Fooking diesel engine faliures !

[Nigel Worc's]

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.

[Nigel Worc's]

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]

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.

[Nigel Worc's]

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).

[Nigel Worc's]

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]

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.

[Nigel Worc's]

ikarl said:

why not fit it with a small petrol engine? will anything drop in reasonably easy?

I've no idea, I'm not a mechanic, and I can't afford to be without it for very long.

A 2.0 litre petrol would be ok, it wouldn't need to be small, although I doubt it would be very easy with all the electronics you need now to make them work.

Not overly sure about insurance either.

[Nigel Worc's]

Fattyfat said:

Is the Caddy not mostly a Mk5 Golf platform?

Personally I think the OP mentioned a better option earlier, a petrol Mondeo estate for a similar price

The Mondeo estates mentioned were for less that the cost of repairing the van, let alone buying a van !

[Nigel Worc's]

andy43 said:

Interesting thread.
Note most of the 'my diesel has done x million troublefree miles' comments come from those with engine designs well over a decade old.
Landcruiser, old Berlingo, 306 diesels etc have been mentioned - they'll all last forever as there's no polar bear protection anti-emissions rubbish nailed to them. If it's basic enough to run on veg oil it'll live forever.

Same goes for the Z4 petrol fuel pump problems - that'll be the N53 engine with daft high pressure fuel injection - again, designed to improve economy and emissions 'cos EU says so, but by the time it's out of warranty it's a liability.

I think you've about nailed it with that.

My 2nd hand engine has arrived at the garage, I hope to be able to update the thread in a day or so with what it has actually cost to get it back on the road.

[Nigel Worc's]

daemon said:

lbc said:

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

The SDI engine is a 2.0 litre.

and only 69 bhp, it should last forever, not grenade itself !

[Nigel Worc's]

hora said:

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.

I was talking to our window cleaner (retired bloke, cleaning windows for a hobby). He runs a diesel Mazda6 2.2. He'd like to retire fully but things like his car keeps him climbing a ladder. Recently hes had to replace the entire engine as apparently theres a fault well known to Mazda that after a (main dealer) oil change the engine starved itself of oil?

£8K bill for my mates sons Mazda 6, 3 years old, 60,000 miles.

[Nigel Worc's]

mclwanB said:

bodhi said:

xjay1337 said:

Which by removing the swirl flaps would have avoided the issue???

Lol

Never had to remove any part of the engine in any of my petrols to prevent the engine self destructing.....

Just saying.....

Just wait until the next round of emissions legislation puts dpfs etc onto the petrols....

Well why would you have a diesel particulate filter on a petrol ? lol, but apart from that I get your gist, just look at the ford eco engine thread.

[Nigel Worc's]

I've got mine back today, £600.00 2nd hand engine, £60.00 delivery, £342.00 for water pump (VW),Belt kit (VW), & clutch (it'd be silly to have it this stripped down and not replace the clutch) , £642.81 to have it all fitted, now fluids and filers obvously & a new top wiring loom that runs through the engine to the injectors.

It's running, we'll see how it goes.

The only decent mileage I've ever had out of cars is from BMW 5 series models (E34 & 39 in my case).

All diesels I've ever had have failed big time, all except this van were company owned, so I didn't really care.

The diesels I've had fail were all at less than 150,000 miles, and were old style (even this VW SDI is old style really), but my destroyed list is an early 90's normally aspirated astra (although I drowned it in floodwater), a turbo astra with intercooler that killed itself with its turbo (both Izuzu engines)& a peugeot 405 tdi that again ate its turbo, of about 95 vintage.

My BMWs have lasted very very well,all bought second hand with about 80,000 on them, all petrols, all taken to around 200,000 miles, including a sealed for life autobox, the only non BMW I've had decent service out of was a 1999 Vauxhall Vectra 1.8 estate, I took that from 40,000 to just over 180,00, with only a battery & abs sensor.

I've had this van just over a year, I've covered 43,000 miles in it.

[Nigel Worc's]

mclwanB said:

2009 Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi

1. 62.5k/2.5 years old piston through block (known failure with bxe engine code)- 6k for new engine + fitting. Fortunately wasn't mine then

2. 90k dmf- 1.5k

3. 105k gearbox failed possibly related to 1. £3008

Other problems ive had with the car not diesel specific (although I've learnt that having a lot of spare fuses is useful for an older vag group car!). Note this is a car that doesn't have a dpf.

Having to drive 40k miles a year for work at near hmrc rates does put a high level of financial strain on me given the unreliability of the car but doubt anything i can afford to replace it with will be much better (& at that mileage it really does have to be a diesel)...

Does it have to be diesel ?

Prior to using the Caddy, I was using a BMW 528i SE auto.

Changing to the van was my idea, to save on running costs, the van has saved me about £1,300 in fuel, and cost me £1,600 or so to repair.

[Nigel Worc's]

mclwanB said:

Nigel Worc's said:

mclwanB said:

2009 Skoda Octavia 1.9tdi

1. 62.5k/2.5 years old piston through block (known failure with bxe engine code)- 6k for new engine + fitting. Fortunately wasn't mine then

2. 90k dmf- 1.5k

3. 105k gearbox failed possibly related to 1. £3008

Other problems ive had with the car not diesel specific (although I've learnt that having a lot of spare fuses is useful for an older vag group car!). Note this is a car that doesn't have a dpf.

Having to drive 40k miles a year for work at near hmrc rates does put a high level of financial strain on me given the unreliability of the car but doubt anything i can afford to replace it with will be much better (& at that mileage it really does have to be a diesel)...

Does it have to be diesel ?

Prior to using the Caddy, I was using a BMW 528i SE auto.

Changing to the van was my idea, to save on running costs, the van has saved me about £1,300 in fuel, and cost me £1,600 or so to repair.

Yup I know where you are coming from but petrol mpg not great on 25ppm i get after 10k. I also have a heavily laden car over mainly country roads so a small petrol lackung torque would get much worse than expected mpg...

Small doesn't mean economical with a petrol, they are getting too old now, but those BMW E39 528i cars were something else, so efficient and therefore economical, IF you behave ...... I tended not to.