V50 General : Madness or stupidity

[MDS40]

Stay away from diesel engines unless you have time on your hands and the knowledge to give it lots of loving care.
Just my opinion after owning a few diesels over the last few years.
They are working at the extreme of technology and require constant attention to keep them in top form.
The savings on fuel economy wont out way the savings on parts and repairs.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by MDS40

Stay away from diesel engines unless you have time on your hands and the knowledge to give it lots of loving care.
Just my opinion after owning a few diesels over the last few years.
They are working at the extreme of technology and require constant attention to keep them in top form.
The savings on fuel economy wont out way the savings on parts and repairs.

I would agree with the 1.6 and 2ltr PSA derived engines although the lump itself is solid it’s just the stuff fitted to it which is questionable but having run a 2ltr Diesel V50 for three years with little drama apart from age related issues I’d happily continue with running diesels.
The 5cyl Volvo petrol lump is well engineered but has suffered from its own set of issues too like iffy throttle bodies and injector issues etc nothing is safe from gremlins

TT

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by TR1GG

Thanks for the reply on a buyers guide , I’ve seen a really nice 56 plate 2.4 d5 se sport unsure if has a dpf and for how much the fez drinks Petrol I’m thinking going back to a dirty diesel car , there’s a d2 2ltr r design sport close to where I live too but from what I’ve read there’s problems with that engine ??

Don’t sweat it about the DPF, as far as I’m aware it’s a dry DPF on the D5 therefore not requiring the level of maintenance that the wet DPF 1.6 and 2ltr Diesels require. On the D5 I believe there’s a crankcase filter that needs to be changed periodically but other than they they’re a solid bet. I believe the D5 get a respectable MPG for the size of the engine but never owned one I can’t confirm. I have a V60 5cyl D4 (2.4) AWD that murders the mpg 😂😂😂

Anyway, good luck

TT

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by TR1GG

Thanks for the reply on a buyers guide , I’ve seen a really nice 56 plate 2.4 d5 se sport unsure if has a dpf and for how much the fez drinks Petrol I’m thinking going back to a dirty diesel car , there’s a d2 2ltr r design sport close to where I live too but from what I’ve read there’s problems with that engine ??

Engines are fine, the weak point is the DPF and Injectors, if it’s been well maintained it should be fine. The 2ltr block is rock solid and seldom fail so buying wisely and preferably with a full service history. The DPF’s on the 2ltr have to be changed every 75k and the fluids for it I believe have to be topped up every 30 odd thousand miles (perhaps someone can expand on this) but other than that they’re a decent engine.
The 1.6D have had a history of blowing up but there’s plenty out there that are just fine and I believe very economical. My 2ltr didn’t have a DPF and could achieve 56mpg if I was very sensible with my driving and I believe the 1.6’s were in the 60’s range and about £30 per year to tax.

As stated before, buy wise and don’t jump at the first one you see, there’s loads out there.

TT

[MDS40]

Originally Posted by The Thong

I would agree with the 1.6 and 2ltr PSA derived engines although the lump itself is solid it’s just the stuff fitted to it which is questionable but having run a 2ltr Diesel V50 for three years with little drama apart from age related issues I’d happily continue with running diesels.
The 5cyl Volvo petrol lump is well engineered but has suffered from its own set of issues too like iffy throttle bodies and injector issues etc nothing is safe from gremlins

TT

Any diesel engine that has injectors screwed into the combustion chambers is asking for trouble.
As you say the engine is ok but the rest is questionable, i.e egr valves ,injectors and turbo chargers are all expensive to replace and subject to a hard life.
If any of these is not in tip top shape then expect problems.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by MDS40

Any diesel engine that has injectors screwed into the combustion chambers is asking for trouble.

Nothing wrong with direct injection diesels, I used to run DI transits and the injectors seldom failed apart from wear and tear issues. Modern injectors are a different animal because they’re working with a different injection system. My V50 has 114k on it when I sold it and the injectors were pukka. Thank our modern environmental requirements on ruining Diesel engines. The modern incarnation of diesel tech is as good as it gets.

TT

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by MDS40

Any diesel engine that has injectors screwed into the combustion chambers is asking for trouble.
As you say the engine is ok but the rest is questionable, i.e egr valves ,injectors and turbo chargers are all expensive to replace and subject to a hard life.
If any of these is not in tip top shape then expect problems.

Indeed but manufacturers are designing them to fail, it’s more profitable

TT

[MDS40]

Totally agree with you .
My last two cars were Jag x type 2.0 diesel for 6 years and a Mazda 6 2.0 diesel for 3 years neither gave me any diesel related problems but i did do a lot of preventive maintenance such as blanking off the egr and using 200ml of 2 stroke oil with every fill up and using only branded premium diesel like bp ultimate.
Over the top oil changes were also carried out.
Both cars were dpf free so thankfully no issues on that front.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by MDS40

Totally agree with you .
My last two cars were Jag x type 2.0 diesel for 6 years and a Mazda 6 2.0 diesel for 3 years neither gave me any diesel related problems but i did do a lot of preventive maintenance such as blanking off the egr and using 200ml of 2 stroke oil with every fill up and using only branded premium diesel like bp ultimate.
Over the top oil changes were also carried out.
Both cars were dpf free so thankfully no issues on that front.

An interim oil change never hurts especially with Diesels, I used to oil change my motors every 6k and the engines had a good service life. Sadly, I live in the terraced hell so no more home servicing. I noticed on my V50 how much carbon the EGR had let into the induction system and how much damage it was causing, I blanked it off straight away with the benefit of a more economical and less smokey emissions under acceleration.
The most trouble free ones were the none turbo’d, none catalytic converter, none common rail, mechanical pump driven injection system with old school injectors and they kept going and going.
Least the days of head cracking diesels have gone I found indirect injection diesels were buggers to start on cold mornings if the glow plugs were getting iffy but they were quieter and more economical than the direct diesels but the direct engines had more grunt and were more rounded on the power delivery in general.

TT