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Newbie in maidstone looking to buy diesel 9-3 sportwagon

770 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  lizzard-t 
The Z19DTH engine is in lots of cars Fiat/Vauxhall/Alfa Romeos etc
Folk have lots of opinions good/bad but there are a lot of them around parts are easy to get and there is a lot of
aftermarket knowledge around. They are easily and cheaply mapped /modified etc.

Look for a facelift version ie last shape 08 or at least facelift dash (old shape but dash changed 07)
An 06 will be old shape and old dash and cheaper off course.

The trim specs are all a bit muddled especially on the later cars for example a Linear SE can have more toys
then an Aero depending on what the factory was throwing in at the time.
Generally Aero>Vector>Linear

Try to get one with an all leather interior if you can and avoid a cream one...show every dirt speck....

72K on the cambelt and false economy not to change water pump...easy DIY

You can change as often as you like but in the end if it does go the engine is designed to sacrifice the rockers arms
so usually there is no valve damage so not too expensive to fix.

Later cars should have the Bosch alternator 140A ...the one to avoid is the Denso as they fail regularly... although again they
are easy to fix.

Two keys is important and a weak point is the CIM module in the 9-3 along with wiring gremlins which can be tough to track down.
 
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