Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker

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Fri 22 Jul 2022 18:23
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - tbg

I believe PSA make the ford 2.0 diesel but do they make the 1.5 diesel .

Also from what I've seen in the past the 2.0 seemed to be quite reliable is this the same for the 1.5

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Fri 22 Jul 2022 18:36
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - badbusdriver

The 1.5 is indeed made by PSA (now Stellantis), as was its predecessor, the 1.6.

Now the 1.6 did have a troubling reputation, but after doing research (I was looking for a replacement small van at the time), it seems that the reputation wasn't entirely justified. Apparently they are very sensitive to anything other than the correct grade of oil. On top of that, when the engine first appeared, the service intervals were too long (appealing to fleets). But I have read plenty to suggest that if you are diligent with the servicing, they are actually very reliable. Trouble is, when buying used, how do you establish that the correct grade of oil has been used?. I bring this up because, AFAIK, the 1.5 is based on the 1.6.

If you are thinking of buying new, I'd have no worries at all. Buying used?, I'd be happy enough with a one owner vehicle with full history.

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Fri 22 Jul 2022 18:43
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - SLO76
Reliability on the 1.6, even the later 8v examples does seem a bit hit and miss. I’ve a friend with a Mondeo 1.6 TDCi that’s done over 100,000 miles with no real problems, yet yesterday one of our banksmen rushed in to show me a video his wife had just sent him of his 16 plate 1.6 TDCi Fiesta revving away on its own in a cloud of smoke until it died. I don’t know what happened or how well maintained it was however. It had around 115,000 miles up.

I’ve heard too many problems with the 1.6 to recommend them, the 2.0 seems to be much more robust however. I assume they’re very different designs. That said, sometimes different sized engines of the same basic design have differing levels of reliability. Rover K series for example, the 1.1 was fine, the 1.4 ok but the larger 1.8 was notorious for HGF. VW’s 1.6 TDi has a much poorer reputation for problems than the larger 2.0 despite being essentially of the same basic design. It’s odd.

Edited by SLO76 on 22/07/2022 at 18:48

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Fri 22 Jul 2022 18:59
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - daveyK_UK
In later years the 1.6 was reliable despite the earlier bad press; removing the mesh from the turbos doubled their life span if not tripled.


As an earlier post suggested, servicing was key, the more the better.

I recall back around 2016 some fleets got rid at 80,000 when engine and gear box problems would start to emerge with Peugeot Partners around 4 years old although I think the gear box issue was unique to that model and the Citroen Berlingo.

I have seen this engine with over 200k in the clock and trouble free but that was more down to owners.

The even earlier Ford 1.8 diesel used in the Transit Connect was very reliable, again have seen many go over 200k without issue.

The jury is out on the 1.5, it’s worth checking the Peugeot and Citroen owners forums. My friend has one now in a Ford Transit Connect, 20 plate with 48k on the clock trouble free so far.

Edited by daveyK_UK on 22/07/2022 at 19:00

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Fri 22 Jul 2022 21:08
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - Xileno

I always thought it a bit odd that either cleaning or replacing the mesh wasn't on the service record. The mesh is there to stop crud in the oil damaging the turbo, but once the mesh is clogged with the crud it will take the turbo out anyway.

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Sat 23 Jul 2022 02:11
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - Crickleymal

I always thought it a bit odd that either cleaning or replacing the mesh wasn't on the service record. The mesh is there to stop crud in the oil damaging the turbo, but once the mesh is clogged with the crud it will take the turbo out anyway.

Seems odd to me as well. I used to drive nothing but Peugeot and Citroen cars and I've got 180k plus out of all of them and all diesels too.

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Sat 23 Jul 2022 11:57
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - Engineer Andy

I think that a lot of people mistakenly bought small capacity turbo diesels thinking that they could get amazing mpg on their mainly short urban trips from cold and have no reliability repracussions.

The move to long service intervals for diesels, and seemingly not distinguishing between mainly motorway type use and short urban trips from cold was unlikely to help either. From looking at the HJ reviews (Good & Bad sections) cars fitted with such engines, it appears they suffered from significant DPF problems as well as turbo-related ones.

I personally believe most manufacturers knew modern common-rail turbo diesels (especially those fitted with DPFs) were (reliability-wise) not suited to urban driving, but deliberately covered it up in order to boost sales at a time when reducing CO2 emissions was the big thing.

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Sat 23 Jul 2022 12:24
Ford 1.5 diesel - Engine maker - Andrew-T

I personally believe most manufacturers knew modern common-rail turbo diesels (especially those fitted with DPFs) were (reliability-wise) not suited to urban driving, but deliberately covered it up in order to boost sales at a time when reducing CO2 emissions was the big thing.

As I keep recounting, my Pug 207SW with the 1.6 HDi engine has given me no trouble since I bought it at Christmas 2008. It had done 13K in 7 months as a rental or lease car, so was probably not run in on short trips. I reduced the scheduled 12K services to 10K and later 8K. The car is much less busy now and is only at about 85K - I suspect I was lucky that it was just too early for it to get a DPF.

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