Isuzu 2.8 tuning

[MickMac]

Thinking of making the move from 4.6 V8 to Isuzu 2.8 on a trialler/challenge hybrid but would like to find out what the tuning potential of the Isuzu is first. Can anyone help?

[samwilk200]

Thinking of making the move from 4.6 V8 to Isuzu 2.8 on a trialler/challenge hybrid but would like to find out what the tuning potential of the Isuzu is first. Can anyone help?

Apparently there pretty good engines to tune up, and can make good power. Looking on allisports website shows their 2.8 isuzu racer pushing out 170bhp. I put a standard 200tdi intercooler on mine and turned up the fuel and it went better than standard landy 200tdi's. Theres a few members here who know quite a bit about them, sure they'll be along shortly......

[MickMac]

Apparently there pretty good engines to tune up, and can make good power. Looking on allisports website shows their 2.8 isuzu racer pushing out 170bhp. I put a standard 200tdi intercooler on mine and turned up the fuel and it went better than standard landy 200tdi's. Theres a few members here who know quite a bit about them, sure they'll be along shortly......

Thanks, had a look at the Allisport webpage and I'll give them a phone tomorrow.

[ChrisV8]

Got a bog standard one in the 110 and well pleased with it, came out of daughters very rotten Trooper when gearbox fell out ! Not as sweet sounding as the V8 but when I can easily get 35mpg it's a huge bonus. Very interested in what can be achieved with simple tuning as could do with abit more go when towing.

[MogLite]

I'm going to tune my 3.1 Isuzu motor when I get chance.

Mine is still in an Isuz though

Seems there is a fueling screw on the back of the pump which will take up to 1/2 a turn without getting black smoke everywhere.

Big front mounted intercooler helps

Then you can up the boost

2.5" exhaust system works - but I probably won't do this.

I've got boost and EGT gauges to go in first, so I can see what I'm doing.

[dollythelw]

you can make them scream.

what box are you hooking it to?

[MickMac]

you can make them scream.

what box are you hooking it to?

I want to stay Auto so either an early ZF 4spd or BW66 with an early ashcroft conversion to LT230 as it's a good bit shorter. If I can that is. I've also got a Ford C3 /ser 3 transfer box that could go on.

Going off topic, did you ever try a two-speed motor with your winch.

[MickMac]

Thanks for the advice guys

[MickMac]

How would you guys rate the Isuzu 2.8 against the TD5

[ChrisV8]

100% better, got loads of torque low down for one, no elecktrickery for another, they don't lose the oil pump bolts ! seem totally bullet proof. Want any more ?

[dollythelw]

horses for courses MickMac, Td5 is much more civilised, nice for road stuff and tuneable for more pub kudos digits. but for "I wanna drive somewhere nasty and come back under my own steam" Isuzus do the job very well - they hoof torque out from tickover.

I like 'em so much I put one in here;

and another in here

and yet another one in here

its a compact engine - 24" long from mounting plate to front edge of crank pulley

cheap route for intercooling them is a SAAB 9000 cooler (same size as a Rangie rad)

more bling - Allisport, (Andy also races an Isuzu engined Landy)

bin the blow off valve on the manifold, run it at 15psi boost and set the fuel for EGT loviness. Startermotors are £90 new from Milners (never had to buy one yet) Turbos are £500 from Turbo monkeys (been known to blow but very rare - they are IHI water cooled units, v tough), Alternators can weigh in expensive (new) but as the motor was also fitted to the Frontera you can find them in the breakers. Ive only had one alternator failure and that cost me £20 for alternator man to wave his meter at and fit a new regulator pack.

fuel consumptions not bad, I still get 24mpg in petal, combat dolly used to get 28 round town and 30+ on the motorway, pig was 24-26mpg

Im still searching for a perfect motor but Isuzus do tick a lot of boxes (for me anyway) - personally I dont think they suit rover autos but neither do I. Put them in front of an LT77 or R380 and they work really really well.

I had no issues with getting insurance either.

hope that helps a bit

[vinny]

Ive the 2.8td in my 90. About 3 weeks ago the no 4 big end bearing collapsed and chewed the crank and conrod.

Still €250 just bought a doner 2.8td trooper so hopfully ill get a chance to tweek it up a bit when i get it into the 90!

( the engine workshop manual http://www.bmhor.org/isuzu4j.html)

Vinny

[Orgasmic Farmer]

My mate has the 2.8 turbo lump in his 90 and I find it gutless. Loads of power, don't get me wrong, goes like stink on the flat. But zero grunt. I recently towed a trailer up a long hill I can stick in top with the 200 tdi with a load of lambs on. The Izusu was down in 3rd gear, and thats with the 90 transfer box. Seems to rev very freely but runs out of power real quick. Maybe just needs an intercooler and a bit of a tweak but I will stick to the tdi for now.

[dollythelw]

they're not a lot of fun without a 'cooler and a pump tweak- makes a massive difference,

good find on the workshop manual Vinny!

[will_warne]

they're not a lot of fun without a 'cooler and a pump tweak- makes a massive difference,

good find on the workshop manual Vinny!

I'd agree with that. I remember driving Rob Hybrid's Isuzu'ed and auto 90 on the road after Tony's bash last summer. It drove OK and seemed to suit the auto quite nicely but it didn't seem overly furnished in the bhp department.

