Fiat 1.3 MultiJet

Fiat's 1.3-litre common-rail diesel — the Small Diesel Engine, developed by Fiat and licensed to General Motors, which is why the same unit appears as the 1.3 CDTi in the Opel Corsa, Astra and Meriva as well as across the Fiat, Lancia and Suzuki ranges. One of the most-produced small diesels ever built.

The recurring failure is the turbocharger, and as with the PSA DV6 the cause is usually the oil feed rather than the turbocharger itself: the feed pipe carbons up, the bearing is starved, and a replacement fitted without addressing the supply fails the same way. This is the single most repeated expensive mistake on the engine.

The diesel particulate filter on later versions, EGR blockage and injector wear complete the picture, all aggravated by the short-journey use these small cars typically see. The engine is otherwise durable, and its faults are overwhelmingly maintenance-driven rather than design-driven.

Suzuki built it under licence and calls it the D13A, sold as the 1.3 DDiS in the Swift, Baleno, S-Cross, Ignis and Ertiga — and as the 1.25 DDiS in early Indian Swifts, which is the same engine under a third number. Opel's Z13DTH is a fourth. A Suzuki owner searching "D13A" and a Fiat owner searching "1.3 MultiJet" want this page, and until now only one of them could find it.