On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 23:12:47 +0200, Paul Oxley wrote:
>Ahem! I didn't want to throw this in the mix (we had a 9 month flamefest
>on the za-lro about it), but perhaps you should be aware that the engine
>in question is becoming known as the "TDie". Read some of the reports on
>http://landyonline.co.za/issues/tdi_longevity.htm before you even
>consider this engine.
Paul, I took a look at the site. Interesting. A few comments though, a some rhetorical questions.
The most common failure/replacement was the timming belt. You also need to do this on any engine with a timming belt, like the V8's. Of
course due to the close tolerances of a diesel, there is more damage usually when it breaks, although newer petrol engines can suffer
quite a bit too. In any case, I wouldn't run it with a timming belt, I'd convert at new to a set of Zeus timming gears. I think timming belts are
the spawn of the devil.
The other common failure was turbos. In my experience (rebuilding turbos) and observations, most people don't know how to drive and
care for a turbo equiped vehicle, cars/suv's in particular. You can not drive them like a non-turbo. How often did they check/change the
oil?
Injectors were replaced a good bit, but most were at well over 150,000km. Not *too* bad. Also, we have no way to know filter maint. or fuel
quality, a *huge* factor in injector and pump longevity. Did they have a water seperator, or just a filter?
Things like alternators, powersteering etc aren't really related to it being a diesel most likely.
Starters can be a big expense in a diesel. It's more important to have a good battery, proper sized cables to avoid voltage drop, and
really clean solid connections. A starter turning slower than it should shortens it's life, and the above points contribute to low voltage at the
starter which = slow turning. Cold weather doesn't help either :-)
Most of the engine failures were due to coolant loss, one even becuase the rad hose wasn't put on correctly (I don't count this one). But
most diesels are qucikly toast if you run without coolant. Again, I'd like to know which failures are dues to a design fault vs. poor/incorrect
maint.
I'd like to see a similar site/study of V8's. Anyway, those are my first impressions and two cents worth.
Cheers
Tom Rowe
Atlanta, GA
Four wheel drive allows you to get stuck
in places even more inaccessible
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