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Ford 1.8 Tdci Good Or Bad?


Ken.K
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Hello All,

Am new here and i am looking to get a ford focus initially i was focused on getting a 1.6l petrol zetec( see what u did there with my words.lol) but then i came across a good deal for a 03 1.8TDCI 3dr zetec with less than 50k on the clock,

Just want to know if the turbos/engines are reliable and how much would it cost to fix if anything did go wrong.

Apologies if this has been posted before. looking forward to meeting up with you lot once i get it. :)

Thank you.

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I haven't owned one personally but as far as I know the TDCI was regarded as the best diesel engine among the MK1 Focus diesel options. They do 90ps endura old school engine, a 100ps TDCI and a 115ps TDCI so the 115 is the most powerful too and is quite nice and torquey :)

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I haven't owned one personally but as far as I know the TDCI was regarded as the best diesel engine among the MK1 Focus diesel options. They do 90ps endura old school engine, a 100ps TDCI and a 115ps TDCI so the 115 is the most powerful too and is quite nice and torquey :)

thank you for the reply,

knowing this has eased my worries. i do 28 miles a day so was thinking a diesel would be too much but cannot pass up this bargain.

how would i know the engine i have. i do not have the VIN at yet is there another way to check this

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We bought ours six years ago with 47K on the clock. It's now gone over 100K and no major problems. I had cambelt changed at 86K and I replaced knackered glow-plugs at 90K. It's been serviced annually and we've had no MOT failures - yet.

I believe the 1.8 is the only true Ford-manufactured engine in the range and has the benefit of not being fitted with a dreaded DPF. It has the reputation of being a pretty bomb-proof lump and ours has been very reliable. It's the 115ps version and has plenty of urge although I do find the power band is fairly narrow. The turbo kicks in at about 2000rpm and it starts to get out of breath at about 3,500. We get about 46-47mpg on short trips, 50-52 on decent journeys locally and on a holiday to Scotland last year managed 64mpg.

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this is really convincing me, i have a good mate at ford so can be assured of a good service ;) .would get a remap for an extra torque, but that might mean new clutch.lol is remapping adviced or stay away?

also do the forum have a remap sponsor?

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I own a 53 plate 1800 TDCI. Get it inspected first before you buy, you don't want any potential time bombs .Iv e had mine 4 years , pay particular attention to suspension bushes, i upgraded mine last year, they were completely knackered and the boot is prone to leaking. The car, if its the 115 PS drives well and has good top end speed if required.

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Just to add, take the boot lining up and have a look in the spare wheel well to see if there is any water lying in the bottom. :)

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this is really convincing me, i have a good mate at ford so can be assured of a good service ;) .would get a remap for an extra torque, but that might mean new clutch.lol is remapping adviced or stay away?

also do the forum have a remap sponsor?

Diesels respond very well to remapping.

We are looking to sell superchips bluefin handsets through the club store very soon so watch this space :)

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I've had different focus models 1.8petrol very pokey, 1.6 petrol that was good, 1.8 tdci 115 bhp sold it cos the dark grey was a devil to keep clean and showed all the marks was not good condition either. So brought another focus 1.8 tdci 115 bhp with low miles

In silver as this doesn't show the marks and looks clean from a distance when dirty I've had it serviced in October 2013 my friend does it as he works at fords he says the 1.8 tdci is the better engine.You can't beat the comfort and it's very pokey.

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Diesels respond very well to remapping.

We are looking to sell superchips bluefin handsets through the club store very soon so watch this space :)

I was looking at the ecotune-scotland hansets. but they are pricey not sure i want to spend 350 on a remap for a 1k car

I've had different focus models 1.8petrol very pokey, 1.6 petrol that was good, 1.8 tdci 115 bhp sold it cos the dark grey was a devil to keep clean and showed all the marks was not good condition either. So brought another focus 1.8 tdci 115 bhp with low miles

In silver as this doesn't show the marks and looks clean from a distance when dirty I've had it serviced in October 2013 my friend does it as he works at fords he says the 1.8 tdci is the better engine.You can't beat the comfort and it's very pokey.

all these news is making excited. I hope insurance does not bite me in the !Removed! though, 1yr ncb at 26 ( started late). been reading mods and seems they are pretty easy modify,

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