classic range rover diesel conversion

[REDROVER]

I might have missed it, but have you hooked up air conditioning?

How is the cooling? Are you using the stock radiator?

Btw, I am about half way through acquiring the bits and pieces to do this conversion on my RRC...just wondering about the issues I am going to run into.

You mentioned a slight issue with the exhaust. Can you explain that?

hello well few things i would like to say first i am so sorry i have been so busy couldn't post some videos of my truck after i finished the job.
i just finished 600 mile trip, it run beautiful . i am getting about 18 mpg. power gain it noticeable but not very much. however on low range it is a MUNSTER. just like a tractor.
make sure u get a mil spec diesel motor. they come with low miles and they are deferent that civilian versions. u can run on 80% blend of used trans oil or motor oil. that's what i do.

radiator on a land rover is much bigger than many 4x4s but way to small of this diesel .the capacity is about 7 gallons, i had a shop make me a 6 core radiator same as used on 18 wheeler trucks.
i am using very large trans cooler. radiator is being cooled by Volvo electric fun from inside and the original land rover auxiliary front funs.

u can use the original power steering pump
u must have 2 batteries
u can use the original water reservoir
make sure u make it with manual glow plug controller ( very easy)
i didnt put my AC yet but no big deal easy job
u must put vacuum pump for your breaks ( and it will work better )
make sure the injection pump return hose is clear, so u can see if there is air in the system.
u must remove the original fuel pump, and make a tr8 pipe goin all the way down to the bottom of the tank.
u must use a lift pump closer to the motor. and i use another lift pump all the way back by the filter.
u can not use fan clutch to cool your radiator it will be very close to ur radiator. 6.2 is along and wide motor. 350 lb heaver,
u must use the strongest springs to hold it, i prefer 3 inch heavy duty lift springs.
u must modify the exhaust headers to fit.
if its a motor off of the hummer u must remove the oil filter housing and turn it around ( very easy)
make sure to use AC delco 60G glow plugs,
I LOVE THIS MOTOR. AND I AM VERY HAPPY WITH IT. VERY SIMPLE VERY RELIABLE LOW RPM TQ DELIVERING MOTOR. PARTS EVERYWERE .

WILL I DO IT AGAIN??? 200% YES WOUDNT YOU IF YOUR FUEL IS COSTING U 1.5 DOLLAR A GALLON?

BY the way some of you dont know, this motors are never made to run on diesel. they are made to run on JP85 that's a military fuel. lots of oil. and ur motor will love you.

if u have any questions fill free to email me LADREAMRIDES@AOL.COM

ERIC

 

[LtFuzz]

Interesting about using the 80% blend. I'm running 100% diesel #2 in my 6.2, also a military J-Code.

I also get 21 mpg on the highway though, 17 in town. What tires are you running?

You're damn right about it being a low-range monster. I was absolutely blowing through DEEP sand in 4-low with tires at 30 psi. It moved the truck effortlessly.

Interesting about the 6-core radiator. I'm running a 3 core OEM 6.2 radiator and it's not working. I thought maybe my fan was too small -- I'm also looking into twin electric fans.

Can you please post some info about the Volvo fan you're using?

 

[REDROVER]

the coolant must be about 7 gallons in the system, and also our trucks have such a bad shape when it comes to cooling, no radiator fits in there, 6 core works good, but i am thinking of adding another radiator in front, ( ill post some pics and info ) i am working on it right now , long weekend is coming, its time to disapear

yes u can use 80% blend of trans oil with no problems at all.

my tires are 265 16 bfg. but i have 4 gears u have 5 speed


but the fact that my fuel cost is about 1.50 a gallon i am very happy with 18 mpg

volvo fun is off of the 950 i think or 750 i will check for u tomorrow. thats a very strong fun.

ERIC

 

[LtFuzz]

Thanks for the info man. I'm going to be doing some stuff in the near future to try to reach 25 mpg with 100% #2 diesel. I'll be sure to keep in touch with you to see how your motor does. I'm particularly interested in the A/C install.

How is the noise on yours? 30 hours on the interstate made me realize the 6.2 is a bit loud and pushes quite a bit of heat into the cabin. I'm thinking of putting some sound/heat proofing on the bulkhead and the interior of the cabin (floor panels and footwells)

 

[REDROVER]

heat from the engine? whats that? loll i did as much heat and sound proofing i could from new lexus that was crashed. but after about 4 hours on the road i can fill the heat. sound it not that much of a problem..

all diesels run hot.


just finished my dubble radiator setup. i got some pics for you.

 

[LtFuzz]

heat from the engine? whats that? loll i did as much heat and sound proofing i could from new lexus that was crashed. but after about 4 hours on the road i can fill the heat. sound it not that much of a problem..

all diesels run hot.


just finished my dubble radiator setup. i got some pics for you.

Sweet let's see em!

 

[REDROVER]

here are some pics of the second radiator being added today.

 

[LtFuzz]

Wild -- any chance you can snap a pic looking straight down at both?

How close is the 6-core to the pulleys on the front of the engine?

Does the RRC have more room up front? I don't think there's any way I could fit two...

