6.5 diesel

[thomson71]

Finally got the 130 defender finished. Now she runs a 6.5 chevy diesel with a lt95 gearbox with the .996 transfer gears.
Had a fer probs along the way but hey 2 years off the road and well worth the time and effort.

[Bearman]

Hope you have the cooling side of it sorted out:D

[CraigE]

Hope the full write up goes into the good oil.

[thomson71]

43 degree day in southern cross and took it out to test and so far no probs cooling. I have a custom 3 row full alloy radiator in wb statesman configuration with a set of bf ford thermo fans. Also an oil cooler as I think these engines have too smaller sump and the oil heats up too much. Haven't put the air con back together yet but when I do I will run a separate condenser/fan setup like the npr isuzu's do.

[Vern]

It seems you've researched it, hope it goes well for you. Mine was a pos, only thing I miss about that engine was the sound:(:D

[richard4u2]

i was down at albany one summer and a guy came into the park with a toyota with one of those motors in it , it had only been in there for 3 months and the fuel pump packed up , dont know if that could be a problem or not for you

[Vern]

Fuel pump is just a fuel pump, injector pump is a different story. I ran a Mallory electric fuel pump with a regulator on it, think it was set at 9psi?????????

[thomson71]

reliability has not been their strong points. Time will tell.

[Vern]

Hey see how you go. Horrible engine, under powered, thirsty, heavy, and un reliable. But you do here of the odd one that is trouble free. Sound very cool though:cool:.

[BMKal]

Will keep an eye out for it when I pass through the Cross. I'm up & down the road regualrly (was stuck there for a couple of hours the other day when they had the rollover on the highway - until I took off for Forrestania). Will be back through there next Wednesday on the way back down to work.

I used to have a Ford F100 with the Chev V8 diesel in it. No real problems after sorting out an initial issue with rocker arms snapping off - it's still kicking around Kalgoorlie at the moment, though I don't know what engine is in it now. Canopy has gone and there's a big gas tank in the back - don't know if he's still got the Chev V8 and running diesel / gas or has put a petrol V8 back into it and running it on gas. The tank that's in there is way bigger than you would need for diesel / gas.

[Hall]

Bloke I work with has a county with one of these engines in it. Also has a Hino six speed truck gear box behind the motor. Diffs I think are ford nine inch and the axles I`m sure are Land cruiser. The bonnet is custom and higher than a standard bonnet. Sound like a truck. You will most likely have to go down the same path as he did due to the shed load of toruqe that you now have. First to give in will be your diffs and axles. OH and he has been is trying to sell a complete rear axle with a Detroit , ford nine inch and Land cruiser axles for awhile now. I just don`t have the cash.
Cheers Hall

[Thommo]

Despite the nay-sayers, these and most american diesel V8's are excellent motors for there purpose. They are reasonably economical given the weights of the vehicles they generally are in. In smaller vehicles economy can be just as good as many other less tourquey (is that a word) engines. They produce excellent power to weight for their size and do not add that much weight (indeed possibly even lighter than some big sixes).
They are very common around the world with excellent parts availability (even in Australia) they power all manner of vehicles and I am only jealous that I do not have a chev diesel powered defender or similar.
Have they got a bad reputation in Australia?, unfortunately those not in the know only relate to the issues we here of when retrofitting them into all the various vehicles that were under powered by the respective manufacturers in the first instance. When fitted correctly they are an excellent engine.
And just as with our LR's we always seem to hear the negatives.

[thomson71]

There were some issues in the early 6.2 and 6.5 for sure. But they did manage to iron most problems out. The pump/injector pumps from the states don't work due to the different sulphur content so you have to get them rebuilt with different seals over here. Lot of over heating issues were due to reverse rotation water pumps fitted to motors with v belts on them.
v8 diesels have always been less reliable than straight 6's due to the sideways force on the crankshaft/bearings. For many years Mack were the only truck manufacturer to produce a v8.
Toyota had some issues with their 70 and 200 series.
Even Ford 7.3 had issues.
I have maxi drive axles and diff locks so hopefully they are strong enough.
My favourite motor in a landy is still the 4bd1 but my 6.5 came from a mate with a price i couldn't resist.

[p38arover]

Mick aka D110V8D had one some years ago. I thought he had cooling problems but I can't be sure.

