• Welcome to the Land Rover UK Forums

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to register then please Register Now

Engine size/buying advice!

A

alex lake

In Second Gear
We are looking on changing our 110 1988 defender for a mid 90`s model swb 90. We don`t know a great deal, and were wondering what was the difference in the engines/sizes, some are 300, some 200, are they different sizes?.
What areas should we look at?, we looked at one today, but both front ball joints were perished, and the bush above the rear hub had split, are these expensive fixes?

Thanks for any help you can give us!

Alex.
 
The 200TDi is 2.5 Litres as is the 300TDi. The 200 is called the 200 as it produces almost 200lb/ft torque, where as the 300 is very similar in output but completely different and more refined.

Whatever you do, don't get confused with the TD and TDi engines. The TD is the old pre-TDi turbocharged diesel and is indirect injection. The TDi is direct injection turbocharged.

If you've never driven a 200/300TDi, then you will probably take quite a liking to the performance. :)
 
The 200TDi and 300TDi are both 2.5 Turbo Diesel (with Intercooler) engines.

The 200TDi is reknowned to be the best engine LR ever made; they go on forever, as long as they're looked after and get the oil changed often.

300TDi's are probably the second best, they're a lot smoother and a bit quiter, but they do have some known problems at certain milages. Again, if you see no smoke and have evidence it's been looked after, should go for a good 200,000+ miles.

Thats about the limit of my knowledge so I'll let the other questions be answered by people who know what they're talking about ;)

Edit: SNAP rich! :D
 
lozzd said:
The 200TDi is reknowned to be the best engine LR ever made; they go on forever, as long as they're looked after and get the oil changed often.
Click to expand...

Time will tell if they can outlast the Rover 2.25 Litre Petrol. ;)
 
I've seen some, and yes they are still running quite nicely. More often than not the engines get changed from vehicle to vehicle as their 'host' is broken for parts.

Although the best part is that they'll run even with them burning oil, a piston split and jammed against the head etc. I've not seen one throw a conrod to date either. :eek:

The 2.25 Litre Petrol was in production for 25+ years, with very minor changes. Beat that. :D
 
Rich_P said:
I've not seen one throw a conrod to date either. :eek:
Click to expand...

Maybe you aint Rich...I have though, and it's well messy. I have seen the resulting mess caused by three 3brg engines throwing a leg out of bed, and one 5 bearing. Two of the 3brgs were diesel, which is why they changed to the 5 bearing, to remove the flex at high revs in the 3brg engines crankshaft.

One friend who's engine went west had buried on in the back garden, an engine out of a IIa it was, he dug it back up (after a good 6 months) we ran paraffin through it, and put it in the Landy, and it started after the second attempt.

But back to the original query...Land Rover learned some lessons after fitting turbos to the 2.5l engines, the blocks developed hairline cracks which gave similar symptoms to a head gasket failure, but was irrepairable. Therefore, they produced the 200Tdi and 300tdi, both 2495cc overhead valve engines. The engine blocks are similar to the 2.5td, but strengthened internally. They have direct injection.

They are reknowned for durability and power...in a defender the engine will produce 107bhp. (and 111bhp in a disco, which has a different manifold) the power output between the 300 and 200 tdis is the same.

The 300TDi has a single serpentine belt for the alternator and power steering etc, and there are a few internal differences between the 300 and 200..

There are a few pics of the engines on Turner Engineerings website, here
The site is well worth a visit, there is a lot of info on how they rebuild and recondition engines on there.

Hope that helps.
 
alex lake said:
What areas should we look at?, we looked at one today, but both front ball joints were perished, and the bush above the rear hub had split, are these expensive fixes?
Click to expand...


By front ball joints, do you mean the chrome balls (swivels, or chalices)? It costs about £70 per side to repair these, if you do the work yourself. Lots of folk will just put grease in the housing rather than repair them.

Bushes, well they would be an MOT fail if split, but again, not too big a job to repair...awkward though if things are siezed up. Again, depends on whether you will be doing it yourself. There are a lot of aftermarket suspension mounting bushes available, Polybush to name but one brand. Have a look at the websites of Paddocks and Craddocks, or DLS to see what sort of prices to expect for full bush kits.

You'll need to have a good look at the chassis and bulkhead of any Land Rover you look at. Take a spanner with you..not a big one, say 5/8"s ( :) doesnt have to be imperial...you could take a metric one if you wanted...) and tap the chassis lightly...if its decent metal, it will be a clean crisp sound you'll get. If rotten, well its a dull sort of thud. You'll soon hear the difference. If the owner wont let you tap at the chassis, walk away.
 
Rich_P said:
The 2.25 Litre Petrol was in production for 25+ years, with very minor changes. Beat that. :D
Click to expand...
V8 Buick . Still going strong after 50 years.:) Bored out a bit, but mainly the same engine.

and the Gardner LW, Leyland 600, Rolls Royce Griffon and Eagle, Wright Cyclone, Pratt and Witney Wasp,

Chris
 
And the genny set we used to have, powered by a Lister CS diesel, built in 1935. Still going strong. It had an oil change every two weeks when we were using it... In its life, all it had had done was a set of rings.
 
Back
Top Bottom