Diesel pump???

[pasty steve]

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but Im new to the forum and would appriciate it if a mod can move it if it needs be.

Anyways.... currently have a Vec B SRI petrol, but need somthing a bit more economical so looking at either a Diesel Vec C SRI or Diesel Mondeo but heard from quite a few taxi driver mates that the Vec Diesel pumps have a habbit of failing which obveously cost a small fortune and is putting me off, Is this the case?.....are they as prone to failing as people make out?

Any help appriciated, cheers Steve.

[mozzer99]

The Vectra 'B' DTI engine was carried over to the Vectra 'C' for a couple of years.
This pump has an ECU on top and does the whole lot, pumps pressure and distributes to the injectors.
Difficult to change and ruinously expensive new.

Later CDTI Vectras have a pump that is easily changed and only generates (very) high pressure. It has no ECU on the pump as the injectors are electrically fired. Seems to be a far more reliable system?

The DTI engines can go for 200k miles + without any attention - but ebay sales suggest some can be unlucky with the Bosch pumps. Given that any car fitted with a DTI pump is now over 6 years old it can write the car off.

If you are looking at the CDTI SRI (120 or 150 hp) ask again as there are a few things to be aware of.

[danman487]

ok don't want to upset anyone, but i would never buy another CDTi. in many respects its a nice car, but having only had mine 3 months, i have NEVER spent so much time repairing/fixing a car in the entire time i've owned one. this has been by far the worst car I have ever bought and if i could afford to get rid of it and not lose too much money i would.

saying that, like you said, plenty of them are used as taxis and seem to go alright

[tommychimp]

The 2.0 DTi pumps have known issues, my dad had one in his astra which made 80000 before going pop, My vec dti is on 86000 and still going strong, several theories have come about as to why this happens, either naff supermarket fuel, Vs. Shell or BP fuels.

Allowing the pump to run dry or letting the tank run very can also effect the pump. You can either be lucky or unlucky, they are a fairly bulletproof engine if cared for regularly. did a 550 mile round trip in mine this weekend with no problems what-so-ever.

[pasty steve]

The Vectra 'B' DTI engine was carried over to the Vectra 'C' for a couple of years.
This pump has an ECU on top and does the whole lot, pumps pressure and distributes to the injectors.
Difficult to change and ruinously expensive new.

Later CDTI Vectras have a pump that is easily changed and only generates (very) high pressure. It has no ECU on the pump as the injectors are electrically fired. Seems to be a far more reliable system?

The DTI engines can go for 200k miles + without any attention - but ebay sales suggest some can be unlucky with the Bosch pumps. Given that any car fitted with a DTI pump is now over 6 years old it can write the car off.

If you are looking at the CDTI SRI (120 or 150 hp) ask again as there are a few things to be aware of.

More things to be aware of??? I was looking more towards the 150.... Really appreciate all the info people.

[Celes]

Pump failure on DTi's is more a case of bad luck and not bad design/fragile unit. DTi engines are bomb-proof.

[James24]

My 2.2 DTi is still fine at 96000 miles and has never gone wrong (touches wood). Avoid nasty fuel, don't let the fuel get below 1/4 tank, and don't use the pump to prime the fuel system (if you do run out of fuel) or when the diesel filter is changed (which needs to be done every 2 years).

Also consider using something like Miller's Eco Max diesel additive regularly and/or something like Wynns diesel system cleaner and lubricator as per the manufacturer's recommendations.

If you do this, then a pump failure is down to back luck rather than bad treatment/maintenance as stated above. I don't think that they fail all that often - it's just you hear about it when they do because they can cost so much to repair/replace, especially compared to what the cars with DTi engines are worth now.

[Big Sig]

Don't think the Mondeo engines are any better, they have injector issues as well as most - not all - of them start burning engine oil at about 70k.

[DaveW555]

I'd go along with a lot of that and here is my tuppence worth having repaired both, The vx dti engine has had a lot of issues with injector pumps and a recon unit is at least 600 quid if you can get one and new ones are obsolete (i was told this by vx how true I dont know), the cdti is the obvious choice as long as you go for a 120, the 150 has too many known issues in comparison and as for the mondeo tdci just as bad, has lots of fuel pump issues although recon pumps are readily available (i can get them for 400 quid with a code bypass so you dont need to take the car to ford to be reprogrammed). They all suffer with dmf issues although the mondeo has a tried and tested conversion available (i still wouldn't bother tho incase it trashes the gearbox). So there you have my opinion and I'm sure there's people that will disagree but having been in the trade for over 10 years I can only speak as I find. Hope to have been some help. Personally if its reliabilty you're looking for I'd opt for a Vectra SRi 1.8 petrol, good on fuel, no dmf and no other major issues to speak of.

[John LE]

The DTi does not suffer problems nearly as much as the CDTi, anything that goes wrong with the DTi is normally vacuum/boost leak related. Very few pumps have packed in on here and cheap replacements are available if you do your ground work.

DMF's do not appear to be as big a problem on the DTi compared to the CDTi either

We are roughly speaking 10% of dti's with DMF problems compared to 90% of CDTi's having problems (note this is just an estimate figure and not an actual representation) before anyone starts