I'd agree about the PSA HDi connectors.
My old 2001 Xsara HDI estate was once immobilsed for a few days on an independent Citroen garage's ramp. They couldn't find the fault initially, but it turned out to be a dodgy connector on the fuel pump. They'd probably knocked it while servicing it.
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I'd agree about the HDi crank pulley,as mine went last week,but fortunately I managed to get it changed in time,before any serious damage occured.
Spurious part = £60 ish,plus fitting
Genuine part = £140,plus fitting.
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The crank pulley or to use its correct PSA name harmonic balancer has been a well known issue with the XU / TU lumps since the middle of the 1990s & the newer DW & EW lumps use the same design.
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Hi IB33, I like the title, Why not choose a car with the *best engine?
No cambelt and even the alternator belt is designed to last 150,000 miles. The only regular engine servicing is oil and filters.
Currently in several cars with Vauxhall, Fiat and Suzuki.
Our car purchases in the next few years will be among this group and its a relief to get away from cambelts, tensioners and waterpumps driven by cambelts.
*I mean the Fiat/GM diesel that won the engine of the year award in 2005.
Regards
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*I mean the Fiat/GM diesel that won the engine of the year award in 2005.
While it is fairly refined it lacks torque compared to most rivals and has a cambelt not a chain.
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Avoid the awful SDi like the plague, unless you like measuring your acceleration in weeks.
TDi's are great, if a bit noisier than some of the better CR diesels.
HDi - no personal experience but most people seem quite happy with them. Afterall, Peugeot were making diesels before a lot of use were born...
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I've no idea why people keep posting 'don't get a sdi they're slow etc, I doubt whether most of these people have ever driven one, I have just bought an ex British Gas sdi, and it's fabulous not sluggish at all, it's a van. I had a peugeor partner fot 12 years, and this would leave it standing, they are a great van and very very economical
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Check it out Cheddar, its a chain. ( I own one)
Regards
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Check it out Cheddar, its a chain.>>
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the 1.9 CDTi.
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My fault I should have made it clearer.
Regards
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My fault I should have made it clearer. Regards
No the fault is all mine, I should have thought of the 1.3 multijet.
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Thanks for all your replies.
Like oilrag's comments about GM/Fiat diesels, but I too thought they had returned to belts, so which diesels are chain?
Any recommendations of models to consider gratefully received.
Regards, Ian
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so which diesels are chain?
The 1.3 Multijet as mentioned by oilrag, the Duratorq TDDi and TDCis in MkIII Mondeos and X-Type Jags, IIRC the BMW units in various BMWs, Rovers, Freelanders etc, most MBs, more will surely come to mind later.
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Go for the SDi.
The VAG SDi engine has been around for at least 10 years: it is reliable if looked after properly. I have driven my humble Seat Arosa 1.7SDi for 189,345 miles from new: front tyres lasted 98,000 miles, front brakes 114,000 miles. I have seen SDi Caddy vans with 345,000 miles - and they do not have an easy life.
NOTHING has every gone wrong with the car: I took HJs advice and chnages the transmission oil at 10K miles. It still has the original clutch.
Changing the engine and transmission oil with semi-synth is really so easy as access is good.
Cambelt is awkward to access: I run mine to 80,000 miles (yes I know): but a good independant will do it for you for around £200 (SEAT will charge double that) - add £50 for the tensioner.
I still get 77 mpg. No blagging. Who needs a Toyota Prius???? And 40-60Mph acceleration is enough to embarrass BMW man.
Sure, the HDi and TDi are faster and posher. But if you want a reliable 'bus' capable of 1000 miles a week and not cost you much then get an SDi-powered VW/Seat/Skoda.
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In terms of sheer efficiency and performance, the PD engine is a major improvement over the SDi. All of the VAG diesels are well developed power units and will give excellent service if properly maintained.
This last point is the problem. The dealers are generally hopeless and cannot be relied upon to service these engines (or the surrounding vehicle) properly. It's quite wrong that sending your car to a glass palace for service at high cost will generally result in the poorly paid and unmotivated "lad" around the back causing actual damage to the vehicle. (My VAG vehicle had the undertray damaged by such an occurance). Car manufacturers - VAG are no particular exception, are clearly trying to claw back revenue from tight sales margins by this practice.
To return to the original question, by dodging these dealers and doing routine work yourself as you propose, you will get excellent service from a VAG diesel - just make sure you get everything right and address the weaknesses.
659.
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Go for the SDi.
I'd go along with this. Simplest is usually best. Counteract the lack of power with a lighter car.
However; I would reduce the manufacturers cambelt and oil change intervals by 1/4 - 1/3. Also change all the known problem areas while you're in there, ALL rollers/tensioners/water pump/etc.
There's nothing wrong with cambelts: It's just the manufacturers have stretched the service interval to more than the technology can handle. Also poor quality rollers/tensioners/water pump/etc have given them a bad name. At 345.000 miles a cam chain will be your worst enemy.
