What are the negatives on swapping to the td5 motor?

 

A ton. I just talked to a member on here about it, essentially trying to talk him out of it. Immobilizer issues will be the death of your vehicle.

We had a NAS Defender shipped to us from Oregon because the shop there could not get it sorted out. Prepare to spend well over $10k and still have issues.

 

Hi

I run a TD5 D2 2003 ES7 with twin sunroofs and aircon front and rear with 120K miles (the highest mileage vehicle I've ever owned) which was built for the south American market. In all honesty there are no downsides compared with the D2 4.0 V8 HSE I had before. It really depends on what you use the truck for. The TD5 doesn't have the acceleration or top speed of the V8 but is a useful highway vehicle and far less cost to run in continental europe. It tows a 3.5 ton trailer at 80mph without any issues and has no real additional electronic or mechanical problems. If it has been well serviced and looked after the engines are fine, very torquey and very simple compared to a V8 as they are just 5 cylinder inline blocks. Head gaskets and overheating have known to be a problem but I've never encountered these apart from the flange face of the intake manifold warping which required machining flat (as opposed to a new manifold which would have warped sooner or later) The transmission is virtually identical to the V8 and the electric 'toys' are the same. Admittedly in the US a TD5 engine is probably as rare as 'rocking horse poo' and spares may be an issue. I haven't incurred any abnormally big bills for the engine in the time I've owned it from new and no engine bay parts have been replaced apart from the injector loom which as it transpired didn't need replacement. (they are known to capillary transfer oil through the loom right down to the ECU) The only parts that have been replaced are the discs and brake pads twice and the front and rear propshafts have just been completely rebuilt. As far as roadside breakdowns it's been excellent apart from the autobox reversing selector switch packed up and I had an issue with the M&S lights which I then rebuilt the autobox xyz selector switch and no issues since.

I tell a lie, the rear plastic fuel lines wore through twice and dumped loads of diesel everywhere (a well known fault and subject of a recall). They were both main stealership fitted so I replaced them myself after the second time and sleeved them with neoprene hose where they were vulnerable to wear. Also the power steering pump return pipe to the reservoir leaked, it wore through on the crankcase sump (another common fault) which I replaced and sleeved once again also manipulated it into a better position. The usual failing door lock actuators on the drivers and rear passenger side doors.

Apart from the usual leaking sunroof's and drooping headlining which I still have to fix and another well known fault (yet another known fault and recall for which Landrover hide from) there is no real problems.

 

I want to clarify that I am only referring to swapping TO a Td5. The Td5 in itself is one of the most powerful engines Land Rover ever put in their vehicles(up until their new stuff).

Buying a Td5 vehicle would be amazing, swapping to a Td5 is the issue.

 

Apologies, I misunderstood. Yes, admittedly changing the motor to a TD5 would be problematical and expensive if one was to remove a V8 lump and attempt to install a TD5 in it's place. All of the engine peripherals would need replacing as much of the electronics controlling the engine systems. Personally I wouldn't even attempt the switch without lots of time, spare cash and a very well equipped workshop. I would buy a good, late stock TD5 original and then mod it for whatever.

 

Unfortunately it's not feasible, or even legal, to do that here. Technically it's not even legal to run a Td5 on the streets here.

 

I know the states are pretty heavy on emissions control but that's amazing In europe I run a TD5 without the EGR valve as most do (it's been binned into the trash) and with a decat downpipe after the turbo and a straight through exhaust (no center silencer) and it still passes the transport test controls in both France and the UK on emissions etc. Why are the authorities so heavy on diesel engines out there where you are? I really enjoy diesel engines it keeps my driving licence intact and clean as it's less tempting to speed on the autoroutes and local roads whereas the D2 V8 was too tempting (and expensive to run) to drive like a manic go-kart as the handling was good and power very usable.

 

It's not necessarily the engine's emissions, it's the fact that it was never epa approved, or fitted to that vehicle coming into the states. Not until an engine is 21 years old can it be legally fitted for road use.

 

If you dont have emissions testing in your area you can get away with it, just dont tell anyone.
There is a guy in Toranto selling 200 & 300 tdi's and trans for like $3500, but you still need all the other crap.
Its just not worth the cost, you can have your engine rebuilt, drive it for 2yrs and still come out ahead.
Fuel in the US is still to cheap to make it worth while.

 

Sounds like pita. Just saw some motors for sale online and wondered if it was worth it