Article written by our friend John Stewart.
Good, reliable engine. Millions of ’em about. Very good low-down torque and will punt you along at 50mph happily. No real maintenance issues. Later 5-bearing main engines considered by some as preferable over the earlier engines, which were 3-bearing mains (reason being less vibration) but the early motors always seem to have lasted forever anyway. I’ve driven them a bit, but not a great deal, and always enjoyed them. Probably expect 15-17 mpg out of them, though I reckon a good unit could do better than that.
2.25 DieselYou will probably hear lots of different opinions about this motor. I had always heard that it was an underpowered dog, then rebuilt one for my IIA and it has been terrific. Between 28 and 34 mpg, averaging around 30 mpg and it propels my little IIA 88 quite adequately. As they are hardly powerful units, if they are not “just right” I guess that’s when people get tired of them. I have heard stories of them being hard to start, blowing gallons of smoke, using too much fuel etc etc. I get the impression that timing can be a crucial factor and engines out even a degree or two can perform sub-optimally. Nevertheless, all I can say is that I built mine carefully and it has heaps of compression (starts very easily without any heating), blows no smoke, gets very good consumption figures and performs well.
When rebuilding these engines, it is stressed in all literature that the crank’s big-end journals should NEVER be ground. There are stories of them breaking cranks when under heavy stress and I guess this is why the books say not to grind the crank journals. When I pulled mine apart, I discovered that the crank had been ground 0.010”. This worried me a bit, but I chatted a lot with folks on the Land Rover Enthusiast forum and was reassured that if the radii of the crank journals had been shaped correctly, it should be alright. The bloke in the engineering shop where I had it polished said he reckoned it’d be fine too. So far, no snapped crank... By the way, on the subject of breaking things – never put a turbo on these engines.
2.6 SixAnother engine with its share of lovers and haters. They have always had a reputation for cylinder head cracks and valves burning out very quickly. This may have something to do with it basically being a sedan engine (Rover P6, I think) placed in a shorter-geared Land Rover and forced to spend longer periods at higher revs than ever intended when designed. As a result, many units were overheated badly and repeatedly. I also heard a story once about altering the exhaust valve head angle and solving the valve-burning problem. When in good condition, these engines pull beautifully down low, but don’t really seem to offer much performance advantage over the 2.25 four. They use a fair bit of fuel, too. Ones I have driven were an absolute pleasure (a beautiful, quiet, smooth engine)...but I reckon it’s better to steer clear of them.
3.5 V8Not generally considered a “series” engine, but as the “Stage One” V8 Land Rover was in so many ways a Series III, it’s worth noting. A beautiful motor. Originally, I believe, a Buick design which was never produced in the USA. Rover bought the motor in the sixties and used it in the first Range Rovers (they powered Rangies for many years) and then in the Stage One. The Stage One was in effect an “in between” vehicle, using Range Rover running gear in a leaf sprung Landy chassis and bodywork. The duel carburettor setup can be difficult to balance, but when it’s set right it’s fine. Naturally, they are a bit heavy on fuel but the payoff has always been reliability and a silky-smooth, torquey motor. They do not light up the V8 performance world, but they are very flexible, forgiving and sound beautiful.
Engine SummaryThere were other engines, but those above are the ones you are most likely to encounter, especially the venerable 2.25 petrol four. Whichever engine you use for a long expedition, the fuel use will be more than I have noted above due to the heavy loads. Note also, that although the 2.25 diesel might be just wonderful in my usually-unladen Series IIA 88….it will feel pretty underpowered in a fully laden 109. It will get you there, though…..just in no hurry. If you had the money for fuel, the V8 would be nice. The petrol four would not use much less fuel but would also do the job well. The diesel option would be the most economical, provided – most importantly – that you got a good unit, but it would have to work hard to pull all that weight.
Generally, the Series IIA units are considered stronger than the Series III gearboxes (though I think the Series II and IIA boxes had some trouble breaking layshafts). The boxes in IIAs only had synchromesh on 3rd and 4th, but this is no problem in operation once you know them. Personally, I would prefer a IIA gearbox, preferably a later unit (around 1965 – 70).
