Post 2014 Oil Pick-Up Seal Rectified?

[Carpnick]

Hi everyone.

I'm looking buy a 2008 onward Insignia soon.

I've read countless used reviews on all the major car buying sites, and have decided the 1.4T would be the best fit for my families usage of mostly short journeys with occasional trips to the coast.

However the 1.4T spec with acceptable mileage are few and far between, so I'm looking broaden options to the more numerous 2.0CDTI or later 1.6cdti.

Whilst trawling the reviews, a common gripe was the flaw on the oil pick up seal often ruining engines on the 2.0. However I've been told that after the face-lift, this was subsequently rectified on the later engines?

Is this true? As it would make shopping around alot easier!

Lastly, I'm aware that such diesel engines need occasion long distance journeys to help the DPF and EGR valve. How frequent/far would these journeys need to be? Be good to know if it's something I could manage with busy our busy routine.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards.

[RBH]

Every A20 engine from the start of production to the production end is affected by the oil pick up seal.

The only 2 litre engine in the Insignia A range that is not affected is the B20 engine known as the whisper engine.

Every other engine, the 1.4 petrol and 1.6 derv isn't affected.

The car needs a decent run to keep the DPF clear but general maintenance on the EGR sensor - removal and cleaning, will help the car.

The car will decide when it wants to do a regen. You will notice it from the drivers seat as the RPM will increase slightly, the MPG will decrease slightly and the car will run slightly hotter.
it should also come up on the consumers list that you're rear heated window is in operation but the switch isn't on.

The best way to see it's doing a regen, if you buy the derv engine is to fit the regen LED.
A how2 can be found on the forum.

[Carpnick]

Thank for you the prompt and detailed response!

Cheers for the clarification. Is there a way of telling which Insignias are fitted with the B20 Whisper engine? Sales listings often aren't forthcoming with engine specifics other than capacity etc.

I understand a decent run is needed, but thats up for interpretation. A decent run for me would be half hour or more on motorway/dual carriage way. Would that suffice? Along with the general maintenance you suggested?

Cheers.

[RBH]

Thank for you the prompt and detailed response!

Cheers for the clarification. Is there a way of telling which Insignias are fitted with the B20 Whisper engine? Sales listings often aren't forthcoming with engine specifics other than capacity etc.

I understand a decent run is needed, but thats up for interpretation. A decent run for me would be half hour or more on motorway/dual carriage way. Would that suffice? Along with the general maintenance you suggested?

Cheers.

I've had my insignia for 6 years but I fitted the regen led pretty soon after I got it....I've done the DPF and EGR delete so I don't have to worry about regens anymore.

I saw me pulling into my drive and the led came on.....as long as you don't switch off while the led is lit and you let the car tick over until it off, then theres no need for any longer run at over 2000rpm as probably stated on many insignia face cloth pages....let the regen run its course and it'll be fine.
switching off while doing a regen dumps fuel into sump and the fuel causes the rubber seal to go brittle....this causes the seal to loose its efficency and then low oil pressure.....engine kaput eventually.



The difference in engines is.

A20 ENGINE.....THIS HAS THE SEAL



B20 ENGINE - NO SEAL

[Carpnick]

Just looked up the led DIY and that's within the realms of my skills so that's a relief.

Thanks for the photos, they'll be useful in my search.

Thanks very much.

[Drew]

Just looked up the led DIY and that's within the realms of my skills so that's a relief.

Thanks for the photos, they'll be useful in my search.

Thanks very much.

Another easy way to tell from the likes of Autotrader ads is the emissions compliance, the B20 engine that doesn't have the seal problem will be Euro6 and needs adblue, the A20 engines that all have the potential pickup seal problem will be Euro5 and not adblue.

[lizzard-t]

Remember you can get the oil seal replaced at a very resanable price .
but if you look around the forum the word search is adblue,then you will find there's a lot of issues with people's cars equipped with adblue.and not cheap to fix .
where as there's a cheap fix fir the oil seal and a cheaper fix for alerting you to the car regenerating .

[Carpnick]

OK that's a big help for the auto trader tip RE: emissions. Thanks for that.

The adblue issue isn't something I've heard of before. However that DIY fix seems simple enough so may end up down that route anyway.

[RBH]

OK that's a big help for the auto trader tip RE: emissions. Thanks for that.

The adblue issue isn't something I've heard of before. However that DIY fix seems simple enough so may end up down that route anyway.

Use the search facility on here and search adblue