[masantschi]

I'm getting a new engine. Not set yet on where I'm getting it from. Solicitating advice for those of you who have bought a new engine recently. Who did you go with, pleased or not, etc.

Leaning Turner.

 

[haole]

I did a 4.6 swap with slightly less miles at 143k. Head gaskets and the timing chain looked solid. Ticking just fine. Told myself I’d hold out and do a td5 swap. Didn’t. If I lose this motor I’ll do the newer crate Cummins diesel for sure.

 

[reverendALC]

I used elite JLR in California for my rebuilt 4.6. I would use them again, they did a good job and they stand behind it

 

[Surrealriffe]

I put an Atlantic British rebuilt engine in my disco about 5000 miles ago. It is great. Very happy with it.

 

[masantschi]

I did a 4.6 swap with slightly less miles at 143k. Head gaskets and the timing chain looked solid. Ticking just fine. Told myself I’d hold out and do a td5 swap. Didn’t. If I lose this motor I’ll do the newer crate Cummins diesel for sure.

I'd consider this if it were plug-in play. Everything I've seen indicates quite a bit of work on this - just based off of discussions on this board over the last 10 plus years.

 

[masantschi]

I put an Atlantic British rebuilt engine in my disco about 5000 miles ago. It is great. Very happy with it.

Yeah, their engine is decent.

I'm fairly certain any 'new' engine is going to be fine. As much as I 'was' set on going brand new, I'm trying to decide if I want to dive that deep atm or wait till I get the frame etc I want/need.

 

[94rangerover]

Yeah, their engine is decent.

I'm fairly certain any 'new' engine is going to be fine. As much as I 'was' set on going brand new, I'm trying to decide if I want to dive that deep atm or wait till I get the frame etc I want/need.

I'm getting a new engine. Not set yet on where I'm getting it from. Solicitating advice for those of you who have bought a new engine recently. Who did you go with, pleased or not, etc.

Leaning Turner.

Lean towards RPI. great people over there. Though I have bought a block from atlantic british which was excellent.

 

[nysfinest318]

I used elite JLR in California for my rebuilt 4.6. I would use them again, they did a good job and they stand behind it

Hey rev, I've got an '04 Disco 2 that just hit 100k and I was just told by the mechanic who does most of my work that I need a head gasket job and was quoted a price of $2,500+ tax. I'm curious if this would be a good time to look into an engine swap. I see that you did an engine swap recently in California. I'm here in the Bay Area and was curious about cost and your experience. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why I don't get the swap/rebuild done by my usual mechanic it's because he quoted me a price of 12K for a short block....gonna pass on that offer,

 

[V50_M66]

Hey rev, I've got an '04 Disco 2 that just hit 100k and I was just told by the mechanic who does most of my work that I need a head gasket job and was quoted a price of $2,500+ tax. I'm curious if this would be a good time to look into an engine swap. I see that you did an engine swap recently in California. I'm here in the Bay Area and was curious about cost and your experience. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why I don't get the swap/rebuild done by my usual mechanic it's because he quoted me a price of 12K for a short block....gonna pass on that offer,

Fix the head gaskets. Way cheaper parts, way cheaper labor. Besides, what good is a new engine gonna do for you? These things blow head gaskets no matter how old or new they are.

 

[94rangerover]

Hey rev, I've got an '04 Disco 2 that just hit 100k and I was just told by the mechanic who does most of my work that I need a head gasket job and was quoted a price of $2,500+ tax. I'm curious if this would be a good time to look into an engine swap. I see that you did an engine swap recently in California. I'm here in the Bay Area and was curious about cost and your experience. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why I don't get the swap/rebuild done by my usual mechanic it's because he quoted me a price of 12K for a short block....gonna pass on that offer,

Hey rev, I've got an '04 Disco 2 that just hit 100k and I was just told by the mechanic who does most of my work that I need a head gasket job and was quoted a price of $2,500+ tax. I'm curious if this would be a good time to look into an engine swap. I see that you did an engine swap recently in California. I'm here in the Bay Area and was curious about cost and your experience. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Incidentally, if anyone is wondering why I don't get the swap/rebuild done by my usual mechanic it's because he quoted me a price of 12K for a short block....gonna pass on that offer,

yeah fix the head gaskets.. if the thing has decent compression, your mechanic should know how the compression is. make sure they use ARP head studs and you'll be fine. way cheaper and makes more sense than swapping an other wise good engine

 

[haole]

Idk what kind of budget you are looking at, this is what I’ve been looking at trying in the next year or two..

https://shop.cummins.com/CSSNAStore/s/product/a2w4N000003sI2WQAU/cummins-r28-turbo-diesel-crate-engine-5467046

 

[V50_M66]

Idk what kind of budget you are looking at, this is what I’ve been looking at trying in the next year or two..

https://shop.cummins.com/CSSNAStore/s/product/a2w4N000003sI2WQAU/cummins-r28-turbo-diesel-crate-engine-5467046

That’s likely gonna be an expensive disaster, if you can even do it. If you can though it would be awesome

 

[sobieski]

Mike! Have you considered a top-hat cylidered replacement?

