The life of a dg

[Ant-t]

My 1.9 wbx is running well at the moment, touch wood, I know it's a piece of string and depends on how it's been treated but how many miles will one of these run for?

[Aidan]

with regular oil and filter changes and good condition coolant in the sytem and driven with mechanical sympathy a wbx is good for 1-200k miles, usually the water side gives problems before the rest does with head seals being most likely failure point, but a lot of them were neglected for part of their life when the vans weren't worth much, and cheap used engines were abundant so often the engine in vehicle isn't original to the vehicle so milage isn't much of a guide unless you know it's all original

[Ant-t]

Thanks for the info, mine seems to have been looked after and is original at 95k so I may have a few more miles out of it yet...

[itchyfeet]

like triggers broom everthing can be replaced.
Head seals can be replaced fairly easily, when the oil pressure has gone then it needs a full rebuild.

[Ant-t]

So they're worth persevering with then rather than going down the scuby route?

[Aidan]

So they're worth persevering with then rather than going down the scuby route?

if it ain't broke......

[Ant-t]

So they're worth persevering with then rather than going down the scuby route?

if it ain't broke......

Cheers

[123-jn]

Mine started leaking at 129,000 from the head seals so I stripped it down. The crank was still good for standard shells (The shells were very worn) Con-rods were ok for new shells no repairs required. Pistons OK for new rings (old rings pretty worn with end gaps 0.9 to 1.1mm) Bores fine for new rings after a hone. (End gap with new rings 0.5-0.6, as big as you would want really) A number of head studs were changed due to corrosion so engine may not have been looked after very well and the heads needed new guides and valves (but didn't get them at that point just a regrind and some new adjuster pins) One head has since been replaced with a head from Happyvan on the forum.
The performance is now so much better. I think if it had gone on much longer many parts would have worn badly due to excessive play and may have then had to be replaced.