My Name is Craig Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Hi Folks, I have a Defender, 200tdi, snorkel, winch etc... After heroically towing a Jeep over 400 miles Through three countries, and two mountain ranges, the thing decided it had had enough, and threw it's timing belt off, I'm pretty sure the fuel injector pump seized. Anyway, due to the mileage on the engine, and untold damage from missing belt, and availability of a rusted disco, I decided to change the engine, old unit 130k miles, new one 60k. I've read plenty about fitting a 200tdi disco engine to a defender, but not about a 300tdi to a defender, anybody got any pointers, due to the mileage differance, I was planning to change the gearbox, transfer box, and possibly the rear axle for the limited slip diff and disc brakes. I've got the engine out the disco, that was the easy part. 20:20 vision is easy with hinddsight, does anybody out there have the hindsight?? Also, there will be a low ratio transfer box available afterwards, depending on the success, plus potentially various engine bits, it's relatively clean for the milage, appart from the 'being broken' thing. New to the forum, so patience is appreciated, not quite got the hang of it yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bango690 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Hi Folks, I have a Defender, 200tdi, snorkel, winch etc... After heroically towing a Jeep over 400 miles Through three countries, and two mountain ranges, the thing decided it had had enough, and threw it's timing belt off, I'm pretty sure the fuel injector pump seized. Anyway, due to the mileage on the engine, and untold damage from missing belt, and availability of a rusted disco, I decided to change the engine, old unit 130k miles, new one 60k. I've read plenty about fitting a 200tdi disco engine to a defender, but not about a 300tdi to a defender, anybody got any pointers, due to the mileage differance, I was planning to change the gearbox, transfer box, and possibly the rear axle for the limited slip diff and disc brakes. I've got the engine out the disco, that was the easy part. 20:20 vision is easy with hinddsight, does anybody out there have the hindsight?? Also, there will be a low ratio transfer box available afterwards, depending on the success, plus potentially various engine bits, it's relatively clean for the milage, appart from the 'being broken' thing. New to the forum, so patience is appreciated, not quite got the hang of it yet... i am undertaking this project my self but using the auto box from the discovery aswell! http://www.nicksjungle.co.uk/300%20Tdi%20a...Conversion.html this web site may be helpful to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Welcome Craig, firstly please read the 'New members' info at the top of the forum page, as for fitting a 300Tdi to a Defender, it's fairly similar to the Disco 200Tdi & would fit in a similar way, you can't use the Disco maingearbox as the levers would be in the wrong location in the cab, you can stick with your existing gearbox & fit it using this info 300Tdi & LT77 gearbox retrofit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger90 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 a 200tdi has the lt77 gearbox and 300tdi has the r380 which is 6inches longer then the lt77 so you have to move the engine foward 6 inches to accomidate the gearboc in the tunnle propperly.. and will have to change the props Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveturnbull Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Surely it would be easier to fix the 200tdi... On a 200 a broken cam belt only means bent push rods - the pistons magically seem to miss the valves. So a set of new push rods, and a cam belt kit - sorted. What makes you think the fuel pump is seized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Surely it would be easier to fix the 200tdi... On a 200 a broken cam belt only means bent push rods - the pistons magically seem to miss the valves.So a set of new push rods, and a cam belt kit - sorted. What makes you think the fuel pump is seized? unless it needs the fuel pump to but yes i agree for the 300tdi to fit just fit some new engine mounts (i think Richards Chassis will make them to order) and weld those on. to determine where they go mount the engine to the gearbox with it all fitted, lower the engine into the bay to where it will sit, offer up and bolt on the mounts then mark where they sit on the chassis, tack weld them there, then lift the engine back out and weld them in properly. you can run with an LT77 as Ralph says or you will need a 'short' ie Defender R380 - i would suggest sourcing one of these. it may also be prudent to fit a HD clutch (FRC1994) at this point with new cover plate, fork and release bearing. i would keep the loom plug off the 200 and connect that to the 300 loom (after cutting off the 300 multi plug) colours are the same. i have a feeling the fuel pump connections are slightly different, use the 300 filter assembly too. 1.4T boxes makes around £75 to £125 depending on mileage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bango690 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 for the 300tdi to fit just fit some new engine mounts (i think Richards Chassis will make them to order) and weld those on. could he not use some chunky angle? have seem people use it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jericho Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 could he not use some chunky angle? have seem people