If money is abundant and time is also abundant, then a diesel swap is a nice idea, but as Soccer Dad stated, there are other ways to increase torque and MPG.

I also think that Spike stated earlier in a different thread that these rovers are bricks and they are not going to get all that much better in the MPG realm.

To me these rigs are what they are. I use mine as a daily driver 25 miles one way to work and get about 14.65 mpg. I fill up Monday morning and again Friday evening on the way home. I drive it cause I like it, I also drive it cause it is big and most little cars get out my way.

But do what you want to your rig, but be prepared to live with the consequences if it does not work right. Cause if you are going to do something, spend the time and money to do it right and don't cut corners other wise you will be sorry. I speak from experience from previous vehicles I have rebuilt.

 

You poor Bastards, Over here in sunny Australia almost 40% of all LR's sold are diesel. Mine is a second owner Mk1 300 TDi with 238,000 very hard kilometers on the clock (177,000 miles) I recently replaced said "donk" with a fully warrented reconditioned unit complete with Generation 2 cylinder head, reconditioned injector pump, injectors and new turbo. AU$2500. to this I added a second hand bell housing, heavy duty clutch kit, reconditioned 5 speed box and transfer box (AU$3500.00) and basicly swapped my old worn unit c/w 4 speed auto for a new 5 speed unit, the swap took me one weekend including fitting a second hand pedal box with reco clutch master cylinder hydraulic lines etc. the gearbox mountings for the manual and auto are identical as are the drive shafts, all I had to do was replace the soggy rubbers.
To date I've replaced all the suspension rubbers, exchanged the original shot shocks for Bilsteins, new wheel bearings and exchange universal CV joints, the current focus is a better water pump and alternater overhaul.
The original 1999 italian alternator is on its way out and I'm in the process of stripping it down and reconditioning it to avoid having to buy a replacement - does anyone have a exploded diagram for a Mageti Morelli alternator - 100 amp?

 

By the way, I use my 300TDi mainly for sorties into the bush to cull unwanted feral animals, I have a 145 litre fuel tank(38 US gallons) and get around 8 litres per 100 kilometers so thats around 1200 kilometers (745 miles) per tank or 19 miles per US gallon. Considering that the Disco is fully loaded and pulling a camper trailer thats very good economy from a small 4 cylinder 2.5 litre (152 cubic inches) diesel pulling just under 4 tonnes.

 

Define "better".
The average MPG for a 300Tdi discovery is nearly twice that of a V8, and at least a 75% increase.
I don't care what you do to a V8, you're not going to get that sort of gain.

That said, if you're looking at it entirely from a fuel savings perspective, it will take many years to break even, unless you put on a lot of miles every year.
On the other hand, the actual per tank mileage increase may be worth it for someone, if they are doing long trips, in that they won't have to carry extra fuel. Or not as much.

There are just too many factors that go in to such a decision to make any sort of blanket statement about if it's worth it or not.

I've been hearing and reading about the topic of Land Rover, and other, diesel conversions for 30+ years and the vast majority of people arguing against it, or even for it, seem to have a hard time stepping away from how they see it applying to themselves.

 

I forgot all about this thread! Lol

I agree with Antichrist. Foreign Diesel Land Rovers get some 30+ mpg (at least the ones in the UK anyways) and there's likely nothing that can be done on crappy petrol engines to compete. It's sad really. Why do we have to use petrol engines in the first place? Especially with gas prices at record high. For me personally - its been a true land rover experience. Win some and lose some. I like my rover for what it is (excluding the engine) and for what it can do. I like working on it and I like the feeling that comes with new found knowledge after completing any wide assortment of tasks (replacing power steering gearbox, working on fuel lines, fixing oil leaks etc). Sometimes we just got to settle with what we have so I'm going to just live with having a petrol engine while I'm hee in the states. Maybe one day when I reach the UK ill have my long desired 2004 diesel powered discovery!
Until that day let the pennies add up!

 

There are 2 reasons we dont have diesels here in the US, Americans do not want them and the emissions are higher.

That was then, we are finally turning around and learning our lesson and with ultra low sulfur fuels and better emission controls they will soon be a viable and affordable option on most new cars.

 

Shadow Merchant,

You say you are looking for more torque. When it comes time to replace my engine, I will search for a 4.6L GEMS engine, it should bold right up I am told. I also have considered the E-fan conversion but have not had the time. Finally, gearing would make a world of difference, at least it did on my old '89 Ford.