Ahh, here we are: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130-defender-county/81424-alternative-engines.html#post998828

[Vern]

Despite the nay-sayers, these and most american diesel V8's are excellent motors for there purpose. They are reasonably economical given the weights of the vehicles they generally are in. In smaller vehicles economy can be just as good as many other less tourquey (is that a word) engines. They produce excellent power to weight for their size and do not add that much weight (indeed possibly even lighter than some big sixes).
They are very common around the world with excellent parts availability (even in Australia) they power all manner of vehicles and I am only jealous that I do not have a chev diesel powered defender or similar.
Have they got a bad reputation in Australia?, unfortunately those not in the know only relate to the issues we here of when retrofitting them into all the various vehicles that were under powered by the respective manufacturers in the first instance. When fitted correctly they are an excellent engine.
And just as with our LR's we always seem to hear the negatives.I can be a nay Sayer as I've actually owned one, they are junk, they are a petrol designed V8, definately not designed as a proper diesel engine. They are heavy, way under powered for a 6.5l engine, and not that economical, have many issues, in particular to the cooling.
I had a late model electronic injected model with the duel thermostats and serpentine belt water pump, it ran a brand new mechanical injection pump, motor was fully rebuilt. Economy was better than my Holden V8 stroker I had in before hand, but not buy a lot, may be got an extra 150k out of a tank. Probably not bad in a bigger car where you have more room, but if going to all that trouble, you'd just fit a duramax. I've spoken to about 12 different people who have or have had these engines in there cars, landy's, cruisers, patrols, and all have either had major problems or have not been impressed with the engines at all, the biggest complaints have been the owners that have had there's fitted from a particular company in WA that specialise in these engines.
I wish I had of saved my many thousands of dollars and just stuck a 4bd1t in first time round:(.
My 2c

[Tombie]

Despite the nay-sayers, these and most american diesel V8's are excellent motors for there purpose. They are reasonably economical given the weights of the vehicles they generally are in. In smaller vehicles economy can be just as good as many other less tourquey (is that a word) engines. They produce excellent power to weight for their size and do not add that much weight (indeed possibly even lighter than some big sixes).
They are very common around the world with excellent parts availability (even in Australia) they power all manner of vehicles and I am only jealous that I do not have a chev diesel powered defender or similar.
Have they got a bad reputation in Australia?, unfortunately those not in the know only relate to the issues we here of when retrofitting them into all the various vehicles that were under powered by the respective manufacturers in the first instance. When fitted correctly they are an excellent engine.
And just as with our LR's we always seem to hear the negatives.

BS :angel:

The Yanks stopped approving them in Hummers etc as they were so prone to failure.

Look at whats in those things now!!!

All my Yank mates laugh when we talk about the Chev V8 Diesels...

Their new V8 diesel is ok, but the crap we have here - USA hand me downs that no-one wanted :cool:

And I've spent much time chasing issues with these engines - not just the conversions - most of which are never done correctly due to budget restraints...

But they are gutless, underpowered, over weight, thirsty monsters... Any anyone claiming they get less than 17l/100km is often talking out their arse....

[Babs]

Mmmmmm I second the Duramax motor, I was going to do this conversion to a patrol last year, things changed with a price tag of 40K for the conversion.

Anyways, reliability aside because you can't compare reliability to the most reliable 4wd ever made that never goes into limp mode, never has electrical problems yada yada yada the Land Rover. :)

6.5 V8 vs 2.2 4cld. Mmmmm let me think Mac truck engine in Defender or 2.2 Mini Moke engine in Defender.

Enjoy it, if it brakes fix it, it will be no different to a OEM engine. And I'm sure it was a hell of a lot cheaper than a Duramax. (Oh I am in love with the Duramax though). :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

[PAT303]

I know a 60 series owner,a RRC owner that both regret ever having anything to do with these motors,funny enough a friend was on his way from Adelaide to have new years with us and his got to Pt Augusta before overheating and he has just spent a grand last week on the biggest rad and fan you've ever seen,they are a donkey in every way. Pat

[PAT303]

Mmmmmm I second the Duramax motor, I was going to do this conversion to a patrol last year, things changed with a price tag of 40K for the conversion.

