1994 Defender re-build, 200TDI sawp or not?

Hello All,

Brand new to this forum so forgive me if I haven't posted this in the correct area.

I am currently in the middle of re-building my 1994 90 Defender with a 200TDi. The list of items in need of changing got so great that decided to bite the bullet and do a re-build.

The chassis is sound (apart form the rear X-member which will be replaced) as are the outriggers/axles etc, the bulkhead is shot to pieces so I am currently awaiting an Ashtree galvanised replacement. Gearbox was knackered so am about to order a replacement LT77 from Ashcroft's and will marry it to a nearly new transfer box I got from a Discovery (after replacing the input gear just in case). Then I will be trying to attempt a rebuild on the steering box which currently has the fluid retaining abilities of a sieve, brake caliper, replace the rotten brake pipes, painting the bodywork and then hopefully bolting the whole thing back together.

The big fly in the ointment to my current plans is the engine, what to do??
Hence the post
It's a 200TDi lump which has on the clock 112000 miles, now I cant verify this mileage as I bought the car when it had about 98k on the clock and if the rest of the cars condition at the time of purchase was anything to go by it has probably been thoroughly abused.

It's NOISY and I don't just mean the "normal" 200Tdi noise, when parked next to my friends 200TDi Defender it is noticeably louder it sounds like a bag of spanners being swung over your head, it burns oil, it leaks oil, the air filter and the hoses are stained with thick oil deposits both internally and externally. The whole block is covered in oil from the rocker cover (changed twice in the last 3 months but still it leaks) and below the area of the head gasket. It has a slight "cheesy" deposits in the oil filler cap which makes me think the head gasket is hanging on by thread and it smokes quite profusely both on start up (I know they all do) and under load and I think it's also leaking around the sump.

I am trying to decide if it's worth doing one of the following, however my engineering skills are at best described as "Amateur, but willing to learn":
1. Swap the engine for either a short engine from Turner engineering and swap over my ancillaries, I don't know the quality of my injector pump and would need a recon/new turbo etc, not sure of the difficulty levels there?

2.there is a guy on a well known auction site offering a remanufactured turnkey Defender 200Tdi engine with recon injector pump, all the timing done etc and a recon turbo for £2200 + delivery

3. Attempt a rebuild on my own? It will be a first for me but I have the room/time as I am waiting 4 weeks for my bulkhead, but as I said, I am no mechanic so I will always prefer the east route.
4. Send my lump off to "someone" who will re-build it for me and verify the qulaity or not of my injector pump/turbo

Or another option I haven't yet thought of?

I am keen to hear from any of you guys who have been down a similar route and what solutions you came to along the prices you paid.

I have no frame of reference with this so have no idea what's a reasonable costs are etc?

Any assistance would be helpful! the intention is to keep this Landrover as long as possible so am happy to part with the cash if it provides a long term solution, and gives me a more reliable car then i have at the moment.


Many thanks in advance
Jon

Welcome Jon

Far from my area of expertise - just wondering why you wouldn't put a 300 Tdi from a scrap Discovery into it?

if you have a genuine defender 200tdi in there now then you're in a good position as theres loads of disco 200tdi's up for grabs on ebay, they usually go for 250-300 squids and you can just swap the turbo and other bits over.

most of the 2nd hand disco ones are pretty good, i've not personally heard of anyone getting a bad one, though i guess theres always a chance and you can never be sure unless you see/hear it running first.

I'd fit a 200tdi out of a Discovery and then strip and rebuild the original engine. You will have time on your side then to either diagnose a terminal fault or rebuild a documented and perfect engine to re-use or sell on?

mine has a disco engine fitted before i got it by Excalibur4x4, apart from not doing the temp switch it all looks just like a defender setup as all the bits were swapped across. Dont bother changing anything, just put another one in, a 300 conversion needs so much more work and the engine is no better really...

Ok uys, thanks for the pointers. I am going to pull the engine and attempt a diagnosis/re-build myself, I have some time on my side so we shall see how it goes!

As above, get a 200 tdi out of a Discovery that you can see running and check for block pressure,smoking, noise etc.... before hand.

My def 200tdi has done well over 200 k and runs sweet as taking us to Portugal & twice to Morocco in the last 2 years

Can't add much more but mine has the 200tdi from a disco dropped in and it pulls beautiful. If you have the time to fettle and rebuild what you got then that's awesome, but if you want to swap it out you really can't go far wrong with a disco 200 tdi lump