182 diesel, tips on usage to keep it healthy?

St1mpMeister

I recently purchased a 182 Opel Corsa 1.3 CDti diesel. I've no experience with diesels but I got a great deal on it so decided to go ahead.

Here's how I will use it:

- I commute on bike so the car will be stationary during weekdays (occasional short hops to the shops)

- When I do drive it at weekends it will likely be down the M50, or cross-country and won't be in any rush-hour traffic

So, based on that usage, how should I ensure I keep the car healthy?

A few tips I've been told...

- Run the car at high revs for 15 mins once a week (so say 15 mins on the M50 in 3rd gear should do it?)

- Change the oil every year?

Are these correct, and anything else I should bear in mind based on the type of car?

dmc17

I don't think driving down the M50 in 3rd gear every weekend will be of much benefit.

If it gets a good long trip every weekend it should be fine. And keep serviced regularly.

St1mpMeister

dmc17 wrote: »

I don't think driving down the M50 in 3rd gear every weekend will be of much benefit.

If it gets a good long trip every weekend it should be fine. And keep serviced regularly.

Like what's a "long trip"?

I probably won't be going away every weekend, but might do a long cross country trip once a month, will that be enough?

Is the high-revs thing true?

Henry Ford III

20+ miles will keep it fit I'd say.

Constant stop start urban stuff will do the opposite.

St1mpMeister

Henry Ford III wrote: »

20+ miles will keep it fit I'd say.

Per week or month? EDIT: ah sorry you mean in a single run?

Ignore the high-revs requirement then?

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Constant stop start urban stuff will do the opposite.

Aye, so lucky I won't be using it for commuting, it will mainly be on long free-runs, apart from the shopping trips mid-week.

St1mpMeister

OK so in summary:

- Drive it as normal (no high revs required)

- Get it serviced once a year

- Drive it 20 miles in a single run at least once a week


That's it pretty much?

eldamo

yeah, the high revs is to burn out the particle filter in the exhaust if you have a usual drive that is stop start in traffic without ever really getting up to speed.

a decent blast down the motorway will do the same job.

I get any car I own serviced once a year,

carltonleon

So the high Revs .... what speed are you talking about in 3rd gear approx. ?

eldamo

carltonleon wrote: »

So the high Revs .... what speed are you talking about in 3rd gear approx. ?

80kph or so will do, i would say it depends on the car, but that's how I do it in mine on the occasion that I remember.

St1mpMeister

Probably depends on what RPM can be reached, rather than speed

eldamo

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Probably depends on what RPM can be reached, rather than speed

Yep, about the point that the car sounds in a bit of pain

carltonleon

Cheers lads

Just don't do what I seen someone doing to 'clear the filter' and start hammering the rev needle off the red line over and over.

Get onto the motorway and go for a spin, but drive normally. When you're content to just plod along, drop a gear. Don't put your rev gauge over the red line, and keep your revs slow, smooth and cautious. Don't hop into the car on a cold morning, having not drove it for the week, and dart down the shops at 6000rpm in 2nd gear from cold.

Slow and steady wins the race.

knipex

St1mpMeister wrote: »

OK so in summary:

- Drive it as normal (no high revs required)

High revs is a myth. A it will regen fine at 120kph on a motorway (which is probably 2000rpm). The thing is to maintain those revs for at least 20 to 40 minutes depending on how much of a regen is required.

St1mpMeister wrote: »

- Get it serviced once a year

or max every 15k km no mater what your dealer says.

St1mpMeister wrote: »

- Drive it 20 miles in a single run at least once a week
[./quote]

Not distance time and maintain revs. Ideally motorway and hit cruise control. Head out the M1 to the city north hotel, turn around and come back.

St1mpMeister wrote: »

That's it pretty much?

Pretty much

St1mpMeister

What about a drive up Howth summit from Sutton side, and keep the revs at 2,000 for 20 mins ?

