2.0 Diesels reliability compared to 5cylinder diesels
 

Hi Everyone!

Our p26 d5 died (or well, repair costs are higher than the value) so we are looking at something new. Since I’m a Volvo guy i would perhaps go for a 3rd gen V70.

Unfortunately I can’t find many reasonably priced D5’s here in mainland Europe, so I am wondering what the reliability of the lighter diesels is. Can anyone shed some light?

I know that the 1.6 are the PSA engines which I would prefer to stay away from. But what about the 2.0’s? All diesel ofcourse. Are they decent or is it better to leave them be and just focus on any 5 cylinder diesel instead ?

The third generation V70 had three different types of 2-litre diesel engine during its production run.

1) Ford PSA 4-cylinder (the oldest)

2) Volvo 5-cylinder

3) Volvo 4-cylinder (the newest).

What year are you considering?

Probably an 2007-2010 as those fit the budget ;-)

The only 2.0 litre engine in these model years was the D4204T (136bhp, 4 cylinder).

There was also a 1.6 litre D2 engine (D4162T) with 115bhp.

Being honest, I’d stay clear of both. The V70 is a big car & neither of these engines suit the car, in my opinion.

Thanks, that was my first thought as well but wanted to confirm it ;-).

Would any of the D5xxx engines be good then? The smaller ones as well?

D5’s are great engines. Being honest, any D5 model is a good choice.

The most powerful are the D5 205bhp (2010-2011). These have 5 cylinder engines with twin turbos. There’s also a D5 215bhp (2012-2016), also 5 cylinder engines with twin turbos. These are newer than you’re planning on purchasing though.

You also have the 163bhp (single turbo - 2008-2009), 175bhp (single turbo - 2010-2011) & 185bhp (single turbo - 2008-2009)... all great engines & all five cylinder.

As you can see, there’s multiple variants of the D5 all with different power outputs.

If you do view one, open the driver’s door & you’ll see a sticker. Read it & it’ll tell you what bhp the engine has.

If you want a 4 cylinder, then you need to be looking at much newer cars (2014 onwards really).

The 1.6 D2 (2007-2013) 4 cylinder engine & the 2.0 litre D4204T (4 cylinder) with 136bhp are underpowered. I wouldn’t have either of these personally, but its up to you.

^^^^^^^^^

He's said it all. The Ford/PSA 2.0 4-cylinder 136 BHP diesel (cars badges 2.0D in the UK) was a good match in the S40/V50 but in the significantly heavier V70 it feels under powered and as it's worked harder, engine life is shorter.

Unless you can get a D4 badged V70 with the Volvo 4-cylinder diesel (introduced for 2015 MY) then stick to the Volvo 5-cylinder engines.

The autobox on the 2.0D's is a Ford unit as well and more likely to give trouble than the AW units bolted to the Volvo engines.

They won't outright break down, but you will come across numerous issues with EGR, DPF etc so limp home mode will be something you will very likely experience. The PSA engines are very common however, so a decent mechanic will be able to fix them.

Not saying Volvo's D5's are perfect, but generally speaking they are more reliable and have better DPF system.

Kev, surely the 215 bhp engine is more powerful than the 205 bhp engine, merely definition. :regular_smile:
I have a twin turbo 215 bhp D5 and it is a powerful beast. And if it isn't powerful enough the Polestar option pushes it up to 230 bhp which is certainly powerful enough for me.

Yep... but I read it that he’s referring to what was within the OP’s budget, which was up to around 2010 cars?