4 Speed Auto 200tdi 1988 90

Hi All,

I recently purchased a bit of a project which was is a 1988 Land Rover 90 with a 200tdi auto. Since I’ve purchased I’ve had some 265/75/16’s put on the car as there were some huge off road wolf tyres on the car upon purchase and the death wobble was real…


The car was recently really struggling on the A Roads when after a small incline it would drop its speed from about 50mph to struggling at 40, just felt sluggish. I’m hoping this is the turbo just not getting enough boost to the engine as a worse case! The car has also had a full service, new water pump and I’ve just bought a turbo for the car as i said above, i think it’s on its way out, due to movement inside, but I’m just wondering about the 4 speed auto box and what the best set up would be for the car with gearing, transfer box etc? I don’t want to put any stress on the engine when I have to do those longer trips on A roads, but at the moment it feels like I’m putting stress on the engine and struggling to keep to 50-55mph.

Any help would be much appreciated

Originally the transfer box would most likely be a 1.4 ratio. It's possible that whoever did the auto conversion fitted a 1.2 box from a Discovery (along with the engine and transmission) which will raise the overall gearing. Bigger tyres than the original Discovery will further increase the gearing which, combined with the worse aerodynamics of the 90, will slow you down.

You could try holding the transmission in 3rd as you accelerate. If it reaches a better top speed, it's most likely that the car is overgeared and so fitting a standard 1.4 ratio transfer box would fix it. If not, then it points to engine trouble.

I had a simlar issue and like you thought it was the turbo or the Intercooler or the injectors.
In the end I sent my FiP off to Diesel Bob and the car changed from a Hippopotamus to a Gazelle (well perhaps not quite that much, but you know what I mean).

miktdish said:

I had a simlar issue and like you thought it was the turbo or the Intercooler or the injectors.
In the end I sent my FiP off to Diesel Bob and the car changed from a Hippopotamus to a Gazelle (well perhaps not quite that much, but you know what I mean).

Click to expand...

There is a diaphragm inside the pump which sees the air pressure from the turbo and increases the fuelling in response to boost. If this has perished, the pump can no longer react to the boost pressure and so won't up the fuelling. It's a simple enough fix.

Thank you both!

The engine at the moment actually sounds pretty good at lower speeds and idles well. Hence why I’m hoping this newer turbo will fix the issue as some classic car restorers have said it’s pretty much done!

I’ll get that turbo fitted and see if it fixes the problem as well as have a look at the gearing

I doubt its the turbo, takes seconds to check it with the hose off, lots of people blame the turbo.
Check the small pipe that runs from the turbo around the front of the engine to the injector pump.
Is it getting full throttle? not on the floor but to the inj pump lever?
Injector leak off pumps sound?
Lift pump working? check by removing the fuel filter (engine off!) it should be full.

As above 200's will run as normal even when lift pump is fubar until you need some more power.
When mine packed up I got all the way home except the last 1/2 mile up very steep hill. Had to get a mate to give a tow.
Any turbo that had seen some service will have some wiggle, its the oil pressure that keeps it centered when running.
A basic rule when sorting any issue is check/sort the simple stuff first.