as im about to embark on my new VRS ownership, ive got a couple of questions

1) ive never owned a diesal before.... is it still true that you have to wait for the "coil" light to go off before full iginition?

2) someone told me that you have to top up the oil in the vrs after a couple of months... never had to do this before.... is it easy? what do you have to do... apologies for being a numpty in advance.!

The coil light is an indicator for the glowplugs which are preheated and on an old tech diesel could take a while,but on a modern diesel this takes a few moments even on the coldest of days.

As regards topping the oil up it's the same as topping up a petrol engine.

Best go to your local dealer and have a good look around and then have a good long test drive.

I think you are supposed wait for the glow plugs but I never do. When you turn the key it just fires.

As for the oil, mine has never use a drop in 40k but I always check it every weekend, like everyone should It's the bright orange stick right at the front of the car.

I think you are supposed wait for the glow plugs but I never do. When you turn the key it just fires.

I was chatting to a mechanic friend who said that you only need to wait for them in very cold conditions (ie below -15 deg C) and in this country, you can just fire up the engine straight away....

Chris

Few things to remember on a turbo diesel.

1: Yes, the glow plug light will come on, but on warmish mornings it will be out in under 3 seconds. On cold days it's still on not that long. Wait for this to go out to avoid long cranking times.

Effectively all this does is warm the intake manifold so that the fuel will burn and the engine will fire up when cold starting.

2. Turbocharged engines do use a smidgen more oil than N/A engines and so you may have to top up the oil every now and again but not that often unless there is something wrong. During the running in period the car may also use a little more oil but after about 1000 miles that should stop. Are you buying a brand spanker?

3. With the engine having a turbo, after a run, let the car idle for a little bit before turning the engine off. This allows the turbo to spool down, the oil to drain from it and it to cool slightly. Mega performance cars can have a turbo timer fitted to do this so you can get out, lock the car and the engine will remain idling for a few mins. This stops the oil staying in the turbo and burning causing nasty deposits that result in premature turbo failure.

4. Diesels take longer to warm up from cold. A lot longer.... On short journeys it almost makes it not worthwhile owning a diesel as the mpg suffers when they are in cold running. Also means you can't really give it some beans for a bit longer.

The bonus is though that due to their low revving nature they suffer less wear anyway and so you can pretty much drive them normally when cold, just don't exceed sensible revs. if possible I don't take mine above 2,500rpm untill the coolant has warmed up. This however also means that sat in traffic a modern diesel is less prone to overheating than petrols and diesels of old that produced more heat.

5. Oil changes. You'll find the service intervals on a diesel shorter than on a petrol. The reasons are that some components on a diesel are under great stress due to the high compression based ignition and the oil has to be tip top to provide good levels of lubrication and avoid engine damage. Also, the oil carries soot deposits from certain areas of the engine and muckies up fast.

In addition, the oil is used to lube and cool the turbocharger which gets damn hot. This wears the oil out faster than on N/A engines.

6. Air flow. Diesels are much more sensitive to air flow restrictions that petrols, mainly on the intake side. Keep the air filter clean by replacing it often and I find it a good idea to hoover out the airbox every now and again. They seem to fill with bees and leaves pretty fast. Restrictions on air flow result in reduced power, reduced mpg and more smoke.

7. Clutch. As most diesels produce much more torque than petrols the clutch has to be built to handle it. This means that for example in 6th gear in the vRS is you simply mash the throttle on the m'way you're putting the clutch under great stress as the engine is more than capable of pulling the car along. This is not so bad in standard cars but remapped versions suffer clutch slip under these circumstances and you should drop it a cog first to ease the pressure off the clutch plate.

Um...that's all I can think of for now.

what a brilliant reply - thanks! ... im gonna print that one off

yep, vrs is a brand spanking new one... should be with me in 2 weeks (yay ill have an 07 VRS - cant be too many of those about!)

Few things to remember on a turbo diesel.

1: Yes, the glow plug light will come on, but on warmish mornings it will be out in under 3 seconds. On cold days it's still on not that long. Wait for this to go out to avoid long cranking times.

Effectively all this does is warm the intake manifold so that the fuel will burn and the engine will fire up when cold starting.

2. Turbocharged engines do use a smidgen more oil than N/A engines and so you may have to top up the oil every now and again but not that often unless there is something wrong. During the running in period the car may also use a little more oil but after about 1000 miles that should stop. Are you buying a brand spanker?

3. With the engine having a turbo, after a run, let the car idle for a little bit before turning the engine off. This allows the turbo to spool down, the oil to drain from it and it to cool slightly. Mega performance cars can have a turbo timer fitted to do this so you can get out, lock the car and the engine will remain idling for a few mins. This stops the oil staying in the turbo and burning causing nasty deposits that result in premature turbo failure.

4. Diesels take longer to warm up from cold. A lot longer.... On short journeys it almost makes it not worthwhile owning a diesel as the mpg suffers when they are in cold running. Also means you can't really give it some beans for a bit longer.

