Defender 90 300Tdi Engine Rebuild

Great read. Looking forwards to seeing the result and hearing how much difference having a fresh engine made!

Thanks for all the nice replies guys.
A lot happened since the last update so without further delay herewith the detail.
The head was all torqued up and the time arrived to fit the rocker shaft.


Before any adjustments could be made to the tappets I had to fit the injection pump, pulleys and timing belt


This allowed the tappets to be set correctly so the tapped cover could be fitted.
When the time came to install the injectors and glow plugs I realised that I was missing an injector stud, One snapped in two during an injector washer replacement procedure shortly after I bought the vehicle. At the time I could not locate a second hand one and a new one was just so expensive that I decided to use a short length of 8mm threaded rod and a nut to lock it in place. This was okay pre-rebuild but it needed a proper injector stud to be fitted and I was not about to pay silly money to the dealers for a new stud thus I made my own.

I turned a piece of 12mm machine steel to the correct profile and tapped the ends.

The factory stud is the bottom one. Looking carefully at the original it does seem a bit stretched, notice the slight taper on the non threaded bit. I made a few extra just in case.
Next up was the vacuum pump, fuel lift pump and oil filter adaptor, air cleaner injector pipes,

Cyclonic breather, hoses, flywheel housing, front timing cover and crank pulley.

which got me to a point where I could install the rear main oil seal and flywheel

Next up was the exhaust and inlet manifolds but the inlet manifold had a nasty surprise install for me. I only noticed after the fact that one of the bolts securing the inlet manifold to the head was 5mm shorter than the other, obviously not the correct bolt for the application and as it started taking up the torque (25nm being the target) the thread gave way. This destroyed the first 5mm of thread, by simply replacing the bolt for the proper one would only cause more problems in the long run. I had to find a solution

A long search ensued.....I wanted to find something that I will be happy with, something that I know will last and will not unscrew itself when I remove the inlet manifold for whatever reason. I had my old head to play with so I tried a couple of options. Allow me to say that there are some inserts out there not worth the money or time, perhaps they are good for applications in plastic, others are so expensive I'm not even sure how they manage to sell the stuff. I came up with a plan (based on a picture I saw) and set out making my own flanged insert:

I even went as far as zinc plating these. I did this at home and for some reason the inside thread did not plate but that would be okay I suppose. I had to purchase a set of taps to fit them and also build a tool produce a decent recess for the flange the flange

I sourced a bit of tool steel and manufactured a cutter suitable to create a recess in the head for the flange so the insert would sit flush.

I hardened and tempered the cutter which produced good results

The hole was tapped, the insert was screwed onto a bolt

and screwed into the head

It was tightened up a bit against the flange and the result was better than what I expected

So the exhaust and inlet manifolds went on

The insert worked like a charm and handles the required torque of 25nm rather well. I tried breaking it on the old head and was impressed with the performance. The insert will not pull out of the aluminium, the thread inside the insert will give way first.
Almost time for the engine to go back into the car......yeah!

Good effort but you need to give that front cover a clean as it is letting the engine down, if you can't be bothered you can send it over to me and I'll take it of your hands if you want?

Hi
Anymore updates? Im checking your thread again now as Im toying around with getting a 300TDi Disco as a project for my step-son to use/fix up!

Nice work on problem solving the manifold studs. You mentioned the inside on your parts didnt plate, if I recall right, plating will only take on the areas that the anode can "see", so if the anode didnt have line of sight on an area of the part to be plated it wouldnt have plated it.

I use the battery charger, bucket of slightly salty water, trick to clean up old corroded metal fittings, sort of reverse plating, works a treat but not on the inside of fittings, .

Anyway hope its all going well, mine is up and running finally!
Happy New Year from Estonia!
Mark

Hi Guys.
This will probably be the final update for this rebuild thread.

Mark, What you said about the plating makes perfect sense. I will test it out when I have a few moments, also glad to hear that your Td5 is running again.
The 300tdi is a great engine, you are lucky that in the UK you are spoilt for choice and spares are readily available.

So herewith the final snippet...
Alternator, water pump and engine mounting fitted


Right side engine mounting and oil filter back in place


Clutch and pressure plate in place


Engine ready to go back into the Landy


And a while later it was back in the Landy


I made sure to properly tighten the crank pulley bolt according to the manual


Next came the radiators, all the pipes, electrics and fan


The engine started with no issues. One thing I noticed immediately was that it runs a lot quieter and smoother than what I have been used to. I ran the engine on Engen Dieselube 530 for 1000km. For the first 600km I made sure not to labour the engine too much, even keeping the top speed at 80km/h then I read a paper regarding running in an engine after which I decided to drive the Landy like I would normally drive it. After 1000km I drained the oil and changed to Caltex Delo 400 which is what I'm going to use in the engine. I will do oil changes every 5000Km's and just enjoy the new Landy I have.

I have one little snag to still sort out, an oil leak on one of the pipes leading to the oil cooler but that would have to wait. My dad is currently using my Landy while I rebuild his Defender TD5 engine. His Landy recently developed a diesel knock which occurs only when the engine reaches operating temperature. After a lot of fault finding missions which included changing to a thicker oil, re-setting injector clearances, getting injectors tested and re-coded to the ECU I decided to pull the engine and found 2 causes for the knock............I will start a new thread for the TD5 rebuild.

Thanks for reading and sharing in my 300tdi rebuild experience.

Willie

Nice one - thanks for posting! I bet it's a good feeling to have a nearly new engine in yer deafner

cool, good job, will follow the td5 thread with interest!!

Hi Willie
Great job! Thanks for the new pics!
Interesting what you said about how smoothly she ran.
When we got my mates 200TDi running this weekend, she was rock steady, smooth as anything, about the same as a TD5!
Whats up with the TD5? Mine was knocking under load and kicking out white smoke until I re-tested the injectors and found one bad one, now shes purring nicely!
Looking forward to your thread!
Mark