First defender but I cannot identify the engine

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Z

Ziva

Member
Posts
39
Location
Belgium
Dear All,
I will be picking up my new to me defender ninety from 1989 on Friday and the present owner does not know the engine type. All the rest on the car looks fine at first inspection.

It’s a Land Rover ninety from 1989 as think they were not called defender back then. So from her age she should be equipped with a 2.5TD but from the look of the engine i have doubt.

Can you help me identify the engine type from the photo below. Some have told me it is a 200 or 300tdi, if it is the case, it is even better from what i have seen on the web, as i have been planning on a engine swap.

I will have a 4h journey to take her home (the car :)) so i hope that this will not end up on a towing truck.

The trip will mostly be on the motorway so i will keep behind a lorry for the whole journey instead of on the lorry.

I have some modifications in my head but will mostly focus on getting her into tip top conditions and will probably update/repair the suspensions, the bearings, change the headlamps and add a winch.

Thanks in advance,

Gary
 

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Ziva said:
Thanks a lot.

How do you know it is a 300TDI just curious.

Thanks
Click to expand...
It has a serpentine belt system(200tdi does not)
I can also see it has the old style heater as it has copper pipes not the 300tdi plastic straight inlets.
Has an old style water header tank
And it’s a left hand drive

that’s it I give up ;)

where was reverse on the gearbox? Below 5th or next to 1st?
 
Hicap phill said:
It has a serpentine belt system(200tdi does not)
I can also see it has the old style heater as it has copper pipes not the 300tdi plastic straight inlets.
Has an old style water header tank
And it’s a left hand drive

that’s it I give up ;)

where was reverse on the gearbox? Below 5th or next to 1st?
Click to expand...
Thanks, that’s great news then if it is a 300, when i get to the car, i will hopefully be able to find the engine number somewhere.
Please find a photo of the gear stick. I hope you can see something from it.
 

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Hi and welcome!

The only other thing to add is that it’s not the original engine. But it’s a good conversion to have, much better than the original engine. Nice clean interior too.
 
Ziva said:
Thanks, that’s great news then if it is a 300, when i get to the car, i will hopefully be able to find the engine number somewhere.
Please find a photo of the gear stick. I hope you can see something from it.
Click to expand...
Non standard gear knob.
Make sure you have a chassis number & engine number.these are easily removed.

Looks an early steering wheel. (Not your normal 300tdi type)
Motor looks like it just had an engine/gearbox change.they would have changed the engine mounts though
 
Thanks for the info about the non standard parts of the car.
The car if from 1989 so pretty old.
I am glad the engine is a 300tdi versus the 2.5td.
The car is really clean and not modified so much so I have decided to go ahead with the sale and pick up the car on Friday. I will give you a full review after the first 4h drive.

do you have any advices to do such a long journey in a defender? Take some water and oil I presume?

thanks
 
I assume that air filter is attached to somthing?

The engine is almost certainly out of a disco, hence the lack of air filter housing brackets. Or at least any that I can see...
 
julianf said:
I assume that air filter is attached to somthing?

The engine is almost certainly out of a disco, hence the lack of air filter housing brackets. Or at least any that I can see...
Click to expand...

thanks for the info, I will check the air filter before my trip.
 
486D15CE-CDED-41E8-934D-24EBA0B5C404.jpeg 871AE95D-0FF4-458E-B7BC-903BFB7A1307.jpeg 4A63FD3B-CCA9-42B3-831D-F810832EA854.jpeg Dear All,
I just wanted to give you a quick feedback following your really helpful comments.

The car is as expected (which is a really good thing) and I managed to get back after 4.5 hours driving at 85km/h so about 50m/h.

The driving experience is as expected and even better, the car is doing fine at this speed and i could even go a bit faster but i find the steering a bit wobbly at speed (I mean there is a large neutral zone in the middle and then the tires grip a lot and make you swerve)

Do you find the same?

Secondly, the lighting need to be improved, this is normal and i am now looking at upgrades:

- roof rack
- better headlights
- some little repairs for the Belgian MOT.

Please find below some photos.

Thanks again for your help

871AE95D-0FF4-458E-B7BC-903BFB7A1307.jpeg 4A63FD3B-CCA9-42B3-831D-F810832EA854.jpeg
 
The châssis is very clean and not much rust. Considering the engine it is a 300tdi and I did not notice and loss of oil during the trip. We checked at each coffee breaks.
I was just scared when I discovered a plug missing under the gearbox. The apparently it’s a drain plug when you drive in the water.
 
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