Defender 110 Engine Crossroads needed Recommendations

[skiingnerd]

I'm new to the site, and spent some time reading posts on engine swaps/replacements, and could use some good recommendations, as I am newer to land rovers.

I have a 1986 Defender 110 Ex MOD RHD, that has a 200tdi conversion. Appears to be from a disco, as the turbo is set down low by previous owner. AND it is loosing oil, lets say, a fair amount. Nothing in the coolant, nothing on the ground.....all through the engine. Oil pressure seems good. I changed the oil recently and noticed some metal in it. I'm gonna try some Barr's stop leak to "limp" it along for now. Still drives strong, idles like a tractor (i.e. normal) some white smoke at start up, but don't notice much driving, other than I check my oil level every few days. With that said......this is where I am at.

Options seem to be:

-Rebuild the current engine (estimated prices?????)

-Replace with a like donor engine 200tdi (estimated prices?????)

-Replace with a similar donor engine 300 tdi or TD5 (price, availability????)

-Replace with a similar diesel engine (Mercedes, Cummins, VW....recommendations????)

-Replace with a Chevy v6 or Ford 302 (I confess, I am a ford guy).


ALSO some other parameters, It lives in California, rebuilding or swapping to another diesel saves me from having to smog, or swap out fuel components. Going gasoline would force me to potentially get smoked! I am confident on doing most of the work (grunt work) with the exception of rebuilding the internals of an engine or welding (but "I have a guy").

I'm leaning to keeping the diesel (just love the sound, and smile it puts on my face) but can't seem to justify paying $3-5K to keep it when I could transplant a modern engine for the price....at least, I think I could.....donor early mid 90's mustang 5.0L??????

Thanks all

 

[MarkIIa]

In Australia, the Isuzu 4BD1, and the turbocharged equivalent more-so, is spoken of in revered tones by Landy enthusiasts. A robust 3.9 litre 4 cylinder designed for a light truck, will push around a relatively light weight One Ten reliably 'forever' with very little engine maintenance. The engine has basically no weak points.
The engine is usually mated to the LT95 four speed gearbox and transfer, though adapters to run an Isuzu truck box with LT230 transfer are available sporadically.

This is the same engine and gearbox arrangement that the Australian Army uses in the 4x4 and 6x6 Land Rover fleet, which is being auctioned off currently-so spares such as the bellhousing and flywheel housing should be available on the second hand market. I have two One Tens with the naturally aspirated engine+LT95 gearbox and they are easily the combination most suited to off road work that a Land Rover has been factory fitted with. Incredible torque right down low. The gearbox has a handsomely deep low range, meaning engine braking down hills is so slow it is tedious in first!
Cruising at 110km/h is no problem either, it'll do it all day, and at highway speeds quieter than my friend's 300tdi Defender.

 

[Javelinadave]

I sent you a P.M.

 

[zelatore]

While the 302 shouldn't be too difficult to fit, and the power potential is obvious, I don't know how you'd ever get it through smog. I suppose it wouldn't be an issue so long as you owned it/didn't sell it as it's currently titled as a diesel so 'how would they know', but if you ever tried to sell it I'm sure all sorts of red flags would pop up.

I would also think your resale would be better with the diesel, especially in CA, as they are so hard to come by. A CA legal diesel Defender is something of a unicorn.

As for the Isuzu swap, one of the NCLR club members just picked up a Disco with (I believe) an Isuzu. He's loving it so far. The NCLR site is down for maintenance tonight, but he's got some pics and info about it posted there. He's also fairly close to Sac, so if you ask nice he might give you the 50-cent tour of the thing.

 

[David Harris]

In Australia, the Isuzu 4BD1, and the turbocharged equivalent more-so, is spoken of in revered tones by Landy enthusiasts. A robust 3.9 litre 4 cylinder designed for a light truck, will push around a relatively light weight One Ten reliably 'forever' with very little engine maintenance. The engine has basically no weak points.
The engine is usually mated to the LT95 four speed gearbox and transfer, though adapters to run an Isuzu truck box with LT230 transfer are available sporadically.

This is the same engine and gearbox arrangement that the Australian Army uses in the 4x4 and 6x6 Land Rover fleet, which is being auctioned off currently-so spares such as the bellhousing and flywheel housing should be available on the second hand market. I have two One Tens with the naturally aspirated engine+LT95 gearbox and they are easily the combination most suited to off road work that a Land Rover has been factory fitted with. Incredible torque right down low. The gearbox has a handsomely deep low range, meaning engine braking down hills is so slow it is tedious in first!
Cruising at 110km/h is no problem either, it'll do it all day, and at highway speeds quieter than my friend's 300tdi Defender.

If I'm not mistaken, the Perentie's have a more heavy duty front axle to take the much greater weight of the Isuzu engine (750 lbs.). I looked into this conversion long ago and just decided that without access to the correct Perentie parts, it wasn't viable.

