petrol / Diesel

[siii8873]

Ok I've only run 2.25 petrol engines. Thinking about a diesel. May have a line on a low mileage 2.25. What are the pros and cons of having a diesel vs a petrol in an 88 SW?

[bpj911]

2.25 diesel

[siii8873]

What do you like better about the diesel?

[bpj911]

2.25 diesel is what i have in my 109

I spent a lot of time reading about how bad it was and then bought one from Ike about 16 months ago. BTW, i would use Ike again in a heartbeat and just bought some parts from him. You can send the guy thousands of dollars and be assured he will treat you right.

couldn't be much happier with the mileage. btw 22-28 this year so far. It did better last year but then I added and overdrive and my mileage went down. wtf?


It's noisy. at first this was an issue but apparently you can get used to all the rivets vibrating in harmony.

Slow. This is pretty relative. It is slow compared to some things. If you come from unimogs, m37s, etc it's actually pretty peppy...

It's also easy starting and pretty reliable. i don't see what all the fuss is about. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

[superstator]

From my experience the pros have been good mileage (24mpg or better on the highway), and reliability (as long as you can get it started, it'll keep running even if the whole electrical system is cooked). It's also nice to be able to run biodiesel if you're into that kind of thing.

Only real downsides have been the lack of power (which is a biggie), and the smoke if you don't have the timing dialed in.

[siii8873]

how about parts availability for diesel engines?

[superstator]

Pretty good - our hosts carry most, and you can order stuff direct from the UK easily. The injectors are the same as on the 2.5NA, and were used in other settings (farm tractors, etc.). The pump and injectors are both rebuildable by a decent diesel shop. Only real problem is the timing tool, which i believe is NLA. I've heard of people making them themselves, and there are methods for timing without the tool.

[superstator]

One more selling point for diesel, and one I don't hear very often: safety. You can still cause a fire if you try hard enough, but the odds of accidentally igniting a pool of spilled diesel in your garage are a lot lower than with gasoline. As someone who has experienced a couple catastrophic gasoline fires, I appreciate this.

[Lalo88DK]

I do not think that there is much difference in power from a 2,25 diesel and a 2,25 petrol. But with regarding to the noise, there is a BIG difference. Fuel economy is much better with a 2,25 diesel, my 2,25 Diesel SWB Series III is doing at least 27 mpg and I been doing nearly 30 mpg.
You do not have the problems with the timing needing to be adjusted all the time as you do with petrol engine, with the diesel it is almost install and forget. Finally, the diesel engine has the big advantage that it is not afraid of water, so running through rivers etc are no problem, certainly not with a snorkel. I will say that the diesel engine is not as tenacious as a gasoline engine, but if maintained well with oil changes, and you don't rev it too hard on the highway ,it will last fairly well. Smoke tend to be a problem with the 2,25 diesels.
I prefer the diesels and have never had problems with starting in Scandinavian winter temperatures at around 1,4 degrees Fahrenheit with my Diesel (did not have any problems with the 2,25 petrol either).

[bpj911]

Here in nebraska i never had any issues starting when above 0 F. below that i really could have used a plug in heater but never drive it enough to worry about it in the winter. I try to keep it out of the salt. There was one cold dry morning though when it was -20F that i pulled her out of the garage and went on about a 10 mile run to get groceries. the fuel gelled on me and I had to limp back home to the garage where it was warm. That's the only time that has happened and it probably had not enough fuel treatment in it.

[siii8873]

I was always thought diesel engines typically out lasted petro ones as far as longevity. Is that not the case with these 2.25 ones?

[superstator]

Diesels have to be built heavier to withstand higher compression, vibration, etc. So generally, they last better than petrol engines that can be built with lighter components. With the LR engines, though, they used the same basic block for both, which means the petrol engines benefit from the diesels overbuilt-ness. I don't know that the petrol engines are hardier than the diesels, but they definitely have an advantage over other gasoline engines thanks to their brethren.

[stonefox]

I was under the assuption that the 2.25 was a petro first ,then adapted to a diesel and that was were the weakness lyed.But ,I may be wrong. Just ask my wife, I'm sure she will confirm I'm wrong most of the time.:D

[leafsprung]

The 2.25 gas is based on the 2.0L diesel. The 2.0L diesel is the grandfather of all later 4 cylinder rover motors up to 2.8 TGV