Firstly hello everyone. Where do I start, well my van a Vauxhall vivaro has just died in a way its a good thing because all it has done is give me problems but now having to face buying a new van funds are not great. So im currently looking at a ford transit connect http://vans.autotrader.co.uk/used-va...type/panel-van it does only have part history.

Im a carpenter by trade so with my lack of funds right now something like this would do for the time being ie I would be able to carry plaster boards doors ect on the roof.


So if any of you kind people could give me any advice in what to look out for or things to be done to the van if bought ect also your thoughts on the van I would be much appreciated.

Many thanks Greg

 

I've just bought a new 110 Limited LWB

Great van for me, (decorator) but I've never kept them long enough for things to go wrong so can't really help.

Unbelievably, there's actually a Connect forum - have a look, all your questions can be answered.

http://fordtransit.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=54

 

I have had a swd connect for nearly a year and love it, my daily drive and its great.

 

Low mileage connects are ok. But give me a choice i would have your vivaro any day. You will need to take a test drive. Look for blue smoke on start up and if it feels underpowered walk away.

 

The size of the vivaro was ideal but the amount of problems I have with it was unreal though spent thousands on it and then bang turbo went accelerator stuck nd it jus died on me are the connects chain driven or belt driven? would be getting either one done straight away though due to it having very high milage.

 

I loved my connect and miss it soo much ,,, but then mine did have full focus rs running gear so drove a bit better than most lol

 

Connects have a timing chain on the lower half of the engine & a belt from the fuel pump to the camshaft, so to answer your question, it has both lol. Stay away from tdci's.

 

Do tell - I've just bought one.....

 

Talking from personal experience, they are known for the high pressure fuel pump internals breaking up which in turn also ruins the injectors, both pump and injectors are not cheap, even at trade prices. If you do a search via your favourite search engine you will see how common the problem is.
Apparently the tddi's are a slightly different, better design but i can't confirm that as i gave up on fords & went back to vw's.

 

Also zip, i'm referring the early connects if you have a newer one, they may have sorted this issue now?

 

Yea, mines new.
Back in 2002 I ran a tddi for 40k miles with no problems.

I don't envisage having this new one for more than two years, by which time it'll only have done 12-13k miles and still in warranty.

 

Vivaro's/traffic primestar are good vans if maintained meticulously. Never buy a second hand van, generally speaking they get a lot of abouse. You can get a swb 115 vivaro for £1000 +£2000 vat. That's £12000, there's nothing out there that comes close to the vivaro for the same money. Buy one and look after it!

My old one at 180k the turbo did the same thing, turbo goes bang, it over fuels like crazy, turn the ignition off and it still runs, revving at 4500rpm. I just stalled it straight away. It saved the engine. For what they cost new its eaiser to buy one, keep it 3/4 years and get a new one because repairs are costly.

Joe

 

Actually post 2006/07 onwards both for Connects, Mondeos and Focus have a belt to drive the fuel pump now. It runs in oil. And it seems from the forums and our engine builder that they do fail. Unlike the chains which rarely if never fail.

Also because of this confusion some garages/owners may cut corners to save a few quid and just change the camshaft drive belt and ignore the pump drive belt thinking its still a chain as the work involved to change the latter is more involving. It should be done at 125,000 or 10 years...be it belt and/or chain drive (that's for both belts). That said I've recently dealt with a connect that had the pump drive belt fail at a much lower mileage than that, but whether that was a freak failure or driver influenced I'll never know.

It seems that the piston/head design of the old Endura D/Duratorq/Lynx has changed...in say, the old Escort diesels (same engine), when a cambelt broke it used to just break the camshaft and bend the valves. So basically a top-end rebuild and not really the end of the world. Now when it fails it mashes and breaks the pistons (as well as bending the valves), so its a total engine rebuild which is alot more expensive to put right.

So obviously this is something to give close scrutiny on when looking at a newer high mile van. Asking if the cambelt has been changed is not enough. You need to ask for proof the fuel pump belt has been done too!

My other views on connects are here: https://www.scoobynet.com/other-marq...ransit+connect

They aren't bad, but they aren't my favorite van either LOL.