The £550 Citroen Berlingo 2.0 HDI (super shed)

[Coakers]

Well since Buxton is looking more and more like he needs a new fuel pump (big big job on them tdci delphi injection engines) I was after a practical cheap run around. Having spent hours and hours serching used cars online (which seems to be a part of my daily routine even when i do have a functioning car, its yours too! Dont lie!) I saw this.







Picked it up on the 17th March.
• 180,000 miles.
• 11 month mot.
• Service history from 2007 - 2014

I don't know what it is but I'm just more attracted to high mileage cars, it just gives them more of character (yes i know how irrational that sounds).

It drives.. welll... like its done 180k. Lots of squeaks and rattles. So yesterday I took it for a good run to see what it was made of. The Clwydian range in North Wales. I like my hiking and I had my son with me so off we went. Full tank of super diesel and we were off.



Photo from the hike.


Well things to fix
• Sloppy gear change
• 12v aux system doesnt work
• The radio doesnt work
• Needs a good service

But steering is good, brakes are very good. I'm considering on selling the jag once its fixed and using this as the daily. Its cheaper to insure, easier to work on and just as comfortable and more practical to boot. Did 120 miles that day and only used 1/4 of a tank.

So today I started its service my changing the oil and filter and air filter.

Safe to say this hasnt been changed in a while.


• Wynns Engine Flush - left this in for a good couple if hours
• Added STP diesel injector cleaner before our drive.



And now the berlingo is the only currently functioning car (at the minute) between me and my girlfriends 4 cars we own between us.

Oh what to name it? Dingo the berlingo? Nel? (NL55) Suggestions welcome

Edited by Coakers on Tuesday 20th March 01:04

[Coakers]

Kitchski said:

Is that the 90bhp version? If it's got the Bosch injection system, a £90 remap (done via email) will yield another 20-30bhp, another 40-50lbft, a tad more miles per gallon and a smoother drive off boost. HDItuning.co.uk, I think the website was.

I did it to my Picasso years ago. Best thing I ever did to it!

As far as I know yes its the 90bhp one so that info is definitely food for thought pal thanks I'll look into it!

But yes these HDI's have mixed reviews. Some saying their dual mass flywheels are prone to destroying themselves and others say they are bullet proof reliable units. To me, if its got to 180k its proof leaning towards the latter. I'm looking forward to adventures in it tbh. Love the visibility and the panaramic sunroof. So hopefully a good reliable shed (one hopes).

I must add its had a total of £461 worth of work to get it through its last mot. I'll post a picture of the work carried out shortly.

[Coakers]

Ha thank you all for the interest in this shed! But yes I'm just going to maintain Dingo here. I do get the Ringo connotation given my locale though (I actually live in St Helens)

This is going to be a daily were body work is not going to be of any great concern. I might do something with the wheels though. I've already got my pistonheads sticker on order although I'm actually considering a rat-theme.

Going to do a second oil change in the coming week as the 'fresh' oil I had put in a couple of days ago is already very black and I've only done 20 miles which shows how much crap is in the engine. The first batch of oil was (Shell Helix HX7). And my more expensive stuff is Mobil 3000 X1 5w40. I'll run Wynns engine flush through again before I change it.

Upcoming plans:

• The gear change is sloppy so I'll change the linkages, may do the gearbox oil while I'm at it
• The engine bay in general is a mess so may tidy that up.
• The radio randomly chooses to come on for a 5 second period every 10 miles or so sort that out (PRIORITY ONE)
• Change rocker cover gasket
• sticker bomb a wing?
• Consider the remap from HDI tuning that Kitchski suggested
• Enjoy (breakdown free) adventures
• Rat look Berlingo??

Oh as said this is the invoice of the recent work carried out dated 4/2/18. Prettt big bill!

Edited by Coakers on Thursday 22 March 02:14

Edited by Coakers on Sunday 25th March 09:51

[Coakers]

Speed addicted said:

I had a similar one (bit less leggy though). squeaky, bouncy and rattled like an offroading shopping trolley. I think they were like that when new.

Bloody practical though, pretty much a tardis. I could get more into that than the current Navara pickup and it was a heck of a lot easier to park.
Mine just kept trundling on, I fitted snow tyres so the combination of narrow wheels, good ground clearance and the torqey diesel made it pretty much unstoppable.

My radio was intermittent, so I fitted an aftermarket unit and better speakers. It involved adding an additional constant live but it wasn't too complicated.
Other electrics were a bit hit and miss, the central locking would work from the inside about half the time and the remote locking surrendered on day two. My rear wash never worked either.