That would be a lot easier for me than going all the way to the M50 regularly (nicer drive too)

Also how regularly are we talking about doing these kind of "cleaning" runs?

jhud

You need to let car get to temp so normally half way on temp monitor. Then drive for 20 to 30 minutes at a constant speed of between 80 to 120kmph Service car once per year or every 15k km. Simple oil filter change and checkup service and all filters (oil, air, fuel) every second service along with checkup. Dont drive it with high revs as no need to should keep to 3500rpm max dont red line.

jhud

St1mpMeister wrote:

Also how regularly are we talking about doing these kind of "cleaning" runs?

You need to do it once a week at least if you are doing short runs durning week. If only 1 or 2 short runs a week then once every 2 weeks.

knipex

St1mpMeister wrote: »

What about a drive up Howth summit from Sutton side, and keep the revs at 2,000 for 20 mins ?

That would be a lot easier for me than going all the way to the M50 regularly (nicer drive too)

any lights, roundabouts, yield right of ways etc that will cause stop start and speed up \ slow down ?

St1mpMeister wrote: »

Also how regularly are we talking about doing these kind of "cleaning" runs?

Depends on how much short journey driving you do. Frequent daily short runs then weekly.

St1mpMeister

knipex wrote: »

any lights, roundabouts, yield right of ways etc that will cause stop start and speed up \ slow down ?

No it's pretty much a direct run all the way...

So say put the car in 2nd gear for 20 mins going up Howth hill should do it?

I think 3rd gear might be a bit slow going up hill and may not get the revs.

I could do the M50 but I'd be down to the toll bridge in 10 mins, and don't want to have to pay the toll unless I'm ACTUALLY heading southside

McCrack

Is this thread a piss take

knipex

St1mpMeister wrote: »

No it's pretty much a direct run all the way...

So say put the car in 2nd gear for 20 mins going up Howth hill should do it?

No.. What speed is 2000 rpm in 2nd gear ??

St1mpMeister

knipex wrote: »

No.. What speed is 2000 rpm in 2nd gear ??

No idea, but unless I'm mistaken a run down the M50 @ 120kph for 20 mins will take me past the Navan road turn off and onto the toll bridge if starting out from Santry end... I guess the M1 would be a better bet

Anyway I'll try out a few different routes. I'm beginning to think an electrical vehicle might have been less hassle after all

CalamariFritti

Do not drive the car in high revs for any length of time this is crazy advice. Especially for a diesel. And especially if the car is not yet at operating temperature.

What the car wants is to be driven at operating temperature for some time at least for regular intervals. And getting to operating temperature takes a little longer for a diesel.

For me getting to op temp takes about 10-15 kilometres. It then reaches that point on the temp gauge where it will no longer rise but sit at for the remainder of the trip. If you drive at that temp for any decent length of time the car will be fine.

In other words if you just drive normally for an hour or more every other week or even once a month you should be fine. The more frequent the better.

Atlantic Dawn

Did the salesperson selling you the car not ask you what your use of the car would be and advise that diesel is a completely idiotic choice for you?

easyvision

If you have to go out of your way just to clear the DPF, you should not be buying a diesel! A petrol would have suited your needs and no need for extra journeys etc

St1mpMeister

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Did the salesperson selling you the car not ask you what your use of the car would be and advise that diesel is a completely idiotic choice for you?

Frankly no

I saw a good deal on a car and decided to jump on it.

I'll give it a year, and probably trade it in for an electric if it's too much hassle

St1mpMeister

easyvision wrote: »

If you have to go out of your way just to clear the DPF, you should not be buying a diesel! A petrol would have suited your needs and no need for extra journeys etc

It had to be a commercial vehicle in the 10K (ex VAT) bracket, so the ones that appeared in good nick all seemed to be diesel.

Electric car was the other option when purchasing through a company.

Any non-commercial or non-electric cars (i.e. petrol cars) attract huge BIK which makes it unattractive.

When the batteries improve, or charging becomes as quick as filing a tank of petrol, I'll opt for electric.

CoBo55

OSI wrote: »

I'm 90% certain there's a minimum speed involved of 60+ km/h before the car will start regeneration, in order to try and ensure it's done outside of urban areas.

