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Poor hill climbing performance, 300Tdi Disco (manual)


SPendrey

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I spent last weekend in the Shropshire/Wales area, and was rather disappointed at how often I sat in first gear trying to climb steep (but normal) roads.  I am running slightly larger than standard tyres (235/85/16) so appreciate there is a little extra power needed to maintain momentum, and the car is heavy (HD bumpers, steering guard, diff guards, winch, me!, recovery gear etc.).  I'm not a fan of engine tweaks particularly, I don't want the black smoke sometimes seen, and the age of the engine (28 yrs) doesn't lend itself to additional pressure either.

So, I'm considering a 1.2 to 1.4 transfer box change... I'm sure people have done this in the past and I'm looking for feedback, +ve or -ve experience on doing such a switch.  The reason I'm unsure is 90% of the time I don't really see an issue, the car drives reasonably around town as is, so I want to get opinions on if this is really a worthwhile exercise?  It is that 10% of the time when it is frustrating, even having to drop to low range for some particularly steep starts.

Ta.

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Check the rubber pipe from the turbo to the waste gate, and the other short bits - tee to turbo and tee to FIP boost. They live in a hot area and perish.

If this has happened also check the boost "slider" that is controlled by the boost pin in the FIP is free to move.

Check the intercooler for oily patches usually indicative of a leak. 

Steve

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If it was not getting enough air in, you’d probably have black smoke already.  I’d look at the boost pipe from turbo compressor housing to FIP as Steve mentioned above.  I have also had similar issues from a split diaphragm in the FIP and a seized horizontal pin in the lower part of the hosing that runs against the sloping part of the boost pin on the diaphragm.  That freed off with a pit of a push and responded well to lubrication.

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i tried a 1.2 transfer box on my 110 and it was very gutless pulling away so i founr a discovery mpi transfer box that had the qt gears but was a 1.4 ratio and much better
the 200 i'm rep;lacing was getting gutless on hills and with the trailer on but that is down to compression i think

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  • 6 months later...

My Engine is 30 years old, as is the vehicle. It's 2.3tonnes at the roadside, including all the kit you have hung on and in yours, apart from the bash plate. Added to which I carry extra recovery stuff.

My engine isn't tuned, bar a tweak on the pin and 300/200 hybrid injectors. I run 235/85x16 tyres. The engine has about 150k on it - although it was sent off to the factory in it's life to be rebuilt, as it's a Gold Seal lump, with Unipart Stamp

It's not rocket, but it eats hills for breakfast  and I could pull a sixth gear on the motorway. Putting a 1.44:1 box in it would reduce the cruising speed and drivability of the vehicle

I would suggest a damn good service. Check the injectors, check the fuel pump fuel pin chamber isn't full of oil (yes this happens).  The injectors are an 80K mile service item.

Are you running synthetic oil? If you are change it and run mineral oil - but good stuff

Have you adjusted the turbo? It comes on song at 1800rpm with peak torque at 2,200 rpm if standard. Below 1800 rpm you are just a Direct Injection Diesel, no T.

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14 hours ago, Nonimouse said:

My Engine is 30 years old...

I feel like this post should be pinned, added to the tech archive, and printed out and waved at every 200TDi owner about to fit some performance mod to a 30-year-old engine that's never seen more than an oil change... because it seems to be the common way of doing it! Don't actually service / maintain the thing but when it gets tired just wind up the boost / fuel and call it done :ph34r:

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2 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

I feel like this post should be pinned, added to the tech archive, and printed out and waved at every 200TDi owner about to fit some performance mod to a 30-year-old engine that's never seen more than an oil change... because it seems to be the common way of doing it! Don't actually service / maintain the thing but when it gets tired just wind up the boost / fuel and call it done :ph34r:

Amen to that Brother Fridge

 

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On 4/28/2023 at 10:27 PM, ped said:

i tried a 1.2 transfer box on my 110 and it was very gutless pulling away so i founr a discovery mpi transfer box that had the qt gears but was a 1.4 ratio and much better
the 200 i'm rep;lacing was getting gutless on hills and with the trailer on but that is down to compression i think

That is a bad way of treating symptoms rather than cause and just introduces other bad performance issues.  It is always more cost effective in the long term to get to the root of the real problem and fix the underlying fault (no, not the fact that it is a Tdi, John…😜).

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7 minutes ago, Snagger said:

That is a bad way of treating symptoms rather than cause and just introduces other bad performance issues.  It is always more cost effective in the long term to get to the root of the real problem and fix the underlying fault (no, not the fact that it is a Tdi, John…😜).

Treating symptoms rather than cause is a favourite of lots of the facebook mechanics 

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On 11/1/2023 at 10:08 AM, Snagger said:

That is a bad way of treating symptoms rather than cause and just introduces other bad performance issues.  It is always more cost effective in the long term to get to the root of the real problem and fix the underlying fault (no, not the fact that it is a Tdi, John…😜).

i was used to a v8
my work 110 carries logs it is often like most arb trucks at max load carring capacityif it was a chelsea tractor type of landy then yes i agree
with the loading and the tyre size of a 110 i was happy to keep it at the factory ratio but have the later cut gears
 

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On 11/1/2023 at 10:17 AM, landroversforever said:

Treating symptoms rather than cause is a favourite of lots of the facebook mechanics 

i hope my above post clears up my choice of not over gearing a 33yr old working truck

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I think the OP specifically said he didn't plan to increase fuelling beyond stock. It sounds like a boost leak, maybe blocked fuel filter or struggling fuel pump or mis-timed pump or camshaft. 

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