Well,.. its definitely oily! .... I knew I was down on compression on number 6, but reckoned that as it still ran well enough I would risk a trip. Fact is it has been off the road for most of lockdown and this is my first trip beyond Tesco or the local hospital..... 500+km, ....4 litres of engine oil and 2 litres of coolant later.... (and one tricky moment when it wouldn't restart!) we arrived in S.E. Kent.
Most of the oil was blown out of the dipstick vent hole, .... and I found quite a bit of it lathered over the rear tailgate!
We are now in Kent for at least a couple of weeks (probably more now, but don't tell the wife!) and the best quick fix I can think of is a good second hand engine,... any good thoughts / leads / etc. would be really appreciated. I have friends and some tools and some wrenching / lifting / shifting is possible.
Any help really appreciated, ...thanks Rob

Give these guys a call, they seem to have a good reputation. Not next door, but not too far either.

EAST COAST RANGE ROVERS 07527953807

Thanks, I haven't come across them before, I'll give them a buzz.

I bought an excellent 4.6 V8 from them a couple of years ago and have bought a few other bits and pieces. If Dave at East Coast says its good, it really is. For an engine he'll strap it to a pallet and get it couriered to you.

You need to get exactly the same engine as yours i.e. either with egr and plastic manifold or earlier non egr with alloy manifold, otherwise it complicates things. You want it complete with the FIP, injectors and engine ECU so you don't need to change the EMS code.
The FIP is worth a couple of hundred pounds so they may take it off and try and sell you a bare engine, then you will need to fit another FIP and time it all over again. I would say £600 max for a good s/h diesel engine, without delivery.

addendum: My thinking is warped due to old age. Use your existing ECU and there will be no need to syncronise the EMS code in the BECM.

I paid £550 for the 4.6 complete with all ancillaries, including engine bay wiring loom so it was a simple drop in and connect up replacement job, so I would expect a diesel to come in a similar state.

The BMW M51 diesel engines usually have a long life, Even so, I would get them to verify the mileage. You want less than 200k miles, preferably in the 140 to 160k range. Problem is they are 20 to 25 years old now though.

You could try Roverviews 07932141966 he's got 3 diesel engines 2 manual 1 auto out ready to go

Thanks very much,... that gives me some options. There is a fairly local (Westgate) ad on FB but no response so far
.> The BMW M51 diesel engines usually have a long life,
my own engine only has 181k and I wasn't really expecting this degree of trouble.

I paid £550 for the 4.6 complete with all ancillaries, including engine bay wiring loom the
Generally seems to be £750 for a bare diesel!
Anyway, couple more calls tomorrow and I'll see where I am.

Just a quick update, I looked it up and reckoned east coast rovers was a bit too far on a dodgy engine, I rang Tom at Rover view and he was most apologetic, A he didn't have a late model and B he was just off on a trip himself the following day. He was almost as far, but I reckoned at least he would be 'sort of' on the way home.
After the initial fright of all the lost oil etc. amazingly the engine still ran really well and I pootled about Dover without any real issues.
I removed the dipstick and put a tightly fitting length of hose far enough on to cover the vent hole, the other end just went into a water bottle that sat on the chassis rail. It caught most of the oil (unless you forgot to put it back!) and at 50 - 55 mph we made it home to Ireland over 5 days without further trouble.
In the meantime I picked up a small cheap trailer (originally for a Terex single drum roller) and collected a 127,000 mile engine from Inside Out 4x4 near Dorking. That followed us home nicely, but it's extra weight did highlight the lack of torque. So .... home now, .... and at least I have something to work with.