Unknown 2.5 diesel engine

Looks like a BMC to me, as used to be fitted to taxi's

Hi John, It's definitely not a BMC as they had "Tin" Rocker covers!

It certainly looks like the Freight Rover version of the Land Rover 2.5 Normally aspirated diesel engine of Land Rover 90 /110 , the main differences were the Injector pump is in a slightly different position to the Land Rover unit therefore timing case is different and has a "tin" front cover rather than the Land rover Ali front cover and the timing belt is a different length and you have to purchase the specific belt for that version of the engine. Internally the engines are pretty much the same and generally perform well in series vehicles with the lower gearing of these vehicles. If it's a good un you'll be ok, but if it's a bad'n they sure can be bad!

Colin

It is what youve been told it is. The 'Freight Rover' is more commonly known as a sherpa van (or an LDV).

I've got one in my landy too. It is almost the same as the LR 2.5 diesel except for a few small details. Most bits are interchangeable so when you need bits a landrover place can usually help you (Landrover bits are generally cheaper than the LDV versions too, so try them first!).

The few differences are:

The timing cover is differently shaped. As colin says, this means that you have a different timing belt (apparently Santana also used the same one so a LR place can probably help you). It looks different and the injection pump sits slightly differently too (hence the injector pipes are not standard LR items either).

The intake manifold is different. A LR one will fit, and you can easily put a clamp on K&N on the LR version (makes it go a bit better)

I'm not sure but i think that the starter is also different to the LR

2.5 version. I was told that mine was anyway as it has a different number of teeth on the cog. This could mean that the flywheel is slightly different too (maybe my engine is just special, or the place i got the starter from were confused!)

I'm quite happy with my engine. Once you get the oil leaks sorted it seems pretty good. I recently rebuilt mine, and it goes really well now. Much better than the LR 2.25 diesel. Damn noisy though!

Good luck!

Thanks Colin, that pretty well confirms what it is then. All I've got to do now is figure out the wiring for that little blue Heaters relay control box you can see top centre of the pic. It seems to have umpteen unconnected little wires hanging out of it , I'm sure they should go to some sort of sensors (temp?). Also, would anyone know what that blanked off tube is (centre of pic.coming straight out towards the camera) with a bolt stuck in the end of it. Is that the top of the oil pump it's sticking out of ? Thanks John

I have one of these in my 2a as well. The previous owner of mine informs me that the starter does indeed have a different number of teeth.

On or around Sun, 13 Jun 2004 21:39:53 +0100, "Oilierthanthou" enlightened us thusly:

Brake Vacuum pump would be my guess. if you have a brake servo, this connects to it. 'course, you could fit a servo...

Its definately a vacuum pipe coming from the vacuum pump. All you need now is a servo and you can have decent brakes!

I wired in a glow plug relay box in not too long ago. It didnt have any temperature sensors or anything on. All it did was left the plug on for a set amount of time. It just had the 4 wires youd expect from a normal 4 point relay plus one extra connector which goes to a warning light.

Yours could be a posher one though!

I replacd the glow plugs on my engine recently, and you can get different plugs that take different lengths of time to glow. I dont know what the standard ones are, but mine has (and came with) ones that take 11 seconds (according to the guy in the shop).

Thanks Austin and Tom, vacuum pump! I should have thought of that. You can tell all my previous experience is with petrol engined landy's, this diesel thing is a completely new experience and I'm a bit out of my depth. Tom from your other reply about the heater relay, does that mean the timer turns the glow plugs on for 11 seconds regardless of whether the engine is hot or cold?

John

The relay i had just turned them on for the set amount of time whatever the temperature. I imagine that more complicated heater relays are available though, and yours could have one!

One of my mates mentioned that a heater plug relay/timer might measure the current draw by the glow plugs to know how long to keep them on for. Im not sure if this would work on this engine/plugs as ive not attempted to investigate it yet!

I replaced the glow plugs in mine back in september or so. Since then ive always turned them on for 10 secs or so and it has started (no auto timer on my landy), even when it has been really cold.

With the old glow plugs i had to leave them on for 45 mins to 60 secs some days to make it start, and they were the same part that i put new ones in of in sept!

On or around Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:33:30 +0100, Tom Woods enlightened us thusly:

some of them have a 2-stage system, which keeps the glow plugs on at reduced current for a further period after the little light goes out. one of the extra wires on that blue one is probably for the warning lamp.

Thanks to all, it runs now. MOT preparations next!

John