General Hello!.. and a few questions

Currently reading:
General Hello!.. and a few questions

Sloper

02 Doblo 1.9 JTD ELX
Joined
Mar 28, 2011
Messages
40
Points
9
Location
Ashton under Lyne, Lancs
Hi folks, new guy here. I put a deposit on a nice 2002 Doblo on Saturday (picking it up next weekend), so I've been devouring this forum since Saturday (giving myself eye-strain!) and I've become a bit concerned about a couple of things..

On my short test-drive, I noticed rather a lot of body roll when cornering. I put this down to soft tyres as the car has been standing on a garage forecout for a some time (the battery was dead too). However, I've just read a helpful post on here where the poster remarks on excessive roll being caused by knackered bump-stops on the rear suspension and that replacing them made the car feel like new. At this mileage (90k), are these likely to be the problem.. or could it be anti-roll bar bushes? Should I have the lot replaced? Could someone let me know how much these jobs might cost at a garage?

And as I'm unsure at the moment whether my Doblo has had a recent cambelt change, how much this job would cost?

The car is a 1.9 JTD ELX in very nice condition, with 90,000 miles (engine started immediately and sounded sweet) and I'm paying £2150. A fair price, do ya think?

Cheers
Steve.
 
ok price (I paid 3k for 05 doblo but that was private sale) and they do roll a bit after all they are a van really however bump stops are a simple screw off/screw on job.

Welcome to the forum and the extraordinary league of doblo owners(y)

p.s. ask seller about cambelt, strict every 5 years + water pump.
 
Last edited:
ok price (I paid 3k for 05 doblo but that was private sale) and they do roll a bit after all they are a van really however bump stops are a simple screw off/screw on job.

Welcome to the forum and the extraordinary league of doblo owners(y)

p.s. ask seller about cambelt, strict every 5 years + water pump.

Ah! Simple sounds good. I have plenty more questions but I'll leave them 'till after I've driven it around a little more! (y)
My main concerns are how much things are going to cost.. although I don't mind paying out for a couple of jobs if it improves the car and gives me peace of mind.

Ta for the reply and the welcome :)
 
I've been doing some reading concerning the body-roll. It would appear the Doblo does roll a fair bit anyway, so I may not have a problem there yet. That's a relief! I did once own a 2CV, so I guess roll shouldn't be worrying me unduly (y)

Does the JTD ELX have rear speakers? I didn't think to look at the time..

I can't wait to drive the thing and get it home. When I do, is there anything else you'd advise me to check over? Also, is there a recognised problem with the Doblo that might cause excessive roll?

Anyway, first job is to decide if I need a new cambelt, then do an oil and filter change. I thought I'd also ask the garage to check over the suspension and anti-roll bars to set my mind at rest.

Oh yes, one more thing.. are there any recommended independent garages in the Tameside (east Manchester area) that would hopefully have some Doblo experience? Or would you expect any decent garage to perform a cambelt change ok? The local Fiat dealer does not get good reviews :(

Thanks again :)
 
Last edited:
The car should have a 6 speaker system, four at the front (two in dash, one in each door) and two in the rear, right at the back.

I had some roll in mine - turned out to be anti-roll bar linkage I think.
 
Robin, I believe post 06 (facelift) models had 6 speakers as they had 'full' door panels but pre-facelift had 4 speakers 2 in dash and 2 in rear shelves either side.

Sloper, if you like music even just a little bit dump the original head unit and buy a secondhand CD player, I paid £10 for a kenwood, as the sound difference is well worth it.

Body roll as I mentioned is noticeable, I have 2 other cars that 'run on rails' but the doblo must be cornered with care....especially as the dog gets thrown around all over the place in the back:D
 
Oh yes, I like music, T14086 :D I've been looking at reasonably priced head units... I want one with AUX input so I can use my super little Sansa Clip (which happens to support .flac files for best quality). Also want USB so that using the PC, I can make up quick music selections for those longer trips. I don't even need a CD playing facility really... wonder how long before the medium fizzles out!?
Anyway, the Sony GT35U looks favourite at the mo... but if anyone can recommend another, that would be good.

Re. body roll. I'm beginning to accept there probably isn't a problem with my Doblo. It really was noticeable when I drove it briefly, but I need to give it a chance yet. I'm more of a biker than a car-driver so I do like to keep corner-speed up on my favourite roads (the Snake, Woodhead etc!) :devil: So, I guess I'll have to adapt my driving to suit.

Jeez, I can't wait to collect my Doblo. Is it Saturday yet? :D
 
Robin, I believe post 06 (facelift) models had 6 speakers as they had 'full' door panels but pre-facelift had 4 speakers 2 in dash and 2 in rear shelves either side.

T,

I have an 03 Doblo with two speakers in the dash, one in each front door and one in each rear shelf to either side. Total = 6. My father in law has a 52 Doblo with the same set up.

Damning evidence I'd say...

Sloper,

I too am collecting a new Doblo on Saturday (to replace the current one). I also can't wait!
 
Last edited:
Oh yes, I like music, T14086 :D I've been looking at reasonably priced head units... I want one with AUX input so I can use my super little Sansa Clip (which happens to support .flac files for best quality).