 

[MarkIIa]

If I'm not mistaken, the Perentie's have a more heavy duty front axle to take the much greater weight of the Isuzu engine (750 lbs.). I looked into this conversion long ago and just decided that without access to the correct Perentie parts, it wasn't viable.

No, same old 2 pin front diff with no extra reinforcing or bracing over standard Defender or earlier 110 front diffs. The only 4x4 variants with HD front end were those intended for surveillance roles and gunships.

My civilian One Ten and Perentie, both Isuzu powered, had identical front axle assemblies, until I did the 24 spline upgrade and Ashcroft ATB in the civvy One Ten. Rear is all the same too.

A few people bend the front end with the Isuzu but it usually takes some pretty harsh treatment or bad driving habits to do so.

 

[LR Max]

There is a guy in Cali who has an Isuzu for sale somewhere in the Cali area. Price is extremely reasonable. I think that would give you a better engine with more power. Always a great thing to have. Search defender source.

TDI prices seem to have shot up recently. No clue why. If you could still get a 300 TDI for $2k, then that would be nice. However seems like they are more like $4k these days.

If you are handy, then look at rebuilding it yourself. TDI parts are fairly common these days. If you've ever wrenched on a series 4 cylinder, you'll be right at home with a TDI. Just double check everything. Would be a good month long project (i.e. working on it after work, weekends, etc)

 

[mtnbike28]

I love TeriAnn's Ford motor LR, but I think a swap will cost more than rebuilding. Parts like motor mounts, wiring bits, trans adapter, etc all add up QUICKLY!
PS try "Restore" in the engine oil, it had worked great in my LCs.

Good luck!

 

[dcproven]

Rebuild the 200Tdi.
This is one of the best engines for Land Rovers, I had a couple of the 300Tdi, very similar, it's fairly easy to rebuild, you can source a turbo from a Defender so it seats properly and worse case scenario (some parts are hard to find) you can put a 300Tdi or a 2.8 International( the 300tdi replacement).
If you like electronics and tuning, go for a Td5, but they are much more complex.
I would stay on the diesel power plants used by LR, since you already have one and they are the easiest route for you. I am just jealous I don't have on here in L.A.

HTH

 

[tacr2man]

as previous poster rebuild the 200tdi , its an easy DIY job , just follow the manual . Engine swaps are OK but not if you are doing it to save money, as they always work out more expensive than at first thought . I have done a fair few over the years , the latest is a BMW 3L TDI 6 cylinder into my 110 to replace the 3.9iV8 JMHO

 

[El Solis]

My only comment is find why it is leaking oil and fix that. Then leave it alone and drive the crap out of it. I say this for many reasons. First, I have the same set up and it does well (I hope that you have a 1.4 ratio T case) so keep it and maintain it, cheapest option. Second, here in our lovely state of CA there is a witch hunt for Defenders that are not NAS spec, especially diesel so there is a chance that you will get a letter stating you have to take the truck out of state (I personally have seen the letter, not addressed to me thankfully). It would be a shame to dump in tons of money and then not be able to keep it. I'm close as well in Livermore and can help with some repairs/etc. PM me if you have any other questions. Chris

 

[Nonimouse]

How much oil are you losing?

The 200Tdi is a wet engine, it loses oil. When new the oil loss tolerances were acceptable unless over 2ltrs per 500 miles.

It takes a lot to kill a 200 but it helps to give it a little love

Remember the oil type is almost as important as the state of tune

5w30 to 15w40 preferably semi synth and NEVER Castrol Magnatec. What are you using?

Which filters?

When did you last clean your oil condenser?

When did you last set the tappets?

 

[skiingnerd]

Sorry, I've been busy with work lately..... and haven't even looked at the defender in a few days.

I appreciate all the recommendations, I'm leaning towards a rebuild as of now.

But it is about 2-3 qts over about 400 miles.....

I just put in Royal Purple 15w40, next time I will go with the 5w30 semi synthetic (its a shame, it runs SOOOOO much smoother/quieter with the Royal Purple. Using a Proline Filter from Rovers North (they were out of the Genuine, but i'm thinking of using the Royal Purple one next go around).

Havent' gotten to the Tappets yet (any good tutorials on that, I'm new to Rovers and this engine).

Oil Condenser? are you referring to the oil cooler?

Thank you

Brian

 

[Nonimouse]

On the passenger side of the head is a black plastic oil condenser. It takes in oil vapour, as part of the engine breather system, connected to the air intake and allows it to condense so that the oil falls back down to the sump. It's full of a gauze material. Take it off by undoing the jubilee clips on the hoses and undoing the 2 10mm bolts. Watch the 'O' ring doesn't get damaged. Flush the whole thing out with carb or brake cleaner, then leave to dry before re-fitting

Set the tappets using the Haynes manual - step by step.

So 2 to 3 litres per 400 miles - that's on the high side

Work on the lower the numbers of the oil, the thinner it is, so stick to 10 or 15w/40. Although 5w/30 gets you really good fuel consumption

Have you done a compression test?

 

[dcproven]

Get the RAVE manual, it shows how to do valve clearance adjustment on the tdi