[callum]

its a compact engine - 24" long from mounting plate to front edge of crank pulley

cheap route for intercooling them is a SAAB 9000 cooler (same size as a Rangie rad)

more bling - Allisport, (Andy also races an Isuzu engined Landy)

bin the blow off valve on the manifold, run it at 15psi boost and set the fuel for EGT loviness. Startermotors are £90 new from Milners (never had to buy one yet) Turbos are £500 from Turbo monkeys (been known to blow but very rare - they are IHI water cooled units, v tough), Alternators can weigh in expensive (new) but as the motor was also fitted to the Frontera you can find them in the breakers. Ive only had one alternator failure and that cost me £20 for alternator man to wave his meter at and fit a new regulator pack.

fuel consumptions not bad, I still get 24mpg in petal, combat dolly used to get 28 round town and 30+ on the motorway, pig was 24-26mpg

Im still searching for a perfect motor but Isuzus do tick a lot of boxes (for me anyway) - personally I dont think they suit rover autos but neither do I. Put them in front of an LT77 or R380 and they work really really well.

I had no issues with getting insurance either.

hope that helps a bit

i thought the turbos were oil cooled, running like the rest of the eingine through the sump mounted cooler. i could easily be wrong though.

if you can hook one up to a shorty lt77 or r380, they can sit waaaay back and distribute weight more nicely. i think they are a bit lighter than land rover lumps. just seemed that way on the crane, i've never weighed either. mpg is pretty good in a 110 on 33" knobblies, 30mpg.

performance ok, not earth shattering, they only have 100 hosses as standard. held offf a td5 90 though who thought ti would be easy to overtake an old piece of carp 110 with his shiny new motor. off road, not lacking at all. still to get cooler plumbed in, although the actual unit has been in place since september.

the cop lots of abuse too, like running with a split bottom hose and not much water in the cooling system and its difficult to get it to move past 88 degrees. mine used to run at 92, but i think that's because the rubbish temperature probe did not allow enough pressure in the system.

i should hopefully be able to comment on tuning in a few months, most of the plumbing is here and i'm free from work on the 8th of may. should it fail to impress i think i shall throw in the towel and go seek a landcruiser

[MickMac]

Thanks for the advice, all good stuff as I know very little about diesels apart from; run cool, dont mind water, can be terminally slow to get going up hills when fitted in triallers.

The main reasons behind trying to keep the auto are preservation of driveline and easy drive assist. Although probably less likely to break bits with less speed the drive assist thing would carry over and I'm finding it too handy to get rid of.

I'd really like to get the engine moved back though and get the Series 2 front back on/reduce winch overhang/play about with drive options for the hydraulic winch pump. I'm not worried about big hp figures but I would like a good lump of torque that comes in quick. MPG not too much of a concern (so far) as long as it's not worse than the 4.6.

[dollythelw]

oil fed and water cooled Callum - look for the hose under the turbo.

I can see the auto attraction, not my bag though Ive not found manuals a prob for drive assist - crawling seems to work pretty well too made a couple of light mods to the clutch amd I can clock tyres like a sundial now water proofing seems ok as long as the motor isnt submerged by more than 2 1/2 foot unless you take a scuba tank

[MickMac]

Dollythelw, what were the mods that you made to the clutch.

Just below the drivers seat is the usual limit for my vehicle submersion so no worries there.

[One4adventure]

So will this thing bolt into a series? What kind of nasties will it do to the stock tranny and diffs? Assuming a light application of right foot :-) Will I need to carve up my galvanized chassis and bulkhead? Can you tell I need a diesel badly??

[reads90]

The 110 in aus was sold with this engine (factory Fit) Pre the days of the Tdi. But when they did come in the 2.8 was still ordered

There are alot of 2.8 running around still. Went to land cruser park with a 90 with one in and a rangie with one in. Both of them came from factory fit 110's

They arte still seen here as the best engine for the defender even since the Td5

[Steve H]

The 110 in aus was sold with this engine (factory Fit) Pre the days of the Tdi. But when they did come in the 2.8 was still ordered

There are alot of 2.8 running around still. Went to land cruser park with a 90 with one in and a rangie with one in. Both of them came from factory fit 110's

They arte still seen here as the best engine for the defender even since the Td5

Ali, at risk of being a party pooper, I'm fairly sure that the Isuzu motor that was used in late Stage

1s & 110s up to the arrival of the 200 TDi donk was the 4BD1 motor which is a light truck motor of 3.9 litres, not the 2.8litre 4JB1 motor which is the one under discussion.

Steve.

[callum]

Ali, at risk of being a party pooper, I'm fairly sure that the Isuzu motor that was used in late Stage

1s & 110s up to the arrival of the 200 TDi donk was the 4BD1 motor which is a light truck motor of 3.9 litres, not the 2.8litre 4JB1 motor which is the one under discussion.

Steve.

indeed, shame we didn't ge thte 4bd1 over here. to get one of those you'll need to find an isusu npr truck or something and the sump i think needs modified and the oil filter turned round (ask on outerlimits, they'd know).

regarding sticking it in the series (4jB1), if you buy a conversion kit £about 350 you wont have to cut into chassis or anything as you get adaptor mounts.

[tiagoc]

regarding sticking it in the series (4jB1), if you buy a conversion kit £about 350 you wont have to cut into chassis or anything as you get adaptor mounts.

what about problems with the s3 gearbox? from what i've read, along this thread and in other sites, this engine has around 100bhp. the 200tdi has around 110bhp, so if a 200tdi can co-exist with a s3 gearbox (if used gently), i assume the isuzu 2.8 is not a problem. is this correct?

the daihatsu 2.8T also has around 100bhp. could this be a good alternative? does anyone have experience with this engine?

[will_warne]

the daihatsu 2.8T also has around 100bhp. could this be a good alternative? does anyone have experience with this engine?

I know a chap runing one in a 90 and it seems to go all right.