Please Answer!!!!

Have found a seriously written off 1997 defender 300tdi, but the engine is ok. But is it possible to replace my 2.5TD??????????? Am getting despirate now!! I know the gearbox is different but will it still work?

Still no one is answering my question about putting a disco 200tdi in a defender?!?!?! Is it possible without butchering my landy? Surely you knowledgable people can help!

(to the bloke that left me private message) my boyfriend should be ringing you asap!


Thanks in advance and please please help!

It's possible to put almost any engine into any vehicle with the aid of oxy aceylene and a welder. The question is how much work is involved.

As far as straight engine swaps is concerned it all depends on the position of engine mountings, the shape of the bell housing and the gearbox input shaft plus a host of other points.

I suppose a quicker answer would have been, I dunno. Try posting on the general Land Rover talk, you might get more interest. Another source of information could be the smaller independant type garage.

Sorry I can't be of any help. Let us know how you get on.

Thanks very much for your input. As it is a complete car i should pretty much have everthing, just obviously don't want to make work for myself (or the bloke at the garage anyway)!!
I know the mountings are the same on 200's but not sure about 300's. I would prefer a 200 anyway really as i have heard so many good reports about them but as everyone knows they are a little hard to come by!!!

Thanks again, will keep you updated!

The engine does sit further forward on the 300tdi and the mountings will not line up. If you hadn't figured it out yet, the turbo on a 200tdi sits much higher on a defender to a discovery which is why your garage guy was on about chopping wings. I cant remember off the top of my head if the exhaust manafold is the same or not. There will be chopping and changing envolved no matter which engine you use 300tdi or disco 200tdi. I'd say that the disco 200tdi sounds more easy to fit. Don't worry about the gearbox It will be fine.

Thanks for that, just wanted to check. I new they wouldn't just bolt bolt in but had never heard of having to cut the wings!!!

AFAIK a 300tdi won't fit your gearbox. the 300s were used with the later, r380 type gearbox. your gearbox, an lt77 will fit a 200tdi perfectly, whether it is a disco lump or defender.

try the link below to ebay. theres an 86 110 with a buy it now of £2500. it has a 200tdi, its expensive but you could make some back if you put your old engine in it or broke it for spares and sold them
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Land-Rover-11...ryZ29748QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I can't say that I'v ever heard of anyone cutting the wings either but I'm not sure how well they fit with a lower turbo. You would also then have problems with fitting an exhaust if the turbo was lower. Perhaps you could change both manafolds and replace the turbo with defender 200tdi equivalent as you can still buy these new. If you need any piccys I have got a 200tdi disco and defender at home on my drive. I also have all the part numbers etc if you need em!!

Saw that on ebay but it's a bit much really when ive then got to pay somone to fit it and rolling shells aren't worth alot + my engine in knackered- got 4 cracked pisterns and one of the cylinders is worn by about 2mm!! so no go there, stills runs really well but can't get it through the MOT. But thanks for the thought.

He either said he would have to cut up the wheel arches or relocate some stuff on the engine eg)turbo etc. But because of this he was unable to give me a quote. But im reckoning i am looking at about the same to buy, modify & fit a disco lump(considering they are cheaper) as i am to buy and fit a defender one. Just disco's are a hell of a lot more readily available! Haven't seen one private defender engine regardless of price location etc but have seen hundreds of disco's...mad!!

unfortunately it sounds like your current engine is too far gone to even use as a deposit for a reconditioned one, though it may still be worth a try.

I too was endlessly hunting the small ads for an affordable 200tdi. Not to dishearten you but, I gave up in the end as money wise people were asking way over the odds.

I settled on the old 2.5 non-turbo diesel engine, and found a good one quite quickly. I got a rebuilt old ex military 2.5 NA engine for the pricely sum of £300! (about 1/10 the cost of what one guy wanted for a 200tdi and fitting kit!!!!!)

the non turbo diesel is not very powerful (65bhp new) and will probably struggle like hell to get my 90 anywhere near 70, but it is very strong and quite reliable (The mod used them for years). It may be worth considering if you don't drive on motorways (or hills!!!) much as they can be found relatively cheaply, though a good one may take a bit of finding.

landylady ,
fitting a 200tdi in your defender is not hard , but it is time consuming .
the biggest problem you wil have is that the rads ( and there are three ) are all to far away from the engine , you will need to extend all the pipe work .
top and bottom intercooler pipes , oil cooler pipes and the water hoses . it,s not as hard as it sounds . the exhaust problem is easy to solve but it won't be cheap if you do it the right way .
as for cutting the inner wing , this is because the turbo to intercooler pipe is very close to the inner wing and you should cut the panel out either side off the suspension turret otherwise it will wear the pipe work away .
you will also need to remove the fan and replace it with an electric one , you can trim the blades if you like but the cooling will suffer if you do .
there are several other bits and pieces that you need to do but you've got my number if you need to know ring me and ask .


bye the way you'll love it ,when you've done it the difference is amazing .

you can fit a 300 in a na or a 2.5td use the engine and box from the write off, that way you can just drop the whole lot in in one go, the prop should fit without any probs, like the others say the rad will be a problem but you could just geta defender 300 tdi rad, as for pipe work, don't worry, pipes are made out of a really good invention called rubber and it is flexible, asd for the steel pipes, this is also no problem cos plummers have a thing called a pipe bender, yes this is a fairly big job but at the end of the day its not that difficult, i wish you luck with it and keep us posted on how its going.

do tell who the pm was off, go on name and shame him

you can't work out who the pm was off ?????
the clue's are there . and you should be able to work out what it was about.

well its obvious what it was about but WHO was it off

ok, the pm was from me and her boyfriend was ringing me about the engine swop , ok .
heres an idea yella , instead of smart arsed comments why don't you try helping me , i know it's a lot to ask ,but i'll ask anyway .
ladylandy and her boyfriend have logged on this forum and asked for help , and i'm trying to help .
i spoke to her on the phone yesterday afternoon about it and she said she was thinking about buying a scrap disco for £900 and then paying a garage to do the swap , her boyfriend is a vw fan and thinks he can't do it , i'm trying to convince him that he can .
cos i can see a bill coming for about £2000 , can you .
so , if you know anything about this subject ( and i don't think you do ) then why don't you help them out instead of ****ing about .
and before you start with your insults , remember , i've heard them all before so don't waste your time . just pm them to me and i'll read them when i get time .
go on yella , prove me wrong and help them , i dare ya !!!!

fightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfightfight

instead of smart arsed comments

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Where are they then?

why don't you try helping me

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He was.

and i'm trying to help .

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So is everyone else.

if you know anything about this subject ( and i don't think you do )

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his post seemed quite informed the way I read it.

****ing about .

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All he asked was who was the Pm from, something that I was going to ask myself.

and before you start with your insults , remember , i've heard them all before so don't waste your time . just pm them to me and i'll read them when i get time .

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Yeah whatever.

if you take your thumb from up your arse rick and read post11 on this thread you will see that i was actually offering advice. i didn't make any smart arsed comments just merely asked who sent the pm.yes i agree a garage will charge the earth to do an engine swap even though its not that difficult. i think you need to get realistic about yourself. you seem to think i have a personal vendetta against you ( which i don't) this is twice you have got on your high horse about me not being helpful when on both occasions i have offered help and advice.

Now Now children,lol come on peeps lets not argue or split hairs here,we are all sposed to be friendly and helpfull to each other,you lot certainly help me out a few times,even talked me out of buying a Mazda MX5 (wot the fook was i thinking about).