which is best? 140 or 170 PD

[xjay1337]

PD170 engines come with a DPF which does not work well with the engine design, as it's not designed to - so they clog up. Their crystal controlled injectors are sh*te and break constantly.
Pistons, heads, comp ratios etc are all pretty much identical between the engines as well.

But as I said what's the point of getting a PD170 lump when it is identical aside from crap injectors and a DPF. If you remove the DPF you do end up with the whole MOT issue (while we all may know a mate we do need to bear that into consideration) where as the PD140 does not have that problem to begin with.... PD140s are a good few grand cheaper as well meaning you can save the money, buy a bigger turbo (as the stock PD140 turbos are fairly weak) and any other mods or tuning you want.

[Andy]

or don't mod it and keep it standard

[Scottymon]

Porous heads, weak turbo's why aren't the CR's a better investment again?

[GrayMK5GTI]

170's have stronger internals.

As you can see by the posts in this thread so far. Both arent exactly super reliable though 

The Mk6 TDI's onwards are all Common Rail (CR) and MUCH more relaible. No DPF worries, injector issues etc.

[Andy]

vw reliable 

[paulw123]

Don't al diesels come with DPF's on today, to meet emissions?
Surprised the Mk6's do not have them......

[xjay1337]

Mk6 bluemotions and 2.0 tdis have them I believe.

Porous heads, weak turbo's why aren't the CR's a better investment again?

Porous heads on Revision A models.
No reported revision C failures.
Turbos which can be easily replaced...


PD170 let's say 6k
PD140 is let's say 3.5k

Darkside budget turbo kit is like £1800+ vat (GTB1756vk taking you to around 230-240bhp that's the same turbo I had on my old car)
Replacement head (if it happens) can be done for around £800 fitted. Very unlikely to happen on a 06 onwards car.

So let's say your turbo blows up and your head fails you replace them yourself knowing you have a decade or more of good reliable motoring ahead of you still ofr no more than the cost of a PD170...

170's have stronger internals.

Stronger internals how exactly? 

[paulw123]

Is my MK5 08 gt tdi sport a Cr engine?
Don't you tell by the shiny 4 aluminium tubes running along the camshaft cover when you take engine cover off?   which mine has...

[Matto]

Stronger internals how exactly? 

A forged crank to start with.

[rich83]

Is my MK5 08 gt tdi sport a Cr engine?
Don't you tell by the shiny 4 aluminium tubes running along the camshaft cover when you take engine cover off?   which mine has...

the cr started in the mk6 i belive.
i dont think they put them in the mk5

chris

Correct... CR are MK6 onwards

[Viking]

Stronger internals how exactly? 

A forged crank to start with.

VW have been using forged cranks for many years in TDI engines, at least as far back as the ALH 90bhp engine. I'm not sure they'd suddenly start making cast cranks for the 2.0ltr 140 engine and keep making forged ones for the 170 engine, while giving both different crankshafts the same part number.

[xjay1337]

Stronger internals how exactly? 

A forged crank to start with.

Incorrect.
They are the same crank.
The crank is shared between many vehicles.
Pistons, rods, crankshafts are all the same. Both have all the same amounts of cooling internally, the only difference worth noting is the cams have a different PROFILE (this does not make them stronger)

I don't know why or where people think 170s have stronger internals but they really don't. 

[Scottymon]

I'd prefer not to replace a turbo or head and buy a more reliable version to start with... aren't the CR's much quieter too?

It's all pie in the sky anyway, I want a Rocco R.

[GTI5]

The Mk6 TDI's onwards are all Common Rail (CR) and MUCH more relaible. No DPF worries, injector issues etc.

This is the better option.

[xjay1337]

I'd prefer not to replace a turbo or head and buy a more reliable version to start with... aren't the CR's much quieter too?

It's all pie in the sky anyway, I want a Rocco R.

CRs are better engines yes.
However for TUNING a BKD is the best option.
CRs heads are very restrictive as I mentioned previously. If you want a big BHP TDI build a BKD is the place to start.