300tdi replacement engine

[juicehills]

Hi, This is my first post and I am looking for some opinions please.
I cooked my 1997 300tdi last week and I am torn between buying a second hand engine with 2 months warranty for £250+VAT and a choice of many but no idea of mileage etc. OR a reconditioned engine with 1 years unlimited mileage warranty for £995 inc VAT
The car is heavily modified and I spent a fair bit 6 months ago getting new sills, body mounts, brake calipers, Finnigans wax treatment etc, to name but a few.
Also, how difficult is this operation?
Thanks in anticipation

 

[ratty]

Hi, This is my first post and I am looking for some opinions please.
I cooked my 1997 300tdi last week and I am torn between buying a second hand engine with 2 months warranty for £250+VAT and a choice of many but no idea of mileage etc. OR a reconditioned engine with 1 years unlimited mileage warranty for £995 inc VAT
The car is heavily modified and I spent a fair bit 6 months ago getting new sills, body mounts, brake calipers, Finnigans wax treatment etc, to name but a few.
Also, how difficult is this operation?
Thanks in anticipation

£250 with 2 months warranty gets my vote.

 

[andyb66]

£250 with 2 months warranty gets my vote.

Ratty, that is £250 plus VAT so getting closer to £300.

When you compare £ per month warrenty the full re-con engine is better value.

Does depend on depth of wallet in the end tho

 

[ratty]

Ratty, that is £250 plus VAT so getting closer to £300.

When you compare £ per month warrenty the full re-con engine is better value.

Does depend on depth of wallet in the end tho

Not nessy-celery.

If the recon engine had a 3 year warranty I would say to go for that. 1 year on a recon is **** poor.

As you know yerself 300 tdis are pretty robust engines when looked after. If he stuck a £300 engine into his landy he can recoup his £300 by selling the old engine and all it's ancilleries. I bought my old 300tdi with a fecked engine. I made enough money when selling the engine off to cover the cost of the new engine, egr blanking kit and cambelt kit.

If you do a search online for 'independent warranty' you can take out a decent warranty (not like the **** ones when you buy a car but ones that actually cover things) on most cars for about £250 a year. Add £250 to £300 and you still get £450 left in your pocket + an engine with 12 month warranty.

 

[andyb66]

As you know yerself 300 tdis are pretty robust engines when looked after.

I largely agree with what you are saying, but the 'unknown' £250 engine may not fill the above criteria

 

[ratty]

I largely agree with what you are saying, but the 'unknown' £250 engine may not fill the above criteria

I can see what you're saying. maybe it's just cos I'm a cheapskate?

 

[shocker]

Id be all over the 250-plus engine....got another for me?

 

[hughesy]

The answer is to buy an MOT failure disco for 500 quid or less. You can test the engine out properly before you remove it. Then sell the remains of the disco in bits. You should recover most of your 500 quid investment plus you've got the engine.

 

[juicehills]

Thanks very much guys for all your input, I was thinking along similar lines but you have all added some interesting angles, like the independant warranty or MOT failure and your input is very much appreciated!
She may not be in her youth but I just love her to bits and we have some GRRRREAT fun together.

I'll let you all know how I get on.

 

[juicehills]

Thanks Shocker, they told me that they had heaps of 300tdi's all £250 +VAT let me know if really want their details

 

[Mark Disco]

depending how badly cooked your current engine is ........

you have an engine, you know its history, your gonna have to remove it if your thinking about replacing it - why not rebuild it? this obviously depends on how bad your current engine is but buying the parts 'should' come in cheaper than a replacement engine, rebuild time is similar to the time spent sourcing and fitting a replacement engine, and you gain the confidence that you know your engine is up to your standards. my first question when somebody is getting rid of something is 'why' and i would ask the exact same of a used engine.

your talking about replacing an engine so i presume you have a decent set of hammers (tools for the posh people) and you have some experience around the oily bits, so a rebuild should be pretty easy. if you struggle - haynes/mates/ask on here/someone local will surely help you.