I serviced mine and changed all the filters. The difference was amazing! I don't know how long ago the last service had been but I think something had been living in the air filter. It felt like it had about 25% more power.

Ha prerty much identical electrical issues. Remote central locking locks but doesnt unlock. Rear washer doesnt work and as said, radio is intermittent. Maybe its just Citroens though eh? But at 180k i cant expect everything to be working.

I'll no doubt be transporting car parts, camping gear, humans on long journeys so I'm pretty happy with the no frills utilitarian nature of the thing, even with the ugly-as-sin dashboard.

Edited by Coakers on Thursday 22 March 10:32

[Coakers]

Some stickers, and Dingo is on van duties, no issues as yet! Took the other half to see a mk4 golf today and the HG had gone. It was on tbe dipstick, the filler cap was covered but the seller was insisting that it was condensation.

Edited by Coakers on Saturday 24th March 21:21

[Coakers]

Thesprucegoose said:

I've been looking for one as a day camper, some good conversations done on them.

Its food for thought @thesprucegoose . Theres one on ebay which can be used for inspiration.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...

[Coakers]

Merry said:

You didn't happen to be on Haydock Island yesterday did you?

I did think it was unusual to see a Berlingo with a PH sticker!

Haha that would of definitely have been me
True that Berlingo owners arent renound for being petrolheads, mind you I know JK had one.

[Coakers]

Ha ah well unless your absolutely minted I believe dailys should be as frugal on whatever juice you are using as possible nowadays.

Todays little adventure had us go see a possible wedding venue. HillBark Hotel on the Wirral.



Stunning place, and stunning prices too It was built in 1891, then dismantled brick by brick and rebuilt in current form in the late 1920's because its current location 'has better views'. Mad.



As stunning as the place was, what really caught my eye was what i spotted in the car park.






An Ascari Ecosse, only 17 of these were made between 98-99. Couldn't believe it. Looks like it had been stood there for a while though.

Edited by Coakers on Sunday 25th March 18:46

[Coakers]

bungz said:

Saw a Berlingo NuSurf Motorhome yesterday on my travels.

So awful yet so awesome.

True, its the ugliest car I've ever owned but by far the most useful.

Something does have me slightly concerned though, and I noticed it pretty early on. Its the amount of toe-out this thing has. Must of been carrying some pretty hefty cargo in its past.

[Coakers]

paulmnz said:

I retrofitted factory cruise control to the multi-space - the engine is DBW and the electronic boxes and wiring are already in place, you just need to buy a cruise stalk from a C5 picasso, cut a square in the side of the steering wheel hub and there is the plug underneath. enable cruise in the body ECU and your done!

I always ment to take them to the nurburgring as all my cars do a customary lap there, never made it, but I did fit some EBC yellowstuff pads which made it stop rather well (has the same calipers as the 306)

The camber you have on the back wheels suggests the rear beam has issues - these can be replaced / refurbed or just leave it as-is.

hugely practical, I got 4 guys and 4 mountain bikes inside the car. my friends at first where embarrassed but it, but it has a somewhat lovable character and they all became fond of it. My multispace was the desire version with the glass roof and extra storage...

Sold both to my parents who still have them, I'm often tempted to buy the multispace back...

Thanks for the interest paulmnz Very interesting and innovative stuff on the cruise control conversion. Definitely food for thought. Mine is also the desire version. Often find myself glancing up when I'm waiting for people etc its quite relaxing in the rain.

[Coakers]

Took the missus to get her 'new' car today. Since the Peugeot 308 is looking more and more like it needs a new timing chain.

Which would deem the entire stbox I mean car economically unviable, she wanted something cheap and cheerful since having dropped £2500 on said Pug 7 months ago we were working with a limited budget (I told her not to buy it! Would she listen, would she!? Bah)

After viewing a few various cheap sheds. Saw this crop up, worth a shout as its online Mot history was very clean.

1.6 petrol
110,000 miles
11 month mot
Last serviced Nov 2017.







Since neither of us have had much luck with cars lately. I hope this shed doesnt let us down. The more I look at it, the more I realise its quite a decent looking car. Speaking of luck.




Spotted this underneath Dingo after being parked up for an hour. Yet something else to the list of things i need to fix. This spare time could of really gone into the Mk2 Golf build but ah well I will buy cheap sheds.

[Coakers]

iantek said:

You've got me looking at Berlingos! I need something cheap and practical so these seem to fit the bill.