 

[discovering]

I'm nearing the end of swapping an L33 (an LS based engine out of a pickup) into my Disco. A kit to do so is available from Alternative Conversion Engineering in Florida (I have no association with this company). So far the work has been pretty straight forward. It's fairly complex and the pictures in the instructions aren't the best, but it's been manageable. There's no welding or modification to the engine compartment. It does require a 2" lift to clear the new oil pan. The swap including the engine, kit and all the bits costs about $5k to do yourself, if you're able and can tolerate the vehicle downtime. All the LR systems are supposed to work after the swap so it should be a great swap for me. If you can't do it yourself, I believe they offer to swap it for you.

I chose the swap because my 4.6 is junk. The guy who owned my Disco before me attempted to "pin" the sleeves. Pinning involves drilling precise holes in the block and through the liners and then locktiting some small bolts in place that hold the liners where they're supposed to be. Unfortunately he was a crap mechanic and didn't locktite the bolts and several eventually slipped at the same time resulting in at least three slipped liners. Additionally, he went too deep so the little bolts fouled on the piston skirts, ruining all the pistons. Considering a new longblock is $8k now, the L33 swap made the most sense for me.

 

[V50_M66]

I'm nearing the end of swapping an L33 (an LS based engine out of a pickup) into my Disco. A kit to do so is available from Alternative Conversion Engineering in Florida (I have no association with this company). So far the work has been pretty straight forward. It's fairly complex and the pictures in the instructions aren't the best, but it's been manageable. There's no welding or modification to the engine compartment. It does require a 2" lift to clear the new oil pan. The swap including the engine, kit and all the bits costs about $5k to do yourself, if you're able and can tolerate the vehicle downtime. All the LR systems are supposed to work after the swap so it should be a great swap for me. If you can't do it yourself, I believe they offer to swap it for you.

I chose the swap because my 4.6 is junk. The guy who owned my Disco before me attempted to "pin" the sleeves. Pinning involves drilling precise holes in the block and through the liners and then locktiting some small bolts in place that hold the liners where they're supposed to be. Unfortunately he was a crap mechanic and didn't locktite the bolts and several eventually slipped at the same time resulting in at least three slipped liners. Additionally, he went too deep so the little bolts fouled on the piston skirts, ruining all the pistons. Considering a new longblock is $8k now, the L33 swap made the most sense for me.

More power and more reliability for a cheaper price. Sounds like an no brainer to me

 

[reverendALC]

Haha I’m late to the party, but I paid elite 6k out the door for my 4.2 and it’s been great.
Problem with the head gaskets, they may be the problem or they may be a symptom of a bigger problem.

$2500 is a big fee to diagnose a bigger problem.

 

[masantschi]

Lean towards RPI. great people over there. Though I have bought a block from atlantic british which was excellent.

I'll take a look!

 

[masantschi]

Mike! Have you considered a top-hat cylidered replacement?

Considering everything brutha. No decisions yet.

Looking at the L33 swap from above right now. Also considering going with a new short block with sleeves if I stay with my 4.0. Also thinking a whole new long block if I upgrade to a 4.6. I'm still 6-months from a decision.

Aside for the heat that's coming, what is slowing me down is frame rot. It's my '01 and I've got to have the back 1/4 frame replaced or filled, due to such. Trying to decide how far I want to go and leaning towards ripping it all out and doing it right (full new back-half).

Time isn't an issue for me as I have plenty of vehicles to drive while rebuilding the '01.

 

[discovering]

Looking at the L33 swap from above right now

I thought I'd offer a few things I've learned from this process so far, in no particular order:

• I'm not familiar with the 4.0 LR engine. If the brackets for the ancillaries are the same as a 4.6, you'll be good.
• If you purchase the conversion kit from ACE, be aware that the instructions leave a little room for interpretation in a few places. The pictures aren't the best but it's still totally workable for a home mechanic. The owner of the company is really nice and happy to chat on the phone if you need some help.
• The parts list he provides is really good.
• You'll want to check every part on the list and see what's backordered and get those coming. My project has been delayed several times waiting on parts because I didn't check availability up-front.
• The pics showing examples of conversions on the ACE website aren't the greatest. Mine is coming out a lot better looking than anything he's got posted. The pics show a pretty nasty air intake tube but there's a much cleaner option on the parts list.
• You will need to make some modifications to existing parts like cutting down the AC bracket to fit. It's very easy to do with an angle grinder and cutting wheel.
• You need two people to swap the bell housing. It's not really possible to do on your own.
• I recommend investigating the all-aluminum L33. It's closer to the weight of the LR engine so hopefully won't disturb the handling too much.
• I recommend replacing all the gaskets on the L33. I replaced the valve springs, all the sensors and the water pump as well, just for good measure.
• I used eBay to find a low-mileage engine. It was a big risk not to be able to personally inspect the engine before the purchase but there just weren't any good examples I could find locally.
• The all-aluminum L33 cost me $1,200. Shipping was included.
• You will need a 2" suspension lift to make it work or the front driveshaft will hit the oil pan.
• You'll need to be able to make some AN lines, especially for the trans cooler because the factory hard lines won't work. It's not really hard to do.
• Steam lines on the L33 are important. If they're not configured properly the engine will probably get an airlock in the cooling system.
• You'll want to make sure your cooling system is in top order. Here's a little project I did to convert to electric cooling fans when I still had the 4.6 in the Disco.
• I got the exhaust headers ceramic coated to reduce under-hood temps.

I've been working on it on and off for about six months now. I'm in a similar situation where I have other vehicles to drive while I tinker. It's been a pretty rewarding project. If you eventually decide to go that route, feel free to DM me with any questions. I'm usually on here at least a couple times a week. I look forward to hearing what route you intend to go!