost him £7500 in total (including the cost of the car which was £5k) for two years driving 'pleasure'.
I wouldn't touch a second hand diesel with a barge pole personally.

CarAbuser

693 posts

123 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Petrol engine go wrong too.

My Z4 has a 3litre straight six and has already have the High and Low pressure fuel pumps replaced. Injectors are another part that often go wrong and cost stupid money.

My vehicle is under warranty so I don't see the bills but I would imagine the fuel pumps would each be jobs totalling £1000. Replacing 6 injectors would cost £1.8k according to one forum thread I saw.

All vehicles cost money when they go wrong. Either get a warranty or hope to get lucky and not have problems.

Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
DrDoofenshmirtz said:
My Brother bought a diesel Mazda 6 to save fuel money.
He owned it for a couple of years...rust, gearbox failure and eventual terminal engine failure cost him £7500 in total (including the cost of the car which was £5k) for two years driving 'pleasure'.
I wouldn't touch a second hand diesel with a barge pole personally.
My mates son bought a brand new Mazda 6 diesel, quite a flashy sporty one.

Just out of warranty (about 3 years 1 month), 60,000 miles, full mazda service history, it failed, £8K repair cost (Mazda made a goowdill payment of about 50%, but it still cost him £4K).

Redlake27

2,255 posts

243 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Diesel reliability is great on something really primitive, like a Merc W123 or a Peugeot 205D.

They chug along, unstressed, like an old London taxi.

But add a turbo, well they go wrong on Petrol and Diesel cars. But then add DPF, EGR valves, high pressure injectors and every other thing that makes them Euro 5/6 compliant and they are very complex things. Great for a fleet manager, but something to fear after 3 years of repping.

I'm pondering an Alfa 159. There's plenty of 2.0JTDMs with the very proven GM/Fiat engine and the promise of 45mpg. Or there's some simple petrol 2.2 ones that may struggle to do 30mpg , but have very little to go wrong. At 100k miles, I think I'll go for the latter. I'd feel the same if it was a 320i v 320d or a 530i v 530d comparison.

I also wonder if modern petrols, such as Ecoboosts, 1.2TSi Golfs and 3 cylinder Mini Coopers with their low pressure turbos and small capacities will have the same issues as diesels in the future.

Spare tyre

9,461 posts

129 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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suprised a sdi went pop so badly as they are low tech

My old 406 which i sold with 330 on the clock and 12month mot is still going 2 years later, i believe this is down to a number of reasons
1. i looked after it in terms of servicing
2. i am mechanically sympathetic
3. It was only a low tech 2.0 90bhp engine
4. bit of luck as well

the car i replaced it with is also a 2.0 but has just under twice the output - yeah the performance is much better, but its economy is shocking


Acquah

527 posts

171 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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To add some balance to the discussion, I spent bargain basement money on a high spec 2005 Renault Laguna 1.9dci. The idea was to take some miles off my MX-5 and my E39 528i. It had over 170k when I bought it. 9 months later, its nearly 190k. In that time pretty much all its needed is a front spring and routine maintenance (inspections and oil changes). I've been so confident in it's reliability that I've just got back from a 1,000 mile trip in mainland Europe. I mainly use it on the motorway and it's reasonably refined. Even it it went bang tomorrow, its already paid for itself with the fuel saved. I think I'll keep it just to see how long I can keep it going.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Never had a problem with a diesel and my family have run some to very high mileages.

I love the way the new ones drive - I've got a SLK diesel (twin turbo, 204bhp and a whopping 500Nm torque) which is fantastic.

I don't, however, think it's so fantastic that I would dare for one minute to own it outside of the original manufacturers warranty.

Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
CarAbuser said:
Petrol engine go wrong too.

My Z4 has a 3litre straight six and has already have the High and Low pressure fuel pumps replaced. Injectors are another part that often go wrong and cost stupid money.

My vehicle is under warranty so I don't see the bills but I would imagine the fuel pumps would each be jobs totalling £1000. Replacing 6 injectors would cost £1.8k according to one forum thread I saw.

All vehicles cost money when they go wrong. Either get a warranty or hope to get lucky and not have problems.
Yes, you have to be careful.

I chose the 2.8 litre straight six, single vanos, the 2.5 & 3.0 litre double vanos (these were E39 era) did have somewhat of a reputation for repair bills.

I had the ecu fail on my 528i, leaving number one injector fully open, exactly the same fault as has just happened on the VW SDI engine (different cause, the BMW faliure was electronic, the VW machanical), the big difference being is petrol is a very different liquid and will force itself past valves, piston rings etc, not ruin the dam angine.

Nigel Worc's

Original Poster:

8,121 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
I don't, however, think it's so fantastic that I would dare for one minute to own it outside of the original manufacturers warranty.
I think the last paragraph, quoted, puts pay to your initial praise to be honest.

I would run a new vehicle too if I could afford it, sadly at the moment it isn't viable, but it will be on the agenda if things ever look up.