Land Rover Defender Tdi

Land Rover Defender 200Tdi & 300Tdi 1991 - 1998

SITE MAP

For Land Rover the revolution came with the introduction of the new Defender Tdi and the all new long awaited turbo diesel direct injection 200Tdi engine option launched late in 1990.

The 90, 110 and 130 were renamed collectively as Defenders in a bid to revamp the models and again increase sales.

With this came a number of modifications including the new 200Tdi engine, featured earlier in the Discovery.

Click here for the Defender video page

At last Land Rover had a diesel engine that was everything a Defender owner could wish for.

Even today most engine reconditioners will tell you that the 200Tdi is without doubt the best Land Rover diesel engine.

All round, the 200Tdi performs very well, has excellent longevity (I've heard of them doing hundreds of thousands of miles) excellent reliability, good economy and a real DIY treat, straightforward and simple to work on with no electronics.

Even tackling the often feared

cam belt change is not so difficult on the 200Tdi or come to that, the later 300Tdi engine.

The tools required to do the job are available to buy and it is a well worthwhile investment. Take a look at the Difflock website for Land Rover tools.

Fortunately, the cam belt tool kit, is also suitable for the 200Tdi and 300Tdi engines.

The only negative I heard was that some owners had complained that the 200Tdi engine was noisy.

This I believe was because the design of the engine was direct injection and through this you get extra noise from the combustion.

This led to the next Land Rover engine, the quieter, but not quite as reliable 300Tdi in 1994.

1991 LAND ROVER DEFENDER LHD 110 200Tdi STATIONWAGON. A nice early example of the new Defender 200Tdi.

1991 LAND ROVER DEFENDER LHD 110 200Tdi STATIONWAGON. A good early example of the “new” Defender 200Tdi.

1993 Land Rover Defender LHD 90 200Tdi stationwagon LHD.

Externally, the Defender looked very much as it had done as the 90 or 110, but it was adorned with Tdi motifs on both its front wings, adjacent to the A post and Defender badges on the front above the radiator grill.

$1994 Land Rover Defender 300Tdi stationwagon - An early example of the 300Tdi Defender, fitted with desirable roofrack, numerous lamps, snorkel and bullbar.$

1994 Land Rover Defender 300Tdi stationwagon - An early example of the 300Tdi Defender, fitted with desirable roofrack, numerous lamps, snorkel and bullbar.

The Defender 300Tdi was first introduced in 1994, only four short years after the introduction of the 200Tdi in the Defender in 1990. Whilst power and torque were more or less equal to the 200Tdi, detail changes between the two engines meant that there were some 208 new components in the 300Tdi engine. The 300Tdi had a similar to the 200Tdi rubber cam drive timing belt. Land Rover had gone over to cam belts instead of timing chains on the transition from series Land Rovers to the first Defenders in the shape the 90 and 110. The only chain driven cam arrangement was found on the good old 3528 cc V8 engine still offered as an option on the Defender range.

There were problems with the first 300Tdi engines though. The cam belts wore prematurely due to poor design resulting in misaligned idlers. The unfortunate owner was totally unaware that the belt could possibly break at any time, certainly well before the service interval requiring the mandatory replacement of the cam belt. Land Rover eventually acknowledged the defect and carried out a recall of the Land Rover engines affected. They were repaired with a new idler design.

2001 Land Rover LHD Defender 90 300Tdi fitted with aircon and snorkel. This is one of a batch of 200 Defenders originally orderd for Argentina.

2001 Land Rover Defender 90 LHD 300Tdi fitted with air conditioning and snorkel. This particular Land Rover was one of a batch of around 200 Defenders originally ordered for Argentina. The order was subsequently cancelled and the entire stock of 200 Land Rovers were shipped back to Europe over a year later. They were then sold on to various trade outlets at knock down prices, just so that Land Rover could clear the stock out.

1993 Land Rover Defender 110 2.5 diesel hardtop without sidewindows, winch and bullbar.

Land Rover also offered the new design replacement parts for sale through their distributors. It is very unlikely that there are any 300Tdi engines out there that have the early bad design idlers. All will have been replaced by now. Once this problem had been sorted, the 300Tdi engine, with regular servicing, ensured that the Defender became reliable once more.

Defenders fitted with the 300Tdi had a mechanical fuel injection pump until 1996 when electronics were introduced to the fuel injection

Still a direct injection turbo diesel, the all new 300Tdi engine was quieter than the 200Tdi. Land Rover achieved this by a redesign of the cylinder head. This was a winner as the 200Tdi engine whilst being ground breaking in most categories, could not be called quiet and it had received critisism because of this.

1992 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 HI-CAPACITY LHD 200Tdi WITH REAR COVER

1992 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 HI-CAPACITY LHD 200Tdi WITH Fibreglass REAR COVER

Not only was there a new engine for the Defender, but Land Rover also fitted a new gearbox, the R380 replacing the LT77S which was fitted to the last 200Tdi Defenders. The R380 was a radically redesigned unit, based on the LT77 design. Again a 5 speed transmission, but reverse gear was to the right and back, behind fifth gear. The R380 was a better gearbox than the LT77 and LT77S fitted in the earlier the Defenders, but it still had some weaknesses. Notably, when the gearbox oil was still cold, baulking could sometimes be felt from third to second gear if you shifted the gears a little fast. Some owners reported that baulking could sometimes be experienced on other gears, but it was mainly third to second.

