200tdi seams gutless compared to 300tdi?

I rebuilt my 200tdi 90 doing the injectors turbo and new head and tuned up by a diesel specialist and was pretty happy with it, seemed like a good sound low mileage engine, and pulls nice.
But I had to take it off the road for a while and dodged up my old 90 with a 300 in it.
Back in the 200 I realized it definitely feels sluggish in comparison to the 300. The 200 feels and sounds like a good engine (certainly not worn out) but a bit of black smoke if you give it a bit , and I’ve realized, no sound of the turbo at all? You can hear the 300 spooling all the time and no real smoke, …though the 200 doesn’t feel so slow that the turbo isn’t working at all?

Is it just 300s are have more umph, or is my turbo not doing what it should be?
I thought they were supposed to be pretty similar engines for power from all I’ve read?

Much the same bhp, so should be along the same lines.
Maybe the 300 has been tweaked?

Have you checked the 200 out, ie valve clearances (never assume anything done by someone else is correct) inj pump timing, boost pressure etc.

When was the intercooler last cleaned internally?, they do oil/soot up

I did check all valve clearances when I fitted the new head and pretty sure I set everything to the letter.
Must admit the outside of intercooler does look a bit grotty, so maybe I’ll start there?

Good to hear again that I should be able to get the 200 to match the 300. Pretty certain my 300 is bog standard set-up, so I just need to do a bit of checking and tweaking of the 200 I guess.

can anyone recommend a good diesel specialist used to working on and tuning up these landrover engines? I took it to south Manchester diesels who I thought seemed good at the time but they obviously didnt know enough to realize it still isn’t 100%.
Manchester/north Manchester/ Yorkshire based landy tuners?

A new intercooler did good for my standard 200, it had been on years and fins were grotty, insides probably the same.

Assuming youve checked boost pipes intercooler pipes(for splits) pulled inlet off the turbo & checked for play & its spinning
wastegate/actuator set up properly & not seized. Checked throttle is opening fully when pedal is to the floor.
A failing lift pump will give low on power. Has it got nice fresh fuel & had a filter change.

Edit seen you've done the turbo lol

Check the thin pipe that goes turbo to fuel pump for splits/damage. Doubt it's the problem (because the power loss is massive if it's badly damaged) but it's worth checking.

kevstar said:

Assuming youve checked boost pipes intercooler pipes(for splits) pulled inlet off the turbo & checked for play & its spinning
wastegate/actuator set up properly & not seized. Checked throttle is opening fully when pedal is to the floor.
A failing lift pump will give low on power. Has it got nice fresh fuel & had a filter change.

Edit seen you've done the turbo lol

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No, not done any of that, but it all looked sound when I it it all together about 28 months ago after rebuild.
Will check all the pipes you mentioned, but the only thing I think would be likely poor is the intercooler.

Just back to my original question,
Should I be able to hear the turbo whistling away if it’s working properly…….like I can in the 300?

solmog said:

Just back to my original question,
Should I be able to hear the turbo whistling away if it’s working properly…….like I can in the 300?

Click to expand...

If everything under the bonnet standard and with standard exhaust you wont hear any turbo whistle

landowner said:

If everything under the bonnet standard and with standard exhaust you wont hear any turbo whistle

Click to expand...

Ok thanks
Why is it the 300 is different then, its very audible in that?

Either open filter or open exhaust or air leak

landowner said:

Either open filter or open exhaust or air leak

Click to expand...

So are you saying you shouldn’t be able to hear the turbo on the 300 if it’s running properly?
I’m not saying it’s really loud, you can just hear it clearly. Again, I’ve had the 300 a long time, it has always sounded like that, always drives great, looks to be completely standard factory engine and filter setup and I cant see any obvious leeks.
Just want to be clear on things so I can make proper sense of things before I start trying to fix things.

solmog said:

No, not done any of that, but it all looked sound when I it it all together about 28 months ago after rebuild.
Will check all the pipes you mentioned, but the only thing I think would be likely poor is the intercooler.

Click to expand...

tottot said:

A new intercooler did good for my standard 200, it had been on years and fins were grotty, insides probably the same.

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Cheers for the advice!
Put a new air filter on, as old seemed to be sooty from slight leak on exhaust joint, but no real difference .
New intercooler and it’s like a completely different machine. Driving a treat now!