tested: 440 mile round trip in our 1.6d over xmas

[discipleofsketch]

We've had our 1.6d moonraker since september, but only done a few short trips in it, so was still nervous of what might happen on a longer trip. Really chuffed to say that it did us proud over xmas - drove it fully loaded (wife, son, loads of food and booze, xmas presents etc.) from Bristol to my folks in East Anglia (in driving wind and rain the whole way), then the next day on to a holiday cottage in Norfolk, then up to Derbyshire for new year, where we camped on our friends drive (with electric hookup, fan heater and hot water bottles), then back down to Bristol yesterday.

We did have a starting problem at the start of the second leg - I think the rainwater seeped into a relay and killed it. After a workaround shown to us by an AA mechanic (wire from spade connector on the starter solenoid direct to the positive terminal on the battery), we could start it without needing a bump start (after unloading loads of stuff from the back to get into the engine bay each time!), and it's now starting on the key again after a friend found a spare relay in his garage.

Other than that it went really well, and i'm starting to get used to the slow uphill stretches - although think i'd enjoy it more if I do upgrade the engine (very likely this year if I can afford it). I'm happy to sit at 60 all day, but not at 40! Either way, really looking forward to some T25 adventures in the UK and abroad this year

[billy739]

well done

good to se annother van being driven
260 miles in mine today
+
270 last saturday

think im up to about 8000 since march 2012!

i seem to average 34-38mpg on motorways , refilling the tank when ive done 400-450 miles

motorway speed is 60-70mph

[andypandy1930]

Cool we were in north norfolk over Xmas in ours

[Negativegravity]

Good work! I've got a 1.6 too and I know what you mean about the sluggish hill climbs! Gets exciting when your in mid overtake against a lorry up hill and you can see a sign indicating the two lanes merging to one!

Drove from Newcastle to Skye in Nov and we too had a successful mission! Only one jump start needed!

[matt brighton]

Hi

All the best with the van.... Mine is - or rather was - a 1.6 d moonraker too and after 2 yrs of ownership I took the plunge and fitted a 1.9 diesel.

If you are contemplating the engine change I can vouch for the improvement - even with the "basic" 1.9 AEF non turbo engine from a "96 Skoda Felecia - so much easier to drive ........ "flies" up hills

I got the donor felicia off e bay for £200 with 4 months tax and 3 months mot so I could drive it and be assured the engine was good - and recovered £120 scrap value (they collected it from my drive) + cashed in the unused tax too.

Replaced the usuals before refitting to the van - water pump - rubber belts - clutch etc

Fitting is pretty straightforward - great advice on the forum here - and when I did need some help the many on here kindly gave advice in reply to posted specific questions.


Enjoy !

Matt - brighton

[discipleofsketch]

Cheers for that Matt, its reassuring to know the change is worth it - got a 1Y swap planned in the nearish future (paying someone else to fit it)

[matt brighton]

Hope the swap goes well.

One issue I had difficulty sorting was making it stop

. Sometimes it did - other times I had to stall it to get it to stop running

The fix turned out to be that a small voltage was finding its way back to the stop solenoid keeping it open, just .7 of a volt - disconnected the small wire from the alternator which lights the on/off charge light, and it switches off

Hope that makes sense and helps you or others trying to trace the same fault

Matt - brighton

[igotadizzy]

don't post often but I took my 1.6jx clockwise around france and spain end of September though to early November last year 7 weeks 4500mls.
Moved every day 8 campsites only the rest wild camping.no problem with mountain roads or even tracks, in Alps Pyrenees or andora.
Just chose the correct gear then keep revs around 2500 3000 till you get to the top