2.25 or 2.3 or 2.5 Petrol Engines

[Mr Bean]

Can someone tell me some info about these engines?

I am looking at buying a Land Rover with one of these engines in it, i can't remember what they said.

What is reliability, performance and longevity like?

Is it cam-belt or cam-chain driven?

How soon would it need replacing or does it not damage the engine if it snaps?

Plus any other advice specific to a very early 90 petrol would be grateful.

Many thanks,

[hattymender]

Can someone tell me some info about these engines?

I am looking at buying a Land Rover with one of these engines in it, i can't remember what they said.

What is reliability, performance and longevity like?

Is it cam-belt or cam-chain driven?

How soon would it need replacing or does it not damage the engine if it snaps?

Plus any other advice specific to a very early 90 petrol would be grateful.

Many thanks,

Answers:

For ever if you change oil.

Chain

Replace when rattles. Better tensioner on later engines.

When it snaps. You stop. (unless you're very unlucky and the chain itself does damage). You can also swear a lot. But it doesn't damage valve gear etc. Cost about £20 to replace if you do it yourself.

General verdict. Rock solid, will slog on forever, but thirsty and slow. It's also incontinent of all fluids, but that's age. I've a 2.5 running on LPG and it's a delight, until you hit a hill! Manifold gaskets blow (especially on LPG), use early 'one piece series' type. Also check breather hoses, mine went soft with age and let air in to manifold with interesting results.

Skim .080" from head and you can gain a couple of HP, not much... but it helps.

[Mr Bean]

Thanks for the info its much appreciated.

I am not too concerned about the performance so much but i would like to know what is the performance like off-road?

My last V8 would happily trundle over any terrain but i'm guessing this will be very similar to a series motor but with better suspension, am i right?

You say you run on LPG is the fuel economy horrific?

I will be doing a 200mile trip to bring it home i was hoping to use about £30 of petrol will i need more?

[Orgasmic Farmer]

You will need more than £30 i'm afraid! Nearer £45 I reckon at todays prices.

[phoenix]

My old series 3 2.25 Petrol was brilliant. Just keep them in tune and they run and run and run and run. Make sure that the one you go for can run on unleaded. Not a problem if it doesn't as you can either fit hardened seats or fit a device which does something magic to the unleaded and makes it run fine without tinkering with the engine bits!

Worked on my one for over 4 years with no problems experienced. Typically off road they don't like water (I found that it just drown the distributer and killed the engine, but after a few minutes it always fired up again. Mine towed my Brothers Range Rover about a fair bit (It was never fast but it managed it witout too much bother)

My MPG was around 23-30 (30 on a really good run, with no hills and a wind up the rear) but I kept mine in tune on averaged achieved about 26MPG

I changed the old oil bath filter to a K&N one and fitted a newer weber Carb (whether this is still a good idea I don't know) but i think it helped with the performance and MPG. I did have to have a few Weber Carbs fitted though, it kept failing its MOT on emissions every few years....(might just have been the dodgy garage I took it to though!)

Anyway, I coud go on and on ..

[Quagmire]

I drive my 2.25 90 to work everyday (a 70mile round trip) and it has only let me down once in over a year. That was the points closing up due to me being slack on maintenance.

Since then i have fitted an electronic dizzy and am running LPG. The 2.25 is a fine engine but as stated above it does lack go on hills. I cruise at 60 but can do 70+ if required. I recently towed a 3/4ton sankey fully loaded with some weight in the 90 too and although it was pretty slow, it still had the torque required to get it all moving.

When i got the vehicle it was returning about 16mpg, but with some attention to the ignition and changing my driving style that was up to around 21mpg on the motorway. I get around 18-19mpg on gas. This compares with the 2.25 in my series2 which will usually get 25+mpg (being 2wd most of the time)

Offroad, the 2.25 is fine.

Having said all that, i am currently rebuilding a v8 to replace the 2.25

[Mr Bean]

Thanks for the tales so far it is much appreciated.

Is there any specific fault to these family of engines i should be aware of?

[phoenix]

Thanks for the tales so far it is much appreciated.

Is there any specific fault to these family of engines i should be aware of?