 

[hughesy]

Good thinkin from mark disco there. Or why not buy a cheapo 2nd hand engine and throw it in temporarily while you rebuild yours. You'll get back what you paid for it when you sell might even make a few quid on it.

 

[juicehills]

Back again and thanks for all the advice.
I eventually came across a friend who had bought a scrapper with warranted fewer miles than mine and a history with the local landy independent and bought it complete for £300.
Interesting thought to keep my original engine and repair it
Now I need a replacement radiator or is a recore a better alterantive?

 

[ratty]

Back again and thanks for all the advice.
I eventually came across a friend who had bought a scrapper with warranted fewer miles than mine and a history with the local landy independent and bought it complete for £300.
Interesting thought to keep my original engine and repair it
Now I need a replacement radiator or is a recore a better alterantive?

Get a price for both. Last time I got a recore done it was less than half the price of a new rad. Since then prices have fluctuated quite a bit so to be honest you may find there is very little difference in price between a new rad an a recore.

 

[andyb66]

to be honest you may find there is very little difference in price between a new rad an a recore.

This has been my recent experience. £100 from Paddocks to my door or £80 recore.

 

[juicehills]

Thanks very much, sounds like for the difference, new would be better! I wonder how much Dingbro charge?
Are they a national factor or just north Scotland?

 

[Davey1000]

IMHO the 300TDi engine in the Discovery is waste of space. The high mounted water pump and the Siamesed centre exhaust ports virtually guarantee head gasket failure if one hooks 3.5 tons onto the tow ball. Some way of getting the header tank higher needs to be looked at. A V engine or even half a V like the 1970s Vauxhall Victor would be much better because the cylinder heads would then be lower. Another way might be to fit a low mounted water pump outboard of the block. I loathe my Discos for their poor cooling system design. Curiously when I was running a Triumph GT6 many years ago there were no problems at all with steam trapping or air venting as even with a low bonnet line the radiator was higher than the engine as it should be. Caveat Emptor and good luck as you will need it!

 

[MPfive]

Im confused. First off your replying to a 3year old thread. Then your waffling on about how bad cooling is on a disco. Unless theres a problem disco's and 300tdi are very hardy engines and over cooled in my opinion.

 

[storm99]

IMHO the 300TDi engine in the Discovery is waste of space. The high mounted water pump and the Siamesed centre exhaust ports virtually guarantee head gasket failure if one hooks 3.5 tons onto the tow ball. Some way of getting the header tank higher needs to be looked at. A V engine or even half a V like the 1970s Vauxhall Victor would be much better because the cylinder heads would then be lower. Another way might be to fit a low mounted water pump outboard of the block. I loathe my Discos for their poor cooling system design. Curiously when I was running a Triumph GT6 many years ago there were no problems at all with steam trapping or air venting as even with a low bonnet line the radiator was higher than the engine as it should be. Caveat Emptor and good luck as you will need it!

You're a penis. I suspect you find the 1.8 k series a reliable engine. Your wife probably reads you instructions every time you attempt to bang her.

 

[gazdav]

IMHO the 300TDi engine in the Discovery is waste of space. The high mounted water pump and the Siamesed centre exhaust ports virtually guarantee head gasket failure if one hooks 3.5 tons onto the tow ball. Some way of getting the header tank higher needs to be looked at. A V engine or even half a V like the 1970s Vauxhall Victor would be much better because the cylinder heads would then be lower. Another way might be to fit a low mounted water pump outboard of the block. I loathe my Discos for their poor cooling system design. Curiously when I was running a Triumph GT6 many years ago there were no problems at all with steam trapping or air venting as even with a low bonnet line the radiator was higher than the engine as it should be. Caveat Emptor and good luck as you will need it!

How do you work that one out then the 300Tdi is one of the best diesel units out there service them right and they last well into the 300,000 mile range