by Laurence10 » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:48 am
As a professional musician l have run Transits for over 30 years, mk2 to mk7, but the one I’ll really miss is old X253JNT, 2.4 diesel mk5. Incredibly reliable but also an absolute joy to drive. Not fast, not quiet - but l always felt in perfect harmony with it on a journey. So what went wrong? Despite rigorous undersealing with a mixture of waxoyl and engine oil every year, keeping most of the underside solid, ultimately the front wheelarches, inner and outer, sill and step all disintegrated. Both mudflaps fell off in a pile of rust and mud! I contemplated the old girl standing in the rain, and noticed water dripping from a hole in the sill on both sides. So water was ingressing either from a join between the roof and bodyside, or maybe from a windscreen leak. Strangely a big rusty hole existed at the top of the door frame, driver`s side... Either way the repair bill would be phenomenal, so off I went to a scrapyard who were delighted with the `banana` engine`s condition - if the scrapman is to be believed it now survives in a taxi in South Africa! So maybe the water ingress is an Achilles heel of the smiley fronter. I now own a mk7 in very good condition and remarkably low mileage but the thing will never have the appeal of the mk5. The engine and gearbox feel tinny and cheap by comparison although the mpg is superb, helped by a properly long-legged fifth gear. But I live in fear of its sophistications and nearly had a heart attack when the keypad went in the wash in my jeans pocket (but amazingly still works!). Most annoying of all, when pulling away, the engine revs increase automatically as you lift the clutch. Apparently this is part of the engine management system and can’t be overridden, so will have to live with it. No more creeping forward on tick-over in traffic. I’d buy another mk5 in a heartbeat, except for the fact that even the youngest are approaching 20 years old - with corrosion problems just around the corner...