Not on my superb the idle increases to 1000 rpm when in town, it takes ages if I leave it idling so I just take it for a quick spin at normal speed until it drops to normal idle revs, usually a 20km spin sorts it.

zilog_jones

OSI wrote: »

I'm 90% certain there's a minimum speed involved of 60+ km/h before the car will start regeneration, in order to try and ensure it's done outside of urban areas.

Aren't certain cars also dependant on a certain fuel level too? Aren't there issues with regen never/rarely happening because the owner never fills the diesel tank?

CoBo55 wrote: »

Not on my superb the idle increases to 1000 rpm when in town, it takes ages if I leave it idling so I just take it for a quick spin at normal speed until it drops to normal idle revs, usually a 20km spin sorts it.

I think they're talking about conditions where passive regen will happen. Active regen (what you're experiencing) is a waste of fuel and potentially less effective - just undesirable in general.

CoBo55

zilog_jones wrote: »

Aren't certain cars also dependant on a certain fuel level too? Aren't there issues with regen never/rarely happening because the owner never fills the diesel tank?



I think they're talking about conditions where passive regen will happen. Active regen (what you're experiencing) is a waste of fuel and potentially less effective - just undesirable in general.

You have me lost there.. regen is taking place while on a journey, I arrive at my destination before it's finished (engine on fast idle, fans blasting) without stopping the engine I go for a further spin of 20km and it's finished, what's undesirable about that?

knipex

CoBo55 wrote: »

You have me lost there.. regen is taking place while on a journey, I arrive at my destination before it's finished (engine on fast idle, fans blasting) without stopping the engine I go for a further spin of 20km and it's finished, what's undesirable about that?

The engine is forced to run at higher RPM, the mixture is changed to create heat and fuel is burned in the exhaust \ DPF

Very inefficient. AND not good for the car, the DPF or the environment.

I have driven Diesel for 18 years and never had what you describe (a forced regen). I sold a 1.6 TDI Golf with 298,000 km with 2% in DPF and according to NCT zero smoke.. Car did minimum 500 and 800 motorway a week often more..

zilog_jones

CoBo55 wrote: »

You have me lost there.. regen is taking place while on a journey, I arrive at my destination before it's finished (engine on fast idle, fans blasting) without stopping the engine I go for a further spin of 20km and it's finished, what's undesirable about that?

Your driving conditions are not meeting the requirements for passive DPF regeneration - which is basically the topic of this thread. Passive regen is when it happens through normal driving conditions, e.g. driving at motorway speeds for significant time.

What's happening in your case is the car is forcing active regeneration by increasing engine speed and fuel consumption in order to raise exhaust temperature. So you're wasting fuel and are being forced to drive longer because the car isn't getting an opportunity to do regen in an efficient way.

Ashleigh1986

Driving petrol / Diesel engine cars for work for past 20 years .
If your driving is in around city go for a petrol car .
If your doing a lot of motorway driving it's well worth considering a Diesel engine.
However if your only doing 500 miles per week best to stick to petrol.

I can tell my cars performance ( Mercedes eclass ) if I haven't done any motorway driving in a couple of weeks .
As a previous poster has said .... It's like it gets clogged up .
Had to replace the dpf recently as in the winter I wouldn't do as much motorway driving .

Andrewf20

Go easy on hard acceleration for the first 5 - 10 mins until the oil in the turbo gets up to temp. Give the turbo an easy end to the journey also. Engine components stewing with lots of heat in the driveway after a drive is not good for engine parts. Although some modern turbos run a fan after you turn off the engine to help cool it.

sunnysoutheast

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Driving petrol / Diesel engine cars for work for past 20 years .
If your driving is in around city go for a petrol car .
If your doing a lot of motorway driving it's well worth considering a Diesel engine.
However if your only doing 500 miles per week best to stick to petrol.

I can tell my cars performance ( Mercedes eclass ) if I haven't done any motorway driving in a couple of weeks .
As a previous poster has said .... It's like it gets clogged up .
Had to replace the dpf recently as in the winter I wouldn't do as much motorway driving .

500 miles a week? That's 40k km a year.

CoBo55

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

500 miles a week? That's 40k km a year.

