2002 scenic 1.9dci and biodiesl

[C5Alan]

I ran my C5 hdi on bio until it got too cold and have now sold it due to repair bills being to great bought a veg jeep with a fake mot and the rear axle fell off so scrapped and have bought a scenic. Due to working as delivery driver as well as my day job as a handyman (back seats out makes a van, back in family car) I want to run it on 100% biodiesel so does the missus in her 308 see other thread.

Both cars will have a clear inline prefilter fitted to get rid of most of the gunk from the tank clean bio gives to save the main filter and you can see it blocking so know when to swap thinking 2 inlines and the the main. I never fitted this to the C5 but thinking of fitting it to the scenic and maybe the pug a baby bottle warmer round the main fuel filter I have read this is good on pure veg so cant harm on bio more for start up than when running when its cold it shoudl warm the fuel in the filter and help to start (its Scotland its always cold).

We can get bio from 2 places where I got it last summer £1.19/ltr been running for years or a new place £0.95/ltr just opened about a month or so ago. The cheaper place is closer but not long started so dono where to get it now?

[lexi]

I take it they have Bosch pumps anyway? .Inline filter is good as you will block one quick and then do a few others.
As you know the DI needs really good Bio. Only ran the old 1.9td on home made . I think what you buy will be better than my basic stuff........hopefully.
You can't be far from me..........I am in Ralston. Whadya think of Scenic?

[R9UKE]

Erm, KP on this forum has just experienced his relative's dCi Laguna being killed by biodiesel....

[C5Alan]

I have found a company selling a twin tank set up to run the scenic on pure veg so surely bio should be ok? Any links to the Laguna death?

Keep your eyes for me I'm usually up Ralston way ill be the numpty with the Pizzahut light box on the roof lol. So far its been a great wee motor only thing that is worrying me is the miles to pump count down its not going down filled her up 351 done over 100 miles now reads 363 and fuel level still about full am I just granny driving compared to previous owner? Is something wrong? Other thing is miss cruise control so gona have to look into retro fitting

[evilally]

There's folk over on vegetableoildiesel running the 1.9 DCI on bio without incident. The problem is that as soon as something goes wrong with a car, the usual "it's the biofuel" reasons get brought out as mechanics can't usually be bothered troubleshooting any further. Properly made biodiesel (and I emphasise properly made) is not a problem for the majority of vehicles regardless of fuel pump. Indeed, BD is a better fuel pump lubricant than pump diesel and it burns so much cleaner. I would also be curious to know what went wrong with the above Laguna.

[R9UKE]

Well I don't know the full story but it cut out on the motorway. Mechanic reckons all injectors need replaced because of the biodiesel.... Tbh the 1.9 dCi doesn't exactly need a reason to F up.

[evilally]

...aye, not heard good things! They seem to eat turbos every 30,000 as well!

[Hell Razor5543]

I bet that is an expensive addiction to maintain!

[C5Alan]

well we will see how she goes hope to get a couple of years out of her before anything mega expensive crops up but if it does sell it and get something else. Buying cars at the bottom end of the market does mean you are gona get probs that mean its cheaper to replace than fix hence if I can run on bio and save a few bob now I can spend it on fixing or replacing.

[lexi]

Strangely enough the boy next door bought a dci estate cheaply and sorted suspension and a few other faults for MOT. When we spoke I mentioned that turbo and gearbox need watching. He had it 6months and turbo went first. Place in Glasgow did a turbo for about 350 quid. Weeks later the flippin bearing went in G/box.

He scrapped it. He loved the car and got it cheap. I don't think it would have cost a grand with repairs the lot. A grand a year on any car is ok. He practically moved house and hauled building stuff with it. I would take a chance with a cheap one.

Has anyone got any reasoning behind the turbo failures? Why can Renault get their turbos to fail so much? Is it a special talent in software implementation that makes a normally reliable thing like a turbo, self destruct. There are only about 4 turbo makers........and they are all pretty good. It happens with some auto gearboxes too. Take a known good type auto box. Four different manufacturers will use that box with different ECU systems and the longevity will vary. Just musing

[steelcityuk]

Early dCi's had real problems with their turbos. This led to Renault altering the oil drain and oil spec. I'm under the impression the drain blocks up leading to self destruct mode. The neighbours X3 had a turbo failure last autumn, wrong spec oil was the cause the garage think.

[C5Alan]

if the drain blocks up would an oil flush help and more regular oil change help discourage the turbo from failing?

I drive on the bangernomics principle but dont like the idea of killing a car due to being to lazy to service. A turbo swap I dont think is too far out of my spannering skill level so will keep an eye on it, whats the symptons of one letting go (not had many diesels or turbos before)

Still not got round to using bio yet due to waiting on the temp raising a bit but doesn't look like any time soon

[lexi]

Overchanging the oil has got to help. 3k to 4k is my max on any diesel. I do the same with the petrols.

[C5Alan]

not been on due to computer probs buti take it you dont do a lot of mile 3-4k oil changes would kill me I do near 20k a year so every 2 months at roughly 50 quid a time your not far off a turbo swap stick to the 8-10k miles or 6 months between each service. I may do a lot of short trips but the engine is usually fully warmed up and every couple of weeks check the feel of the oil if it feels gritty its time for a change, petrol was when its gone dirty. Is it not like 15k the service interval on these?

Still not on the bio yet just been too cold shoon though

[lexi]

I don't do miles Alan. 3K in Vel last year and 2k in old Landrover. Wife does 6k in Prelude. I got that Ultratec 10/40 semi from Arnold at trade from a guy.
It was around 30 quid for 20 litre. Plenty good for my petrols with no turbos. Problem with these fussy DI Renaults is, they need the best of oil.

Yet a mate runs a Volvo V40 ( Renault DI) He is loathe to change oil and when he does, it is cheap mineral and comes out as black as 2 in the morning. 150k so far.