Mind there is very very very little room behind the headunit for wiring/plugs etc and you might find yourself losing a little patience! If you buy a head unit try & get free fitting...that'll teach them:devil:

I'm more of a biker than a car-driver so I do like to keep corner-speed up on my favourite roads (the Snake, Woodhead etc!) :devil:

I still lean in the car when going around corners....a habit picked up from my biker days:D
 
Mind there is very very very little room behind the headunit for wiring/plugs etc and you might find yourself losing a little patience! If you buy a head unit try & get free fitting...that'll teach them:devil:
Right at the back of the 'pod' there is an opening down into the dash. I managed to poke most of the wiring into this hole - God knows how i could have fitted the unit otherwise.

I still lean in the car when going around corners....a habit picked up from my biker days:D

has visions of door opening & T's knee coming out & sparking on the tarmac :devil:

Somebody had a double DIN pod which I believe they got in Turkey ?
We could do with some over here. be good to have a slot for the music & another for odds & ends tray - even some sort of cupholder or holder for satnavs?
 
Last edited:
OMG Robin! This is embarressing but I have only just noticed the speaker grill on the front doors:eek: No sound from them infact I dont think there are any speakers there...need to look now....becoming OCD:eek:
 
My 02 SX has 6 speakers, I replaced the ones in the door panels for two I had lying around the shed which made a huge difference, Phil (fido the previous owner) had already fitted a JVC headunit and it's not bad at all now, what I have found though the rear speakers tend to viabrate and its the plastic covers that do this, I have attatched better cloth tape to the covers and this sorted all the vibration.
My Doblo did roll but the rear springs had settled quite badly and the back felt soft, I bought a set of assisters from a lad on this forum and this transformed the rolling in the corners and raised up the back end to what it should be, much cheaper than new springs too!
Good luck with your new Doblo.
 
Last edited:
Well I've got my Doblo! The 50-mile drive home was fine.. part motorway, part country roads. The roll is there but it's not so bad as I thought. I can live with it for now, but will get the suspension, anti-roll bars and bump-stops checked out soonish.

Overall I'm pleased with it; I was grinning most of the way home (y)
I do have a couple of things concerning me though... firstly, a couple of times when exiting a slow corner, it would barely accelerate at all, as if I was in too high a gear (maybe I was).. it took a while for revs to build and then it accelerated fine. Has anyone else experienced this?

The other concern is that on a couple of occasions I was going around left-hand bends leaving roundabouts. I was driving quite hard with the car rolling a fair bit and could hear a grinding or scraping noise which was quite loud. It was like the sound you hear from the disc brakes on a motorcycle when you push it around, only much louder.

Oh yes, there's also a squeal from under the bonnet. It increases a little with revs then disappears. Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
OMG Robin! This is embarressing but I have only just noticed the speaker grill on the front doors:eek: No sound from them infact I dont think there are any speakers there...need to look now....becoming OCD:eek:

Looks like I have a half-way house between the two of you. I seem to have a speaker in the passenger's door, but not the driver's! I guess there is a speaker in there but it's not working. The passenger side is fine. I'll investigate tomorrow.

I'd just like to thank Niall G for his 'Dunnit' post from 4 years ago! I bought a new Sony GT35U head-unit this aft and set about fitting it. It wasn't half a struggle, so I searched the forum for help and found Niall's post, printed-out his instructions and followed them to the letter. Got it installed eventually! Cheers Niall (although he doesn't appear to be around these days?)

After a while sitting listening to the stereo, trying USB sticks and my mp3 player in it, I realised it hadn't remembered the correct time or the station presets :mad:
Then I find another post of Niall's, just two posts lower down, describing the very same problem and how to fix it. Doh :bang:
Oh well, at least I know how the dash comes apart now so it shouldn't take long. (y)
 
Overall I'm pleased with it; I was grinning most of the way home (y)
I do have a couple of things concerning me though... firstly, a couple of times when exiting a slow corner, it would barely accelerate at all, as if I was in too high a gear (maybe I was).. it took a while for revs to build and then it accelerated fine. Has anyone else experienced this?

EGR? If it gets worse disconect AFM

The other concern is that on a couple of occasions I was going around left-hand bends leaving roundabouts. I was driving quite hard with the car rolling a fair bit and could hear a grinding or scraping noise which was quite loud. It was like the sound you hear from the disc brakes on a motorcycle when you push it around, only much louder.

back plates rubbing disc?

Oh yes, there's also a squeal from under the bonnet. It increases a little with revs then disappears. Any ideas?

Aux belt tensioner?

Did you get it from garage?
 
EGR and AFM? Ok, I don't know what they are but I've no doubt I'll find some info on the forum. I'll look into it.

Back plates rubbing disc? Not sure what you mean T. The garage did tell me it'd had new discs and pads, but to be honest, I took most things they said with a pinch of salt.
I asked them about the cambelt as there's no mention of a new one in the limited service history. The salesman made a phonecall and said yep, they'd put a new one on it. Hmm, there's no way to be sure.... and I'm not sure a used car garage would do that anyway. I thought I might phone the previous owner to ask them if they'd had it done (when I get the logbook back)

I'll look at the aux belt tensioner tomorrow.

I think I'll have a local garage do me an oil change and ask them to check things out underneath.
Cheers :)
 
OMG Robin! This is embarressing but I have only just noticed the speaker grill on the front doors:eek: No sound from them infact I dont think there are any speakers there...need to look now....becoming OCD:eek:

I sometimes had an intermittent failure of the drivers side speaker in the door, loose wiring I expect. Perhaps you have speakers that are disconnected?

I would post pics but I've now sold the car for a facelift model!
 
Back
Top