2.25 Diesel Power Mods

[Johnno1969]

Alright, stop laughing.

Inspired by the success of this thread's petrol contemporary, I thought I'd throw this out there.... So - who's got some ideas for performance improvements for the 2.25D (apart from spectacular mods which cause sudden banging noises)...?

Cheers,

John

[JDNSW]

I'm afraid the past experience suggests that you approach this with considerable caution. The only obvious way of increasing output would be to add a turbocharger, and while this would be quite easy, bear in mind that when Landrover did this it led to all sorts of problems - and that was with the five bearing engine, admittedly increased to 2.5l.

But a very modest boost would probably not break anything if driven with a bit of circumspection. The reason the petrol engine can stand a considerable increase in power is that it shares the major components with the diesel - and runs at a maximum of about 9:1 compression, not the 23:1 of the diesel.

John

[Johnno1969]

Thanks John. Yep, that's more or less been my take on the engine too. I know that many years ago people started playing with turbochargers on them and they went "bang". Mine's a three bearing main, so I would be especially loathe to tweak it much - if at all.

I have sometimes wondered, though, as you say, about a turbo with a very modest boost.... but then I keep coming back to the whole 3-bearing-main-engine-not-designed-to-handle-it etc etc etc story. I couldn't see it being immune to the problems LR had with the 2.5TD and then more besides. Still, it's worth speculation.

I guess with a whopping 62bhp on tap, any improvement of a horse or two here or there might be noticable. I am not sure how much, if any, noticeable benefit I would get from removing the engine fan, improving the exhaust etc etc and all the usual tweaks.

Basically, she's been a very reliable little runner, and starts easily without heater plugs at any time of year. I'm inclined to leave her be...

Cheers,

John

[series3]

Follow this thread, Isuzurover has listed a few things he has done to his 2.25D a few posts down.

Getting more from a series 2.25

Sam

[wrinklearthur]

Alright, stop laughing.

Inspired by the success of this thread's petrol contemporary, I thought I'd throw this out there.... So - who's got some ideas for performance improvements for the 2.25D (apart from spectacular mods which cause sudden banging noises)...?

Cheers,

John

Hi John

One way to get fantastic performance out of that motor, is to wrap it with another vehicle that is a lot lighter!

Cheers Arthur

[bee utey]

Fit a microswitch under the loud pedal to disconnect the generator/alternator at full "power", you may indeed gain 1-2 HP.

Oh and to echo Arthur's post below, strip the vehicle of anything you don't actually need, like the roof etc.

[Bigbjorn]

To get more power with any internal combustion engine you need to pack in more air and more fuel. You can do this by opening out the ports, fitting bigger valves, fabricating a more efficient intake manifold, a true extractor exhaust system, a camshaft with higher lift and more overlap, and get a diesel technician to open up the injection pump. The little jigger already has a very high compression ratio so little to be gained by increasing this.

[Johnno1969]

Fit a microswitch under the loud pedal to disconnect the generator/alternator at full "power", you may indeed gain 1-2 HP.

Oh and to echo Arthur's post below, strip the vehicle of anything you don't actually need, like the roof etc.

All good points.... and I particularly like Arthur's idea of wrapping a lighter vehicle around it. Like a bicycle.

Anyway, I will keep dreaming. In the engine's favour, when I first drove it I was surprised to see how much power it actually did have, after hearing so much from so many quarters about how "gutless" the engine is. I remember well finishing the build, getting it started, driving around the block and thinking "Actually, it's not bad at all!" I had been led to expect it to feel so very much more underpowered....

Still, a few more horsies would be nice...

John

[dromader driver]

My 2.25d trayback benefitted from removal of the engine driven fan and fitting an electric fan. Reduced the front end noise a lot as well uncovering a range of other sounds. Ran a bosch alternator and never had any problems just running around or driving to work.
Removing the fan shroud as well as the fan is essential. Electric fan rarely kicked in except when stuck in traffic for a long period. Cabin Heater works better as well.