West Coast British

Note: WCB will not fit a 200TDi, 300TDi or TD5 engine into emission version Range Rover, Discovery, Discovery-II, or Defender that is used on public highways; the TDi is not legal for use in emission vehicles (1987-to date) in the State of California, so say the California Air Recourses Board (and could be illegal in all states under EPA laws). We can however fit a TDi into your (non-emission) pre-1975 LAND-ROVER with no such restrictions.

Diesel Engine Swaps in California. Oct 10, 2006

I just got off the phone with the California Air Recourses Board concerning TDI Land Rover engines; 200TDI, 300TDI and TD5 for use in California in emission type vehicles.

The reason I did this was due in part to the many calls and e-mails we have received asking about such a conversions to NAS Land Rover vehicles. There also seems to be a number of people/companies that are importing, selling and fitting these engines in to NAS vehicles (so we are told daily).

The end result of the conversation was; These engines are illegal to fit/use (for highway use) into any NAS Land Rover vehicle 1987 to date, in the State of California (while Federal EPA laws prohibit the use in all states). These engines have not been certified in the USA, and certainly not in California.

We talked about these people and shops (no names given) that are importing and fitting TDI engines into late model Land Rovers (post 1987 for US Market)... and, "as the smog programs in CA goes further into the future, and diesels are brought into the Smog Check program, these vehicles will be caught." To those people that fit them in California, DMV may consider them "on par with bogus registration."

Get into an accident and your insurance company can deal you (TDI owners) a poor hand by saying, "this is not the vehicle we insured" (it started life with a gas V8 engine and now has an illegal diesel fitted). This can lead to them dropping your coverage, among other things.

When buying a diesel powered Land Rover of 1975 and newer, beware and ask questions BEFORE you buy.

What CARB did say, and we know for fact is; If you want to convert your (let's say) 1999 Land Rover Discovery to a diesel engine, you can only fit a engine that complies with emission regulations of 1999 or newer, for the same weight category (light truck). If you chose to fit a 2005 engine into the 1999 vehicle, you must now meet 2005 regulations. Check local laws and with CARB and EPA (if Federal) for more information. Signed; Michael Green, WCB.

For more on this matter read this EPA document.