Thread: 88 Rangie with VM motor, to buy or not to buy?

Walk away

Never seen a person who has been happy with those engines. And I have know a lot with them.

They were an Italian marine engine that land rover put into the RRC before the 200tdi came along.

But the problem is that due it not being sat in a boat , which is what it was designed for , you can't cool it enough and they go threw head gaskets like it is going out of fashion. Also had a lot of problems with 3 and 4 pistons as they used to get hot as they were furthest from the rad and air. Again not enough cooling.

Run Far, Run Fast.

Cheap recipient for a 200 or 300tdi if it's clean enough.

Originally Posted by Dougal

Cheap recipient for a 200 or 300tdi if it's clean enough.

That would be the only use for it

Take the engine out , only use for it these days it back to its marine heritage and that is to use it as an anchor

As said find a 200 or 300 TDI which were both factory for into the RRC and slot it in and you have a really nice truck.

Thanks for the input guys, what do you reckon I should be able to pick up a tdi motor for $$ wise.

Well that's a question

Main reason that buying a disco with an engine in it is cheaper than buying an engine on the floor.
I would tend to buy a disco with an engine so you can see it running and drive it. Discovery's are at the moment cheaper in one but than they are in parts.

Then take the engine out and then break the rest of the car and likely to make most of your money back.

Ive seen that rangey on gumtree too. When I looked into how difficult to find/ pricey parts were I went running. There are some good deals to be had up this way if your quick. But stick to the 200 or 300 tdi. unless you wanna keep that particular rangey and ditch the motor in that case I personally think your better off getting a 3.5/3.9 rangey from a backpacker up here. PM me if you wanna catch up for a beer and have a chat

Cheers Tom

You guys do realise that Jeep Cherokees used a version of this motor and that full rebuild kits are quite cheap including wet liners and crank etc for AFAIR $4500 . There is a thread on this a couple of years ago.
I recall many years ago that Graeme Cooper told me they were quite good if looked after IE no blocked radiators etc.
They were modern at the time as they had stretch bolts which most mechanics knew nothing about.
They have individual heads which apparently need a jig to replace but some Jeep specialists will have this.
I wonder how many posters have ever seen one and are just working from what the cousin's cousin told them.
Regards Philip A
http://www.jeeshop.com.au/Store/Product/?id=1197

Another supplier with rebuilt long engine for $3295
http://www.jeepengines.com.au/Search...51&Search.y=15