On any of these gearboxes, keep an eye on the mainshaft output gear securing nut. The output shaft of the main gearbox protrudes inside the transfer case and the gear fits over it (and meshes with the intermediate gear in the transfer case). This gear is held in place by a nut and lock washer. These very often come loose, resulting in gearboxes jumping out of gear and all sorts of associated fun. Always check this in a “new” vehicle. Take of the inspection plate and roller bearing carrier at the rear of the transfer case and the inspection plate on top, and you will see the output gear. All sorts of tricks have been tried to stop the nut coming lose, including tapping a thread into the side of the nut and inserting a worm nut which tightens in onto the shaft. If you fit an overdrive, the nut, washer and gear will be history as they are removed and the clutch mechanism for the overdrive is inserted in their place, followed by the overdrive unit itself.
Jumping out of gear can also be caused by worn gears or selector forks, but before you panic try fitting stiffer detent springs in the little housings on each side of the box (up high, where the springs act upon ball bearings which press against the selector shafts).
GearboxesNothing earth-shattering to be said here. They are simple and reliable.
Transfer CasesThere are two units commonly used: the Fairey (later called “Superwinch”) and the Toro. The Fairey is/was very common. They work pretty well and drop engine revs for any given speed by around 27%. They do get pretty noisy, though. This may have something to do with only having a piddling 400ml oil capacity and it is easy to forget them and run them dry.
The Toro unit is a mystery to me. The first time I heard about them, I was told they were wonderful. Later on, I heard they were rubbish. How unusual to hear two conflicting opinions on something related to Land Rovers.
The front units will be Rover diffs. The rear ones are Rover, ENV or Salisbury. If you are going on a long trip in a heavily laden vehicle, get a vehicle with a Salisbury rear end (they came in on the Series III). It is easy to retro-fit one in a II or IIA.
Everybody has an opinion on freewheeling hubs. Mine’s to chuck ’em away and refit simple, solid originals.
As far as possible, keep things standard. Don’t go over the top stiffening up springs.
Nothing remarkable here. Check the steering box, drop arm, drag link, relay unit, steering arms and ball joints. Make sure the steering relay is full of oil. The swivel pin housings and bushes should be checked for wear and movement.
Can be a real handful to bleed. It is vital to get the manual adjustments right. Replacing one or two drums can make all the difference in the world. It is possible to spend weeks cursing the vehicle and then discover that all it needed was a few new drums and suddenly it adjusted and bled up beautifully. The rule I have usually heard is to start bleeding at the wheel furthest from the master cylinder. I have also heard to start at the wheel closest to the master cylinder... Another trick, when all else fails, is to raise the front of the vehicle as much as possible. Rumour has it that the Australian Army used to hang the cars from trees to bleed them.
Lucas, Prince of Darkness, reigns supreme.
The 2.5 diesel which replaced the 2.25 was an interim motor, still using a cast iron head and a definite link in the evolution which brought about the Tdi. The 2.5 diesel was not too bad, but steer clear of the “2.5 Turbo”. This engine suffered a lot from having a turbo bolted to a basic design not really prepared for it. Among other things, they used to stretch (and probably break) big end bolts because of the extra strain. At the very least, this would flog out the big end bearings. Get an old naturally-aspirated diesel or a Tdi.
With a 2.5D, a 200Tdi or 300Tdi, always replace the timing belt immediately upon buying the vehicle and replace each succeeding belt every 50,000 km.
All the constant 4WD Landies get a lot of wear in the drive member splines. They are cheap to replace and worth doing as new ones tighten things up and put less strain on the halfshaft splines. On the subject of spline wear, check the output shaft from the main gearbox and associated gear. Wear in these is a congenital fault. Checking them is much the same operation as checking the mainshaft gear and nut on a series vehicle. It is worth replacing the gear as it is a cheap, easy job and, once again, it will tighten up the whole drivetrain somewhat. It will also alleviate slightly the wear on the output shaft (which, when requiring attention, is a big job).