Best Engine

[Ian_Fearn]

Hi there,

I'm getting ready to finally lay my old Range Rover to rest and want another good value 4x4. Frontera's seem to have a bad rep but i'm not sure its fully deserved.

If i was to buy one with say a max budget of £1500 which engine/variant would be best, bearing in mind i'd need an lwb?

I'm more interested in reliability and parts availability than MPG.

Cheers, Ian

[Road Hog]

Given that your previous car was RR then you will want a reasonable comfort level & also be immune to high fuel consumption,given those & your budget go for the 3.2 V6 .

[john (smifffy)]

the 2.8 deisel is a sound engine as well if well looked after with oil changes the pretty bomb proof

[ken mercer]

same as smiffy, had isuzus for more than 8 years now reliable but change oil regular! fairly economical, and pull great,

[Rifleman]

2.5, says it all. dont need to say any more.

[Ian_Fearn]

3 choices there then. Plenty of scope when looking.

I wouldnt say i'm immune to fuel prices but I think a V6 Frontera would be better than the 10-12mpg the Range Rover does.

You dont say whether auto or manual is best. Does anybody have a feeling on this? Has anybody seen the white V6 on ebay? Its 3495 so over budget but it looks quite good despite the 4 holes in the dash from a handsfree kit.

Is there anything I should specifically look out for other than the obvious?

[domino]

2.5, says it all. dont need to say any more.

This man talks sense

[Ian_Fearn]

Care to elaborate???

[Drift]

Ian your starting a war

[gregster]

Best engine....my thoughts...

2.0i...underpowered over overjuiced...great in a cavalier but struggles in a fronty..
2.2i...16v ecotec thingy...kinda like the twin cam red top, but without the sparkle...pretty reliable, but known to fail spectacularily...
2.2dti...goes well, but love eating an injector pump which is big bucks...really pull well though...
2.4i...old school opel manta/carlton lump...goes well, but juicy, but proven caveman technology...
2.5td...goes like stink...for 2 weeks then goes wrong for a week...the goes like stink again...powerful, but reliability of the VM is questionable..
2.8td...almost as primative as a grey fergie diesel...but torquey beast and no gizmo's to fail...comes with egr stuff that is best removed...kinda old faithful...
3.2V6...juicy but goes really well...but goes wrong really well, loads of complex gizmo's, often fitted to fully loaded cars with loads of other gizmo's to go wrong..

Must admit my fave is the 2.8td...but only cos I dont understand engine electronics and like to fix things with a hammer...love the way the 2.2dti and 2.5tds go, but the imminent appearance of the little orange light scares me...

[Drift]

appearance of the little orange light scares me...

I agree, scares the knackers off me too

[Krusher]

Its a popular misconception that the orange light has a picture of an engine but its not, it is in fact a £ sign.......

[Ian_Fearn]

Ian your starting a war

My most sincere apologies

Great data coming through....

Clearly no right or wrong answers here but I think i'll shortlist the ones below:

2.2 Ecotec, could be ok for me. At least the Ecotec was a well used engine in other vauxhalls should I encounter problems. I had an ecotec cavalier years ago which did what it said on the tin. Only problem i had was the idle control valve.
2.8TD, sounds good, reasonable thirst, good reliability although rather coarse.
3.2V6, great in terms of grunt but is the reliability questionable? I'd love this one to be the engine of choice by the members but it sounds like its the holy grail for power alone. Not necessarily the best option for me.

Is the 2.5TDS really a bad lump? I've seen a TDS locally.

[joncal]

Theres a cure for that little pound sign that comes up now and again ,its a thumb size peice of electricians tape ,place over illuminated area of dashboard and turn stereo up , you may want to make this a sticky thingy
And whats up with the 2.3 td goes like stink with the wind blowing from behind , downhill ,fully freighted with scrap

[Rifleman]

Ian your starting a war

My most sincere apologies

Great data coming through....

Clearly no right or wrong answers here but I think i'll shortlist the ones below:

2.2 Ecotec, could be ok for me. At least the Ecotec was a well used engine in other vauxhalls should I encounter problems. I had an ecotec cavalier years ago which did what it said on the tin. Only problem i had was the idle control valve.
2.8TD, sounds good, reasonable thirst, good reliability although rather coarse.
3.2V6, great in terms of grunt but is the reliability questionable? I'd love this one to be the engine of choice by the members but it sounds like its the holy grail for power alone. Not necessarily the best option for me.

Is the 2.5TDS really a bad lump? I've seen a TDS locally.

Hi Ian
I dont know where the idea comes from that the 2.5 is a bad lump. If its looked after correctly, they are great engines.
The only real common fault seems to be the No1 injector which is fitted with a sensor. Had mine for 2 years and never had a big problem with it. There are also lots of members on here who would swear by them, me included. Take a test ride in one and be amazed.

[Drift]

The 2.5 is a good strong lump, the same as the VM RR engine, its fly by wire, most problems seem to be number one injector going west and causing limp home mode, I think its a couple of hundred quid to fix.

The V6 is 210hp so more powerful than the RR V8 they have some issues with leaking manifold gaskets and coil packs but nothing to horrendous unless you need a new exhaust

2.2DTI is more refined and very strong, the main issue as mentioned is the fuel pump but this only dies if you let it run out of fuel, just one turn of the key with no fuel and its bye bye pumo and £600 plus, they can also suffer some EGR issues.

2.8tdi, well solid strong really basic, but pretty unrefined, but I like that in the car.

20swb easy to work on simple Cav engine, not the most powerful but I loved my old one, did everything I wanted and more.
Even changing an engine can be done in less than an afternoon and there are plenty about.

2.2 petrol, un abused and looked after they are nippy beasts and go well, just look out for that lower end knocking.

2.4 older now but good solid and reliable and same lower block as the 2.3d

2.3d as above old now and higher mileage, they wont beat any land speed records but will pull for ever with basic maintenance.

And the gearboxes all Isuzu are solid and take a heck of a lot of abuse, not to many horror stories on that front.

A quick flit over the engines from me

[Ian_Fearn]

This problem with the number one injector on the 2.5TDS. Is it the type of item that can be carried as a space should it give up?

Open to suggestions on the 2.3TD too. I discounted those due to them being in the older vehicles but if a good one came up then it would be considered whole heartedly!

[huggy]

twice my no1 injector failed,but the second time was due to it getting wet,once it dried out it kicked back to life and has been ok since,only other problem was a dodgy glow plug relay causing it not to cold start,split the relay and found two pins loose on the board,2 minute job with a soldering iron and its been ok since,the only gripe i have with the 2.5 is the fact that it has a viscous fan not electric,viscous fans are none existent when they hit deep mud or water other than that i think the 2.5 is beast

[Road Hog]

Ahhhhhhh moving the goal posts there a bit,if you want to go a little over budget then a Dti Olympus deffo the way to go grunt,speed,economy & reliability

Took my 10 year old Dti out for an Italian meal earlier this year,just up the road from Turin,2.500 mile round trip

Where in the Midlands are you ?.

[Ian_Fearn]

Am in Derbyshire. The goalposts can move every which way but loose, i'm very flexible.....

A colleague used to have a 2.2DTi auto which expired in a rather big way. Shame as it was a really nice car other than the dead engine.

Generally I cant be bothered to trawl around the country looking at cars these days so tend to just look at stuff close to home. I find you feel personally committed to buy complete wrecks on the basis you've driven 150 miles!