• This topic has 35 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by tron.
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  • What disasters I can expect? Just bought a 2000 Citroen Dispatch diesel.
  • epicyclo
    Full Member

    Drives ok, nothing obviously wrong. Low mileage – abt 50k – no service history or proof, but feels tight.

    I expect to have to spend money on it, so I just want to be prepared.

    So what disaster can I expect, or should prepare for?

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Surely the time to ask that is before you buy it?

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    …no service history or proof

    A visit from Mr Plod!?…

    Saccades
    Free Member

    This the twin of the Peugeot Expert? Had the bog standard 1.9L for 2-3 years.

    Accelerator cable went twice – 80 sheets for a full new pack (inc unwanted hosing etc), ended up replacing with shimano brake cable and lasted then til I sold it.

    offside sliding doors were ravaged by people trying to break in.

    Bonnet release is hidden.

    As I recall it’s dead easy to service, some mucking about with the fuel filter (no inbuilt hand pumps like the rover l-series), so do the pipes in the right order. Bench front seat is quite comfy (can fit 3 ok for a longer journey) and the wife couldn’t fill it when we went to ikea.

    Used to sleep on the bench after night shifts to meet up lads for a spin.

    Mine was bombproof (apart from that cable), only got rid as after a year or so of shifts I didn’t need a van anymore.

    br
    Free Member

    15 years old and only 50k miles? 😉

    pondo
    Free Member

    Had an old R reg (I think) Dispatch, dog slow, noisy. no fun, but pretty bulletproof IIRC.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    Im anticipating similar joys, having just acquired a 2005 Renault Megane Scenic 1.5DCI ….

    bikemike1968
    Free Member

    [/quote]Im anticipating similar joys, having just acquired a 2005 Renault Megane Scenic 1.5DCI ….

    You’ve done WHAT??????

    chrisdiesel
    Free Member

    Ether the 2.0 or the 1.9 both are good in that van.
    Generally strong and reliable.
    Door lock barrels are poor and keys wear ( good way of determining if mileage is genuine!!! )
    Change the oil and with no history id change the Cambelt and tentioners.
    Acc cables are common. ( wear at the diesel pump area )
    But full kits are £20 from GSF and 99% only need a new inner so many just change the inner cable for a few £££
    I’m slightly sus that a van of that age has that very low mileage…
    Driver seats wear at the edge and steering wheels go shiny at high miles… May be worth checking those.
    And obviously the MOT mileage history online.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    chrisdiesel – Member
    …I’m slightly sus that a van of that age has that very low mileage…
    Driver seats wear at the edge and steering wheels go shiny at high miles… May be worth checking those.
    And obviously the MOT mileage history online.

    So was I, and I bought on condition not that statement. It has its service book and it did under 10k in its first 4 years. I suspect it may have been someone’s spare vehicle.

    The paint as you go in the drivers door is barely worn through, the seat hasn’t got the fraying you see in high mileage vans, and the pedal rubbers are barely worn. So it looks genuine, and if it is, it’s an unexpected bonus.

    No rust visible anywhere either!

    It looks too good to be true. 🙂

    The worst visible thing is a crack at the bottom of the windscreen. I’ll be replacing that and the tyres.

    (I’ve got £1,000 tucked away for the expected disasters)

    Thanks for the comments folks, and jeez, aren’t parts cheap for these!

    dirtyrider
    Free Member

    Im anticipating similar joys, having just acquired a 2005 Renault Megane Scenic 1.5DCI ….

    digital dash dies, i had a 1.9 diesel one, quite liked it actually, removable seats was a win for lugging bikes, 3 bikes, plus 3 people and luggage inside no issues

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    prepare for a shock replacing the screen – they are pricy – there is alot of glass to replace.

    (ie heated screen for the land rover = 140 quid – regular screen for my berlingo was 300 quid…..)

    what engine have you got as the parts as far as consumables and wear items ive had to replace over hte years – i doubt you will find a cheaper van….. but the window is pricy.

    remember when it comes to engine parts – they are common across the car range as well for the large part so although the van part may be pricy i often just buy the car derrivitive.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    It’s the 1,900 engine, no turbo.

    chickenman
    Full Member

    Citron and Peugot are about as reliable as Volkwagens according to surveys.

    PePPeR
    Full Member

    They’re good solid vans that don’t rust and the engines especially the 1.9 are reliable, although without the turbo they are a bit sluggish.

    My friends run one for 10 years and nothing has gone wrong, get the timing belt kit fitted first.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Found the bit about checking MoT history on the gov site. Looks like it only had 40,000 on it in 2012.

    And some earlier fails because the tyres were perished!

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    good engine that – i have 2 of them 😀 both well over 100k miles now.

    mick_r
    Full Member

    We had a 1999 turbo Scudo from new (ish-pre registered with delivery miles) for 133,000 miles including big trips to Scandinavia and Europe. Great vehicle until a BMW wrote it off.

    Shame you didn’t get the turbo (1.9 TD PSA XUD) as the difference turbo to non-turbo was massive (revised final drive ratio made a huge difference to noise and performance).