Fellas talking a lot of bar stool rubbish in this thread don't take too much notice.

sunnysoutheast

St1mpMeister wrote: »

I recently purchased a 182 Opel Corsa 1.3 CDti diesel. I've no experience with diesels but I got a great deal on it so decided to go ahead.

Here's how I will use it:

- I commute on bike so the car will be stationary during weekdays (occasional short hops to the shops)

- When I do drive it at weekends it will likely be down the M50, or cross-country and won't be in any rush-hour traffic

So, based on that usage, how should I ensure I keep the car healthy?

A few tips I've been told...

- Run the car at high revs for 15 mins once a week (so say 15 mins on the M50 in 3rd gear should do it?)

- Change the oil every year?

Are these correct, and anything else I should bear in mind based on the type of car?

I think you're on the right track with running at high rpm once warmed up for 10 minutes or so. If on a trip up the m9 I often have our cars up at 3500-4000rpm for 10k if I remember to do it.

Never does any harm to change oil. Ours get changed every 20k km. Both could do long life but we don't.

zilog_jones

zilog_jones wrote: »

Your driving conditions are not meeting the requirements for passive DPF regeneration - which is basically the topic of this thread. Passive regen is when it happens through normal driving conditions, e.g. driving at motorway speeds for significant time.

What's happening in your case is the car is forcing active regeneration by increasing engine speed and fuel consumption in order to raise exhaust temperature. So you're wasting fuel and are being forced to drive longer because the car isn't getting an opportunity to do regen in an efficient way.

Not so sure about that, my 2.0 tdi gets a 450km round trip mostly motorway almost every week sometimes twice a week and my commute to work is 25km of which all but 5km are driving at 80 to 100km/h both directions and I still arrive home sometimes to the car doing a regent as it’s idling high and fan stays going when I turn it off. I just leave it parked though, I certainly don’t get back in and keep driving.

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

Driving petrol / Diesel engine cars for work for past 20 years .
If your driving is in around city go for a petrol car .
If your doing a lot of motorway driving it's well worth considering a Diesel engine.
However if your only doing 500 miles per week best to stick to petrol.
.

500 miles per week is already well well into needing a diesel territory, half that would be diesel miles. Doing 500 miles a week in a petrol is a very expensive hobby.

CoBo55

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

Not so sure about that, my 2.0 tdi gets a 450km round trip mostly motorway almost every week sometimes twice a week and my commute to work is 25km of which all but 5km are driving at 80 to 100km/h both directions and I still arrive home sometimes to the car doing a regent as it’s idling high and fan stays going when I turn it off. I just leave it parked though, I certainly don’t get back in and keep driving.



500 miles per week is already well well into needing a diesel territory, half that would be diesel miles. Doing 500 miles a week in a petrol is a very expensive hobby.

That what happens to mine regularly, at the end of a 3-400km spin it's doing a regen, I just like driving the car so bring it for an extra 20 km journey rather than have it baking on the driveway.

St1mpMeister

I'm assuming the fact that it's a 182 means the diesel might require a little less "minding" than perhaps older models?

i.e. it should be a bit more efficient ?

Also based on the tiny size of the car.

Dravokivich

St1mpMeister wrote: »

No it's pretty much a direct run all the way...

So say put the car in 2nd gear for 20 mins going up Howth hill should do it?

I think 3rd gear might be a bit slow going up hill and may not get the revs.

I could do the M50 but I'd be down to the toll bridge in 10 mins, and don't want to have to pay the toll unless I'm ACTUALLY heading southside

Forget the revs. High revs does nothing for a dpf and will just chew your gears. It's about operational temp.

knipex

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

500 miles a week? That's 40k km a year.

I assume he meant KM which would be 26k km. Which is IMHO too low.

Back before the greens changed the tax system the numbers were about 35,000 miles to justify Diesel.

I would then to say 30 to 35,000km with the majority begin motorway miles before Diesel is the correct choice.

thanks lads all very clear

CoBo55

Deleted User wrote: »

thanks lads all very clear

As mud:mad: Some posters here stuck in the dark ages regarding modern diesel engines. To me it's pretty simple, good quality diesel, regular oil changes with the correct oil for your specific engine, not some cheapo slop from the autofactors, and, most importantly, if it's doing a regen when you arrive at your destination,let it finish.

knipex

knipex wrote: »

I assume he meant KM which would be 26k km. Which is IMHO too low.

