Turbo & Headgasket Life Expectancy

IanD · Post by **IanD** » 24 Mar 2004, 18:00

Just wondering in a car with average miles put on it each year & FSH how long roughly would you expect these items to last on the 1.9td engine & also how long roughly do headgaskets last on the N/A diesel motors?
Oh & how much roughly is it to do the headgasket.
Cheers,
Ian

oilyspanner · Post by **oilyspanner** » 24 Mar 2004, 18:28

Its more a matter of luck than miles, usually they last until theres a cooling system trauma, eg radiator leak or blocked up then they get hot and there it goes, with careful maintainance and prudent replacement of rads before failure anythings possible.
Stewart
Gasket replacement here in Wales roughly £60 for parts and machining and labour £150-£200 (!.9TD)

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 24 Mar 2004, 23:14

Change the coolant every two years with the correct strength and the engine will last well in excess of 100K. My TZD is now in its 13th year, with 140000 on the clock, and I think it's still running without any signs of overheating.

rg · Post by rg » 25 Mar 2004, 02:20

My Pug 405 1.9 XUD non-turbo went to 251K with a gasket weeping from near one of the injectors for around 50K.
Avoiding overheating seems to be the key. Check that those fans work!
rg

ghostrider · Post by **ghostrider** » 25 Mar 2004, 04:33

I'd go with the above, BXs seem very prone to fan problems that only manifest themselves when they fail to work, the BXs we've owned have done some good miles 250K being the best before the tin worm left the engine and transmission on the drive

) (not exceptional that either theres plenty of people on this board with huge mileages). The turbos in my experience seem to be more sensitive to cooling problems, the only HG I've had blow was on a 17TD it was fixed Ok but only lasted another 60K. so change that coolant and check those fans!
Pete
________
Civic (Fourth Generation)

IanD · Post by **IanD** » 25 Mar 2004, 15:50

Thanks for the replies chaps [:D]
Are the turbo's themselves water cooled or oil-cooled?
Cheers,
Ian

uhn113x · Post by **uhn113x** » 25 Mar 2004, 17:13

Ian
Turbochargers are not specifically cooled at all, unless you count the copious lubrication and the incoming cool air.
The induction air that has been warmed up by compressing with the turbo is cooled before going to the manifold by the intercooler, which is itself air cooled from a duct in the bonnet

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 25 Mar 2004, 23:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by IanD
Are the turbo's themselves water cooled or oil-cooled?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
As Mike says - but you would be well advised to allow the oil to continue circulating through the turbo for several seconds when the turbo has been working hard.

Bob Smith · Post by **Bob Smith** » 26 Mar 2004, 04:34

Being the current owner I can confirm what JohnD says about his former TZD.
Having read many posts on this subject over the years I am convinced that change of coolant at the recommended interval is vital to prolong the life of the head gasket and the head.
Bob

David W · Post by **David W** » 26 Mar 2004, 12:50

My experience is that a turbo is 99.9% likely to last the life of a car, the head gasket stands about a 95% chance of being the original when the car reaches end of life.
6000ml oil changes with semi-syn will make the turbo everlasting.
Two yearly coolant changes with quality glycol and proper water, plus an understanding of how to bleed the system will give the head gasket its best chance. Remembering diesels should be stopped and recovered, never driven while overheating is another great help.
Neither of them are a reliability issue with Citroen TDs as far as I'm concerned.
David

IanD · Post by **IanD** » 26 Mar 2004, 15:22

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by uhn113x

Ian
Turbochargers are not specifically cooled at all, unless you count the copious lubrication and the incoming cool air. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Not the case on all cars mate....eg. my cosworth, which is water-cooled[;)]. I wondered if this was the case with the TD XU engines because of what Ghostrider said about the TD engines being more sensitive to headgasket problems so I was curious as to whether this was anything to do with high water temps as it often is.
The reason I was asking is because I'm trying to decide whether to get a turbo or N/A XU engined car as my runabout for the next several years. I will be looking to buy one with around 80-100k & was wondering if I needed to budget on spending out on replacing the headgasket &/or turbo almost immediately.
I would prefer the turbo version for a bit more grunt but I've spoken to the Derv Doctor & he reckons he can do the fuel mod to the N/A motor & get a realistic 15bhp extra so would be almost the same power as a standard turbo but without the extra hassles that could be involved.
Cheers,
Ian

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 26 Mar 2004, 15:40

The main problem with the BX is the incredibly stupid omission of a temperature gauge!!The engines themselves are no more or less prone to overheating problems than any other make, its just that you don't usually know it's overheated until it's too late to save it[:(!][xx(]
For peace of mind I have fitted a dash switch to bypass the fan's thermo switch in case it fails to trigger the fan in a long traffic queue.Cheap, easy, and an end to the paranoia........but then its hard to hear the fan anyway...............is it working or not???[}:)]

P 2501 · Post by **P 2501** » 26 Mar 2004, 17:42

My experience is that a turbo is 99.9% likely to last the life of a car, the head gasket stands about a 95% chance of being the original when the car reaches end of life.
There are many people who would disagree with this, but i think that given correct maintenance and an eye on fluids, hoses etc this is about right. I think XUDs overheat and cook gaskets not because of inherently poor engine design, but due to questionable quality radiators which have a habit of corroding at c.5 years and dumping coolant which obviously results in overheats. There is still the myth that XUD engines eat their headgaskets though and it is just that - a myth!