The bonus is though that due to their low revving nature they suffer less wear anyway and so you can pretty much drive them normally when cold, just don't exceed sensible revs. if possible I don't take mine above 2,500rpm untill the coolant has warmed up. This however also means that sat in traffic a modern diesel is less prone to overheating than petrols and diesels of old that produced more heat.

5. Oil changes. You'll find the service intervals on a diesel shorter than on a petrol. The reasons are that some components on a diesel are under great stress due to the high compression based ignition and the oil has to be tip top to provide good levels of lubrication and avoid engine damage. Also, the oil carries soot deposits from certain areas of the engine and muckies up fast.

In addition, the oil is used to lube and cool the turbocharger which gets damn hot. This wears the oil out faster than on N/A engines.

6. Air flow. Diesels are much more sensitive to air flow restrictions that petrols, mainly on the intake side. Keep the air filter clean by replacing it often and I find it a good idea to hoover out the airbox every now and again. They seem to fill with bees and leaves pretty fast. Restrictions on air flow result in reduced power, reduced mpg and more smoke.

7. Clutch. As most diesels produce much more torque than petrols the clutch has to be built to handle it. This means that for example in 6th gear in the vRS is you simply mash the throttle on the m'way you're putting the clutch under great stress as the engine is more than capable of pulling the car along. This is not so bad in standard cars but remapped versions suffer clutch slip under these circumstances and you should drop it a cog first to ease the pressure off the clutch plate.

Um...that's all I can think of for now.

Not sure I agree with some of the above. whether you have to wait for the glow plugs or not pretty much depends on whether the engine is of the direct or indirect type. Older indirect engines wouldn't start unless you waited up to 5 seconds for the pre-heating to finish. Newer direct engines are better, but waiting a couple of seconds with give a smoother start on cold mornings.

Waiting for the turbo to cool down is a bit dated now I'm afraid. This was due to the type of bearings used within the turbo, and was more of a problem with petrol engines due to the much higher exhaust temperatures. Any fairly modern turbo no longer requires cooling down in this way.

You've got it backwards mate, Diesel engines take much longer to heat up exactly because of their efficiency (ie energy is not lost through heat)! Therefore they are much more efficient than petrol engines both when fully warmed up and cold.

The clutch in a standard fabia is just fine for the job. It's been matched to the engine with standard outputs. 're-mapping' increases the stress placed on the clutch hence clutch-slip can result. However in this case you just need to install a clutch that can handle the outputs of a modified engine.

Just remember that diesels don't warm up at idle, best to drive away gently from a cold start.

IMHO - once you've done diesel, you'll never go back!

However in this case you just need to install a clutch that can handle the outputs of a modified engine.

You make it sound so cheap and easy :P:rofl:

Chris

IMHO - once you've done diesel, you'll never go back!

Are you mad?! :eek: If I didn't have to worry about mpg, I would not be driving a diesel!

Chris

Few things to remember on a turbo diesel.

....

5. Oil changes. You'll find the service intervals on a diesel shorter than on a petrol. The reasons are that some components on a diesel are under great stress due to the high compression based ignition and the oil has to be tip top to provide good levels of lubrication and avoid engine damage. Also, the oil carries soot deposits from certain areas of the engine and muckies up fast.

In addition, the oil is used to lube and cool the turbocharger which gets damn hot. This wears the oil out faster than on N/A engines.

6. Air flow. Diesels are much more sensitive to air flow restrictions that petrols, mainly on the intake side. Keep the air filter clean by replacing it often and I find it a good idea to hoover out the airbox every now and again. They seem to fill with bees and leaves pretty fast. Restrictions on air flow result in reduced power, reduced mpg and more smoke.

7. Clutch. As most diesels produce much more torque than petrols the clutch has to be built to handle it. This means that for example in 6th gear in the vRS is you simply mash the throttle on the m'way you're putting the clutch under great stress as the engine is more than capable of pulling the car along. This is not so bad in standard cars but remapped versions suffer clutch slip under these circumstances and you should drop it a cog first to ease the pressure off the clutch plate.

Um...that's all I can think of for now.

5 - The VW 1.9TDI and 2.0 TDI engines have the longer service interval on variable of up to 50'000km as opposed to 30'000km for the petrol engines.

6 - A diesel always runs with an excess of air, so IMHO it isn't any worse than an petrol engine, however all cars should have the air filters kept clean anyway

7 - As you say however the clutch is designed to handle that torque and the problem would be the same in a mapped petrol car IMHO. The big difference is that because the revs are lower the clutch should be in some ways less stressed and have a longer life, however when it does go it will cost more to replace.

Also:

- Exhausts on diesel cars last longer as the lower exhaust temperatures mean less rusting of the pipe.

- No Sparks so batteries tend to last longer.

- You don't need to worry about changing the glowplugs like you do sparks as all they do is help the car start in the cold. So they probably get changed once every blue moon.

