[quote=Curt]Anyone have info/experience or knowledge of putting a small marine diesel in a RR or Disco?
or have I had too much to drink
I think the VM was originally a marine diesel and in my opinion VMs are absolutely excellent IF PROPERLY INSTALLED, INSTRUMENTED AND ALARMED. As fitted in Range Rovers they are not much good, but they are truly excellent in the Rover 825SD. Why is this? Well the 825 has a low water indicator, a temperature gauge that you can see even in the dark and an overheat light that blinks and is very attention grabbing. (my 825s overheating is due to missing, corroded away radiator fins and is being fixed). The 825 being transverse also doesn't have the problem of the water pump getting to be the highest thing when going up a steep hill.
The Rangies viscous fan can also be a big problem and mine would be stiff when cold but freewheel when hot! Very bad news indeed. Fitting a solid fan from a 1973 Ford Granada was a great help as was a new radiator but alas the cooling system failed whilst hauling a heavy trailer up Chideock Hill on the A35. On the Rangie, once the water cooling fails the oil cooling also stops as the oil cooler is in the rad. (the 825 has a separate oil radiator similar to the Ford Scorpio VM and this seems a much better idea) Other Rangie snags are that the thermistor for the temperature gauge is in the water pipe to the radiator, and not in the cylinder head. Once the water and steam have gone, the temperature gauge begins to fall because this part is cooled by the fan. So you think things are getting better when they are actually getting worse
. The end result is a knackered engine. 825s have the sensor in the head where it should be. The Scorpio has a north-south 2.5 VM and they are not noted for overheating but then they do have a big twin-fan high-tech alloy radiator. Possibly a Scorpio VM block (120BHP) could be adapted to suit a Range Rover. (the flywheel is different, as are a great many other details)
Another good engine which is relatively inexpensive is the Rover Maestro/Montego turbo 2 litre (Perkins Prima in marine form) These give about 80BHP and being direct injection are very economical. The power is about twice that of early Landys and is OK. Best of all there is none of that infernal drive-by-wire stuff but there is regretably a timing belt.
Good luck with your projects and best regards from Davey.
