Hi,I am interested in buying a Fabia 1.9 SDI estate,however after talking to a long time vw mechanic he suggested that the vw sdi units as fitted to the fabias have a known history of bottom end failures or problems.

Are there any people on this forums with knowledge of the cars and their engines ??

Also anything else to look for on the fabias.

My other option will be a felicia 1.9 diesel,does any one know of any problems with this car particularly the engine??.

Many thanks.

Pretty much bomb proof i believe

Slow as a week in jail however

Hi,I am interested in buying a Fabia 1.9 SDI estate,however after talking to a long time vw mechanic he suggested that the vw sdi units as fitted to the fabias have a known history of bottom end failures or problems.

Are there any people on this forums with knowledge of the cars and their engines ??

Also anything else to look for on the fabias.

My other option will be a felicia 1.9 diesel,does any one know of any problems with this car particularly the engine??.

Many thanks.

Did you notice there's no 'T' in 1.9 SDI? There's no Turbo! Just a solid Diesel engine but it's slow, really slow! Unless your 60+, get a turbo diesel.

Did you notice there's no 'T' in 1.9 SDI? There's no Turbo! Just a solid Diesel engine but it's slow, really slow! Unless your 60+, get a turbo diesel.

As some of you may know, Me and the Mrs have both.

The day before yesterday after a speed awareness course we both left Bristol together in convoy

and headed home. After 20 minutes or so driving together

I rang her (both cars are parroted up before anyone moans...) and suggested that I

press on and see her indoors... Then I went on to drive home in a "spirited" fashion

more in keeping with my car. Despite an enjoyable thrash home over 100+ miles

she was only 10 minutes behind me. And she not one for giving it the beans.

So they are not that slow in the big scale of things, I think steady is a better word to describe its

performance. Sure, theres no rush of acceleration like the vRS but it's a nice car to drive.

I drove it today as it happens and I just think it depends what you are expecting from your new car.

MPG is on the verge of legendary and our 54reg has nearly done 100k already and the car has

less squeaks and rattles than my 70K 54reg vRS. It's a reliable runabout that can easily cover

large milages with excellent economy, decent build and spec. We are keeping it till it dies,

but that may be a while....

The fact is we've had her car for two and a bit years and we've only ever had to pay for

its servicing. Nothing has gone wrong... (although her bushes are nearly ready for replacement...)

I've had my vRS for only a year and I'm easily into 4 figures on what's been spent on it.

Although to be fair, some of that is modding but the flywheel and clutch needing replacement

was a £600 bill I could have done without at the time that's for sure...

They are very diferent cars even though they are the same in so many ways.

SDI's are work horses and will live for ever in the day (no turbo/intercooler to go wrong). People buy them to last for ever. But I still think they're to flat, once they're up to speed they go ok, but for pulling off at junctions and overtaking there's nothing there. It depends whether you care what a car drives like, if your not fussy on performance, no worries!

Hi,Not fussed about performance,(cars owner austin metro,renualt 5,favorit 1.3 carb model,laguna 1.8 8v),but I do want reliability goo MPG and easy diy maintenance above all else.

I`ve had niggle after niggle with our laguna,replaced tons of parts.

It just concerned my what this mechanic said regarding the SDI units,He said that the with the TDI`s if anything it was the top ends that gave trouble, but that the engines usually did great miles 200K-250K with no great problems.

But that he had seen a lot of the SDI unit with big problems all in the lower engine,he thinks that the TDI are not push as hard as they have more power available,and that the SDI`s need driving harder due to the lower power of the engine.

Thanks.

Hi,Not fussed about performance,(cars owner austin metro,renualt 5,favorit 1.3 carb model,laguna 1.8 8v),but I do want reliability goo MPG and easy diy maintenance above all else.

I`ve had niggle after niggle with our laguna,replaced tons of parts.

It just concerned my what this mechanic said regarding the SDI units,He said that the with the TDI`s if anything it was the top ends that gave trouble, but that the engines usually did great miles 200K-250K with no great problems.

But that he had seen a lot of the SDI unit with big problems all in the lower engine,he thinks that the TDI are not push as hard as they have more power available,and that the SDI`s need driving harder due to the lower power of the engine.

Thanks.

That's right! If you need to push a car to get performance you are going to kill the engine. But depends how you drive. I think you'll be a bit dissapointed with an SDI, knowing you could have had a TDI.

As for problems with your Laguna! It's a Renualt! I'll say no more. Stick with Skoda/vw/audi/seat and you'll be fine.

They have one major temminal problem:

being underpowered

but joking aside the are good little cars/ engines and are pritty much bullet proof

Edited 29 August, 201015 yr by Thirdtimeluck

favorit 1.3 carb

I thought the Favorit was quite good at pulling away from junctions, even wheel spin was possible More difficult to wheelspin the Fabia 1.4 8v probably due to it's weight.