    If you’re fully comp then a good new stonechip & crack would surely mean a minimal cost new windscreen?

    Clutch cable was the only thing that ever let us down on the road. Cheap to replace and I repaired the old one to carry as a spare.

    Indicator stalk can stop working (lasts about 60,000 miles if they get used frequently).

    Radiator can leak when they get old (same as any car really) – the aluminium fins corrode / turn to dust allowing the tubes to vibrate and leak at the ends (but new rad was off the shelf, cheap and easy to swap).

    Driver’s seat cushion is a good age indicator – vinyl sides and fabric centre can part company when old and heavily used.

    Can’t think of much else. Possibly 1 steering balljoint (£20). Rear drums and shoes last forever. Suspension parts were pretty sturdy (I know from experience that ARB saddles are a better design than the current model).

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    I prefer no turbo. It makes it all a bit more DIY fixable in my eyes – tech that I understand.

    Performance is not an issue, that’s what motorbikes are for, cars are just bike transport boxes in my eyes. 🙂

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Don’t think there is much more to the turbo one – spinny thing and an intercooler 🙂

    There is a little Peter Russek manual for them but not much of use in it.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    it was a mechanical turbo on the 1.9TD wasnt it – easy as pie to work on. (no actual experiance on the 1.9TD in a van just the old 306 DT.

    chrisdiesel
    Free Member

    Only the 1.9d and 2.0 hdi go into those vans, for Peugeot and citroen anyway I think fiat put a 1.9 turbo into their version but I’m not sure about that.

    docstar
    Free Member

    Once the DW8 engine (as yours likely is) gets difficult to start on cold mornings don’t even bother replacing glow plugs, get a compression test done as the valve seats wear and cause low compression and need re-shimmed.

    docstar
    Free Member

    Oh and there’s a steel pipe that runs across the back of the engine block, I had a pinhole leak in mine but a new one was £12 from a dealer.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    valve clearances at 150k + though NORMALLY – not always.

    not a job to be taken lightly – its a camshaft out job.

    boblo
    Free Member

    Isn’t that old 1.9 na engine one of the most reliable in the known Universe? I’ve had a couple of the turbo versions (309 and 405). Did 120k in the first and 150k (in less than 2 years) in the second. ZERO problems.

    That’s gonna be a good bike lugga. Is envious 🙂

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    In my younger days when bangernomics was a necessity, I used to buy a spare engine to fix up for the inevitable. (Although my driving is much more sedate now, so I’m less likely to grenade an engine 🙂 ).

    Seeing as this engine was used in a variety of models, is there a simple way to identify which ones would slot in without requiring other changes?

    kenneththecurtain
    Free Member

    I used to use one at work (circa 2005). It was dog slow, but very reliable. One day towing a trailer over the Cairn O’ Mount we were overtaken by a cyclist!

    I might be wrong on this, but I think it’s the same engine my dad had in a 405 in the early 90’s. It did approximately a bazillion miles before the rest of the car fell apart.

    bigyinn
    Free Member

    dirtyrider – Member

    Im anticipating similar joys, having just acquired a 2005 Renault Megane Scenic 1.5DCI ….

    digital dash dies, i had a 1.9 diesel one, quite liked it actually, removable seats was a win for lugging bikes, 3 bikes, plus 3 people and luggage inside no issues
    Dash already bindun. Yay!

    chrisdiesel
    Free Member

    The DW8 valve/compression issue is very rare TBH I’ve seen it three times in 15+ years of Verious cars/vans with that engine some at low miles, as trail rat said its a head scratcher working out the shims and getting the gaps correct.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    What cars should I be looking at as potential parts supplies. Fancy a set of alloys to start with. 🙂

    mick_r
    Full Member

    Alloys – maybe the car versions so Fiat Ulysse, Citroen Synergy, Peugeot 806. Not sure if any of those will be load rated for the van version…..

    In 99 it was definitely the old 1.9 DW8 in all of them (Fiat, Pug and Citroen). HDI came later (not sure when exactly). Pretty sure the Fiat “JTD” it came with was also just a rebadge PSA HDI (not the actual Fiat JTD from other cars). Think I got my wording wrong before – am I right in saying 1.7 was XUD and 1.9 was DW8 (but both very similar).

    Seem to remember there is a scrappie in the Midlands that specialised in these.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    An update. Finally got the garage to run a beady eye over it.

    Looks ok. Just minor things that I knew or expected.

    epicyclo
    Full Member

    Another update:

    Clutch went 150 miles from home.

    Had that replaced, belts and water pump done, front brakes, and a thorough service.

    £1,170 later it drives like new.

    cbike
    Free Member

    I had an expert – After all that yours will probably just need servicing items for a good long time. Mine was similar – The clutch bearing went and I replaced clutch at the same time along with brakes, and belts just after I got it. Had it for about 3 years no issues. Influenced me to get another old basic Peugeot car.

    I put alloys on mine. You may have to unbolt a wee alignment stud to get them to fit.

    tron
    Free Member

    We had one. For one spell I was doing a thousand miles a week in it. Flat out everywhere. Never missed a beat. It had done well over 150k when we got rid and felt like it would do the same again.

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