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>>However; I would reduce the manufacturers cambelt and oil change intervals by 1/4 - 1/3. Also change all the known problem areas while you're in there, ALL rollers/tensioners/water pump/etc.
The SDi engines drive the water pump via the auxilliary driver belt - not the timing belt. Another cost factor to consider over the TDi.
Good luck.
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Front tyres 98,000 miles ?
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...actually I swopped the tyres round at 55K miles...and they eventually wore below the minimum at 98K miles.
I change the oil filter with the original VAG one every 20K miles.
The car is still on the original exhaust.
There is no rust on the Arosa either: my wife's 2003 C-Class has corrosion by the rear suspension mounts: fixed under warranty and the MB also had new wishbones front and rear, new bushes, anti-roll bushes and a new exhaust due to chronic corrosion too. And all at 34K miles!! A £1890 job covered under MB warranty. But I digress...
Simple engines are always best, especially with regular maintenance and sensible driving habits.
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I had an Audi TDI 110.. and drove an Audi PD for a few miles.. I would not want another as although many great features abound, in town they are - imo - noisy rough coarse and tiring. I drive mainly short distances. (Great on motorways)
Some engines are better of course - different tolerances?.. but as you get older your tolerance for noise (and muppets) diminshes ..
Chain drive diesels and regular oil changes for me...
madf
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Simple engines are always best, especially with regular maintenance and sensible driving habits.
Agree wholeheartedly with the first two, sensible driving habits is a can of worms. Many modern engines need to be used, and relatively hard. There are mechanical, electrical and calibration/self learning disadvantages asociated with not using modern engines over enough of their designed load/rev range.
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The VAG SDi engine has been around for at least 10 years: it is reliable if looked after properly. I have driven my humble Seat Arosa 1.7SDi for 189,345 miles from new: front tyres lasted 98,000 miles, front brakes 114,000 miles. I have seen SDi Caddy vans with 345,000 miles - and they do not have an easy life. I still get 77 mpg. No blagging. Who needs a Toyota Prius???? And 40-60Mph acceleration is enough to embarrass BMW man.
Given the above figures I'd reckon that you drive VERY gently hence the lack of performance not being an issue!
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No disrespect to the SDI fans intended here but if you don't mind pottering about (77mpg pottering) and can put up with pedestrian performance then the SDI will be OK. If you do a lot of miles and would prefer to spend time with the family rather than on the road go for the HDI or TDI option ;-) You have to test an SDI variant then the other two to see what I mean. I've driven a Golf SDI, run a Picasso HDI and a Passat and Fabi TDI. For me? TDI every time and put up with the very little extra NVH (over the HDI not SDI) for the performance and economy trade off.
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If you do a lot of miles and would prefer to spend time with the family rather than on the road go for the HDI or TDI option ;-)
The SDi will do the same legal motorway maximum speed (or a little more) as the others. If you do lots of miles at motorways speeds, it doesn't make much difference in time. The difference in power effects the acceleration mostly.
You have to test an SDI variant then the other two to see what I mean.
A better option may be to test the SDi and see if you can live with it. Of course a comparison will lead to dissapointment, avoid the temptation.
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VAG SDi engines are getting a bit long in the tooth now, so the chances of getting one unmolested by a dealer are small.
In order to change the cambelt properly on an SDi, a VAGCOM link or similar is required to set the dynamic injection timing. This may put the job beyond a DIY proposition for most people.
The PD engine does not require any special tools other than the crankshaft locking tool (available from Laser tools and others) and the tensioner is automatic, so a timing belt change is definitely a DIY proposition. The timing on the PD is defined by the camshaft position transducer and is reset automatically if the engine is correctly pegged and the vernier adjustment on the camwheel is set (an easy spanner job).
The point about the water pump drive on the PD is quite correct and has to be factored into the equation when assessing the weaknesses of this engine. Water pumps from GSF are quite cheap and there is virtually no extra labour if it is changed together with the belt.
659.
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I have driven all sorts of cars, LCVs and HGVs in most continents: I drive at 65-70 MPH and cover 650-1000 miles a week. I have found that driving any faster is a complete waste of time, fuel and nerves. I'm the guy you overtake on that road only to find him crawling past on you on the inside lane 10 mins later :-)
I have done all sorts of bizarre experiments to work out 'efficiency': driving at 80mph and accelerating hard so 'I was not left behind' saved me, on average, 13 minutes' travelling at day. But careful driving using Shell Diesel gives 80.2 MPG whilst Morrisons 'own brand' gives me 72.1MPG. I could go on. And on.
Fact is that some people buy a car based on brand, and not on their own requirements. They then end up with some thing that does not deliver what they need or want.
If you want to drive to work asap and save 13 mins a day, want more refinement, like buying synthetic oil, and do not want to feel embarrassed to be left behind at the lights, then please do get a TDi/HDi.
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The crank "double pulley" was superseded by an ordinary design in 2002. You can upgrade to the new one as did I, after going through two compound pulleys. Changing it isn't that much of a hassle.
All cars nowadays have galvanised bodies. At least they should.
Edited by SonyAD on 28/11/2010 at 08:38
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