Land Rover 300Tdi / 200Tdi

Land Rover's 2.5 direct-injection diesel — the 200Tdi and 300Tdi — in the Defender, Discovery 1 and Range Rover Classic.

They are mechanically injected with no engine electronics at all, which is most of their reputation: nothing to read, nothing to fail electronically, and repairable anywhere. For expedition use that is the whole argument, and it is why so many survive.

⚑ The 300Tdi's early timing belt is the known failure. The original belt and idler arrangement was revised after failures at well under the stated interval, and a snapped belt on an interference engine ends it. On any 300Tdi the belt, its idlers and the tensioner are one job and a short interval.

Cylinder head cracking between the valve seats is the other pattern, usually after an overheat — coolant loss with no external leak is the tell.

The 200Tdi has a different belt arrangement and is generally regarded as the more robust of the two, which is unusual for an earlier engine and worth knowing when choosing between vehicles.