I had to rebuild the head on mine, nothing major but was beginning to leak oil into the big bang chamber making lots of nice smoke

I think otherwise they are fairly bullet proof... I ran mine for 4-5 years with no major hassle's other than routine maintenance. Just the head gasket needed doing in the end but it hadn;t really blown.. was just ...old

[Mr Bean]

Did it cost a lot to rebuild the top end?

Is it expensive to do yourself?

[phoenix]

Did it cost a lot to rebuild the top end?

Is it expensive to do yourself?

It was a few years ago now so I cannot remember how much it cost, but no it wasn't a lot ( I was a student at the time and quite poor and probably mad for running a Landy but loved it!)

Gasket set is cheap, and valves were not expensive either if I remember right so couldnt have been much.. It did take time though, grinding in the new valves/seats ? i think thats what I did anyway But it was all very easy and simple to do at home, just messy with the oil and time consuming, But I believe I got it all done within a few days (of course between studying ahem!)

[Quagmire]

Its not expensive at all, when i've done 2.25's all it cost me was the head gasket and rocker gasket, and the valve lapping tool and paste.... oh and some springs and valve stem seals.

Still not much- sub £20 i would say.

Depends in you have a spring compressor and the other tools you might need. They're always the expensive bit but then you do have them for next time!

But doing the top end does make a big difference when done- its definitely worth doing if you've got the time. Like Phoenix said it can be done in a couple of days if you are prepared with all the stuff ready and on hand.

[Mr Bean]

I doubt there is any performance gain to be had but does it run better?

[phoenix]

I doubt there is any performance gain to be had but does it run better?

If you do it right, you are effectively decoking the top end of all the carp that builds up so it does run better and I guess should improve performance but not to any huge degree though it does help MPG's and power output a bit and yeah, runs more smoothly once all finely tuned

[Mr Bean]

Is keeping the engine dry off road very difficult?

[fender1234]

i had a 2.25 petrol in my 90 and found it gutless and uneconomical and poor offroad so i fitted a 200tdi disco engine which has enough power more economic and is good offroad

[Mr Bean]

How much of a conversion is that to do?

Is it DIY?

Does it cost a lot?

[phoenix]

How much of a conversion is that to do?

Is it DIY?

Does it cost a lot?

Engine transplant can be expensive £1500 for a decent 200Tdi then .. the conversion costs, I think you'll be looking at £2500 ish maybe a bit less. Its something I would have done when my 2.5n/a gives up, but while it still chugs along nicely why fix it if it aint broke.. yet

As for the water... you can buy waterproofing kits for the electrics and fit snorkels etc, but .. you're better off with a Diesel for wading in. Though.. saying that the military managed it I believe...

[Mr Bean]

What about V8 conversions?

Are they a straight forward job to do?

[FridgeFreezer]

A few thoughts:

1) The 4cyl is easy to waterproof, just fit EDIS.

2) A 200TDi conversion these days should cost less than £2500 as you can buy a rusty Disco TDi for ~£500.

3) A V8 conversion isn't too hard, probably similar total effort as a 200TDi. The engines are cheaper, power is better, MPG a bit worse but with a gentle right foot and a decent V8 you can hit 20mpg.

4) Have you tried the search function? Almost every question you've asked has been answered sooo many times before, in detail.

[Mr Bean]

Yes i have read some old posts but it's nice to get a fresh spin on things.

Thanks for the info.

[fender1234]

i think you could do a 200tdi conversion for less than £2500 more like under a £1000 in my opinion if you do it all yourself

[Mr Bean]

Isn't it a lot of work changing a petrol model to diesel?

[FridgeFreezer]

Isn't it a lot of work changing a petrol model to diesel?

No.

[hattymender]

No, no, no. Dirty diesels! Unless it's been rebuilt any 200 or 300TDi is probably going to be knackerd and need a lot of money.

Keep it petrol. Fit Maplin ignition unit & Lucas Gold coil. Skim head and get valves ground at same time. Fit LPG. Total cost less than £600 if you do work yourself.

End result; Cheap (ish) to run (cheaper than a diesel anyway), nice sweet engine, cheap and easy to maintain and very hard to brake. Also easier (i.e. cheaper) to insure than a conversion.

Of course some may differ...............

[Mr Bean]

To be honest the thought of LPG over diesel does seem a far better alternative.

What is this Ignition magic you speak of? Any performance or fuel economy increase?

I like the idea of all in for £600.

Where is the best place for the LPG kit?