Back before the greens changed the tax system the numbers were about 35,000 miles to justify Diesel.

I would then to say 30 to 35,000km with the majority begin motorway miles before Diesel is the correct choice.

I’ve no idea how you would arrive at that conclusion, personally I think once you get above 10k kms per year diesel makes sense particularly if you are putting up the distance outside of a city rather than in traffic.

Also a large number of people where buying diesel long before the tax system changed and it never needed 35k kms.

CoBo55

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

I’ve no idea how you would arrive at that conclusion, personally I think once you get above 10k kms per year diesel makes sense particularly if you are putting up the distance outside of a city rather than in traffic.

Also a large number of people where buying diesel long before the tax system changed and it never needed 35k kms.

Exactly. A lot of dpf failure people I met never had their car serviced ever, fond of the dodgy diesel too (which seems to have disappeared around here thankfully). If there's a pre pay power meter, the car's a shed....

CoBo55

CoBo55 wrote: »

Exactly. A lot of dpf failure people I met never had their car serviced ever, fond of the dodgy diesel too (which seems to have disappeared around here thankfully). If there's a pre pay power meter, the car's a shed....

Dpf failure is not really a big issue on newer diesels either even if doing short journeys. The first batch of dpf’s years ago gave some trouble but that’s years ago now and never ones are far better. This fact is lost on a lot of people however.

knipex

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

Also a large number of people where buying diesel long before the tax system changed and it never needed 35k kms.

Less than 30% of cars including light commercials were diesel before the tax system changed.

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

I’ve no idea how you would arrive at that conclusion, personally I think once you get above 10k kms per year diesel makes sense particularly if you are putting up the distance outside of a city rather than in traffic.

I used maths.

Even at 35,000 km its marginal. At 10,000km its crazy

Compare a comparable petrol V's Diesel and the higher purchase cost V's savings in fuel tax etc.

On a golf you are looking at a 3K price difference, same tax etc.

At quoted fuel economy diesel V's petrol for 10,000km you are looking at using

570ltrs of petrol V's 490 ltrs of diesel.

Taking AA average prices for June petrol @ 143.9 per liter and diesel @ 133.4 per liter


gives a fuel cost of €820.23 V's €653.66 a grand saving of €166.57 so a payback of (lets round it down) 18 years.

Plus the petrol will be lighter on tyres.

In short its financial stupidity,.

CoBo55

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

Dpf failure is not really a big issue on newer diesels either even if doing short journeys. The first batch of dpf’s years ago gave some trouble but that’s years ago now and never ones are far better. This fact is lost on a lot of people however.

Exactly especially on adblue vehicles.

CoBo55

knipex wrote: »

Less than 30% of cars including light commercials were diesel before the tax system changed.

It made no financial sense to buy diesel unless you were doing 3at a minimum 30.000 miles back then.

The last time I ran the numbers there was no way that that you could pay back the higher purchase cost of the equivalent diesel over petrol on 10k km per annum..

On a golf you are looking at a 3K price difference, same tax etc.

Al quoted fuel economy diesel V's petrol for 10,000km you are looking at using

570ltrs of petrol V's 490 ltrs of diesel.

Taking AA average prices for June petrol @ 143.9 per liter and diesel @ 133.4 per liter


gives a fuel cost of €820.23 V's €653.66 a grand saving of €166.57 so a payback of (lets round it down) 18 years.

In short its financial stupidity,.

1200km to a tank of diesel v 640 to a tank of petrol I know which car I'm enjoying..

knipex

Dalton Cuddly Ruby wrote: »

Dpf failure is not really a big issue on newer diesels either even if doing short journeys. The first batch of dpf’s years ago gave some trouble but that’s years ago now and never ones are far better. This fact is lost on a lot of people however.

The reason begin they now force Regen the DPF by forcing the car to rev higher and burning diesel in the exhaust.. Killing fuel economy and destroying any environmental benefit.