Maverik Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hi folks, Got the potential to pick up a 2.8 Tdi Dihatsu engine/milner conversion parts for a 90. This looks like I'd be pretty much be able to drop into my new D reg project 90 which had a Normally aspirated diesel in her at the moment. I've done a bit of gogling amd there is a consensus that why not use a 300tdi instead, well this engine i could possible get for half the going price of a 300tdi and it comes with a fair few other ancillary bits. Having done a 300 conversion you kinda need a whole disco to borrow bits off to make it quite tidy, and getting cheap as chips mot failures seems to be less common up here now. Anyways, thoughts on using a 2.8 Dihastu plant? Mav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I wouldn't personally, yes a 300 tdi will cost you more but it will also be worth a lot more when done too. I much prefer sticking to a Landy engine if you can 300 also a nicer engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneandtwo Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I put a 2.8 daihatsu in a series many years go with Milner conversion kit. Basic agricultural diesel. Started well, lots of low down torque. Parts were extortionate. Noisy. Went back to petrol in the end. Wouldn’t have one these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy50 Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Don’t ! Put a 200 or 300 in , the difference is night and day. Plenty of cheap disco’s and engines around . James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Mate had one in a lightweight years ago, it went OK but made the TDi look very civilised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Ok folks, thats enough to persuade me not to go down that perticular route... Has got me thinking though of what potential uber modern engine i could potentially throw in there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy50 Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I have a 300 auto about to go in the for sale section and a couple of 300’s on pallets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 8 hours ago, Maverik said: Has got me thinking though of what potential uber modern engine i could potentially throw in there... Maybe you should start a new incarnation of Astro Al's "Engine Bunfight" thread... It's a bit of an issue as everything modern requires electronics, and the diesels are a more complicated prospect than the petrols now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzar Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 But the modern stuff is much cleaner. I'd quite like to fit a Volvo D5 engine to my series, but I suspect it would be impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Just now, Gazzar said: But the modern stuff is much cleaner. I'd quite like to fit a Volvo D5 engine to my series, but I suspect it would be impossible. I never said it was a bad idea - you're talking to someone who has Megasquirted every megasquirtable vehicle in his fleet! I suspect a lot of the newer car lumps are too fragile to be useful in a LR, there's a lot of torque-limiting and such like goes on. A Ford TDCi (Defender/Jag/Transit/Mondeo etc. etc.) might be a good shout, they seem pretty bulletproof and there's not much technology in a Transit so the ECU should be fairly standalone-able and well understood. Nissan have been turning out VQ35 V6 petrols since forever and they have won a lot of awards, should be quite 'squirtable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 The 5 cylinder 3.2 ford ranger engine was fitted to transits and obviously ... 4x4 ford rangers. You can buy conversion kits that plug and play on wiring but I'm not sure which defenders they fit or what goes to what. I'm sure someone was doing a conversion for the TDV6 LR engine too. All of these are going to be big money though, the engines alone will cost thousands second hand. The thing that puts me off is my old Isuzu Rodeo 3.0 4cyl tdi did 100,000 miles never having a single part fitted apart from servicing. It pushed out 160bhp ish, 360Nm torque and you could sit with your foot pushed into the carpet with a trailer behind you all day and it would give what it had without complaining or you could potter about at idle all day still without complaining. My Amarok with the 3.0 v6 tdi gives 225bhp, 550Nm torque and out performs the Isuzu all day. However in 25,000 miles it's been into limp home 3 times and had the recovery out once. I've had gearbox over heats if I work it too hard for too long and DPF problems if I don't work it hard enough. It's torque limited in reverse which makes trailer reversing harder than it needs to be. I just want an engine and manual gearbox that works. I want my Rodeo back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Be mindful that some pre 2015/16 2.2 & 3.2 Ranger engines suffered from oil pump issues sometimes resulting in catastrophic failure of the engine. The issue seems to be totally random. