Honest John - modern diesels

You have a problem with badly modded VWs, pal?

In message , Duncan Wood writes

BMW 3 series use rather a lot of oil up to around 12,000 miles, in fact I poured almost a gallon into mine in the first 11,000 miles from new. Seven pointed plastic rings I believe. Once it got past 11,000 miles I didn't have to add any oil between services. Not checking the oil on any car new or old is asking for trouble.

Not really, I have bitter memories of the unmodded ones as well :-)

IIRC, they had a plank of wood (or something) over the intake to stop stuff being ingested. The rags were to try and make this feeble arrangement airtight..was a while ago..a bit hazy now.

My common rail diesel Alfa sipped half a litre in the first 7,000 miles then..nothing at all. Almost 7 years have passed and my top-up oil can is rusting away in the garage. I subscribe to the brutal-running-in school of thought if that helps.

I know my comments don't apply to some poor-tolerance Alfa petrols though.

Nah, not old or obscure enough. Farmers around here were buying them when I was at school. And as for hearing, by the time I get around to doing this, that's unlikely to be much of an issue.

Wasn't that the one with a guy who decided to tinker with the governor or something and it just ran away with itself until it broke.

That's how I remember it too. A Rolls Royce engine, wasn't it?

Yes, but IIRC it only broke the valve gear and they got it going again ..

Mike P

In message , Mrcheerful writes

That's not my experience of owning them. I'll certainly give you the suspension arms and anti-roll bar bushes. The resistor pack is a common problem I agree although I've not experienced it. I did have to replace a corroded aircon condenser but it was 8 years old so you can't really call that a major failing.

My son's mark 2 is 10 years old and has done 170k. His only issue is a couple of intermittent door lock motors which he is living with.

Did they? I distinctly remember them throwing one engine out and refitting another. They were the Barley Pickers weren't they? With their irritating rallying call of "Properr Job!".

Every 30-40,000 miles.

If it "does" happen, =A360+1hr labour per side sees them polybushed and=20 sorted for life.

The resistor pack issue is solely down to shit servicing as it is=20 caused by the pollen filter being blocked due to not being changed=20 every 2 years as it's supposed to be.

For every burned out resistor pack in a Mondeo or Focus, you'll find a=20 completely clogged up Pollen Filter.

So basically, if you say you've experienced the resistor pack failure=20 yourself then it speaks volumes about how you don't bother looking=20 after your car.

--=20 Conor

I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't=20 looking good either. - Scott Adams

That's more like how I remember it too. It was a big engine.

Is the resistor pack in the airflow, then?

Poor airflow causing the fan to run slower/heavier load or something?

I read on the t'internets a while ago - so it muct be true (c: - that Ford were able to make the resistor pack less beefy (therefore cheaper) by putting it in the fan's airflow to aid cooling.

Clogged filters mean the airflow goes out of spec, the resistor pack overheats and goes pop.

Sounds plausible.

Yeah...fresh air intake.

The famous BMW final stage resistor which fails regularly is in the airflow. But haven't heard blocked filters making any difference to its life. Does make sense, though.

I would not own a mondeo unless I was paid to. I see second owner cars in general, previous servicing has probably been poor, I have not had to replace a resistor pack on the same car twice, but of course they do come with a new bit of loom, so perhaps that is better made.

Mrcheerful