VAG TDi (PD) Engines
Author
Discussion

eltax91

Original Poster:

10,509 posts

226 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Previously to my current Mazda 6, I have owned a couple of cars from the VAG stable, and the Mrs currently has an A3. Her A3 and my previous (sadly crashed) Octavia both have a variant of what I understood to be called the "Unit Injector" TDi. They were 100 and 110 bhp versions respectiverly.

Now, this engine was 100% bombproof in my experience (racked up 150k on the pair in 3 years). So, I'm currently looking at getting back into another Octavia. My budget seems to put me into a PD engine, and occasionaly the later Common Rail engines. I'm going to stear clear of these latter engines, because i've heard a lot about DPF's and Injectors. Plus they are at top of my budget and very high mileage.

During my search for the Octavia, I have noticed there seem to be 2 variants of the PD engine. Until now, I always thought:-

1.9 = Unit Injector or PD (distinguishable by bhp as to which) 130PD being the one I want
2,0 - Common Rail - avoid - comes in 140 or 170 CR TDi

Until i saw an ad on eBay earlier, for a 2.0 PD Octavia, 2004, listed as 140bhp. So, off I trot to parkers and discover they did do a 2.0litre version of the PD. So, my questions:-

  • Is the 2.0 litre PD as bomb proof as the 1.9 PD was
  • What car? hehe Is the best with the PD engine for a 100 mile a day motorway hack with decent loadable space?
If anyone wants to put my above ramblings right, please do, a few glasses of red have passed these lips (i'm in France at th emoment) so I may have lost a little knowledge!! biggrin

eltax91

Original Poster:

10,509 posts

226 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Bump

Tyson1980

712 posts

176 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
IMHO the PD engine is extremely reliable. Bordering on bombproof.....

The turbo however is questionable. Garrett tend to do the most reliable. KKK less so

Triumph Man

9,341 posts

188 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Yes, the 1.9 PD engines can be bullet proof if the oil is regularly changed blah blah blah. I don't know if it only applies to CR engines, but I'm sure the 2.0 TDI (PD or CR) had oil pump problems. Can anyone confirm/deny that?

Conian

8,030 posts

221 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
yup, the 1.9 engine is one of the best engines around IMO
good power and very good mpg even in bigger vehicles

do change the oil regular
turbos will go eventually but no worse than any/many others around.

Frog Dog

33,684 posts

180 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Can you chaps expand on the turbo issues? Is it inevitable that the turbo will go? What's the symptoms??

VeeFour

3,339 posts

182 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
2.0 TDI PD engines had issues with fuel, not oil, pumps.

But they will all have been fixed by a recall / warranty repair.

neiljohnson

11,298 posts

227 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Lot of differances between the 1.9 & 2.0 the 1.9 is reliable but how reliable is related to how much power they produce. The 2.0 does have oil pump issues (normally the drive chain snaps) & that ime is just the tip of the iceberg & again is directly related to power output the higher it goes the more it goes wrong.

maniac0796

1,292 posts

186 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Frog Dog said:
Can you chaps expand on the turbo issues? Is it inevitable that the turbo will go? What's the symptoms??
It's pretty much accepted as a consumable nowadays.

If the oil seals go, then you'll get lots of blue smoke and the back of your car will be splattered in oil.

If you get get variable vane faliure, there'll be lack of power. If the blades go, then it could kill your engine, or just result in lack of power. You can also get bearing faliure, where it'll whine like a bd and eventually eat itself.

That's all they really fail on though.

Triumph Man

9,341 posts

188 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
Following on from my query, answered my own question really:

http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl=en&amp...

Frog Dog

33,684 posts

180 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
I looked under the A3 I've just purchased today and noticed that there is a bit of oil on the hard boost pipe coming from the turbo.

A local VAG specialist advised It's quite common and maybe new O-Rings on the pipe. Car doesn't smoke or whine etc....

Minemapper

933 posts

176 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
7yrs and 76k on my 2.0 PD 140. Seems pretty damn solid so far. Very happy with it.

KMud

2,924 posts

176 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
neiljohnson said:
Lot of differances between the 1.9 & 2.0 the 1.9 is reliable but how reliable is related to how much power they produce. The 2.0 does have oil pump issues (normally the drive chain snaps) & that ime is just the tip of the iceberg & again is directly related to power output the higher it goes the more it goes wrong.
Isn't the oil pump issue just with the 2.0 PD variant in the Superb (i.e., the Octavia was ok)?

Early 2.0 PDs had issues with porous heads IIRC. Injectors occasionally go on the 140PD, but the injectors in the 170PD (i.e., the vRS) are bad news and subject to a VOSA action. These should be replaced by Skoda free of charge, but the manner in which they fail sounds dangerous (no steering/brakes).

Triumph Man

9,341 posts

188 months

Friday 9th September 2011
quotequote all
KMud said:
Isn't the oil pump issue just with the 2.0 PD variant in the Superb (i.e., the Octavia was ok)?
Yeah longitudinally mounted 2.0 PD engines were worse for the oil pump problems apparently, i.e. A4, Superb, etc.

neiljohnson

11,298 posts

227 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
Triumph Man said:
Yeah longitudinally mounted 2.0 PD engines were worse for the oil pump problems apparently, i.e. A4, Superb, etc.
Whs not sure why though must be a design differance of some sort but I have had a golf in with oil pump failure also had 2 tourens with the 2.0 with excessive crank end float that causes problems with the clutch but not sure if it's specific to that model they were both on an 07 plate to

Pints

18,448 posts

214 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
Minemapper said:
7yrs and 76k on my 2.0 PD 140. Seems pretty damn solid so far. Very happy with it.
6years and 90k miles here. Still tight as a drum.

Ecurie Ecosse

4,812 posts

238 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
The TSR 2.1 Silverstone petrol engine in my Mk2 Golf was equally bomb proof, and could easily achieve 40mpg. Rather nippy too.

Go on!

Danesgate

509 posts

176 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
What are the timing chain intervals for the 1.9? (I think that was an issue for an otherwise tough unit?)

HughG

3,692 posts

261 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
The timing belt interval on the 1.9 is 60k or 5 years. I thought that both versions of the 2.0 (CR & PD) were problematic by comparison to the 1.9s? That said, a colleague had a 56plate A4 2.0TDi PD 140 and that was absolutely stonking, powerful and more refined than the PD130 I had at the time, but about 5mpg down by comparison.

The 1.9 PD came in 105, 115, 130 and 150bhp outputs. The Seat 110bhp 1.9 in mk1 Leons & mk2 Toledo's isn't PD, and is much more refined than the PD and better than the 105bhp PD in virtually every way (in my humble opinion!).

GoodDoc

583 posts

196 months

Saturday 10th September 2011
quotequote all
eltax91 said:
  • What car? hehe Is the best with the PD engine for a 100 mile a day motorway hack with decent loadable space?
I have a 2006 Octavia with the 140ps 2.0 PD engine. I believe that when the 2.0 engine was introduced it replaced the higher output versions of the 1.9. When I bought mine the three diesel options in the range where a 110ps 1.9 and the 140ps and 170ps versions of the 2.0.

I've driven my 6 speed 2.0, and a similar age 5 speed 110ps 1.9 Golf. The Golf did feel sower off the line, and you can feel the extra 30ps of the 2.0, but on my Motorway comute it makes no real world difference. I can get high 50s mpg from the 2.0, and more from the 1.9.

I like the extra grunt of the 2.0, but with the benefit of hindsight the 1.9 would have been the better choice for the driving I do. Even cheaper to run and without some of the issues of the 2.0.