DaveSIIA Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I have the opportunity to fit a known good 300Tdi engine & auto box (ex Disco) in my 300Tdi manual 110 CSW. The swap is essentially a nuts & bolts exercise (gear shift and surround excepted), so not much of a technical issue. The vehicle is used for a broad mix of work roads around the Peak District regular motorway/fast A road runs to the south of England and middle of Scotland quite often solo, but also can be fully laden and/or with a heavy trailer laning around the Peak, Lakes and N Wales There seem to have been a fair number of 90's converted, but not much reported about 110's. Can anyone share hands on experience of driving a 300Tdi 110 auto? I am already familiar with the pro's/con's of laning with an auto, hence not to worried about that sort of thing. More interested in how it will drive on the road; will it change down and do nothing when I expect to overtake, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishbosh Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 Although I converted my 90 to auto as it is primarily a toy, I would say stick with the manual. Autos (in my opinion) are great off road but carp on it, particularly behind a wheezy TDi. Only exception would be if you did loads of stop start town driving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat_pending Posted September 9, 2009 Share Posted September 9, 2009 I converted my 110 station wagon to 200tdi and auto, best thing i ever did. I use it for greenlaning and camping trips, carting tools/equipment about. It's transformed it. Hits 80mph and returns 27mpg average, only downside is it's a bit slow off the mark, but a pump tweak should sort that when I get round to it. The auto V manual debate will go on forever, There is no definate answer, it's all down to personal taste. No one will convince you if you don't like autos but if you keep an open mind and try one I think you'll love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSIIA Posted September 16, 2009 Author Share Posted September 16, 2009 Cheers for the replies, particularly the 200Tdi in a 110. The first step has been taken - engine, gearbox, transmission oil cooler, shifter, etc delivered. Got to find a 300Tdi transmission tunnel to possibly cut about while mounting the auto shifter. Big step is scheduling the engine/gearbox swap. Should be a steady days work, followed by ?? days to sort out the shifter mount and surround. At least I can reverse the swap if I don't like the results Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Hi, Toying with the idea of this also, I have a 300tdi 110 used for trundling around locally and towing a horse trailer, and I think the auto would be smoother for the horses. I'd be very interested to hear what you think when you have it done. Regards Nigel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat_pending Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Cheers for the replies, particularly the 200Tdi in a 110. The first step has been taken - engine, gearbox, transmission oil cooler, shifter, etc delivered. Got to find a 300Tdi transmission tunnel to possibly cut about while mounting the auto shifter. Big step is scheduling the engine/gearbox swap. Should be a steady days work, followed by ?? days to sort out the shifter mount and surround. At least I can reverse the swap if I don't like the results No need to modify the tunnel. So long as you use the hi/lo linkage from the auto box set up, the lever comes up in the same place. You can get the gaiter without the manual gear lever bellows from any L/R dealer. As for the auto selector, mount that between the seats. There is a thread on here showing various ideas including mine made with a td5 centre cubby tray. We've recently finished converting a 130 300 tdi camper, a few minor issues but all straightforward stuff. It'll be in LRO soon. I can list all potential problems/solutions on here or you can PM me for advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Attryde Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 You can get the gaiter without the manual gear lever bellows from any L/R dealer. Hi Pat I don't suppose you have the part number for the gaiter do you. As this will save me a load of faffing about on my 90 conversion. Pete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q-rover Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Having had 2 auto RR's now, I would find it strange going back to manual. Much easier to drive, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSIIA Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 No need to modify the tunnel. So long as you use the hi/lo linkage from the auto box set up, the lever comes up in the same place. You can get the gaiter without the manual gear lever bellows from any L/R dealer. As for the auto selector, mount that between the seats. There is a thread on here showing various ideas including mine made with a td5 centre cubby tray. We've recently finished converting a 130 300 tdi camper, a few minor issues but all straightforward stuff. It'll be in LRO soon. I can list all potential problems/solutions on here or you can PM me for advice. Cheers for the additional info. Will be retaining the stock auto hi/lo linkage. Yet to work out the fine detail of the auto selector location, cubby box, etc. Have seen the threads on here in the past, but haven't hit the "Search" button yet. Don't plan to reinvent the wheel, so will build on the experience of others first. Gaiter without the manual gear lever bellows, presumably off a US spec D90/110? Most likely to drop you a PM about potential problems/solutions once I get into the job proper. If you are willing to put your experience in the public domain here then it would likely benefit others doing a similar job (otherwise we wait for the article in LRO). My next moves are to change the front/rear crank oil seals while the engine is on the bench and to replace the cam belt. EGR system will get ditched. May as well prep the injection pump for a tweak while there is plenty of room to work round it. One area I suspect will need some fettling is the transmission cooler. It's a multi-row job from a '95 300Tdi RRC and looks a bit more suited to the task than a bog brush cooler. Will measure up the pipe run as I suspect the flexi hoses under the fan cowling will need to be a couple of inches longer. Having had 2 auto RR's now, I would find it strange going back to manual. Much easier to drive, in my opinion. I also have an auto RR (albeit petrol) and find it suits the driving conditions in the UK - hence the interest with the 110. Not too shabby off road either. Just hope the 300 Tdi has the grunt to work with the auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjh Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 I have the opportunity to fit a known good 300Tdi engine & auto box (ex Disco) in my 300Tdi manual 110 CSW. The swap is essentially a nuts & bolts exercise (gear shift and surround excepted), so not much of a technical issue. The vehicle is used for a broad mix of work roads around the Peak District regular motorway/fast A road runs to the south of England and middle of Scotland quite often solo, but also can be fully laden and/or with a heavy trailer laning around the Peak, Lakes and N Wales There seem to have been a fair number of 90's converted, but not much reported about 110's. Can anyone share hands on experience of driving a 300Tdi 110 auto? I am already familiar with the pro's/con's of laning with an auto, hence not to worried about that sort of thing. More interested in how it will drive on the road; will it change down and do nothing when I expect to overtake, etc? Hi I have a 110 300tdi auto that i converted myself, no problems during the actual conversion, used a set up out of a disco. I mounted the shifter between the seats on a piece of 6mm alloy. Drives okay though sluggish from a stand but lets face it, its not a bl--dy sports car. i have just aqquired an uprated intercooler so that has to be fitted and the fuel pump tweaked, hopefully that will improve things a little. I fabricated the tunnel for the the location of the hi/lo lever using alloy. The vehicle was origonally a V8 CSW. Regards Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JST Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 i am with Bish on this one great for off road but dont expect too much on road with a tdi and autobox. what tyres are you running i would of though 31" it should run ok with the fuel pump tweak but dont expect too much (angy) overtaking! are you keeping the std 1.4 T box or putting the disco 1.2 one in, i would suggest the former. i run a tgv with HP24 on 33" on road and it is OK in a 90, certainly nothing spectacular (its with 3.54 diffs) i would equate that to your tdi and an autobox on 3.54s, 31"s. i would of thought the std bog brush would be well upto the job, it is after all what is was designed for and LR have quite a large R&D budget compared to many others. they worked well in the past. the proper autobox transmission cover makes a excellent job of the inside too. alternatively if using the manula gaitor just invert the manual part of the gaiter and use it as a cup holder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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