Anyways, reliability aside because you can't compare reliability to the most reliable 4wd ever made that never goes into limp mode, never has electrical problems yada yada yada the Land Rover. :)

6.5 V8 vs 2.2 4cld. Mmmmm let me think Mac truck engine in Defender or 2.2 Mini Moke engine in Defender.

Enjoy it, if it brakes fix it, it will be no different to a OEM engine. And I'm sure it was a hell of a lot cheaper than a Duramax. (Oh I am in love with the Duramax though). :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

Both my Mini Moke engined defenders see more of the bush in a week than most truck engined 4wd's see in a year without complaint so I'll stick with the MM engines.:p Pat

[p38arover]

Mmmmmm I second the Duramax motor, I was going to do this conversion to a patrol last year, things changed with a price tag of 40K for the conversion.

See http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-tutorials/73516-duramax-powered-defender.html

[cewilson]

Can I just say well done on successfully getting a conversion done, as I understand the hurdles that happen along the way.

And I truly hope YOU get a good run out of it, and it suits YOUR wants and desires.


Cheers
Chris

[Dougal]

Bloke I work with has a county with one of these engines in it. Also has a Hino six speed truck gear box behind the motor. Diffs I think are ford nine inch and the axles I`m sure are Land cruiser. The bonnet is custom and higher than a standard bonnet. Sound like a truck. You will most likely have to go down the same path as he did due to the shed load of toruqe that you now have. First to give in will be your diffs and axles. OH and he has been is trying to sell a complete rear axle with a Detroit , ford nine inch and Land cruiser axles for awhile now. I just don`t have the cash.
Cheers Hall

That is a big modification list to deal with 400Nm of torque.

[wmd]

Good on the bloke
He got in his shed and put in the hard yards .
Better than sitting behind a computer trashing one mans choice in engines .

Cheers WMD

[Vern]

I spent a lot of time doing this conversion wmd, in my opinion it wasn't worth it for such an undesirable engine. If I had of known what I know now I would have stuck an Isuzu in in the first place. They do sound great and have great off idle torque and I hope thomo doesn't have any drama's with his engine, I just personally think there are much better options out there. Did I say that they do sound awsome:)

[PAT303]

Good on the bloke
He got in his shed and put in the hard yards .
Better than sitting behind a computer trashing one mans choice in engines .

Cheers WMD

People aren't trashing him,others have done the same with poor results and are just posting their experience. Pat

[Vern]

They do sound awesome pat, I may have mentioned that before:)

[PAT303]

They do sound awesome pat, I may have mentioned that before:)

Yep,just before they overheat:p.Friends of ours mentioned earlier have given up trying to get here,it's running hot cruising at 80,spending another $900 on a cooling system replacement after the transplant costs is making their relationship as hot as the donkey under the bonnet. Pat

[Vern]

The Only way I could keep mine cool was to run an 80mm thick 2 core aluminium radiator with falcon thermo fans, mine also ran the duel thermostats and reverse rotation water pump.

[thomson71]

Must say, love to hear the stories of the 6.5 and problems etc etc
One of my mates had 2 crop sprayers of 5 tonne and he had a cruiser and a patrol with a 6.5 in each and after sorting the cooling out had no issues except gearboxes and after going for a drive in one of them I had to do it.....the sound alone[biggrin]
It was more about the fun of getting the 6.5 and lt95 into the 130 than anything else. If it works great if it doesn't then i will go down the road of some other engine/gearbox config. I have spent as many hours reseaching and talking to travellers about the chevy diesel. I could have bought a 6.5 powered Land Cruiser but I like to go out where others don't go and the 130 is the 4wd we enjoy to go in. The 300 tdi was a great little worker but at 328 thousand k's the wastegate hose failed and we cooked her so that is how the story began.
I enjoyed the process of fitting the chev and if all else fails i will always remember the sound......awesome.......better than my 2012 land cruiser 70 series chipped and big exhaust.
This is the running gear.
3 core 77mm cross flow radiator.
twin thermo fans EL Ford.
Mechanical fuel pump...low pressure.
Electric fuel pump 10psi....low pressure.
Non electronic injection pump.
Twin thermostats....modified bypass.
High flow water pump.
36 row oil cooler.
Chev flywheel
chev Clutch.
LT95 with taper roller bearing transfer case.
Hardi Spica made tailshaft and propshaft.
Maxi Drive strengthened front and rear diffs
Maxi Drive Diff Locks.
3'' mandrel bent exhaust. oh the sound.....:)

[TwoUp]

thomson71,
Sounds good to me as well. My 110 has a 6.5 and 4l80e auto from Melb. I had a 4 core radiator made local and has worked a treat. It has a fan of a cummings (ex underground mine vehicle (Kowari)). It runs at about 85 deg here in humid mid 30's. It will get up to operating temp if I leave it idling.

