[Engine] Engine advice - Which is best?

[andy288]

I'm a new member so thank you for letting me join!

I'm currently looking to upgrade my C15 Romahome with its trusty XUD 1769cc bullet proof engine to a newer Berlingo M59 based model.

They come with a few different power units, 1.6 & 1.9 non turbo and 1.6 & 2.0 HDI engines I think!  Each appear, after reading up, to have its own pro's and con's so guess its time to get the experts view on this wonderful forum.

My personal preferences are as follows:

1. Non turbo

2. Speed is not an issue really (as I'm used to the 1.8 XUD) and I'm happy to plod along

3. Most economical (mpg)

4. Simplicity and ease of maintenance.

Any input, suggestions or experiences would be most welcome as I would like to be 100% clear in my own mind before I part with any hard earned cash!

Many thanks in advance.

[cancunia]

Welcome to the forum, I'm sure you'll get a few replies on this so I'll start the ball rolling....

1,2 & 4 = 1.9D or maybe one of the petrol versions.
3 = 1.6HDi

Have you thought about road tax?
The 1.9D has not been made since about 2004 IIRC, not sure about petrol.

[andy288]

All Citroen derived Roma conversions are diesel to the best of my knowledge.

Later campers (2006 & 2007 for sure) i've seen with low miles 1.9 DW8 type non turbo engines, so these obviously appeal.

Road tax is the same for all camper derived vans at £260 per year irrespective of engine capacity/emissions, another big DVLA and goverment con so that again is not really a consideration.

I'm pretty torn between 1.9 and later 1.6 non turbo units tbh but I'm sure others will hopefully chip in with their own opinions and experiences!

[geoff]

I used to have a 1.9D and loved its virtues and was very wary about " upgrading " to a 1.6Hdi

After much advice and hand wringing I made a dash for it - I have to admit I'm glad I did

I think that with a camper the 1.6 HDi would indeed be an upgrade.

[polar]

Ive had all 3 so here goes:

1.9d good slogger not the best on fuel 40mpg no matter how you drive, cheap to maintain. But they are getting old now and finding a good one will be difficult - remember is not just the engine you are looking at.

2.0hdi great engine and a little better on fuel, little goes wrong with them. Capable of doing big miles 300k miles.

1.6hdi best so far, very good engine, very reliable as long as its serviced correctly, good on fuel 50 mpg + and gets my vote as the best so far. You are going to have more choice of vehicles out there and some will have low miles.

Any Berlingo with 100k + be careful of rear axle wear to the radius arm bushes.

I cant understand why someone would buy a more expensive vehicle that the Berlino van they are a great motor. I bought mine new 11 years ago and i plan on keeping in another 11 years if im not forced off the road by the green brigade.

[munkey]

Owned a 1.9D DW8 and it was lovely to work on and maintain but when the van was loaded it *really* struggled on the gentlest of hills, not to mention the diesel it drank.

Now got a 1.6HDi which I chose carefully to not have any of that DPF/eloys/adblue troublesome nonsense. Significantly more power and does great on fuel (can get get about 65 MPG or 500 miles to the tank on motorways if driven sensibly). Just make sure you get one that has been frequently serviced and check for crust around injectors as the undersized clamp bolts can work loose, I nip mine up a couple of times a year. Awkward things to work on unless you have 3 wrist joints and 6 elbows, in my opinion

[jj9]

I would recommend considering the new legislation that is being implemented before making any decision.

Diesel engines unless they are only a couple of years old are being banned from more or less all major cities and routes.

The diesel witch hunt is on, buy a diesel at you peril, they will tax you off the road make no mistake.

I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy a diesel vehicle the way it's going.



.

[andy288]

So, a little update on my original post.

I have bought (after much soul searching) a 2007 HDi 1.6 turbo diesel 90BHP, all stamps in the service book and currently on 33679 miles.

Hope I have made a good choice and I can confirm its drives fautlessly!

What oil is recommended for these units as I would like to do a service and what else would need doing as a precaution to set me up?

[geoff]

This stuff is the official one .... Total Quartz INEO ECS 5w-30 Engine Oil - 5 Litres

I get mine on eBay @ £26 delivered

[GraemeT]

Hello - like the low mileage (Mine has 150,000 plus at the same age). 

I use this stuff  basically a 5w30 c2/c3 - it's maybe a bit upmarket for the non DPF models but we have both here so I can just mix and match chuck that oil into both the dpf/non dpf ones.

Budget alternatives would be Millers stuff - used to be pretty much trade only but theses days? Paddocks currently are selling at 50% less than the Millers own online store. Halfords own brand is likely around £20 for 5 litres.

Posh stuff? ^^ Geoff beat me to it. Spread is less than £2/litre and for a year plus of motoring?  [basically ours do not/burn/lose any oil so it's not like chucking a gallon of Woolworths 15w40 into your Land Rover for every 100 miles] You can go posh for not a lot of dosh.

Otherwise, do the filters - oil, air, diesel. Consider the cambelt - low mileage but aged (like me- honest  ) likewise pads/shoes/discs - FSH may show you that they've been done recently but, otherwise, if it is a 'keeper',  then have a look - you may be able to age the timing belt from its markings. Do the alternator (aka aux belt) too.

I'd change the coolant. [Mind you if you do the cambelt then you'll also do the water pump so you'd be doing the coolant]   simply as it's easy to do and may give peace of mind.

Other than that my thoughts are that these engines are  robust up to the point where they get neglected. Your one sounds too young to be anything other than run in  [jealous]