Citroen DS3 1.6 THP - How Unreliable These Days?

[meeky37]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had knowledge or experience with this engine. I know the 1.6 THP BMW/MINI engines can have timing tensioner/chain issues.

I have had my eye on DS3 DSport Pluses with this engine (in 150 or 155 guises) and the occasional 208. Is there any particular model year they got "better"? The appeal comes from the good spec, reasonable 0-60 (7 ish) and relatively cheap to insure for the money for me btw.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Anthony

[meeky37]

ingenieur said:

Latest I saw the issue was 58-plate. But that's only based on what comes through the doors. It's not really a massive problem to rectify if you have the special tools but if you do find a particular cut-off date then best to avoid the issue altogether.

Okay, that's (somewhat) reassuring to hear. Cheers!

[meeky37]

geeks said:

My wifes old 61 plate 155 would disagree with this crapped itself in 2012

May I ask what went wrong if you know? Did you get it repaired (under warranty at the time)?

I know updates were made that make the 165 version of the engine better but these are 2015 onwards it seems and therefore pricier.

[meeky37]

geeks said:

Yeah sure it was the usual timing chain stretch. All repaired under warranty but was away for about a month as there was an ECU issue it developed at the same time that we had to wait for PSA to dial into the dealer to resolve

Okie dokie. I've found some forums where people seem to say an updated tensioner helps things along. Hopefully, 2013 examples with 60K on the clock might have already had that treatment - I suppose I'll need to look carefully into the history of whatever comes up.

Thank you for your insights geeks!