 

[REDROVER]

6 core is about 3.5 inches away from the main pulley. and the radiator itself is 5 inches thick. but to cool better radiator must have larger surface to catch cold air, sometimes being thick doesn't help. and for that reason the second aluminum one should back up the larger one.

on the streets and freeway the six core is working amazingly well. but when i go up highway 395 to sierra Nevada. ( fully loaded ) it likes to pass the center line. i dont like that.

this aluminum second rad will take care of the job. ( on the HUMMER H1 the radiator is about the size of the range rovers hood ) diesels hate hot water

i will take some pics so u can see the distance from the pulley to main rad.

over all this is the only issue that i have. at first i tried the original rover rad, it didnt work. then i tried to re core. it helped 20% then i added 2 front funs they helped another 20% then i made a new 6 core radiator that changed everything. and now back up radiator

i think it was easer to do the diesel conversion than dealing with radiator shops haha

ERIC

 

[headdamage]

That's a lot of rad... are you sure that you are just not asking too much of the engine? I've owned a couple of rover diesels and a couple of GM diesels and sometimes you just have to take your foot out of it and drop a gear to keep the engine from cooking itself. This is most evident when pushing up mountain passes or towing heavy loads. The GM 6.2/6.5 is a great engine but it is more of a light duty auto engine than it is a heavy duty truck engine and needs to be driven as such. Just my 2 cents

 

[RBBailey]

Looks like you've done a fantastic job on this! I'm curious to see your long term numbers and reliability, etc....

I'm also curious to know how you handle the California issue. I had a friend who had a 4.6 RR that needed a new exhaust -- you can't even buy a good used exhaust from a donor car of the same year and model, it is illegal in California to simply swap pipes! But this may be for newer than 1989 cars, etc... I don't know too many specifics.

Good luck.

 

[LtFuzz]

That's a lot of rad... are you sure that you are just not asking too much of the engine? I've owned a couple of rover diesels and a couple of GM diesels and sometimes you just have to take your foot out of it and drop a gear to keep the engine from cooking itself. This is most evident when pushing up mountain passes or towing heavy loads. The GM 6.2/6.5 is a great engine but it is more of a light duty auto engine than it is a heavy duty truck engine and needs to be driven as such. Just my 2 cents

The milspec 6.2 is their "heavy duty" version -- thicker block, bigger exhaust valves, more power. The civilian/"light duty" version. The numbers are quite different... J-code motors can pump out as much as 330 ft lbs, versus 240(?) for consumer version. If I have that right... seems like it depends on what you read, who you talk to

You're right about keeping the foot out of it... but I had heating issues at any speed in any gear going up mild mountain passes (5 miles, 5% grade or so) in CO. That was with custom built 4-core that was about the same width as the stock LR radiator. Power was never the issue, it would hold 55 mph in 5th gear fully loaded but I just couldn't get the heat under control.

I'm gonna take some of RedRover's ideas with me to the radiator shop tomorrow. I'd rather not run a dual radiator if I can avoid it. I'm thinking with 5 or 6 cores and a good dual electric fan I'll be alright -- with a single direct drive fan and 4 core I was only barely overheating (225-230F) on the passes and held 190F around town in 95F with 80% humidity.

The stock Chevy 6.2L 3 core I have now is useless. And it's 41" long. Who knows how they let trucks off the assembly line with this thing.

Good thing the iron block can take a lot of abuse.

 

[headdamage]

My 6.2 was a J code with 160hp and 300lbs ft, it was in a 3/4 ton 2wd suburban and I never had heating issues unless I was really pushing it with a load up the mountains and then all I had to do was gear down and back off a bit on the speed. My current GM diesel is a 6.5TD heavy duty (I forget the code letter) and it seems ok to as long as I keep things within reason. I suspect you have an air flow issue, I have a friend that has a 6.5NA in a 110 with a custom rad and he doesn't have any heat problems. He is using a mechanical fan with ducting to make sure that it is drawing through the rad.

 

[LR Max]

On the overheating thing, might want to check and see if the hot air is escaping your engine compartment properly. If not, I know Jeep XJ's will either modify their hood latches to allow air to flow out that way as well as add hood louvers (forgot what said louvers came off of).

Many years ago I wheeled with a guy who put a Chevy 8.1 in a TJ. I tell ya what, he had A LOT of engine in NOT A LOT of space. He had a heating issue. His answer? He took a stick with a piece of toilet paper (no joke) and with the engine running, noted where the airflow was. Then he picked up a number of 12v little fans and positioned them in the engine compartment/inner fenders to channel the air out. Worked well!

I bet the new radiator works like a champ but I wanted to throw this out there in case you needed another course of action.

Currently I'm in the same boat as you, overheating rig. Got the new radiator in there and I taped a meat thermometer to the top coolant hose. Currently seeing what my temps are and making sure I don't burn more pistons!

 

[REDROVER]

the thing is that on those chevy trucks radiator is 3 core but has much larger surface to cool.. in a land rover everything is covered we don't have that much air flow.

by the way i took my second radiator out. didn't do the job. why? because when the first one gets hot the hot air constantly flows true to the main radiator, and keeps the water warm. on my truck water only passes the center line if it is very loaded and going up hill lets say freeway 14 in so cal has a section about 16 miles up hill. but other than that its fine. on the streets and normal freeway driving. its beautiful.

so now we changed few things on it.

we made a really nice aluminum fan shroud, with a Volvo fun.
replaced that 2 rover funs with one very strong single fun.

and made a 2.5 gallon water reservoir .

i just came back from the trip 600 miles. it worked problem finally solved

the 6 core radiator that i have is made of cupper its much durable . but doesn't cool as fast as aluminum.

if u make a radiator make if from aluminum. will be better