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted February 27, 2019 Author Share Posted February 27, 2019 I had been thinking down the track of a VAG power plant, due to the support there is for playing with the control side, i dabbled in vag com last summer and its got to be one of the most supported platforms out there for amateur diagnostics etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 2.0l Zetec (petrol), so cheap can be disposable, refined, torquey, efficient, and tunable, oh and easily squirtable. Could even run on carbs if you felt like you wanted to go back to the 70s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe1 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Maverik said: I had been thinking down the track of a VAG power plant, due to the support there is for playing with the control side, i dabbled in vag com last summer and its got to be one of the most supported platforms out there for amateur diagnostics etc... +1 I agree with the vagcom comment as well - I also had a play with one on an older petrol VW engine. Brilliant tool, and completely free - apart from buying a link cable for something like a fiver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Bowie69 said: 2.0l Zetec (petrol), so cheap can be disposable, refined, torquey, efficient, and tunable, oh and easily squirtable. Could even run on carbs if you felt like you wanted to go back to the 70s. The Zetec goes really well when squirted . Helped a mate squirt the one in his Robin Hood Kitcar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 The Volvo d5 and one of the vw 4pots are used in marine applications so a stand alone ecu is out there. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L19MUD Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 3 hours ago, Happyoldgit said: Be mindful that some pre 2015/16 2.2 & 3.2 Ranger engines suffered from oil pump issues sometimes resulting in catastrophic failure of the engine. The issue seems to be totally random. I will second this - a mate is a parts rep for ford and has sold a lot of short engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Or what about an Isuzu engine? The 3.0 tdi 4cyl in my rodeo was fantastic. Pulled well, reasonably refined common rail, low down torque was excellent, stainless timing chain, oil cooled pistons, ECU was a box on a bracket under the bonnet so might be transplant able and i'm sure you could cobble a gearbox. Thornton breakers specialise in pickups so they would be somewhere to start for parts. Or if you do fancy VW they do a V6, V8, V10 and V12 diesel. I think the MPG of the V10 tourag made them undesirable so a donor might not be too awful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Just to be controversial - the TD4 (BMW M47) from the Freelander is a very robust and civilised little unit, VNT for nice low torque, relatively standalone ECU, JLR parts-bin, used in a lot of cars and goes on forever, plenty of shonky Freelanders out there for £500 as donors... Alternatively the 2.2 lump (Ford? Volvo? PAG?) from the Freelander 2, again they appear to have a reasonable reputation and are JLR parts-bin. @Cynic-al the VW V10's had a fearsome reputation for unreliability didn't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 2 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: Just to be controversial - the TD4 (BMW M47) from the Freelander is a very robust and civilised little unit, VNT for nice low torque, relatively standalone ECU, JLR parts-bin, used in a lot of cars and goes on forever, plenty of shonky Freelanders out there for £500 as donors... If you are going to use an M47, do yourself a favour and buy a car version. The Freelander version suffers all sorts of oil burning and breathing problems. Also, the inlet manifold on the car version will be facing the right way. Other than that, its WAY better than a Tdi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy50 Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 30 minutes ago, smallfry said: If you are going to use an M47, do yourself a favour and buy a car version. The Freelander version suffers all sorts of oil burning and breathing problems. Also, the inlet manifold on the car version will be facing the right way. Other than that, its WAY better than a Tdi Ooh you’ll upset Fridge with that kind of talk 🤣,only joking Fridge !!!! Doesn’t the story go that the fuel injection system is better on the car engine , Land Rover changed it for the Freelander and screwed it up ?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) 15 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: @Cynic-al the VW V10's had a fearsome reputation for unreliability didn't they? They have a reputation for being expensive to fix for sure. A lot like the rover v8 except when the v10 engine is running it gives twice the power for half the fuel Edited February 28, 2019 by Cynic-al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 13 hours ago, Ozzy50 said: Ooh you’ll upset Fridge with that kind of talk 🤣,only joking Fridge !!!! Doesn’t the story go that the fuel injection system is better on the car engine , Land Rover changed it for the Freelander and screwed it up ?. I never had a problem and I don't know anyone else who did. The standard PCV breather filter clogs up and is ignored at service-time whereas the BMW unit is a different design, but that's a £20 service part that's easy to swap. Not sure why LR changed it, possibly the BMW version is less suited to off-road angles or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffR Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 2/27/2019 at 10:08 AM, joe1 said: +1 I agree with the vagcom comment as well - I also had a play with one on an older petrol VW engine. Brilliant tool, and completely free - apart from buying a link cable for something like a fiver Where did you get Vag com for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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