I'm not using the same type of engine as the Espace (DCI), and I know these HDI engines well enough to say that problems are few... very reliable and easy to tune infact!
AFAIK the DCI and HDI engines are both common rail engines built with Bosch components?
Reputation is a strange thing: When Renault put the PRV V6 in their cars, it got a reputation for being very reliable. When Peugeot used the exact same engine in their cars, it was a horrible machine blowing head gaskets. And I'm not talking about the 24 valve head of that engine, it was the same engine.
And to compare reliability: My engine is 25 years old, it has received one complete rebuild and a new cylinder head (overheating, leaking water pump) in its life, and that's it.
I'm not trying to say your project is not worth the effort, I am sure you will have a very fast and driveable car when you are done, and I'm sure this is not the last diesel conversion project we will see on a Murena (I haven't heard about any before, though?), you are just down a completely different road than I am.
My Murena is a classic, and while I'm using it from day to day, I have to acknowledge it's an old car. She's 25 this year! When she was built, I was only in my early puberty! Sometimes, the lumpy cam and difficult choke makes me want to take my wife's car, but when the boys are staring and friends show their envy, I know that my Murena is just the way it should be. It will never be a Porsche Boxter.
I know a family with a strange garage: One London taxi, a 1966 Jaguar, a TR4 and a couple of old english motorbikes. They don't have a single modern car for daily commuting! Don't tell me a 1966 Jaguar is a reliable or fuel efficient car. But this is just the way they like it, and I must admit - I envy them.
- Anders
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