Do it, the interior rattles around a lot as its cheap and nasty but in a way it adds to its utilitarian charm but the main reason why you want one is how mechanically sound they are. Mine came with a decent service histroy too though. Ive done 225 miles since last fill and not used half a tank yet so really good on the juice too.

[Coakers]

TheD said:

I bought my Berlingo van 1.9D 4 years ago for £500 on a 52 plate. I love the thing. It just starts and away it goes. After fixing a few things and giving it a really good first service it has been spot on. Passes its MOT every year no problem. I put winter tyres on it as well as it needed tyres anyway and it is magic. I can't bare to part with it even though it isn't the cheapest to Tax and Insure considering how old it is.

Glad to hear it mate True it aint the cheapest to insure and tax by modern standards but it was so cheap to begin with and its so good on juice that It negates the higher ins/tax cost and I'm quite won-over by it. Not a car that I would ever see myself be happy to drive either but there you go.

Edited by Coakers on Sunday 1st April 23:11

[Coakers]

exgtt said:

Could be the rear axle bearing gone. Is there any knocking over sleeping policemen?

No mechanical knocks to speak of, plenty of interior squeaks and rattles. It is on my 'to-do' list to investigate once I've sorted the jag out though so I'll keep the thread updated once thats sorted

[Coakers]

exgtt said:

Can vouch for that diesel motor - it's a cracker. Had the same unit in my old Picasso. Definitely not fast but that lovely wodge of diesel torque keeps things more interesting than the 1.6 petrol motor.

Only remap if you have faith in the clutch being fairly new. It's not expensive if it starts slipping but if you wanna keep costs down just bare this in mind!

On the Picasso the throttle cable slackens over time, very simple to tighten in the engine bay, mine had a ton of slack and 5 mins got it taught again. Prob the same set up on yours.

The previous owner of mine had babied it for a while so I got the chance to blow the soot out with some spirited driving. Went away after a few miles and barely smoked again.

Thanks for the advice pal I'll refer to it once I've got time to investigate it. The non-running X-type is my priority at the minute unfortunately.

I've never really been a fan of french cars but I'm made up with this thing. And yes goes without saying I would prefer this over the petrol model anyday.

[Coakers]

Kitchski said:

Yup. Modern diesels use their oil to flush all the crap that the engine produces away. Even the exhaust emissions get into it! It'll be black again after you've run it for about 10mins.

Ahh I didnt know this. I've only been driving diesels for 3 months so this puts my mind at rest a bit. Cheers.

[Coakers]

paulmnz said:

Looks like power steering fluid? mine did that and needed a new pump, fairly cheap to buy and easy to fit as it's on the top of the engine... pop the belt off, a couple of bolts... as mine had sent all the PS fluid all over someones carpark, the reservoir was already empty so disconnecting the hoses wasn't too messy from memory it about about an hour's work from parking up and getting tools out to driving off again. pump I think was £50-60. I went with a cheap pattern one, but its still working as far as I know.

Thats good info and thanks for the reply however i believe I have discovered the source. The sump was an advisory on its last mot but now I've discovered that it is most definitely leaking. Ive ordered a new sump off ebay yesterday so hopefully it should be here by monday. I'm going up to scotland tomorrow for a 34 mile hike so hopefully it suddenly get any worse.

[Coakers]

Can only say I'm impressed by the range this car has. This trip counter was reset last time I put a full tank in (3 weeks ago). One tank of super diesel will get you around 570 miles. First half of the tank was basically town driving/commuting etc but the second half was my trip upto scotland.



Setting off at 6am ish.




T'was a nice trip. Listening to Ready Player One on audio book for 200+ miles of the m6 was strangely relaxing. However the scottish roads up near loch Lomond are pretty awful. We parked up for a moment when we heard a pop that scared the st out of us. Judging by the sound I thought it was a tyre or a spring.



Turned out to be the latter.

[Coakers]

Well, on the way home from Scotland. I heard another pop but this time it was a tad more serious



That there be one snapped clutch cable.



Just waiting on the RAC. Still about 200 miles from home. Luckily we were on a small quiet road when it happened.

[Coakers]

Fixed! thanks to the fact that the clutch is cable operated. The plastic attachment was swapped out for a brass piece and we are moving again. If it was a hydraulic clutch issue we would be in a different situation entirely.

We are on the A76 btw. Never been on it before. Has to be one of the best roads I've ever driven on!. Thanks for the continued interest in this clapped out shed.

Oh and i think you've hit the nail on the when you said that this Lingo is not trying to be anything more than a van with seats. Because i care so little about its appearance, I've grown to care a lot about it.. if that makes sense.