Also, when my engine gives up the ghost, in addition to pricing out a 4.6 swap I will look around for a 2004 DII with 4.6 already installed. Could be just as cost effective. No, won't gain any MPGs by going to the 4.6 but from what I've read it doesn't really hurt either.

It's just a thought. My ideas about the swap are based on speculative research not first-hand experience.

 

There is one further reason for turning to diesel, -- Bio Diesel!

If you select a mechanical unit as against a more modern emission efficient common rail electronic engine then you too can run your 300TDi on recycled vegetable oil topped up to the correct combustion rating with commercial grade ethanol.

I made my own twin 200 tank assembly with two 240 litre stainless steel tanks I got for a reasonable cost on EBay but you can buy them on the internet complete with filters and circulation pumps. The "crude" oil is delivered into tank 1 and following filtrating and dehumidification pumped into the second tank. A "hydrometer" is then used to measure the CV to determine how much ethanol is to be added to achieve the desired cetane rating of the fuel, in my case around 85. A second pump on tank 2 keeps the oil circulating and passes the oil through two additional cartridge fuel filters to remove the last molecules of dirt and foreign objects. Both pumps are commercially available from most swimming pool dealers.

Using used deep fry vegetable oil the oil is filtered through 3 separate filters down to <5 microns and also filtered through two separate desiccant filters to remove all moisture traces. My first tank of bio fuel cost a tad under AU$0.20 per litre, the fast food outlet was happy to give it to me rather than having to pay to have it disposed of!
The Australian federal government does not currently have any regulatory instrument available or in the 'pipeline" to monitor Bio Fuel private manufacture so its totally tax and excise free.You would need to check this aspect should you decide to make your own, incidentally its not classified as volatile so it doesn't affect my home insurance any more than were I to have oil fired home heating.

The Disco runs well on it and the fuel tank can be topped up mid journey with bowser fuel without any noticeable change in performance.

 

I may jump in the bandwagon of converting my truck to diesel in the future, and I did some math.

1 litre of gas costs 1,37$
1 litre of diesel costs 1,39$

The gas tank is 89 litres

It costs 121,93$ to fill up with gas
It costs 123,71$ to fill up with diesel

The range of a full gas tank is approximately 550km so it costs 0,22$/kilometre to run on gas

The range of a full tank of diesel is approximately 1000km; it costs 0,12$/kilometre to run on diesel

Kits are being sold in my area for around 6000$ depending on the condition of the engine. Those kits include a 300TDi (or 200TDi), an R380 (or a ZF depending on your preference) and a t-case. Everything is included, the timing belt is done on the engine a an hd clutch kit is included. Given I perform the engine swap.

I took the difference between costs/kilometre and divided the cost of the conversion by it. 6000/0,1 = 60 000km to break even (given the difference between diesel and gas stays approximately the same) which in my case is 3 years of driving. Since I plan to keep the truck for quite a long time seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

Hi Jull
Now do the same math with home produced bio-diesel.

The time taken to produce 200 litre is around 15 minutes, that is the time taken to pour the 5 off 20 litre drums into the receiving tank (it has a full width fine mesh strainer to remove the food scraps in the oil so I need to pour slowly). From then on the refining/filtering is fully automatic, the only and final input from me is to measure the cetane reading of the base refined oil and add the required amount of ethanol.
As I said before the base oil costs me nothing, the fast food shop is happy to give it to me and will give me more than I can use, the ethanol costs $185.00 including GST tax for 25 litres and I've never had to add more than 5 litres to 200 litres of refined vegetable oil to raise the cetane rating to 85/90.
That equates to $37.00 of ethanol per 200 litres of fuel, allow for the household electrical cost to refine the oil at say $5.00 and thats a total production cost of $42.00 for 200 litres, add to that the amortised cost of the plant (drums, pumps filters and filter core replacement every 1000 litres) at say an additional $10.00 and thats a total cost of $52.00 for 200 litres or $0.26 per litre.

My camping trailer carries 4 off 20 litre gerry cans and my Disco has the uprated 145 litre tank that gives me a total fuel capacity of 225 litres and at 10 litres per 100 kilometers thats a safe 2150 kilometers without having to buy any bowser fuel it I'm going away for the weekend or 1350 kilometers just on the tank.