I just picked up a 2004 Land Rover Discovery 2. It is in great condition but, these were never known for their gas mileage. It will be pretty much used as a soccer mom special picking up kids and groceries with the occasional road trip and the extremely rare off road experience.

It runs just fine now but, I'm putting together my game plan on the eventual swap to diesel. I originally was thinking the Cummins 6BT but, now am wondering if the 4BT or one of the Merecedes powerplants might be easier and still get me into the 20+MPG range.

I did not see any threads on Disco conversions. At 3900 lb gross weight, I would guess that something that could push a Wrangler or Cherokee would be comparable.

Knowing that there are a lot of thoughts on this with much greater expertise than me, I would like to see what any of you are thinking.

 

I had a buddy back home in GA who put a 4bt cummins in his Grand Cherokee and it worked out great, the merc. motors are a little under powered and require more gearing from what I've heard , a 6bt may be a little tight fit to get in there a 4bt would probally be sufficient

 

I'd say 4bt no need for a 6bt in that and it would kill the suspension

 

i put a 200 tdi from a defender in mine-bolted right up to the LT77 -just had to change some pipe work and remount the power steering res.
tdi 300 is the same mounting .
6bta waay too heavy.and too long for easy fit.
4bta or a detroit.imo

 

A 6BT properly setup would put roughly another 1000lbs on top of what you currently have on your front suspension. Your Rover axles cannot take that now would it get you where you want to be. I would go 4BT all the way coupled to a 5/6 speed allison.

 

200 or 300Tdi would be the easiest. Most parts for the conversion would be out of the Landrover parts bin and most of the hard work on the conversion is sorted out already. The new landrover TD5 would also be a nice conversion. 4BT Cummins is a fun motor. I've got one in my '63 109 but that would be a lot more work than using the 200/300Tdi.

 

the 4bt is a good engine to put in a truck. But I would not put it in a land rover it weighs 750 lbs and to tall. Use the engine that was made for that model.

Td5 (Engine Codes 15P and 16P) its a five cylinder made by land rover and would most likely fit easily. And as far as I know in most states you cant put and older engine in a newer car. As I have seen plenty of OM616 Mercedes conversion companies online for older discoveries.

Another good option would be to use a OM612 which comes out of those sprinter vans, the problem with your car is the same with my problem I want a 2002 through 2006 G wagon G270. but have looked into swapping the om 612 into a G500. its the same engine and tranny but all the expert conversion folks tell me that its to hard and expensive because of all the electronics.

I have seen plenty series II disco's on eBay with diesels. just watch eBay and buy one already made, and sell yours.

Another option is this engine which was in the series 3 which came out the llater part of 2004. its made by ford in europe. Ford AJD-V6/PSA DT17 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Sorry to ressurect an old thread but i just bought the identical truck to the OP and had the exact same idea....wondering if the vdub would be the better way to go as they are plentiful and theres lots of support. The td5 was never brought to north america so even if you find one parts wont be easy to find and support would be limited.

Wondering if the vw would be under powered tho as the 4.6 Bosch motor is close to 300hp.

Would love to hear some more input. Thanks!

 

I do not have experience with too many of the diesels listed above. However, I have recently swapped an om617 turbo into my dakota. The dakota comes in at #3,800-4,000. The engine is supposed to make 120hp 180ft/lb. It is a short stroke diesel and is governed to 4850rpm. Highway cruise is about 3krpm. Same as the car I pulled it from. The trans I used is a non overdrive 4 speed auto. I feel like first gear is low and I could use another gear. I get 22.5 mpg. I can accelerate as fast as I would normally drive. It will not accel any quicker though. For $1000÷ the IP can be modded to allow more than 500hp. The engine is supposed to be safe to 300hp stock. Many companies offer adapter kits to allow just about any trans you wish to be used.

The reason I mention this engine is becasuse I have bought cars from $300 to $600 that were running. Just be patient. The OM603 may be worth checking out. They are also widely available for cheap. They make a touch more power (150hp tweaked with stock junk) They are also shorth stroke and a little forgiving of gearing. Gearing must be pretty spot on with an engine with a narrow rpm range such as a 4bt.