Oldskool Petrol or Diesel for Reliability?

[Crazy Dazz]

Still a ways off, and many rivers to cross, etc, but friends have commenced planning for a "rally." (Of the "tourist" variety, not competitive.) Definitely more in the "****box" vein.

Which is just a roundabout way of bringing me to a very fundamental question about reliability in older cars: Petrol or Diesel?

I'd break this down into 3 questions:

1. Will it start in the morning?
2. Can I push-start if the battery is flat?
3. Can I fix it if it all goes pear-shaped?

Now I have to say that the most fundamentally unbreakable car I have ever driven is my son's Patrol with the 4.2TD. Basically as long as you have fuel and a slope, that thing will start.
My experience with older petrol cars is that problems are usually the ignition or the carbie, and the old diesel has neither.
But what happens if the injectors stop working, or the pump lets fly?

[hayseed]

Tell 'em to get an Old Tojo HJ70 in whatever body style that floats their Boat..


It Ticks all 3 Box's......

[Citroënbender]

2CV. Crank starting ability, no radiator to fail, surprisingly durable and agile - have crossed many “4WD only” routes across the African continent and within Australia.

[Franco Cozzo]

See if they can get their hands on a WF Festiva GLXi with AC in 1.5L variation.

Super basic but tough, ours put up with 120,000km between services, not even an oil change, eventually I killed it taking it out 4x4ing at nearly 300,000km.

They have a lot of ground clearance too so you can bash it around dirt roads easily enough.

They'll be cheap cause they're worth nothing now.

I reckon it'll do a river crossing, no drama it's pretty high off the ground

One for sale in VIC at the moment, but auto

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/det...SE-AD-12072901

You want manual

[Trevor 57]

GQ Patrol (Ford Naverick) TD42 (If they can afford one)

If not, then an AU Falcon

[FairmontGS]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

See if they can get their hands on a WF Festiva GLXi with AC in 1.5L variation.

Super basic but tough, ours put up with 120,000km between services, not even an oil change, eventually I killed it taking it out 4x4ing at nearly 300,000km.

They have a lot of ground clearance too so you can bash it around dirt roads easily enough.

They'll be cheap cause they're worth nothing now.

I reckon it'll do a river crossing, no drama it's pretty high off the ground

One for sale in VIC at the moment, but auto

https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/det...SE-AD-12072901

You want manual

+1 for basically any of the recent Fiestas in manual config.

[Vesper Martini]

Reliability is also about suspension components to + to a small car like a Fiesta.
AU advice above I'm not so sure.. they are minimum 20 years old now

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Still a ways off, and many rivers to cross, etc, but friends have commenced planning for a "rally." (Of the "tourist" variety, not competitive.) Definitely more in the "****box" vein.

Which is just a roundabout way of bringing me to a very fundamental question about reliability in older cars: Petrol or Diesel?

I'd break this down into 3 questions:

1. Will it start in the morning?
2. Can I push-start if the battery is flat?
3. Can I fix it if it all goes pear-shaped?

Now I have to say that the most fundamentally unbreakable car I have ever driven is my son's Patrol with the 4.2TD. Basically as long as you have fuel and a slope, that thing will start.
My experience with older petrol cars is that problems are usually the ignition or the carbie, and the old diesel has neither.
But what happens if the injectors stop working, or the pump lets fly?

My pick, cheap XF-G manual ute with below modifications.

[simon varley]

I'd be looking at old school carbie for fix-it-by-the road engine issues

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by simon varley

I'd be looking at old school carbie for fix-it-by-the road engine issues

Yeah this was my first thought.

Originally Posted by Trevor 57

GQ Patrol (Ford Naverick) TD42 (If they can afford one)

If not, then an AU Falcon

This was my 2nd and third

Anything with sophisticated electronics is a risk, simply because if it fails, that's it. We're not going to be scanning codes and ordering parts on eBay.

Comes back to my question: Carbie or Injector Pump?

And it's really just an intellectual exercise at this point. Rally planning for 2023 is still in it's infancy. I've never done anything like this before, but Friends had the time of their lives, and I'm keen to tag along.

[Dr Terry]

I think that regardless of what type of engine is used, the most common breakdowns on long country trips seems to be with cooling system failures.

Given that, I would use a vehicle which had a very simple & easy to service cooling system.

I favour 70s 6-cyl carby cars, like an HQ/HJ Holden or XA/XB Ford, but that's just me. No electronics, no pollution gear, simple brakes, simple transmissions etc. etc.

I can fix a carby or dissy with piece of coat hanger wire, but I know F-all about diesel. Each to their own I guess.

Dr Terry

[Trevor 57]

and suspension if the roads are rough

[thefargo]

my old 80 series, non turbo, landcruiser would be my vehicle of choice. no electronics, really very few electrics!. big radiator, tough suspension, manual transmission. it just keeps going. quite roomy and comfortable as well.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dazz

Comes back to my question: Carbie or Injector Pump?

As much as I like the simplicity of the XF's carby there is nothing more reliable than a naturally apirated mechanical diesel injection system.
As long as fuel filtering is kept clean they'll easily go well beyond 500 000km mark.