300 tdi auto ?

Hi all, have started my new project I acquired a 300 tdi 90 off my stepson and have this week started the strip down. I've decided to build this for road use only as a second car if either mine or the wifes breakdown and I've got the 110 I've just finished for green laning and that . So while this might not be to every ones taste I've decided to lower it and was thinking of fitting a auto gearbox but wondered how they drive with an auto in ? and would it be a good upgrade for road use ?
cheers Ian

edc is better ,std is a little sluggish

Edc auto as std is sloooow, but chip it and bloody hell a proper flying machine.
Ive never driven a tdi auto 90 but I reckon it would be a nice drive.

Cheers both , mine's a standard fuel pump. can you convert it to an edc pump ? and if so what else do you need to change ?
cheers Ian

EDC will give you 122 HP, however, the standard pump can be tuned, AFTER fitting a full width intercooler to give 145HP, which is quite an improvement - and is how mine is set up - IMHO it is very nice to drive, and driven like an old fart, it is economical too.

The 300's will actually produce towards 200 HP with extreme mods - BUT the head will melt in short order if it isn't treated with a lot of respect.... (IOW don't bother - ask me how I know)

This guy's website is worth a nosy:-

http://jeremyjfearn.co.uk/

EDC was a good idea at the time, a half way house 'tween mechanical and common rail, with significantly increased injection pressures - BUT the serious problem now is that #4 injector, and its sensor is NLA - when the sensor coil fails, engine MIL light comes on, and you have an instant MOT fail
The system was highly reliable, but the lack of availability of spares would stop me doing any conversion - I was forced to take EDC off my 300 Auto due to the failure of #4 injector coil - I was quoted £1K to make a new injector
if you were to change to EDC you'll need the pump, computer, a full set of injectors, the crank position sensor ( and the hole in the bell housing to accommodate it), and all the associated wiring, and diagnostics.

Cheers Disco1BFG I gather you melted a head by the sound of it . Will have a look at that chaps website, EDC is out then no point in converting cost to much money. Do you have a disco or defender transfer box ? Was looking at some threads were people were asking about doing it and some were saying use a defender trans box because of the gearing .

Ian Maycock said:

EDC is out then

Click to expand...

If you had a supply of spares, then EDC would be fine - probably a lot of hassle, but fine... Thing is the mechanical system is much easier IMHO, and is more reliable, and spares are cheap and readily available..

My 300 auto is the D1 in my avatar - so has the standard ratio TB...( for a disco) - I'm sure the deafener TB ratio would make it go like stink, but the disco ratio seems well known for a more relaxing experience...

One thing on my wish list is the larger TC, and the upgraded AT - which ashcroft do, and which, according to those who have spent their hard earned, is worth the money

Ian Maycock said:

I gather you melted a head by the sound of it

Click to expand...

Thankfully no - it was a pal of mine, who spent a fortune to get to that power level, but took no notice of the increased EGT.

The "word on the hill" is that the head will take 720 degrees C, but at 721 it's all over - judged by the mess his was in, it was, ahem, a "bit" more than 721 - and it wrote the vehicle off

I have a gauge in mine, and have set a sensible limit - I ease orft the loud pedal when I see 600 or so ( which is rare, even towing ).

Disco1BFG said:

One thing on my wish list is the larger TC, and the upgraded AT - which ashcroft do, and which, according to those who have spent their hard earned, is worth the money

Click to expand...

Got a egt gauge in my 200tdi as I've been playing around with the pump in that . I take it TC is torque converter but what's AT stand for ?
cheers Ian

AT = Auto transmission - sorry

Yep TC is torque converter, also TQ for same thing ......

Right looks like keeping an eye on ebay and the forums for a disco 300tdi auto box got plenty of time got some repairs on the rear tub and the chassis to clean and paint , and still got to take the engine ,gearbox and bulkhead off should keep me busy for a bit.

If you CBA, you might find a scrap auto D1 for not a lot of money - this should get you what you want, and you can sell the rest, and cover your costs.... probably. Appreciate it is quite a lot of work... but was just an idea....

Had thought of that but don't think the wife would be to happy with a rotting disco sitting in the yard for months .

Converted my 300TDi 90 to auto using an Ashcroft conversion last year, did a thread about it at the time.
Excellent modification, I can only say that I am really happy with it and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

I did relent and change back from the Disco transfer-box to a standard one a few weeks ago, the Disco unit was excellent with the R380 and had been fitted since new but with the auto it was just a tad high geared.

Cheers Litch can you remember what your thread was called ?Just did a quick search and your thread didn't come up.

I tried to make it as generic as possible.
300TDi auto conversion.

Think the forums playing games with me searched for 300tdi auto conversion on here your thread didn't come, actually no posts came up at all when I searched for that. Did a web search for it and it was the second page up there .

Yep playing games with ya.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/300tdi-auto-conversion.299535/

Cheers

No it was me had missed the o out of conversion when I searched so it threw up no results, ah well got it now.