Did the Kimberly easily with heavy gal trailer. This year did the Simpson and Cape, no worries.

Fuel?? 15.5 is norm for when I take it easy. 21 driving like a rat. Can't help myself sometimes:). I have a Longranger rear, 80l under driver and 55l under passenger, so who gives a tinkers cuss??

Won't keep up with a cruiser or R/R Sport in speed. I have tried this with friends, it's a fact of life.

It will however give endless pleasure off road. Climbing and engine braking is exellent. My auto has manual lock-up and this is a boon off road, but I rarely use it as the motor does all the work.

Hardest part is bleeding air from the fuel system, no manual pump.

I use Detroit heavy duty oil and over fill according to the dip stick, by about 1/4 inch to the top level. This seems to work with the oil cooler. I have a cooler for the auto as well.

Purchased a 1012 130 2.2 in March, has done only 2,800Km as I keep using the Chev!!

Enjoy,
PeterW

[thomson71]

it has now been 6 months since i have done the conversion.
the cooling has worked great with no overheating issues at all.
the beast has so much pulling power. put it in top gear and towing a 3.5 tonne trailer and will sit on 100 kph all day long.
had a problem with the vacuum pump but bought a new one from the states for 126 bucks and now i have brakes/ diff locks etc etc again.
fuel consumption is nothing special but no worse than the 70 series v8 cruiser i had. 20w50 oil works a treat.
next mission is to find a rocky mountain over drive for the lt95.
cheers chris

[jimr1]

Bloke I work with has a county with one of these engines in it. Also has a Hino six speed truck gear box behind the motor. Diffs I think are ford nine inch and the axles I`m sure are Land cruiser. The bonnet is custom and higher than a standard bonnet. Sound like a truck. You will most likely have to go down the same path as he did due to the shed load of toruqe that you now have. First to give in will be your diffs and axles. OH and he has been is trying to sell a complete rear axle with a Detroit , ford nine inch and Land cruiser axles for awhile now. I just don`t have the cash.
Cheers Hall
Hi I've seen that truck running around ftg . and wondered what motor it has as the bonnet sits way to high .cheers jimr1 :)

[TJWA]

Hi all, I bought this vehicle off of thomson71 over a year ago.

I changed the dual cooling fans for a single 16", moved the radiator and realigned the bonnet and nose back to original. This made it much quieter and suitable for registering. Absolutely no issues with overheating, it has two temp gauges, one at the front and the other at the back of the engine. I have worried it may be too cool in the winter so am considering putting hotter thermostats in next winter. I think thomson71 may have gone overboard with the cooling system!

So far, I'm very happy, it's perfect for carrying large loads of wood and towing other Land Rovers on car trailers and I get my diesel for free :-)
The 6.5L teamed with the LT95 and Maxi lockers make it awesome off road!

Problems I've had with this vehicle so far:
Oil cooler leak
Rear drivers side bearing oil seal
Rear disc brake pads and discs replaced
Speedo cable worn at gearbox end
Changed the oil twice (10L per time!!!), coolant once
Adjusted the hand brake
Brake lights fuse blew, hasn't done it again since
Cracked bonnet support on firewall
Power steering leak

Problems I've had with my 110 300TDI in that time:
P-seal
Head gasket
Turbo shaft worn
Dramatic power steering pump pulley failure (it went past us on the road)
Oil thermostat
Front prop-shaft splines and unis
Rear prop shaft unis
Both rear bearing oil seals
Front disc pads
Clutch replacement
Adjusted the handbrake
Turbo hoses
Bottom oil cooler hose
R380 rebuild
New radiator
New timing belt
Faulty connection on ignition switch (on the way to a Wedding)

I'll keep you posted, reading the posts in this thread I'm thinking the 6.5L is way past due date for an issue.