How efficient is a diesel 2.5 engine?

[travellinggirl]

I might be going to look at a 1984 transit coachbuilt with the above engine and wondered what people here think of this engine? Ive never owned a diesel..Ive not anymore info on what sort of engine it is...

Any comments good or bad...(hopefully theyll all be good ones!!!)

Thanks all
Emma

[rover]

The 2.5Di is the most common diesel engine accross the transit range (up to year 2000), the chances are the one you look at will be an early type, if it was factory fitted it will have plenty of insulation to keep the noise down, if it was fitted later it could be quite noisy in the cab when driving so make sure you take it for a decent run at speed before you buy!

So long as they are maintained properly they normally go on forever

Rover.

[travellinggirl]

Brilliant - thanks Rover..
Ill have a look to see if its insulated, if i got to view it

[chrisvmax]

Hi,
I've got a 2.5di in my ambulance. Had the van for 9 years now, it's never missed a beat. It'll happily sit at 65 up hill and down dale all day long.
'tis a bit noisy (not factory fitted) but my main mode of transport is a motorbike... I'm used to noise Wot

Cheers,
Chris

[sam l]

Slightly off topic, but I found a place on the internet that will stick a turbo on a 2.5DI. They say 30%more power and 50% more torque.

Any drawbacks apart from the price and the insurance? What would 50% more torque do to my overdrive and what happens to the economy?

2.5DI is a great engine but noisy as everyone says.

[foggy08]

Slightly off topic, but I found a place on the internet that will stick a turbo on a 2.5DI. They say 30%more power and 50% more torque.

Any drawbacks apart from the price and the insurance? What would 50% more torque do to my overdrive and what happens to the economy?

2.5DI is a great engine but noisy as everyone says.

do you have a link or the cost please

[sam l]

http://www.turboboost.co.uk/default2.as ... age_id=212

Don't know how much but I know I ain't got it at the mo!

[travellinggirl]

Oooh! how exciting!
Ok, so im hoping to go and view the van this Friday..
Is there anything i should look out for? Ive never seen a diesel engine before

[sam l]

Should start pretty much straight away, even if cold (mine does and is old and pretty knackered) - have a look at it first and see that it isn't warm and the usual trick of running it round the block a few times before you see it hasn't been done!

Have a look for smoke when it's revved when warmed up a bit, a bit is not unusual but not loads - I'm sure you know that already though.

If it's good it'll go on for ever if looked after (basically means regular oil and filter changes, change the fuel filter if you buy it and give it a new air filter - might get a few extra mph - I did).

[travellinggirl]

Thank sam I
Ill check for those things you suggested..
I didnt think about the "round the block a few times" thing!

[rover]

Also enquire as to when it last had a cambelt/tensioner replacement, if they cant prove when it was last done you will need to account for that in your budget too

Rover.

[redeemer]

Don't you guys sugest that she also have to open the oil filler cap and sees if its pumping out exhaust gas from the top cover that will means that the valve stem bushes (or what is that called in english??) are worn
and open up the radiator reserviour and rev the engine a bit so that if you see the coolant changing and flowing it means it have a good cooling system. Mind you , when I bought mine I diddn't checked that and when I opened up I found a blocked radiator and a non functional thermostat that means that the engine had been suffering from overheating for a long time

[travellinggirl]

Thanks for all the support.
am going to view it at 2pm today, and ive written a list of things that youve all suggested to check.
Is blue or pink a good water coolant colour?

[rover]

Blu, pink, green, red and even orange Just make sure its not full of oily residue.

Rover.

[travellinggirl]

Hehe!

Well...the outcome of this, was that i didnt get as far as looking inside the engine..
As i pulled up, the guy was trying to jump start the van! Not a great start.
He didnt know what was wrong, but said he'd had to do that to get it to the MOT centre the other day?!
It was a nice van and i drove it for a while..but there were rust issues that i was concerned about. Also, and this really concerned me, but i REALLY really struggled to turn the steering wheel! Ive owned a few vans now - 1970's, 80's that havent had power steering - but this seemed scarily difficult - i am only a wee girl (5ft nothing), but this was something else...i almost gave up at one point, when i was doing a 3 point turn, which turned into a 10 point turn! are they ALL this hard?? I think there may have been something wrong?


Thanks everyone for the advice, ill use it the the next van i view ..
Back to the drawing board!