The Rover diesels all use timing belts, those parts are very hard to come by in the US because diesels were never a option for the NAS market.
Any parts you need for a Rover diesel will need to be imported, it can be done easily but that add's to the overall cost of ownership.
Your truck may be out of service for weeks at a time while you wait for parts.
People always get over the road and "car" diesel life spans confused.
A Rover TDI will never last as long as a over the road diesel, it just wont happen.
My old work van was a gas engine, Ford Trition, 5.4L, it has 350k and still going with nothing being done to it other than oil changes, water pumps, alternators, tunes ups, etc.
It all depends on how you use it and how well you maintain it.
A DIY'er can swap a Rover engine in a weekend.
As for the cost of having it done, I'm going to guess $500 or so.
If you are buying a used engine I would go ahead and replace all of the gaskets while the engine is out of the truck.

Nobody is saying dont do the swap, we are just saying it will cost way more than you think and take longer than your wife wants her parking spot in the garage to be tied up.

 

Spike, all Land Rover parts need to be imported.
True, there are a number of parts that are common to domestic cars, but most are L/R specific and need to be imported.
There are enough 300Tdi's in North America that many, if not most, Rover parts houses keep stock of the common parts, like timing belts, glow plugs, gaskets, etc.

 

Likely so. I guess it would be more conveinet to just swap with a rebuilt engine. As far as replacing all the gaskets is concerned, were you talking about the ones on the engine "to be removed" and what to do with the engine afterwards? Storage space for an extra engine is questionable. I guess selling it would throw some extra cash in my pocket....... It would be interesting to see how a tuition engine would do in a rover though. Though for now ill probably stick with another rover engine.

 

Point taken Tom. lol

I mean replace all gaskets like head gaskets, front and rear main seals, oil pan, etc.
It will add a few hundred to the cost but it will save you alot of potential headache later.
As for the old engine, whats wrong with it?
A scrap yard will give you some money for it, it is all aluminum.

 

The conversion is worth it financially for anyone, just not affordable. I drive an average of 1000 miles a month, it costs me almost 300 in gas, diesel would cost me half of that. Now i like saving money, and increasing vehicle value, longevity, simplicity, and noise. Oh how i love a low grumble from engines. A diesel conversion makes gallons of sense to me.

 

true but it wouldnt add as much value as you think....but id take a diesel over gas any day

 

How does one measure emotional value. Oh and one question i cant seem to find and answer for is if they need to be plugged in during colder seasons? I know i have to plug my ford diesel in, but you all know these crafty british engineers.

 

Depends on your weather. I don't plug in any diesels here. The summer averages mid to high 60's and the winter is mid to high 30's. But everything has either a glow plug or intake heater.

 

Well it was -15 with wind temp here last winter, so it looks like im plugging up.

 

I'm glad the topic got back to Diesel engines...
Now here's my 2 cents: there are better ways to get MPG and torque.
The viscous clutch on the cooling fan failed and I just pulled the stupid thing off... What a difference in MPG in traffic! it really pulls well and it's super quiet.
So now I'm in the other can of worms: electric fan conversion. Well, the fan choice is not the issue but the controller is and they are pricey, so I'm making my own.
Essentially $50 of used Ford Contour twin fan plus $200 of SPAL controller and you got better MPG and great acceleration.

SD
I'm not hijacking, I'm just offering another option
If other members want to discuss e-fans, start a new post.