Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I am looking for a diesel conversion for a swb ute. There are a couple of 2.25 about, but I have heard them being described in the same sentence as rice pudding.
Good fuel economy would be an issue as would the cost of the conversion [already own 4 registered landies].

So, what motor ,roughly how much,does anyone do a kit.. ie adaptor plate, and how hard is it to fit???

cheers Evelyn

Evelyn

Apparently the 200 Tdi turbo diesel from an early disco/ defender is fitted to series vehicles in the UK a fair bit. I think the bolt pattern etc is the same, but I believe there might be an input shaft /clutch issue. Some back issues of LRO mag might have an article. A good running 200 Tdi would set you back about $4500.00 with all the ancilliaries.
They will run well on bio diesel, ( vege oil) and get about 35mpg in a disco!!!

JC

Yeh, 200tdi is certainly my favoured option, but I can see problems with Dept. of Transport 'cause of the turbo in vechile with only drum brakes. I do have that article in a back issue of LRO, titled 'sheep in wolf's clothing' or something like that. Just today I got LRe and there is a workshop Q@A of relevance
To be honest, those books make me sick. I drool over all the goodies you can get for older Landrovers in that country. But not here. Well not at a realistic price anyway!

Bio Diesel???......My 4bd1 series3 runs on it quite OK too. Don't get 35mpg though!

cheers
Evelyn

I think you can get a conversion kit--from uk though--to fit the newer Ford Transit engine into a Series Rover mating up to the Series G/box. Engine dimensions look similar to the 2.25LR Diesel. Standard series 4th gear @5.41:1 might be too low for any real performance though. The 200TDI if you can get one would be the best bet. You might be able to get away with using 6cyl front drums and lwb rear drums to improve the braking... Or fit....Lancruiser.....front and rear axles to get discs....

Nick

better ask auspost and other numerous courier companies what they think of the transit engine, especially the first ones... I think the record is 3 injector pumps in 12 months, (In warranty at that stage), at $4000 a throw, not a good thing for non warranty owners. These Bosch electronic pumps were a real disaster in these vehicles, strangely enough, the freelander uses a similar pump, and while they still have failures, they don't seem as prevalent as the transits. Is it because the Ford is used in a commercial application? I'm sure someone else can verify these concerns...

Go the 200 Tdi, fit a booster to the brakes, and there is a disc conversioin kit for series LR available from Zeus engineering in the UK.

JC

I have a 2.25D in my 109 ute and a 4BD1 in my 110.

My 2.25 goes well, with similar performance to a 2.25P, but a bit lower torque curve (better offroad over the slow stuff), and half the fuel consumption (9L/100). Mine was rebuilt with 0.040" pistons, and I have added a few tweaks to the injector pump, but apart from that it is stock.

When I had an overdrive it would sit at 100-110 all day (except when I came to a hill). It will still do 100 km/h or over without an OD (sold it since I don't use it on the highway much), but to make life easy on the engine I usually sit at 80-90. All that is with 33's and stock gearing, in a heavy 109.

So if you get/build a good one, they will work well if you aren't expecting rocketship performance.

That said - the QLD transport rules (few years old):
If you have a SIII LWB you can fit up to a 4.0L na diesel engine (or 5L petrol) with 6-cylinder brakes (same as stage 1 diesel). For a turbo diesel you need to multiply the engine capacity by 1.5. So in a SIII LWB a 200Tdi would be no problem (with 6cyl drums).

For SIIA and SWB vehicles the maximums were a bit lower (3L diesel and 4L petrol ?), but since there are so few differences between the models, I'm sure you could fit SIII brakes and get it approved.

The 2.8L ISUZU 4JB1T from the rodeo/jackaroo is a good engine. There are some adaptor plates available to put this engine in a LR available in the UK.

AFAIK the 200Tdi will almost bolt straight in, you just need to relocate the battery, and for some engine models move one engine mount.

Bit of info herehttp://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=2793 about an interesting diesel conversion for a series.

Aluminium 3 cyl Audi A2 diesel. 105 hp, 195 ft lb torque (80% torque at 1300 rpm) with chip (90 hp and 180 ft lb stock).

Engine weighs 88 kg - 45 kg less than series engine.

He reports that the weight saving up front and the free reving engine with twice power of series engine has transformed it.

Economy is 55 mpg at 55 mph.

Interesting conversion... Don't think that engine is available in OZ though, and definitely no off-the-shelf adaptors.

Thanks guys, your info is great! So, if I can find someone to machine me an adaptor plate, How'd you's reckon a 2.7 D Nissan would go. I cough...cough....owned one for about 3years in a Navara twin cab 4wd. it was no great powerhouse, but proved very reliable. We always put the lack of power down to the fact that it was a large vehicle with a steel tray.
I thinkI can get my hands on one cheap, so what do you's think?

Cheers Evelyn

The Nissan SD33 was a reasonably common fit into a LR. There are/were adaptors available to bolt it to a series gearbox, or to bolt the engine and nissan gearbox to a series T-case (better option). The SD33 and SD33T were fitted to MQ patrols I think - is this the same as the navara diesel or is the navara diesel a later model? It is possible they have the same bolt pattern.

If you are planning on keeping the Series gearbox, go very easy on it if you want it to last. The IIA box is likely to break layshafts, the SIII box is likely to have 1st/2nd gear problems.

Yeah, my Series had a Nissan SD30 (ED30???) and 5 speed gearbox onto the Series transfer.

2.7 Nissan is a little four pot aint it? the 3.3s are six cylinder. The four is a better option for your series. Your gearbox will only last months if you`re lucky with a tdi unless you can get an lt77 and axles of a stage one but even then mate it`s not worth the trouble IMHO. Standard series gearbox is ok as long as power is kept under 90bhp.
Alex

Hi,
You can try with Mercedes Benz 240diesel(75bhp)4cyl or 300diesel(90bhp)5cyl from 123 type.They are good and easy-to-fit also very common conversion here by us.
hope its useful..
cheers