use it? He has a Disco to break - cut the mounts off the disco - thats what I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 He has a Disco to break - cut the mounts off the disco - thats what I did. good point - yep use them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Name is Craig Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Wow, Lot's of useful info here, thanks, The reason I think the fuel pump is seized, I had the vehicle in Iceland this summer, I'll reccomend it to anybody with a Landy, brilliant fun. Anyhow, just before I left the engine stopped turning off with the ignition, I changed the solenoid stop and that resolved the problem, for a week, So all the way round iceland, the only way to stop the engine was to stall it, not ideal, but.... We were in a two vehicle convoy, just outside Rekyavik the water pump on the jeep seized, fortunately we were heading back to the boat, unfortunately that was over 400 miles away on the other side of Iceland, first days towing went fine, 250 miles covered. Second day, got 200 yards down the road when,,,thump! engine cut out, tried all manor of thing to get it started, checked rocker cover was turning, so timing belt ok, manually checked fuel, to make sure the guage was reading accurately, checked this, checked that, checked fuel was getting to the injectors, only two of them were getting fuel, strange, eventually I thought to try taking the fuel stop solenoid out. Must've looked a sorry state, Land rover, bonnet up with two men tearing lumps out of the engine, and a tow rope to a jeep that could go nowhere by itself. Anyway, pulled the stop solenoid out and motor started fine, noticed the new plunger was all scratched, swarf perhaps? anybody similar experience? Anyway, towed the Jeep, over a gravel track, on a mountain road, with a 1 in 5 gradient, No sooner were we over the hill than bang!, engine cuts out, this time it was really difficult to start, never sussed out why it stopped, eventually got started, but only on three cyl, dragged the jeep to the top of the last hill, antied the rope and just pushed it off at the top of the hill, had to tow the jeep again in the Faroes, didn't go far, finally back to Scotland, ferry over to scrabster, across to orkney to catch the last ferry home where I would be able to resolve the problem... not so, we got a recovery vehicle to recover the Jeep, I was following in my 3cyl special when it gave the final squeel/thud, this time the timing belt had come off, as the recovery vehicle drives off into the distance. Long story short, I think the fuel pump because 1. I went through 2 solenoid stops in as many weeks, with relatively light use. 2, Fuel pump was only firinig on three cyl, and leaking, I would quite like to use the disco gearbox, since it's less than half the mileage, how difficult is it to move the engine forward 6 inches, what additional work is involved? Is it possible to use the current gearbox, and the disco transfer box, Another reason for changing the engine is that the existing one burned quite a bit of oil, the disco was handy, and in good condition, appart from the chasis which was VERY rusty, could see daylight through it. Mount stealing is the easy part, I have a big grinder, and a friend who is a coded welder. Also, what about the rear axle? Worth stealing from the disco? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bango690 Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 good point - yep use them good point! makes life no end easier! nearly finished my 200 to 300 disco auto swap now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike4444244 Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Sure i'm going to open the can of worms but i'd check with vosa before you go changing engine mounts, it may well count as a chassis mod and land you over in sva territory... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean f Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Also, what about the rear axle? Worth stealing from the disco? It depends on what axle you currently have and what state its in, if you have the drum braked axle (can't remember when they switched over) its probable worth it. Otherwise it is basically the same axle so it depends on condition. Reconditioning your current axle is probable easier although it is worth keeping the disco axles as spares if they are going cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Name is Craig Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 It depends on what axle you currently have and what state its in, if you have the drum braked axle (can't remember when they switched over) its probable worth it. Otherwise it is basically the same axle so it depends on condition. Reconditioning your current axle is probable easier although it is worth keeping the disco axles as spares if they are going cheap. I already have disc brakes, the rear 'drum' on my current axle is slightly porus, as a minimum I will have to drain it and coat it with chemical metal to try to stem the oozing. I thought the disco rear axle had a limited slip diff, which the defender axle doesn't? am I mistaken? I also thought that might provide an 'edge' whilst offroading, having said that, the only time I've lost traction it was all wheels at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Only difference with a 300tdi disco axle (assuming it is standard) is the internals are 24-spline. It's not an LSD... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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