Carlton 2.3 turbo diesel. Tell me more!

[DodgyBastard]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of the Vauxhall Carlton 2.3 diesel. I've been to see one and have provisionally bought it for 300 quid. I had a quick search online for mpg figures and if it'll run on veg etc but haven't found anything yet...

 

 

 

 

 

[Bren]

Quite a rare beast - no experience of the diesel variety.

 

Front / rear chassis legs rot for fun on these.

[DodgyBastard]

It's not been used much for the last few years, I had a go in it and it's not as quick as my 2l carlton but that could be down to it not being run in a couple of weeks etc.

[dollywobbler]

Didn't this get spotted in the Ebay thread? Someone mentioned 100bhp. That's pretty lame. It's an ancient engine - the one that people tell you to avoid in Fronteras. Perfect.

[rainagain]

I was looking at that too!  Looks great

[Cavcraft]

I'm trying to sum these up in one sentence and the best I can manage is:

 

'A slower, noisier Massey Ferguson, sans wheel arches'

[Bren]

Didn't this get spotted in the Ebay thread? Someone mentioned 100bhp. That's pretty lame. It's an ancient engine - the one that people tell you to avoid in Fronteras. Perfect.

100bhp in a big car like this? It will be slower than a week in strangeways. Fantastic.

 

I take my hat off to you sir - you are deffo autoshite champion for June.

[wuvvum]

They did a non-turbo version too, which was even more fun.  0-60 in about 23 seconds IIRC.

[Cavcraft]

Pretty sure the early Frontera diesels had exactly the same lump. Engines used to be popular with CF owners too, though I seem to recall the sump has to be changed for clearance.

[sierraman]

I'd be surprised if it would crack 90mph. But then you'll be getting some good mpgs.

[Cavcraft]

He'll be getting good MPG alright at 90mph as it'll be flying through the air from the top of Everest.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

europe's worst diesel engine in these

[sierraman]

If its like the old corsa 1.7 base diesels it will be back to the days of waiting an age for the glow plug light to extinguish.

[bub2006]

I can vaguely recall my dad owning an A registered Carlton. Non turbo. Had a bulge in the bonnet and twin batteries if i remember right. That's all i can remember

[bub2006]

According to the vast knowledge of wikipedia the 2.3 had 100ps and 160lbft torque.

[bub2006]

If its any help too,if the engine is the same as the frontera 2.3td a chap on the oc forum runs his on bio and veg. I was just doing a bit of searching and found that.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Still a cool motor if its not rotten. Think Autocar gave these a proper shoeing when they road tested one.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Still a cool motor if its not rotten. Think Autocar gave these a proper shoeing when they road tested one.

Triggers got a copy on his Flicker, 101 mph 16 seconds and 31mpg for the non-turbo, so the Turbo must be an Autobahnstormer,although it might not break 30 mpg.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

31mpg, brilliant

[DodgyBastard]

It's a bit of a shitter but with mot until march and tax until September, at £300 i can hardly say no...

[Cavcraft]

Oh God aye, sounds like serial moaning from me, but it's a bargain at that price and I reckon most of us on here would give it room given the chance. 

[forddeliveryboy]

I'd not say no either. Proper shitey-shite. The owner of this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Carlton-Turbo-Diesel-/251307334905?nma=true&si=27KdxoD4vq9%252F3pYf76ahvR9SQHA%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 boasted 50mpg, I'd have thought 40-45 on a run was easily done if you don't break the law by more than 10 or 15mph.

 

Also found these two conflicting bits of advice (suggesting not leaving the sump oil in for ever might make sense)

 

[Cavcraft]

They are shit on fuel. I had one.

[320touring]

Thank fuck for that! Been winking at me on ebay for a wee while. Good luck with it:)

[Asimo]

There was a version with supercharging rather than a turbocharger. I read about in Car magazine and became intrigued by the "Comprex pressure-wave supercharger", a sort of rotating drum that allowed the exhaust to push directly on the intake air to compress it.(Google has pictures).

 

Anyone ever seen one of those outside of a roadtest?

[twosmoke300]

Dad had the na version engine with a 4 speed box in his cf car transporter that he had from new.

Tightwad turned down the 5speed option. He regularly used to carry a sherpa on the back and a commer etc on the a frame behind it. He did over 100k like that with no worries. He did change the oil every 3 k tho.

[DodgyBastard]

This is a 1 owner car full of giffer repairs, bodged welding to mot standards etc. The guy also runs a small garage so has probably serviced it little...

[rml2345]

Carton - Good.

Diesel - Bad. 
I remember the 2 litre pez in these being a bit stately rather than quick so the diesel must be properly hopeless.
Well done!

[Rusty_Rocket]

I still have nightmares about these. It's an old Bedford CF lump dragged into the 90s.

They used to break their timing chains in the Carlton application because GM cheaped-out with plastic chain guides.

Most painful job was setting the pump timing, however. I used to do a few repairs on these when they were more plentiful; I worked at a Vauxhall specialist and no other bugger would touch them.

It's worth it if the body is still ok.. but you'll struggle to see 30mpg/ 90mph.

[cort16]

It's got to be worth that money. Less talky more buy-ee then post picturz