300 td

[STAINED]

Gidday , new to Rovers and would like some honest opinions on the 300td , I am looking into a Defender , maybe a 96 model and wanted some advise please

have had a look at Scorpion Racing site and love their parts and accessories , so wouldn't mind building something up ...

anyway nuff from me

cheers

[ISUZUROVER]

300Tdi is a good motor - just make sure the appropriate "kit" from Land-Rover has been fitted to fix the timing belt misalignment problems the early models had. If looked after and the timing belt is changed every 70000km then it will be a good motor. Also very easy to tweak for more performance - there are some threads on this - just fit an EGT so you don't overdo it.

IMO $crapiron racing is an overpriced waste of money. There are much better options around if you want better travel offroad.

[lexi]

Your right Ben and I hate the way they put a double page add in mags and hardly a price in site.
Alex

[STAINED]

There is ... so i have been informed by some Rover nuts i met today .... a shopin Bayswater W.A. that stocks Scorpion gear and other accessories called Rover Craft or something .
So will get up that way once i get my grubby mits on a Defender and pay their annual golf club fee's

thanks for the input on the 300 td , will scope this out further !

I have a guy called Dave from Britt Parts who is going to inspect any that i find , so fingers crossed !

[STAINED]

Ok , anyone got any good / bad opinions on a 6.2 chev v8 diesel Defender ??

there is one comming up for sale from down south soon , i know a bit about the 6.5 's but nothing about a 6.2 ????

would the torque screw up the drive train ? the guy has Maxi drive axles front and rear , but no lockers .

cheers

[ISUZUROVER]

From what I have heard the Chev diesels are prone to cooling problems - guy I know with one in a rangie had a lot of problems until he fitted a custom maxi-drive radiator. And from what I hear the 6.2 isn't as strong as the 6.5. But you can probably get better info on the engine in the main forum.

The rear salisbury with MD axles should have no problems. The front axles and diff centre should likewise be fine, the weak points will be the front ring and pinion and CV's. But they should hold up fine depending on what type or 4x4ing you want to do and what size tyres you run.

[6.5 rangie]

i run a 6.5 in my rangie and so far the cooling seems fine, it runs a MQ patrol 4 core radiator (4litre model), but to do this you need a 50mm body lift. the rest off the driveline seems to be holding up ok (t700/lt95 t/c) but i haven't driven it that much (long term project, always doing something to it) and i am thinking off doing the toyota diff centre conversion). the 6.2 is a good motor (just a smaller bore than the 6.5, i think) they are very simple and easy to work on, and get bits for. i chose not to run the turbo on mine as they don't like a lot of boost (heads crack) but they have heaps of grunt anyway. you can get the same if not more power out of a little turbo diesel, but hey its a little turbo diesel, it doesn't look and sound as good as a v8, and boy they do sound good.
p.s. i'm not having a dig at rover td, they are a good motor, i just like doin things a bit different. plus i'll probably own one one day!
i do recommend you take that defender for a drive though!!

[STAINED]

Nop drama thanks , so what's the deal with next to NO DIESEL COUNTY'S FOR SALE

there are 4 advertised ...........all 3.5's under powered juice guzzlers .........doesn't make sence i thought diesels would be the way to go ! obviously im wrong

We used to use a 4bdit in the Rovers in the Army , brilliant motor ! yet in Civi land there is nothing

oh well the search continues

[strange_rover]

Stained,
Ring up Kevin at Jordan Rovertech in Bentley he deals with and installs the 6.5s into defenders etc... I saw them putting a 6.5 into a 130 quite a while ago. He deals with alot of the more performance type jobs on landys. He also will check out any vehicles you find and does a good thorough job. Here is their website, go and have a look. www.jordanrover-tech.com.au
Shano

[EARSEZOOK]

here's some adviCe,

learn to spell

[STAINED]

here's some adviCe,

learn to spell

your nothing a bullet wouldn't fix .

Thanks for the heads up on that shop , but have not heard a good report from 3 guys so far about the "service " they got from Rovertech .
Will stick with Andrew from Brit Parts , he has been rave reviewed by L/R owners club members .

I spoke to a guy from Western 4x4 ... he owns and repairs County's and Defenders ... so he is going to keep an ear out for me as well .
I wouldn't mind testing the 6.2 , just have to wait till it comes up , but if i find one inbetween then ....

once again thanks

[ISUZUROVER]

I own a county with a 4BD1, and there are plenty of others I know that do too. I think the reason they may be hard to find is that there weren't a huge amount made, and they are so good that the people who own them don't want to sell them. I heard that there were only 700 counties made with the 4BD1/LT85 combo - but I find it hard to believe.

I also know of two that were just shipped to Canada too!!!

[Bush65]

I was about to hand over the money for a rebuilt 6.5 chevy diesel (reason for 65 in my login name), when I changed and bought a 4BD1-T.

I had done a lot of research on the 6.2 and 6.5 before that.

Early 6.2's develop cracks in the webs at the main bearings. The castings were changed to fix this when the 6.5 was introduced (late 6.2 used this same casting). I used to know the casting number when they changed, but I have not retained that info.

6.2 and 6.5 suffer from cracks in the heads, but this is easy to repair by reaming the affected water passage and fitting a sleeve.

They have cooling problems in the rear of the cylinder heads, where pockets of steam occur, which affects heat transfer to the water. This is not related to overall water temperature as registered by the temp gauge. This was cured in late 6.5's by fitting dual thermostats and a high output water pump that can flush the pockests of steam out of the heads.

You can not easily retrofit the high output water pump to earlier engines as it rotates in the opposite direction and is driven by a serpentine belt.

You have to keep a good watch on the rubber in the harmonic balancer. When it deteriorates (starts to bulge) they are prone to breaking the crankshaft.

If the bolt that retains the harmonic balancer is not tightened correctly, they will flog out the keyway in the crankshaft.

You should also fit a good oil cooler for these engines.