Bought my first diesel car.....upkeep??
Discussion
Petrolhead_Rich said:
Go fill it up, then smell your hand, then your steering wheel and everything else you touch, god it's awful!!!
Or sit behind one after its done a few thousand miles and just been started and see how you like that!!
Hence why i now use gloves when filling the petrol tank as people seem too retarded and incapable of filling the car with diesel without getting absolutely everywhere including the pump handle.Or sit behind one after its done a few thousand miles and just been started and see how you like that!!
iamed said:
Does the car have a diesel particulate filter (DPF)? If all the journeys are just short town runs then it's possible that the DPF doesn't get up to running temperature, which is needed for it to regenerate (happens periodically, controlled by the ecu). DPF replacement is usually expensive.
One of the reasons i sold my 3.0 v6 Vectra.It was a 2008, and even after a long hard blast, it would cycle the dpf about once a fornight, dropping mpg to about 15, and burining 1gal per hour when idle.
It also used to f
king stink. Although i loved the car, this was one reason i got rid of it. I read a tech bulletin from VX that confirmed this was normal.Welshbeef said:
Like any turbo car don't hammer it on the last couple of miles
Or when you first start it before it's fully warmed up. This is why some people think that turbo's on turbo diesel cars are a consumable, I reckon. If you were driving a turbo'd performance car you'd treat it with the respect it needs; when the manufacturers transplant the technology into a daily driver and fail to educate the customers about how you need to treat it, turbo's will get starved of oil and go bang. But treated with a little mechanical sympathy when you're starting out and ending your journey, there's nothing to worry about, and you can abuse it all you like once it's up to temperature.
Welshbeef said:
Liquid Knight said:
Well done for buying a Diesel. I bought one about six months ago and scrapped it because I couldn't cope with the smell.
Either you are independently wealthy or you bought a lemon which you couldn't sell and had to scrap it or your being a pratWas it the same garage you bought the diesel from as it might have been a poorly air rated service station which is very dangerous and needs reporting. Or maybe you have a dog snout in which case never mo e to a city as the smog will make you sock
When unleaded came in I couldn't cope with the smell as 4 star and 2 star are so much nicer. In fact only Super premium petrol or racing fuel smells nice.
Used to have a diesel Corsa as a company car and no matter how many of those petrol station gloves you put on you can not do anything with your hands the same day. Vile!
the vehicle in question was an Escort N/A diesel van that I got twice as much for weighing it in than I paid for it.
BigRichi said:
Its a 56 plate with the 1.9 JTD engine in it
Am I right in thinking that is the same engine as was in the 1.9 CDTI Vectra C? Watch out for EGR valves, be nice to the clutch, flywheel and turbo, and I think the injectors occasionally throw up issues.
They are good engines, and will run for a long time if you maintain them well and don't thrash the balls off them from cold or anything daft like that.
Tallbut Buxomly said:
Hence why i now use gloves when filling the petrol tank as people seem too retarded and incapable of filling the car with diesel without getting absolutely everywhere including the pump handle.
I always do this too when I'm filling up diesel cars (at work). It's not too bad in the Ford Connects I drive overnight, but it's a big problem in the Astras. Most of their steering wheels are starting to disintegrate, and are made of a coarse, plasticky foam once the finish has rubbed off. This just soaks up spilled diesel and keeps it there. No wonder people complain of headaches from the fumes when they're driving!I quite like the smell of petrol, and luckily the the pumps never seemed slicked with it, unlike the diesel fillers which are horribly greasy with diesel.
On, and a diesel might be better between traffic lights spaced 50 meters apart (and indeed, inner city driving). But then this is Pistonheads, where we can surely appreciate the joys of having a powerful, petrol turbo car to enjoy, something which diesel lovers like mumsnet would surely despise ("it's noisy! It lacks green credentials! It's uncouth! It's a race car! It scares me!" etc etc). Sadly, most motorists these days seem to feel better throwing cash at expensive diesels, kidding themselves they're getting better fuel returns. Things like noise, flair, excitement, passion, sport, throttle response and speed seem to have been forgotten except by the enthusiasts now. It truely is a dire time to be a motorist now!
That said, since petrol cars have been made out to be
a) the Devil incarnate
b) More expensive overall to run (which I refute)
they represent awesome bargains for people who enjoy getting more from driving than just getting from A to B.
I've just bought first 'modern diesel'
Alfa gt
Looks good, very economical 350 miles to half a tank at 80 leptons!
Goes ok, (angel remapped) understeers like a pig though. My prev 2 cars have been rwd.
Comfy. Tbh the perfect daily.
Sounds st and its got a crappy narrow powerband. Can't understand people that consider dervs as drivers cars. But let's not get into that!!
But apart from that a nice motor
Alfa gt
Looks good, very economical 350 miles to half a tank at 80 leptons!
Goes ok, (angel remapped) understeers like a pig though. My prev 2 cars have been rwd.
Comfy. Tbh the perfect daily.
