Ali Block Tu3 Life Span

[swordfish210 20]

I was just wondering what the average life span is of the TU3 engine without any major work. I was wondering because my XT has now covered 141,000 miles and when i bought it in January with 128,000 miles on the clock it had no history of engine work and in December i has it on the dyno and it was reading 84bhp at the fly with only minor engine mods and it feels and sounds very fresh to drive i.e. no knocks. So what im asking is does it sound like there has been some engine work done in the past or is this just a very fine example of the TU3 engine

[welshpug 1,657]

if an engine is serviced regularly theres no reason why it cant rack up the miles without needing major work, as an example my mum's 405 TD only had its head off at 222k due to a leak on the high pressure oil feed, no loss of compression, apart from that its just been servicing, and its now still pulling strongly at 250k.

[swordfish210 20]

if an engine is serviced regularly theres no reason why it cant rack up the miles without needing major work, as an example my mum's 405 TD only had its head off at 222k due to a leak on the high pressure oil feed, no loss of compression, apart from that its just been servicing, and its now still pulling strongly at 250k.

 

Nothing new there for the pug diesel engine but the first time i changed the oil in mine it was as black as the ace of spades and it didnt look like it had been changed in a while. Same story with the air filter and i think the fuel filter was the same one it left the factory with. This to me indicates poor maintinance

[Guest smokinslim]

If i recall correctly my TU was on about 163k when i got it, had had the headgasket done a few times previous and a few minor thing, never anything major. I try to keep up with the maintenance side of things but still drive it hard and its somewhere around 200k now, still going strong. Can't complain anyway.

[macaroni 17 1 Cars]

Yep, mines done 165K miles and all 4 pots still give 200lb compression.

Whilst I cane it on the road I do try and maintain it well.

 

Great engines.

[Jer309GTi 3]

My XS engine has done 123,500 miles and still feels spot on. Very quiet (for a TU), and pulls hard to 7000 rpm anytime I want. It has been a well looked after little car, always serviced on time

[swordfish210 20]

Yep, mines done 165K miles and all 4 pots still give 200lb compression.

Whilst I cane it on the road I do try and maintain it well.

 

Great engines.

 

Is this the correct compression for the 1360cc tu3 engines?

[axnutty 10]

I had an AX GT nearing 250K once. The car was shot to hell but the engine went well still!

 

Antifreeze is a big issue on higher mileage TU engines as poor quality or insufficient antifreeze at servicing will corrode the liner seats.

 

They can be damaged through over heating and disregarde to oil change intervals too. Just like any engine.

[Rob Thomson 6]

The engine in my rally car (106 Rallye) has done about 125k now. Spends most of it's time screaming at 7,000rpm and doesn't complain. The head-gasket went a few months ago, and upon inspection with the head off everything was in very good condition.

Edited January 6, 2007 by Rob Thomson

[swordfish210 20]

well i change the oil every 6,000 miles and i'm using castrol GTX magnatec because its brilliant and i'm running about a 50/50 mix of (halfords) antifreeze and water. I changed the sump gasket at 136,000 miles and the water about a year ago. Other than that i just follow the Haynes manual for the service schedules, Got the 12,000 mile service coming up in 1000 miles time.

[axnutty 10]

Well it should be ok if you keep on top of servicing and dont do anything silly. Just out of interest why is Magnatec "brilliant"? Im not saying it isnt, but you seem to be strongly opinionated about it.

[calvinhorse 870]

the head i used in my rebuild was 165k and the valves were still tight and is now producing about 100hp!

[calvinhorse 870]

Well it should be ok if you keep on top of servicing and dont do anything silly. Just out of interest why is Magnatec "brilliant"? Im not saying it isnt, but you seem to be strongly opinionated about it.

have you not seen the advert where the car engine is goin "ouch ouch ouch" as he revs it?

well its the same as that, it starts working as soon as you turn the key rather than when its up 2 temp

[swordfish210 20]

Well it should be ok if you keep on top of servicing and dont do anything silly. Just out of interest why is Magnatec "brilliant"? Im not saying it isnt, but you seem to be strongly opinionated about it.

well 2 of my lecturers at college both used to work as engine builders and were doing a extensive test on road and race oils once spanning about 1 year and with the exception of the super duper expensive race oils the magnatec was coming out top providing the best lubrication in hot and cold condtions and it reduced the wear on the engine compared with other oils. This was enough to convince me to use it and the engine feels much smoother on a cold morning than it did with the silkoline stuff that i was running. Give it a try for yourself and see what u think

[boombang 2]

i'm using castrol GTX magnatec because its brilliant

I've found it to be terrible!

 

After a few thousand miles of heavy usage, it seemed to clump up and become very gunky. I actually had to remove the sump to get it all out, then the next oil change was still a bit manky.

 

I am not the only person I know who's found this either. We wondered if it was the "magnetic" feature of the oil binding together?

[swordfish210 20]

nah i'v never had this problem, my oil allways comes out clean and only slightly darker than when it went in the engine and it allways flows out smoothly. Maybe it was just the oil hated ur engine

[Sandy 191]

Stick to well known brands and change it as often as you can afford is the best you can do I think. The only "experts" we really get access to have a commercial interest.

[swordfish210 20]

Stick to well known brands and change it as often as you can afford is the best you can do I think. The only "experts" we really get access to have a commercial interest.

 

Like i said the 2 lecturers who did this extensive test on road and race engines were doing it as a test to see what oils they should recomend to their customers to give optimum performance on their engines. So it was a non profit test with a biased result which is why i chose to belive it

[Rippthrough 98]

Like i said the 2 lecturers who did this extensive test on road and race engines were doing it as a test to see what oils they should recomend to their customers to give optimum performance on their engines. So it was a non profit test with a biased result which is why i chose to belive it

 

 

Are you sure it was magnatec and not one of their synthetics? Because I would have thought that they would use castrol EDGE 0w-30 for that application.

[swordfish210 20]

no they were testing various oils and the magnatec came out top with a cost-performance ratio. If i remember correctly the castrol RS was the best oil they said they tested providing both excelent lubrication and reducing engine wear and drag but i think this is too expensive for a road aplication. Especially for a student like me.