Engine swap in 2 days

I'm going to have a go at fitting a 2.3 pug diesel engine, with bell housing adaptor and modified engine mounts in to my series 3 petrol this weekend. I've got Monday and Tuesday off so will look to do it then. The thing is my only other car is currently broke... So I need to get it done and working first time

The engine looks to have a modified top rad hose to fit straight in to a standard rad and although the bottom pipe isn't with the engine it looks like the landy item will work.

The engine comes with a clutch that looks in good condition and runs off the regular landy release mechanism.

This is a list of the bits I know I'm going to need;

20/50 oil for engine
push switch, relay and wiring for glow plugs
oil filter for engine
fuel filter for engine
fuel return pipe in to the fuel tank, how would you recomend thats done? Drill a hole on the top of the tank, poke a pipe through it and silicone it up?
anti freeze
exhaust flexi for down pipe (exits wrong side of engine)
make sure the starter wiring reaches new starter motor
same for the alternator


What have I missed

StuntmanAd said:

fuel return pipe in to the fuel tank, how would you recomend thats done? Drill a hole on the top of the tank, poke a pipe through it and silicone it up?

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good luck with that

For the tank return pipe i remember there is a small diamond shaped plate near to the sender unit that i somehow fixed a short tube through (araldite or something) then jubilee clipped the return hose onto. Hope this helps a bit.
By the way, have you considered the engine mounts?

Cheers Mike. Yes it has engine mounts on it, modified ones to fit straight in to where the original engine went.

ask POS to help you He knows all about quick engine swaps,

TBH i think your taking a big risk only allowing 2days to put a not std engine in.

does it need a oil cooler? how are you going to fit the air cleaner? Have you heard it running?

doesn't come with an oil cooler and the engine is pretty much as is out of a landy. Its got water pipes going in to the oil filter housing though...

StuntmanAd said:

Its got water pipes going in to the oil filter housing though...

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could be an oil filter mounted oil cooler plate as peugeot use then a filter fits on it

fanatic said:

could be an oil filter mounted oil cooler as peugeot use then a filter fits on it

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hmmmm ... i've got a few peugeot fuel filters that have coolant connectors - got them when playing with pre-heating veggy oil

can't see how running water (which i assume to be coolant) through an oil filter base would help ?

standard fitment on many PSA group engines and many Vw engines

fanatic said:

standard fitment on many PSA group engines and many Vw engines

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an oil filter that has coolant/water connections ?

Sean said:

an oil filter that has coolant/water connections ?

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the standard filter thread is removed and a longer one holds the plate oil cooler on- then the oil filter is screwed on-see above

gotta ya - confused me when he said water going through the oil filter

well it's still early here

I'm not saying it can't be done, but attempting to fit a non standard engine in 2 days is highly optimistic, especially if a proper job is to be made of the installation. I've done 2 non standard engine swaps and it took much longer than 2 days to fit each of them. I don't know about fitting the Peugeot engine. Do you have to modify the bulkhead? How are you going to connect up the accelerator? The exhaust manifold positioned on the other side of the engine bay could be a tricky and time consuming problem to solve. Will the battery need to be relocated? If so how is the air filter going to be mounted? Do you have connectors to link the air cleaner to the inlet manifold?

so you do need an oil cooler as well, if you thought that was water going to the oil filter housing then VERY good luck doing the swap......

Depends on the oil cooler, if the plate oil cooler is a factory standard peugeot one then it has water through every one I have seen
(yes definitely water hoses to it as I've done loads of bx td/ 405 engines)
If it is an after market oil cooler it may well be an oil cooler with separate radiator.

Pictures of it please
example of vw type here
peugeot type

No welding needed to get it to fit. Will work out the accelerator cable as I go along. Exhaust will be sorted by a bit of welding. Battery doesn't seem to need relocating. Air box is included with engine and sits up on top so shouldn't get in the way of anything. Sump is already modified so no work needed there.

It would speed up the job if you buy a conversion downpipe. Steve Parker do them for Peugeot engines: Steve Parker Land Rover Exhaust Systems, Stainless Steel Exhausts. I had a 200Tdi full large bore system off them for a SIII and it's well made.

Hi pal,
Dont forget that the return pipe for the diesel has to go right to the bottom of the tank, if you floor it theres a possibility of air getting back into the pump.
I made a fitting for mine, its a bulkhead fitting with a steel pipe sawn off at 45 degrees (so that if it touches the bottom it doesnt stop flow), you might be able to rig something with silicone for now, allthough I believe proper doo-dah's for this are commercially available.
If you get a dock off pushbutton that can handle 50 amps or so you dont need a relay for the glow plugs, that said if your handy with a soldering iron you can convert the old timer relay from the pug to a straight relay, just remove the pcb and take the coil connections to the plug in connector.
This is a glow plug relay from a citroen, the pug is similar just a diffo connector:

Dont forget to rob one of the 80amp maxi blade fuses from the pug and connect that in line with the battery.
Also check the injector pump, some have 2 solenoids, ones the stop (run) solenoid, and if theres another its a cold run inject advance solenoid, usually connected to a thermostatic switch so it cuts out automatically, but you can connect it to a switch on the dash, just remember to turn it off after 5 mins.

Got on with the engine swap today. Heres some pics I took




Flat tyre is the reason for the lean...



Single handedly removing the pug engine out of the back of the Landy.



It was quite a lazy day. Woke up late, ran out of petrol in an old Triumph I was selling, hung around for a mate to save me, sold the Triumph in the afternoon and didn't get round to working on the landy until 3o'clock. Still got the engine out on my own.


I can weld so I'll see what I can do for the exhaust down pipe. Stacks anybody?

Dr P. I've got a relay and push button for the heaters. Wasn't to fussed on going for a timer. Simpler just to hold a button down for 10 seconds or so

I noticed that the fuel tank in my landy has a return already plumped in to it! Its the same as the fuel pipe going to the carbs. Just coiled up and not connected to anything. Is this a standard thing or is it maybe a diesel tank?