Sounds s
t and its got a crappy narrow powerband. Can't understand people that consider dervs as drivers cars. But let's not get into that!!But apart from that a nice motor
daemon said:
Baryonyx said:
daemon said:
I thought it was generally because diesels these days are usually quicker in every day driving than their petrol equivalents therefore petrol cars end up slowing diesel drivers down?
No.Tallbut Buxomly said:
Hence why i now use gloves when filling the petrol tank as people seem too retarded and incapable of filling the car with diesel without getting absolutely everywhere including the pump handle.
How the fk do they get diesel on the petrol pump? That must take some doing.
SD1992 said:
Am I right in thinking that is the same engine as was in the 1.9 CDTI Vectra C?
Watch out for EGR valves, be nice to the clutch, flywheel and turbo, and I think the injectors occasionally throw up issues.
They are good engines, and will run for a long time if you maintain them well and don't thrash the balls off them from cold or anything daft like that.
I dont think they are the same.....I think the one used in the Vectra was the 16 valve version....think the Punto only came with the 8 valve....which i'm led to believe is a sturdier unitWatch out for EGR valves, be nice to the clutch, flywheel and turbo, and I think the injectors occasionally throw up issues.
They are good engines, and will run for a long time if you maintain them well and don't thrash the balls off them from cold or anything daft like that.
BigRichi said:
I dont think they are the same.....I think the one used in the Vectra was the 16 valve version....think the Punto only came with the 8 valve....which i'm led to believe is a sturdier unit
The Vectra also had an 8v version, it was the 120 bhp version while the 16v was the 150 bhp one. And from what I have heard, the 120 is the more reliable engine.
Liquid Knight said:
Used to have a diesel Corsa as a company car and no matter how many of those petrol station gloves you put on you can not do anything with your hands the same day. Vile!
You can wash them, you know.I don't see how anyone gets fuel on their hands anyway? I've never had that problem.
And why do people complain about the smell of diesel? petrol isn't exactly pleasant smelling... and I'd much rather be driving behind a diesel car than behind a petrol car with a cat putting out rotten egg smells...
calibrax said:
You can wash them, you know.
I don't see how anyone gets fuel on their hands anyway? I've never had that problem.
And why do people complain about the smell of diesel? petrol isn't exactly pleasant smelling... and I'd much rather be driving behind a diesel car than behind a petrol car with a cat putting out rotten egg smells...
You mustn't do much filling up of diesel cars then! The greasy, oily pumps are a pain in the arse and even washing and drying your hands doesn't take all of the greasiness away. I don't see how anyone gets fuel on their hands anyway? I've never had that problem.
And why do people complain about the smell of diesel? petrol isn't exactly pleasant smelling... and I'd much rather be driving behind a diesel car than behind a petrol car with a cat putting out rotten egg smells...
I'd rather drive behind a petrol car though, just to avoid being stuck in the smoke cloud the oil burner leaves behind!
The only reason you should know you're driving a diesel in normal A-B driving is: a bit of a tractor tick-over sound (oh wait, we're talking about driving, not sitting in a car not doing anything so I guess that doesn't count), the rev-counter reads a bit lower, nice torque through the (slightly limited) range unless your revs are too low and out of the turbo.
If you're a sensitive soul you may be upset by the smell of diesel when filling up. Luckily you only have to do this half as often and gloves are provided in all good retailers.
If, to you, every road is a race track, get petrol, end of, no question. The DPF (cost of servicing) is the biggest obstacle to driving a diesel in normal driving these days. The cost of replacing the DPF could pay for one hell of a petrol.
If you're a sensitive soul you may be upset by the smell of diesel when filling up. Luckily you only have to do this half as often and gloves are provided in all good retailers.
If, to you, every road is a race track, get petrol, end of, no question. The DPF (cost of servicing) is the biggest obstacle to driving a diesel in normal driving these days. The cost of replacing the DPF could pay for one hell of a petrol.
Baryonyx said:
...most motorists these days seem to feel better throwing cash at expensive diesels, kidding themselves they're getting better fuel returns. Things like noise, flair, excitement, passion, sport, throttle response and speed seem to have been forgotten except by the enthusiasts now. It truely is a dire time to be a motorist now!
The whole cost argument tends to be based on mrs. Smith, who recons that diesel will be cheapest for her 8k miles/year. Of course it isn't- what about the majority of diesel drivers, who save money on fuel and tax, and all those who buy good used diesel cars?As for the rest of the 'doom of British motoring' talk- most people don't care about the stuff you mentioned. And those who do have second cars. No-one is stopping you driving whatever you want, so why moan about what everyone else choses?
As for me, I'm enjoying a car which is characteristically perfect for the purpose I bought it for. It was a few hundred quid more than the equivalent petrol, uses 30% less fuel, has much more torque and great gearing for towing, and I'd wager it's probably quieter and more relaxed on a cruise.
Where's the excitemen? Well, it starts when I arrive at the track and unload the trailer!
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