1998 Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi stationwagon.

1993 Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi hardtop with sidewindows, winch and bullbar.

1992 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 200Tdi stationwagon LHD

Once warm the problem disappeared. The R380 had a poor reputation for gear problems together with adverse mainshaft wear on the splines where it fits into the LT230 transfer box. There have been some after market modifications offered to try to rectify this problem. The R380 gearbox was installed through the entire production run of the Defender 300Tdi and on into production of the Defender Td5, albeit with some modifications, including a lengthened gearbox bellhousing and gearbox input shaft.

My own feelings for the 300Tdi Defender are that the early ones were the best. The later Defenders, from 1996 had an ECU linked to the fuel pump, which whilst not an electronic nightmare just made it a little more difficult for the able DIY mechanic to work on the car. Other irritants were again on the later cars fitted with an imobiliser and the battery fitted in the key which operated the imobiliser. Both could cause problems making the car fail to start at inconvenient times. Normally a new battery rectified this, but not always

1997 LHD Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi with crash damage. Amazingly even though this Land Rover defender had been rolled, it still drove.

1997 Land Rover Defender 300Tdi stationwagon - Fitted with a Ramsey electric winch, this was a very original, well maintained and looked after example.

Rust was and still is another problem, especially the Defender doors, all of them, particularily on the stationwagon. There seemed to be no pattern, they rust everywhere if they get a chance. Chassis were normally OK, although with lack of cleaning and an accumalation of mud, there could be problems especially with the front outriggers. Bulkheads inside and out also faired poorly as far as rust is concerned on some Defenders.

1998 Land Rover Defender 110 LHD 300Tdi County in epsom green. A side brace, or side rails which run parallel to the sills were fitted as standard to all Defenders sold in Germany from the mid 1990s onwards, to further strengthen the Defender body in the event of an accident.

One of the many possible engine conversions which can be done to the 90, 110 and Defender is the fitting of the magnificent International HS 2.8 TGV Powerstroke engine from Brazil. International, who are part of the Ford Motor Company, obtained the rights from Land Rover a few years ago to the 300Tdi engine. Under the contract they built engines for Land Rover, whilst taking the design further and enhancing it to make other similar engines including a larger size 2.8 litre turbo diesel direct injection engine. It was almost a cloned copy of the 300Tdi engine. The HS 2.8 was installed in Ford products sold in America.

International had somehow taken the excellent 300Tdi engine a stage further with numerous well thought out improvements, including a variable geometry turbo charger and a reinforced crankshaft to handle the increased amount of torque. There were also no electronics, the entire engine being wholly mechanical which was perfect for the back of beyond if you ever went there. International continued production of the 300Tdi for Land Rover for their export Defenders, the “home production” Defenders continued to be installed with the BMW derived Td5 motor with all its electronics paraphernalia.

1992 Land Rover Defender 90 200Tdi.

1994 Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi station wagon prepared for the Dutch market.

1994 Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi station wagon specially prepared for the Dutch market.

Whilst a couple of years ago the last 300Tdi engines were built and shipped out from International in Brazil, today you can still buy a brand new HS 2.8 TGV engine if you so chose. The cost of purchasing is surprisingly low, somewhat less than if you were to fully recondition a 300Tdi engine and it is a brand new engine. Do buy from a recognised dealer outlet though, such as Prins Maasdijk in Holland. There are several parts needed for the successful installation in a Defender which do not come with the HS engine as it comes out of the box from International direct. Prins Maasdijk can also advise what you would need to retro fit a HS 2.8 TGV engine into an earlier Land Rover, other than a Defender.

1994 Land Rover Defender 300Tdi stationwagon - Another early example of this popular model. This one is a little rarer in the fact that the roof is in body colour. Most Defenders of this era had white roofs.

1998 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 300Tdi stationwagon LHD.

1998 Land Rover Defender 90 LHD 300Tdi County.

1992 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 200Tdi stationwagon LHD

1996 Land Rover Defender 110 300Tdi stationwagon

1998 LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 300Tdi stationwagon LHD. Good examples of the 300Tdi stationwagon are now hard to find and prospective buyers now know this.

1993 Land Rover Defender 110 200Tdi stationwagon.

Land Rover Defender 300Tdi rear load area. This is from a Defender 110 County stationwagon, so fitted out with side facing seats and seat belts. These seats were not particularily comfortable and in the event of an accident, downright dangerous. Side facing seats are no longer available on the current Defender range. You can also see in the above image a roll over brace, one of the many aftermarket products offered.

Can’t find what you want? Search Roverland

Custom Search

e-mail: landrovers@roverland.info

The information on this website is derived from my own knowledge base and experiences as encountered over several years of dealing in Land Rovers. If there are any mistakes or errors, I apologise. I will add more information as and when I get time.