ok...looking at getting a series 2a or 3..im more used to 90's with the 2.5N/A engine. Any good/bad points or suggestions regarding the 2.25 petrol and diesel engine? What do people recommend? I have my eye on a petrol with overdrive but diesel is cheap here, 80p a litre, petrol is £1...i do quite a lot of mileage so am leaning towards the diesel....thoughts??

i get about 12mpg with my petrol 2 1/4 ! now bet you go fer the diesel !

I thought the diesel was as slow as fook. So it depends on when you want to arrive at where your going.

12mpg!! I knew the petrol was bad...but not that bad! Was hoping for 18-20 with overdrive as its mainly a 50 mile trip at steady 50mph...lol...warp factor. Theres also a series with a 2.8 isuzu engine in it...blasphemy i know...but a lot better than the 2.25..hmmm the search continues..

i'd go for the isuzu conversion!!! at last calculation i get 15mpg from my petrol, that was before the valve went because engine was running too hot!! now it's running proper i've no idea what i get lol and tbh i don't want to know

i get about 15-18 out of my petrol. diesel is very slow but wade better .

Petrol all the way!
Skim the head alot, SU carb and ACR exhaust manifold you will be flying and get better MPG that any previous stated if the rest is in good order.

2.25 Diesels are slow you could fit a 2.5 diesel from a 90 or 110. I would only stick to LR engines to keep it easy for parts meself

2.25 petrol all the way

A friend of mine has a 2 1/4 diesel 88". We went greenlaning and I was quite surprised how well it kept up on and off road. However these engines do have a flaw in their design of the drive system to the fuel injection pump. The pump is driven via spiral bevel gear on the camshaft and then a short intermediate shaft, which introduce backlash which causes poor injection timing, result: rough running and smoke. Land-Rover fixed this problem when they introduced the 2.5 NA diesel which had the fuel pump driven directly from the timing belt.

more torque from a diesel

You can expect up to 19 - 21 mpg out of a petrol. It will need to be in good condition and serviced regular. Gentle driving and an overdrive will help. Free wheeling front hubs will also get you an additional 1mpg.

A good petrol will cruise around 55 or 60 with an overdrive.

High compression head and electronic ignition helps A LOT!

Diesel will get you 25mpg...Maybe. But even when good they are much slower than a petrol when trying to keep up with traffic. More torque at tickover means nothing when your revving. There is no problem with timing. They use the same timing method as the petrol engine. If your local landrover garage cant set the timing correctly they do not know how to use the tools properly. All slack is removed from the cam gear and timing chain when the timing is set properly. It is a more and more common problem these days.

If you want to stick to 2.25 I would go petrol every time.

If you are thinking about a conversion I would go with a 2.5 200tdi from an old discovery. Keep it landrover and all the parts you need are easy to find. You can expect 30 - 35mpg from this engine in a series travelling at the normal series speeds. The engine will also bolt to your existing gearbox without special conversion parts.

Your gearbox will be fine with the power BUT. If your gearbox is showing signs of fatigue you might want to fix that before using a more powerfull engine.

Fitting a non landrover engine will devalue your landrover so much you will hardly be able to sell it again. They are almost worthless unless a landrover engine is used. You will also find parts such as hoses, conversion plates clutches etc all become special parts and hard to find.

Good luck.

Cheers spit...that mpg for the petrol sounds..erm ok..if i could get that id be happy...the diesel does sound even slower than normal when comparing landys..the only positive i can say re the diesel is the price of the fuel here, 80p a litre against a pound for petrol...so basically a 25% bigger fuel bill with petrol..i drive about 500 miles a week. In round figures thats approx 100 a week petrol or 80 for diesel...hmmm...for 20 quid a week i think i'd prefer the slightly quicker petrol..

Was i thinking out loud then...lol...thanks for the help!!

spitfiremk1uk said:

All slack is removed from the cam gear and timing chain when the timing is set properly

Click to expand...

I'd never realized it was possible to adjust the backlash from the cam gear. I can't see any reference to it in the workshop manual but I'm guessing it's done by slackening the grub screw which retains the bush for the pump drive gear and adjusting the position of the bush. What method do you use to set it up right?

I've got both, depends what you want it for?

The 2.5 petrol get's used for fun, makes me smile,does the job and with the middle box mising sounds great You dont calculate that Enjoy!

The 2.25 diesel is as flat as a fart, does it job but no fun!

The 2.25 diesel is a good reliable slogger, but very slow, even by standards of vehicles 30 yrs ago , when I was driving one. They get about 25mpg, and are not the best starters when it gets very cold. Defo worth while getting freewheel hubs esp when cold weather, as the extra drag from front diff is really noticeable with the limited power of the diesel.
The 2.25 petrol will get about 18mpg on avg , lot quicker, no probs at all cold weather starting. If you tune them up, as mentioned previous eg SU and up the CR they will go a lot quicker , and still get same if not better mpg, forget about other engines for reasons allready given .