what to look for when buying a diesel

[chrishill 0]

sorry, another buying advice thread!

 

I'm looking at a mk3 golf Tdi with the 110bhp 1.9 engine in CL guise. I've never owned or looked at a diesel before and obviously the engines are quite different to their petrol counterparts so... what do I specifically need to look out for? is the engine likely to be smokey just by nature of being an oil burner? I know Jim's said his Tdi smokes if he boots it...

 

anything else I should be wary of? I should be fine with the rest of the car, its just the specifics of a good/bad/knackered diesel engine I'm wanting to know about!

 

ta!

[dinkus 10]

I find that a particularly large puff of black smoke out of the back when acccelerating up a slip-road is usually quite amusing...

 

Or is that not the kind of advice you were looking for? :lol:

[Supercharged 2]

If you can stretch to it go for a mk4 based car, Golf, A3, A4, Bora etc as the PD engines are in a different league to the rest... just make sure they've been run on the correct oil...

[dinkus 10]

Might be a bit beyond your budget, but...

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33682 ?

[Walesy 0]

Yo

 

I gotta mk3 golf SE 1.9 Diesel (( non turbo )) and its schitt.

 

DOn't get me worng, it's like a new car, solid as a rock, but it handles like a boat and is slooooooooooooooooooooooooow.....so a turbo would be nice.

 

However, there's no smoke from mine at all, apart form a little puff of white smoke on start up first thing on a cold morning . Check whether the glow plugs have been changed recently, and the usuall mayo on the oil filler cap etc.

[chrishill 0]

sexy, but well over my budget, looking at about £1500 TBH, just want a cheapo runabout for a year or so! did the late mk3's not have the PD engine?

[bcstudent 0]

Some quick online research would suggest:

 

Some smoke during short-term acceleration, under heavy load, or between gear-changes is normal. If the smoking seems excessive then it probably is. The most important thing to look for is evidence of regular oil and fuel filter changes.

 

Ideally oil changes should be at 3000 mile intervals as the oil in diesel engines is more important than in petrol engines for cooling and cleaning carbon deposits from the pistons and liners. Diesel engine fuel filters separate water from the fuel and should be ideally changed every 6000 miles.

[chrishill 0]

cool, thanks BC, didnt know about the more regular oil/filter changes.

 

hmmm, now what to do... mk3 gti for £950 and insure for £1100 or mk3 tdi for £1500 and insure for £600. works out at the same price, but do I choose frugal and sensible or a bit more fun? :?

[Jim 2]

The TDI's really aren't all bad. Theres always gonna be loads of mickey taking but at the end of the day both me and Steve actually own and drive cars with TDI plants in them and we both love em.

 

I think the smoking issue was down to the quality of the derv I was putting in - since I started using BP Ultimate Diesel i've found that smoking is much much much less of an issue as could be seen on the RR day!

 

Go for the TDI and give it a try. If it bores you to death, sell it - there is always a market for a good Golf TDI run around and you'll sell it very easily if it drives you mad.

 

You will enjoy the savings that TDI's bring though - the fuel economy is sort of addictive.

[chrishill 0]

ultimate diesel!? that sounds almost cool! ;)

 

yeah, i think the sensible option would be the TDI, while it'd be nice to have bags of bhp to play with, a £950 GTI is going to be nowt but trouble where as a £1500 tdi should be fairly sound, plus the fuel savings.

 

just got to wait for the insurance check to come and hope the mystic blue tdi i've seen is still for sale in a week or so's time.

 

mystic blue... might stick a storm badge on it ;)

[Jim 2]

ultimate diesel!? that sounds almost cool! ;)

 

Less smoke, more poke :)

[coullstar 0]

The late Mk3 TDi's were not PD engines but they were pretty good running around 110bhp. I learnt to drive in my dads brand new version and it was fast enough.

[blackcat 0]

Yo

 

I gotta mk3 golf SE 1.9 Diesel (( non turbo )) and its schitt.

 

DOn't get me worng, it's like a new car, solid as a rock, but it handles like a boat and is slooooooooooooooooooooooooow.....so a turbo would be nice.

 

Mine has a turbo and it is still really slow!!

[chrishill 0]

yeah the mk3 tdi's are about 90bhp, but then its not really about the performance with these cars is it.

[Walesy 0]

LOL..

 

My god, I would really rather not know what BHP my baby's pushing out if the 1.9 TDI is 90BHP

[chrishill 0]

a heady 64bhp Mr TAFKACW, congratulations! :D

[chubbybrown 0]

If you see any white smoke avoid.

its either going to have pump probs or a dodgy engine,the white is excess fuel usually getting blown down the exhaust.

I'd check the genuine filters too,some of them have the non return valves in the filter to stop the oil falling back down,so avoiding fuel starvation unsure if that applies to Vw's though,it did for peugeots.

[Walesy 0]

Sorry to hijack your thread Chris, and is that an official figure ? 64bhp :lol:

 

chubbybrown, On starting my car in the mornings i get 1 tiny puff of white smoke , it can be slightly reluctant to start aswell, but only on first satrt on a cold morning . is this indicating pump probs?

[chrishill 0]

according to parkers tech info pages walesy, yeah, all non-turbot diesels are 64bhp of raw beast! still, thats about 1.4 polo power so its adiquate if not rip snortingly speedy.

[Bobby 0]

the late tdi mk3's r reg upwards are 110bhp earlier ones are 90bhp

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Speaking of diesels, I got shown a clean pair of heels by one of those Toureg V10 TDi's this morning. Was sitting there in 5th at 75ish, him in front badgering a car into the inside lane and then woomph..... he was 6 or so car lengths ahead before my brain had even registered what happened.

 

That's 553lb/ft at 1800 odd rpm for you :-) No smoke either, very very impressed by that car tbh.

[blackcat 0]

according to parkers tech info pages walesy, yeah, all non-turbot diesels are 64bhp of raw beast! still, thats about 1.4 polo power so its adiquate if not rip snortingly speedy.

 

My turbo golf has 74bhp, so the turbo adds 10 bhp??? Hardly worth it is it?

[chrishill 0]

actually theres conflicting info on the parkers site, at one point it says the tdi is 90bhp, and elsewhere it says 74bhp... unless they were revamped at a later date? what years yours blackcat?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

It's the torque the turbo boosts.....

[blackcat 0]

Mine's an early one- a 93 k reg, and it's only a TD not a TDi if that makes any difference. Mine is 74bhp, according to haynes.