300tdi Engine - Recon or not?

Despite having a whole day and night to think about what to do about replacing my Defender's engine, I can't make a decision, so thought I would use the combined minds of LandyZone to make a decision for me!

In case you missed the original thread, my Defender suffered a runaway engine and is now dead, which leaves me with two options:

1. Replace the engine with a 2nd hand 300tdi. My local Landy specialist has one with 120k on the clock with all recent services carried out by them, and he's asking for £500 + fitting.

2. Buy a remanufactured 300tdi from Turner Engineering. The stripped engines are £2195 +VAT and include a 12 month unlimited mileage warranty.


Considering potential resale value (my old engine had only done 90k miles) and the reliability (or not) of the Disco engine, what would you do?

I'd buy an mot fail disco runner for 500 quid, use the engine and sell on whats left either to punters wanting bits (running gear etc) and put the rest over the weigh bridge.

recouped cost would subsidise the engine swap. (but there again, I'd do the swap meself)

nrgserv said:

I'd buy an mot fail disco runner for 500 quid, use the engine and sell on whats left either to punters wanting bits (running gear etc) and put the rest over the weigh bridge.

recouped cost would subsidise the engine swap. (but there again, I'd do the swap meself)

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+1, but then personally id rebore and rebuild it ,but then i wouldnt be paying anyone else to do it

At 500 plus VAT I would swifty become an expert at fitting engines. Lol

Landyfox said:

At 500 plus VAT I would swifty become an expert at fitting engines. Lol

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plus £400 for a new turbo,stripped engine is only sump, head ,block etc

jamesmartin said:

+1, but then personally id rebore and rebuild it ,but then i wouldnt be paying anyone else to do it

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Ooh, is this an offer to rebuild my engine for me??

Hello,
After I sank my disco, a new engine was needed. Got mine reconditioned by a guy off of ebay, (PM for details).
Didnt want to pay £500ish for a 2nd hand engine, which for all i knew could have been buggered already, ok so it cost about £1400 but at least I know that that engine is fully reconditioned and everything is shiny!
Done about 3,000 miles on new engine and is going perfect.
Dunno about resale value-but if I want to sell the disco I can always remove the reconditiioned engine and replace with a cheapo one.
Sounds like a bit of a ramble but hope it helps!

Josh

Chr1s said:

Ooh, is this an offer to rebuild my engine for me??

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possibly,but only after he has finished my disco chassis.

i'd buy an old and change the worn bits and bobs myself

gemsdad said:

possibly,but only after he has finished my disco chassis.

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James I'll pay 50% more not to do it

Thor1950 said:

James I'll pay 50% more not to do it

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you could not afford it you ****er.or i tell you what,i will hold you to that.put your money where your big mouth is,go on i dare you.

Thor1950 said:

James I'll pay 50% more not to do it

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come on big mouth.put your money up,if you have any,which i doubt.

Thor1950 said:

James I'll pay 50% more not to do it

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come on thor,i have sent you a pm asking you to pay up.

Depends on your financial circumstances

Minted and keeping it forever or skint and selling it in 3 months

You'll never see that £2000 back , you were just unlucky, 120k is nothing for a well maintained Diesel engine

My iveco had done that in 3 years from new, it's now 7 years old, done 238k and still no problems apart from 3 seconds of cam chain rattle on starting from cold

Buy the £500 engine hire an engine hoist get a couple of mates round.
You'll have it swapped in a weekend

Well, after much deliberation, I have decided not to not go with either of those options and will instead remove the engine and attempt to rebuild it myself. The way I see it, the engine is already knackered, so if I make a horrible mess of it, I will be no worse off than I am now.

If anyone is near Oxfordshire and wants to pop round to help (or to laugh at my expense), you're more than welcome!

Right... Off to find myself an engine hoist!

Chr1s said:

Well, after much deliberation, I have decided not to not go with either of those options and will instead remove the engine and attempt to rebuild it myself. The way I see it, the engine is already knackered, so if I make a horrible mess of it, I will be no worse off than I am now.

If anyone is near Oxfordshire and wants to pop round to help (or to laugh at my expense), you're more than welcome!

Right... Off to find myself an engine hoist!

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Be cheaper the other way, you might need some serious machine work the the crank and possible a new cam, piston or 2, head could be really fooked etc

Thor1950 said:

Be cheaper the other way, you might need some serious machine work the the crank and possible a new cam, piston or 2, head could be really fooked etc

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Well aren't we a bundle of joy!

Chr1s said:

Well aren't we a bundle of joy!

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You just need to be aware of what could be facing you. A running motor with a freshen up is a cheaper route.

Doing it yourself is a good idea, I'm doing it that way, I've stripped my engine and sent it away so they can just skim, pressure test and rebored costing £170 and I will do the rest myself, new pistons, big ends ect.