Edited 29 August, 201015 yr by anewman

Never heard of bottom end problems with SDI. Like Grrr we have both and if we'd to sell one, I'm not sure which would go. You're mechanic may be honest, but he deals with problems so will have a biased view. Driving hard will not ruin bearings; but driving at 10mph in top will, so perhaps it has something to do with the drivers . An indicated 100 is possible with the SDI and cruising at 60-70 is effortless and quiet.

Yes they are underpowered and yes you do have to push them a tad on hills and sometimes overtaking but if you drive accordingly,,you wont have any problems.. I live on the north yorks moors so the terrain here is hilly to say the least,,,,,mines quite happy sat at license losing speeds and apart from on hills,,keeps up with Tdi s....

Well we have bit the bullet and bought a 2001 1.9 sdi estate 142K,clutch at 96k cambelt at 120K,fingers crossed it will be a wise choice.

Just wondering if anyone knows the cambelt change interval in time and/or distance,and would I be right in thinking I should also change the water pump at the same time.

Thanks.

I bought a new Classic SDi 6 months after they were released. I was young and it was my first "new" car, chuffed to bits with it and very proud. The wife drove it mainly, and we've only just sold it to my father, who is also chuffed to bits with it.

The engine is bomb proof, it has to cope with my driving. They are slow, but they do rev very well, and they are quite fun to four wheel slide off a roundabout

99% of the issues are common to all Fabia's (and Polo's / Ibiza's etc..), They don't make the SDi any longer so you'll be getting an older model so you need to make sure the obvious ones are covered:

1. Anti-roll bar bushes fail due to rust under the paint of the roll bar flaking (requires new bar and bushes)
   
   
2. Brake pedal switch fails.
   
   
3. Rear washer jet feed pops open over rear wheel arch inside car and leaks into rear passenger foot well.
   
   
4. Console bushes are made of paper and fail just by looking at them.
   
   
5. On some cars the auxiliary tray on the inside of the door panel (behind the plastic door trim) leaks at the bottom into the foot well.
   
   
6. Power steering sensor on the end of the steering rack fails (french made by the looks of it) had to replace mine twice.
   
   
7. Power steering pump <--- This is a biggy and likely to fail on most fabia's at some point. The TRW pumps have badly sealed ECU electronics, and it appears the washer water leaks down over the pump bottle (on top of the pump) and then over the electronics. This then rots the plastic on the ECU and finally fails. There is a rubber jacket around the pump which I suspect is supposed to make it more water tight, but the rubber dries out over time and cracks making it practically useless. AFAIK you can't buy the jacket so you have to bodge an alternative. I replaced the pump on the SDi, and the pump on my Fabia vRS is on it's last legs. Usual signs are head lights dimming
   very badly
   (assuming a good battery) when turning the steering wheel and the power steering cutting out when manoeuvring in a car park, usually when you are doing your shopping. Killing the ignition and starting up again makes it go away for a while
   
   . Can cost you > £160 for a replacement pump assuming a D.I.Y. install.
   
   
8. Very high biting point on the clutch. This seems to be something specific to the SDi. I'm not sure if this is due to air in the clutch hydraulics and needs bleeding, but quite a few people have commented on it. I made the mistake of getting my clutch replaced last time this happened and it lasted around 12k miles before the biting point got to the top of the peddle again, so I doubt my original clutch was anywhere near done.
   
   

Hope this helps,

Phil.

Well we have bit the bullet and bought a 2001 1.9 sdi estate 142K,clutch at 96k cambelt at 120K,fingers crossed it will be a wise choice.

Just wondering if anyone knows the cambelt change interval in time and/or distance,and would I be right in thinking I should also change the water pump at the same time.

Thanks.

Cambelts should be done every 60K miles or 4 years, whichever comes first. The water pump is not essential, but a preferred option to be safe. If it was not done the last time, change it this time. If you're not sure, change it.

Edited 5 September, 201015 yr by Jim H

Cambelts should be done every 60K miles or 4 years, whichever comes first. The water pump is not essential, but a preferred option to be safe. If it was not done the last time, change it this time. If you're not sure, change it.

Thanks very much for all your answers.

I need to check the gearbox oil as with the clutch pedal up there is a slight rumble.

I am right in thinking I need an m16 star socket thingy??.

Thanks.

Edited 5 September, 201015 yr by ferty

I paid £1300 for mine, it's a great car and I'm really attached to it ... in fact I have the chance to buy an Octavia TDI estate, I'm hesitating cos I don't want to lose the SDI.

That says a lot in my book ...