And a BIG brucie bonus for you is that you wont explode should the worst happen.

I`ve had 2 petrol cars start miniature bonfires.

5 - The VW 1.9TDI and 2.0 TDI engines have the longer service interval on variable of up to 50'000km as opposed to 30'000km for the petrol engines.

6 - A diesel always runs with an excess of air, so IMHO it isn't any worse than an petrol engine, however all cars should have the air filters kept clean anyway

7 - As you say however the clutch is designed to handle that torque and the problem would be the same in a mapped petrol car IMHO. The big difference is that because the revs are lower the clutch should be in some ways less stressed and have a longer life, however when it does go it will cost more to replace.

Also:

- Exhausts on diesel cars last longer as the lower exhaust temperatures mean less rusting of the pipe.

- No Sparks so batteries tend to last longer.

- You don't need to worry about changing the glowplugs like you do sparks as all they do is help the car start in the cold. So they probably get changed once every blue moon.

A diesel always runs with an excess of air? So with a blocked air filter, how would that be? Does it find an alternate filtered source? Why does fitting a PD160 intake and green cotton filter make such a difference in peoples eyes? Intake restrictions kill a diesel. They NEED the excess of air to run properly as they run 50% lean of stoichiometric.

Revs don't kill a clutch......sure, slipping and dumping the clutch kills them but what stresses them the most is too high a gear and too much torque. The drivetrain is resisting the engine and the engine is pushing harder with torque....what's gonna give? The clutch as it's sat in between the 2.

Exhausts on diesel cars don't necessarily last longer. All the water vapour that they produce causes corrosion within and a hot exhaust helps evaporate this. But, diesels produce less CO2 and this when combined with water produces carbonic acid thus corroding the exhaust will not corrode as fast due to this. I'd say they last about the same, just with less heat stress.

Not sure I agree with some of the above. whether you have to wait for the glow plugs or not pretty much depends on whether the engine is of the direct or indirect type. Older indirect engines wouldn't start unless you waited up to 5 seconds for the pre-heating to finish. Newer direct engines are better, but waiting a couple of seconds with give a smoother start on cold mornings.

Waiting for the turbo to cool down is a bit dated now I'm afraid. This was due to the type of bearings used within the turbo, and was more of a problem with petrol engines due to the much higher exhaust temperatures. Any fairly modern turbo no longer requires cooling down in this way.

You've got it backwards mate, Diesel engines take much longer to heat up exactly because of their efficiency (ie energy is not lost through heat)! Therefore they are much more efficient than petrol engines both when fully warmed up and cold.

The clutch in a standard fabia is just fine for the job. It's been matched to the engine with standard outputs. 're-mapping' increases the stress placed on the clutch hence clutch-slip can result. However in this case you just need to install a clutch that can handle the outputs of a modified engine.

I'm sure I read it in the manual where it said to let the engine idle for a few seconds before turning it off. I shall check that. My dad's a former mechanic and he always advised me to follow this procedure.

Yes, diesel engines are more thermo-efficient than petrol engines but have you seen the mpg figures of people who do small journeys? They're less than impressive, although better than what a petrol could do in the same circumstances. Having said that a petrol warms up faster and so reaches peak efficiency faster. It's swings and roundabouts.

Modern diesels rely less on glow plugs due to the higher injection pressures. The fuel is injected in a much finer mist and so ignites much more easily in the already compressed air. I've owned old XUD diesels which WOULD NOT cold start without glow plugs. You were sat there cranking for ages and ages and ages. Terrible. If the DI engines did not need them they would not be fitted and the manual would not tell you to wait until the light had gone out before cranking.

Are you mad?! :eek: If I didn't have to worry about mpg, I would not be driving a diesel!

Chris

Actually as a mate of fact, I am.

But you have to admit that the torque-push feeling that you get is nicer than having to drive it like you stole it......

Oh and BTW, premium petrol sells for 14p a liter out here, and diesel for 9p. So economy has nothing to do with me enjoying the Furby vRS!

Cheers:thumbup:

Bas

But you have to admit that the torque-push feeling that you get is nicer than having to drive it like you stole it......

I agree! Much preffered to high revving screamers where you can never find the right gear to overtake as one is too high and the other is too low.

But you have to admit that the torque-push feeling that you get is nicer than having to drive it like you stole it......

All cars should be driven like they're stolen Which petrols are you comparing it to? V6's and V8's give a nice push and then go on and on accelerating ...

Plus they sound much better and are more refined

Chris

That's cos most v6's and v8's are big capacity...... I've only ever seen 2.0 V6's in the Mazda Xedos 6 and the Mitsubishi FTO.....the rest are usually 2.5 litres and higher.

The refinement bit is true though. In actual fact the ideal engine configuration is a straight 6 for cylinder harmonisation. The only trouble is they're long and hang a lot over the front axle. V6's get round this problem but at 3 cylinders a side they need balancer shafts. Ideally you want a V12 for perfect cylinder harmony which is 2 straight 6's mated together.