Defender engine swap

Not quite 4-5 hours as one correspondent has done but my son and I managed to change the 2.5TD for a 200Tdi in the Defender over 2 days. This also included two trips back to the source of the 200Tdi to get bits that I had missed!

One trick that I have learnt is that to get at all the bell housing bolts (and there are 11 of them!) the easiest way is to remove the floor pan and tunnel which give 100% easy access.

Of interest;

  1. The exhaust downpipe from the Tdi did not mate up to the existing Defender system, but the 2.5TD downpipe fitted the Tdi manifold.

  1. The fitting on the fuel return from the injector on the Tdi is male (as is the one on the pipe from the Defender tank) - that was one trip back!

  2. The bonnet stay on the 1990 Defender ("knee" type) cannot be used with the 200Tdi as the lower pivot is on the 2.5TD radiator mounting bracket which is removed for the Tdi - that was the second trip back

  1. New holes had to be drilled for the radiator header tank, the air filter and the radiator mounting brackets (one existing hole, one new)

Everything else was a direct fit.

Altogether, not a bad learning experience.

I now have 2.5TD engine parts to sell:

Head Injector pump Exhaust manifold and turbo Inlet manifold Power steering pump

Complete Allisport Intercooler and all pipework for the 2.5TD in a 110 (or a 90 I assume?)

Cheers

Peter

Reply to
puffernutter
Loading thread data ...

Why not use the intercooler on the TDi?

Reply to
EMB

I know, I have thought about it, but like a number of us, it's down to economics!

I have increased the BHP of the Defender by about 25% with this engine and increased my overdraft by an even larger amount!

I have an intercooler on the Defender (OK, not as big as the Allisport, but designed for the job) so in reality I need to sell the intercooler to get back some of the expense on the 200Tdi engine, I'm happy to live with the performance as is (I used to have a 200Tdi Disco and that towed the caravan with no problems) and reduce the overdraft!

Cheers

Peter

Reply to
puffernutter

Use the better intercooler and gain reliability and save fuel. Recoup the money that way.

Reply to
EMB

Agreed, but over what time period though? The big leap in economy is going from the 2.5TD to the Tdi, I suspect an intercooler will add only a little more? (I'm not an expert though!)

Also, I'm not sure that I would agree about reliability. A bigger intercooler will mean cooler air, so more power in the cylinder all of which puts more wear and tear on the pistons, cranks, valves etc...

Cheers

Peter

Reply to
puffernutter

Lower charge temperature gives lower combustion chamber temperatures and lower exhaust gas temperatures, thus less stress on pistons, valves and turbo.

Reply to
EMB

I did say I'm not an expert...

Cheers

Peter

Reply to
puffernutter

On or around Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:05:19 +1300, EMB enlightened us thusly:

all true, but if run at standard power and boost settings and not nailed mercilessly, the 200TDi is pretty reliable.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.