300tdi in to 200tdi defender

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
N

NZTom

New Member
Posts
5
Location
New Zealand
I have a 1993 110 defender with a 200tdi in it that took in a bit to much water and as ceased the motor and have been told that it would cost to much to fix as it need reboring now. I am in New Zealand and land rover motors are not that common so have not been able to find any till this week when one came up for sale which was apparently a 200 tdi out of a disco, I have brought it now and taken it home to find it is actually a 300tdi out of a 1996 auto disco, what I want to know is weather it is possible to fit it in to the defender still or weather I need to go back looking for a 200 tdi?
 
It'll certainly fit Tom but you'll need to move the motor mounts on the chassis as they are in a different position on 300's. What damage have you done to your 200 though cos it might be simpler to rebuild that?
 
Somthing else to note -

The 300s are the same between the disco and defender (except for the air filter mounting on the defender) but, i believe, the 200s are a bit different between the two.

So.. if youre wanting to drop a 200 donor in complete, from a disco, into a defender, there may be a number of issues. Obviously, however, if you can frankenstein with your old motor, it would be a lot simpler.


I understand that the 300 mates to the lt77, but not perfectly. Somthing about leaving out bolts on the bell housing.

If you rebuild the 200, youll have a rebuilt engine. If you replace with a used unit, you will just have a 2nd hand used engine...

(i know im stating the obvious!)
 
julianf said:
So.. if youre wanting to drop a 200 donor in complete, from a disco, into a defender, there may be a number of issues. Obviously, however, if you can frankenstein with your old motor, it would be a lot simpler.
Click to expand...

Isn't the main practical difference in the manifolds? High turbo on defender vs low turbo on disco. In this case, the old manifolds could be transferred to a replacement 200.

Folks put 300s into older 90/110 vehicles, so it will be a similar amount of work to that if you're starting from a genuine defender 200tdi.
 
I think (although im not sure, so dont trust me too much) that some of the items driven by the aux belt are mounted differently too. But, again, im not sure.

I have a 300tdi disco, and a 300tdi defender, (and a international 2.8 101) so i have personal (as in accurate) experience of those, but the 200tdi stuff is a bit more hazy.
 
Thanks for the advice. So the main thing that need doing to the engine mounts need moving ford. If I swap over the fly wheel and fly housing with that mean that it mates up to the lt77 better? Also with the electrics with 300tdi just plug in to the normal plug or does it need some work too. so it doesn't matter that the motor is from a auto, as I have been told that autos have a long crank shaft
 
NZTom said:
Thanks for the advice. So the main thing that need doing to the engine mounts need moving ford. If I swap over the fly wheel and fly housing with that mean that it mates up to the lt77 better? Also with the electrics with 300tdi just plug in to the normal plug or does it need some work too. so it doesn't matter that the motor is from a auto, as I have been told that autos have a long crank shaft
Click to expand...
The engine mounts certainly do need changing. The 300 came with a different kind of mount from what was used on the 200. The cranks are basically the same between both autos and manuals. The difference you've probably heard about is a shim of sorts that bolts to the crank and in turn holds the flex plate on the autos. I may be mistaken here, but I think the bell housings don't just swap over between the two on account of how the crank seal housing is designed and mounted on the 300tdi, but don't take my word for it until you've had the chance to remove the flywheel to confirm. As for the electrics, the autos came with drive by wire EDC. You can check between your two engines if the FIP pump differs between them. The auto EDC has no throttle linkage on the pump, but then again the pumps are interchangeable with a minor tweak in timing to compensate for the different kinds of injectors that were used on both engines. That sorted, same as the 200tdi, you need just one live feed to the FIP solenoid to get the engine running. Best of luck.
 
Last edited:
Have you had your existing engine looked at? It may just as simple as bent pushrods and valves and may rebuild okay. Which would be the better option IMO
 
http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=64756&page=2

This should be a link to a thread about making an adapter to mount a 300tdi onto your existing engine mounts. There is a drawing with dimensions a few posts down. The whole thread is worth a read and is the inspiration for my conversion from 2.5na to 300tdi.
The let hand side engine mount can be taken from your 200 and fitted to the 300 but you will need to custom make an exhaust down pipe to clear the engine mount.

Hope this helps!

Rich
 
Thanks for your help, I have had the 200tdi looked at and been told that the cylinders need reboring and needs new push rods which I have been told are $700 nzd which made it cheaper to get the 300 tdi for $2000 nzd
 
NZTom said:
Thanks for your help, I have had the 200tdi looked at and been told that the cylinders need reboring and needs new push rods which I have been told are $700 nzd which made it cheaper to get the 300 tdi for $2000 nzd
Click to expand...
So a rebore? Did they mention anything about Pistons etc?

You can buy pushrods fairly cheap and if your happy with spanners they aren't hard to fit
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

kato Disco
Defender with discovery front axle - are the brake components the same?
Replies
11
Views
431
Hicap phill
H
B
rear axle
Replies
0
Views
207
bosun
B
G
300tdi ticking
Replies
5
Views
303
Forrest Gump
F
R
Air box 200 and 300 tdi
Replies
10
Views
2K
RustyDefender
RustyDefender
torr_td4
1996 Defender 90 wiring diagram
Replies
1
Views
395
Anaconda
A
Back
Top