Fuel injection equipment was from CAV, and the engine used Ricardo's Comet swirl chambers, but with Rover-developed dimples to produce quieter and smoother running.

The Series II Land Rover launched in 1958 was larger, heavier, and more complex than the original, and the need was ever-present for higher powered engines.

[13] Also, the Rover petrol engines in use at the time, with the archaic inlet-over-exhaust valve layout, were approaching the age of 20 years in design terms.

[13][17] The engine's relatively low compression ratio and general strong design made it tolerant of poor quality fuel and oil, as well as infrequent servicing.

The engine castings were produced by Bean Industries Limited, a Sheffield based foundry, using "Bilchrome" an in-house developed iron for cylinders.

[26] The cylinder head used the same basic casting, but was very different internally, being in essence an updated version of that used on the original 2-litre engine, to which the new diesel bore a strong external resemblance.

Although it offered a modest improvement in power and a useful jump in torque, the main benefit of the new diesel engine was that it was much quieter and more efficient than the older unit.

Many hours spent at idle speed (taxi drivers tended to leave the engines idling for long periods when waiting for passengers or when off-duty, or in stationary traffic in London) stretched the timing chains, causing incorrect fuel injection timing, which greatly reduced engine life.

To reduce engine weight, extensive use of aluminium castings was made for the cambelt case, vacuum pump, rocker cover, and other parts.

Late military-specification engines had a centrifugal separator in the breather system, allowing excess oil to drain back to the sump.

These later, modified engines were the first in their class (small-capacity, high-speed diesels) to pass the Ministry of Defence's arduous 500-hour durability trial.

[13][44][45] By this time, buyers were limited to those with specific reasons to buy petrol-engined vehicles- for example several police forces in the UK bought fleets of 2.5 petrol Defenders in the mid-1990s because diesel-engined vehicles would have caused maintenance and logistical problems when operated alongside the fleet of standard patrol cars, all of which were petrol fueled.

Land Rover's global sales collapsed during the early 1980s,[47] mainly due to foreign competition offering larger, more powerful, more comfortable vehicles.

Land Rover suffered from poor build quality and materials during the 1970s, and by 1983, the then-current Series III model was distinctly outdated, despite recent improvements.

[48] Land Rover decided to focus the sales of its Ninety/One Ten/127 range on the UK and Europe, for which it required a diesel engine with significantly better performance than the 68 hp (51 kW) 2.5-litre type then in production.

[44][55] Time has shown that these engines can turn in long service lives if maintained as required—like many early turbodiesels, a lack of maintenance causes failure.

[60][61] An aluminium alloy cylinder head reduced weight and noise, a new Bosch injection system gave improved running characteristics and better starting performance.

Lessons learnt from the Diesel Turbo were included, such as the fitment of an inertial separator in the breather system to remove oil before crankcase gases were returned to the air intake.

In the Discovery the 200Tdi used all-new components, but packaging restraints in the Defender meant that the 200Tdi in this role shared many exterior parts (such as the timing belt system and case) with the Diesel Turbo.

[64] It is still highly regarded by Land Rover enthusiasts and has established itself as a powerful and long-lived unit that with proper maintenance can exceed 300,000 miles (480,000 km) of use.

[60] Upcoming European diesel emissions regulations (Euro I) meant that Land Rover would be forced to radically alter the engine anyway.

Power and torque outputs remained the same, and the engine had been specifically designed to be compatible with all the models in the Land Rover range without any changes.

Although based around the same block and basic architecture as the 300Tdi the Power Stroke has major differences such as electronic common rail injection and new crossflow cylinder head with Overhead camshaft.

By the mid-1990s the Rover Group was looking to rationalise its engine ranges and produce new designs that would be able to meet emissions legislation for the foreseeable future.

The Storm used Electronic Unit Injection by Lucas (at the time this technology was rare on small-capacity engine, being used only on large commercial vehicles) and a cross-flow aluminium alloy cylinder head on a cast-iron block.

Offering more power and greater refinement than the 300Tdi the Td5 greatly improved the appeal of the Discovery but caused concern amongst many operators of the Defender due to its electronic engine management systems which were considered to be less reliable and more difficult to repair 'in the field' than the mechanical injection systems used on previous Land Rover diesel engines.

Early engines suffered two isolated mechanical failures—sudden and complete failure of the oil pump drive and 'cylinder head shuffle' caused by weak retaining studs.

Both these faults were fixed within 2 years of the engine starting production and the Td5 is now considered somewhat reliable, despite some common electrical gremlins such as the injector harness being prone to oil contamination.

Electronics were also updated to improve the low-speed throttle response which had been prone to producing a jerky power delivery in off-road or towing situations.

Under the terms of the agreement Santana would initially build Land Rovers from Complete Knock Down kits shipped from Britain, but locally manufactured content would gradually be increased until the entire vehicles were built from scratch in Spain.