VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Fri 3 Jan 2020 08:48
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - Steveieb
Thoroughly impressed with this magnificent engine.
But understand that the hey days were up to 2004 before which solenoid injectors were fitted.
Then piezo injectors from 2005 which were more troublesome.
Culminating in the 2007 mods which resulted in some engines destroying themselves.
Was this cost cutting or in search of cleaner emissions.

Grateful for your knowledge including the Johns ?
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 3 Jan 2020 11:05
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - SLO76
As with many modern diesels the quest for ever reducing emissions and improved fuel economy has killed longterm reliability. There are few diesels I’d recommend to anyone today.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 3 Jan 2020 11:44
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - corax

The piezo injectors were incorporated in an attempt to reduce emissions (pretty sure they would have been more expensive too), but they were prone to shorting out.

The man who was an authority on these engines was a previous poster on here under the username of 659FBE who I think worked for a diesel fuel systems manufacturer before he retired, he doesn't post here now but you might be able to google some information.

For example

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=93946

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 3 Jan 2020 19:07
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - 72 dudes

Rose tinted glasses anyone?

Yes, I'm sure that the early PDs were among the most robust and reliable diesel engines around, but don't forget they were univerally panned for noise, vibration and harshness at the time, together with a very narrow power band which only gave you a massive wave of torque between 2000 and 3500 RPM and after that it felt like someone had deployed a parachute from the back bumper!

There were a few 150 BHP variants, mainly in the Golf GT and higher trim Passats which were noisier still. The sweet spot was probably the 110 version around 1999/2000, but compared to the D5 I had in a Volvo S60 shortly after, they sounded like a skeleton playing drums in a metal dustbin.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 3 Jan 2020 21:04
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - bazza

Yes they were certainly noisy and unrefined but I miss my 110 tdi much more than the later 105 PD unit (both octavias) the latter wasnt a patch on the former, with an almighty flat spot beneath 2000rpm and gearing that didn't match very well. But both superbly economical, capable of 60mpg driven carefully.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 6 Jan 2020 11:21
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - Steveieb
Has anyone tried adding two stroke oil to the fuel to quieten the engine .
This is the one recommended for the PD engine


www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silkolene-SCOOT-2-Semi-Syntheti...M
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 3 Jan 2020 23:18
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - SLO76
The sweet spot was the 130PS version which was as robust as lower output versions and just as economical when driven sensibly but didn’t suffer the camshaft issue of the 150PS version. Not quite sure of the exact problem but it was known to be a very common on the 150. I’ve a good friend who’s currently rebuilding a Mk IV Golf with this engine and it has suffered a snapped camshaft at less than 100,000 miles. I remember VW offering post warranty goodwill on these but you were never allowed to see or retain the parts for a look afterwards. The 130 would run to 500k upwards with ease and offer 95% of the performance.

Edited by SLO76 on 03/01/2020 at 23:19

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sat 4 Jan 2020 16:37
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - concrete

I owned a Skoda Superb 1.9 PD130 Tdi for 11 years. It covered over 210K miles for me and used a grand total of 4 litres of synthetic oil for top ups. It also returned an average of 50mpg although I am a sympathetic driver I did push it a bit on certain roads and a 100mph was easy cruising for it. I thought the power band was good and acceleration was too. The main dealer service manager used to say they were capable of 'starship' mileages and all the local taxis used them. When I sold mine I had several people after it and one chap came quite a distance to buy it. He really loved these cars and engines and he ran a small business buying, selling and renting them out. Paid me in cash on the spot. Cheers Concrete

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 5 Jan 2020 11:38
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - Steveieb
I continue to be thoroughly amazed by 659 FBE s knowledge of VAG engines.
Has anyone seen any posts from him recently ?
Or how can we contact him SLO ? Or Avant or Gordonbennet ?

Cheers
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 5 Jan 2020 15:57
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - bazza

He was posting on Briskoda as " Rotodiesel", not sure if he still is. Agree, his knowledge of automotive engineering and in particular the Vag diesels is outstanding and it would be great if he returned.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Mon 6 Jan 2020 14:10
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - Steveieb
Has anyone tried adding two stroke oil to the fuel to make the diesel run smoother ?.

I www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Silkolene-SCOOT-2-Semi-Syntheti...M
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 7 Jan 2020 13:32
VW AuDi Seat Skoda - History of the VAG PD 1.9 Tdi engine - thunderbird

Yes, I'm sure that the early PDs were among the most robust and reliable diesel engines around, but don't forget they were univerally panned for noise, vibration and harshness at the time, together with a very narrow power band which only gave you a massive wave of torque between 2000 and 3500 RPM and after that it felt like someone had deployed a parachute from the back bumper!

That post brings back some rather bad memories.

Back in early 2006 our Golf TDi 90 was coming up to 10 years old so time to swap. Happy with VAG but VW were too expensive the Seat Altea looked to fit our needs perfectly so off we went for a test drive. It was a 105 PS 1.9 TDi PD and what a pile of carp. Compared to our 10 year old Golf it was rough, noisy and did not have sufficient power to accelerate safely up a slip road. It stopped at about 3500 rpm and when you changed in the lower gears it was off turbo boost and virtually stopped. Then the boost reappeared and for a few short moments it shot off only to stop again the moment it reached 3500.

We bought a Focus estate with the diesel of doom but by some strange bit of luck got a Euro 3 pre-reg car with no DPF at a bargain price, think it was about £6000 below list. Compared to the Golf and especially the Seat it was brilliant. Regularly serviced for 12 years and no engine issues.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link