Reply to: Diesel filters

[AtW]

I am pretty sure it will fail emissions test for MOT, which aint due for 9 months though - right now I am satisfied that I dont have to replace it immediately as warning light comes on from time to time - not every journey and it goes off after few mins on driving, perhaps its crap diesel I had last time? Using same place by BP all the time. Gotto give it some time before worrying too much - I drive less than 500 miles per month these days.

[TheMonkey]

My next car is going to be powered by a Moray generator and never need to be filled up.

[Clog II The Avenger]

A particle filter is like a catalytic converter. No matter what car you have (petrol or Diesel) these need to be replaced around 40k miles. It is not a legal requirement on Diesels and you may get away by fitting a standard exhaust. Ask a specialist. You may even get one for under £200.

[AtW]

My next car is very likely to be Japanese.

[DimPrawn]

So that's £475 extra for the joys of running a noisy, low revving diesel.

That's 100 gallons of petrol or 3500 miles of free motoring in an average petrol car.

[AtW]

Well, they said their diags points out to particle filter overload, which is a serviceable part normally replaced at 54k miles (I got 60k now) - £475 all inc, but it does not have to be done now as one can wait until warning light comes up frequently or all the time.

[Mailman]

America has some laws against Diesels dont they? Protectionism perhaps?

Mailman

[DimPrawn]

The UK gallon is 20% larger than a US gallon.

So that makes their high-tech hybrid a 37 mpg vehicle then.

[DimPrawn]

Amazing that MSN has an article on the most fuel efficient cars in America

http://autos.msn.com/advice/article....tentid=4018922

And not one mention of a diesel. Instead they're raving that some models can do 30 mpg.

They even have a hybrid, that, wait for it can do 31 mpg on the highway. Incredible stuff no?

[Fleetwood]

Have run diesels for 16 years and must agree with Clog on this one, particularly in France and Belgium where diesel is between 20 and 30c a litre less than "essence". Extra road tax on diesels in Belgium takes a bit off, but 75% of what I spend on a car goes down as expenses anyway.

Change Oil and filter regularly (every 6,000km), and a fuel filter should be done every 30,000km, Cam belt as per manufacturer's instructions, and you should get 300,000 to 400,000 km out of the engine.

Your's is an HDI, AtW, so it has two filters, is that right?

There are hidden costs, though, and they're electrical. The 20ish to 1 compression ratio on a diesel means the engine is heavier and therefore more difficult to turn over. So they need a much bigger starter motor than a petrol engined-car, which requires a much bigger battery, which needs a much bigger alternator to keep it charged. These are expensive items to change.

Minor servicing can be done at any self-respecting Halfords etc, only go to a main dealer for a major service, but look out for a decent local guy who'll probably be a lot cheaper.

Vive le diesel

[nobody here but us chicke]

Fap ?

On some of those engines you can engage a fap cleanup mode yourself. Make sure you're parked a long way from anything , it is supposed to be a bit like having a jet engine. People have melted plastic bumpers / stripped paint, etc.

pop over to the french car forum and ask around.

[Kenlowe Fan]

I had a Kenlowe fan on my Dutton Phaeces... it was crap, just like the car...

That's fightin talk......

[Kenlowe Fan]

I dug the Kenlowe fan out of the garage, hoping to sell it to some mug on ebay... except that there's now a flat spot on the commutator so it won't go unless you give it a quick twirl with your finger....

How big is it?

[DaveB]

I dug the Kenlowe fan out of the garage, hoping to sell it to some mug on ebay... except that there's now a flat spot on the commutator so it won't go unless you give it a quick twirl with your finger....

Aha! So it has a manual override function* Stick a few extra quid on the starting price

*You have to manually override it's failure to start automatically

[TheMonkey]

I had a Kenlowe fan on my Dutton Phaeces... it was crap, just like the car...

I had one of them on my land rover. Kind of ironic that it died after 3 months from overheating (the fan that is!)