2.5 Turbo Diesel XJ

On the way home from work today, I saw an XJ sport with a 2.5 Turbo Deisel emblem on the back hatch. It was newer than my 91 i think because it had plastic door handles, but any way. I saw the kid in front of me and i wanted to get next to him and ask him about it, so i hammered down. Well so did he. I couldnt catch up to him. My jeeps not a race car but I have exhaust, intake, T.B. and other small stuff. I couldnt beleive this thing. Anyone know anything about these jeeps. I've never seen one. And know I want one.

91 4.0XJ said:

On the way home from work today, I saw an XJ sport with a 2.5 Turbo Deisel emblem on the back hatch. It was newer than my 91 i think because it had plastic door handles, but any way. I saw the kid in front of me and i wanted to get next to him and ask him about it, so i hammered down. Well so did he. I couldnt catch up to him. My jeeps not a race car but I have exhaust, intake, T.B. and other small stuff. I couldnt beleive this thing. Anyone know anything about these jeeps. I've never seen one. And know I want one.

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IIRC, this was the '93-up export-model diesel, replacing the old asthmatic Renault 2.1-litre TD. Dunno if they sold them in Canada (doubtful), but the engine was a VM and they didn't have the best reputation for reliability. Not sure if any were equipped with automatics, just as a side note.

FWIW, I've been in a couple. They're not bad, but for my money I'd rather use the 2.8CRD from a KJ.

casm said:

the engine was a VM and they didn't have the best reputation for reliability.

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Really? You'd think it would be reliable, being thats its a diesel. But then again, you cant get much more reliable than the gool ole 4.0.

91 4.0XJ said:

Really? You'd think it would be reliable, being thats its a diesel. But then again, you cant get much more reliable than the gool ole 4.0.

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Some diesels are better than others. IIRC, they were prone to overheating and attendant warpage. Virtually every XJ sold where I grew up was diesel and they didn't have the best reputation going.

In a way, I'd kind of like to find a 2.1TD and make a Peugeot 2.5TD fit - far more reliable, better power, and truly a weird thing to do to an XJ.

FYI the diesel xj's were never sold in north america, south america yes not here.

It was left wheel steering, so someone must have imported it from a country with the same steering wheel style as the US.

91 4.0XJ said:

It was left wheel steering, so someone must have imported it from a country with the same steering wheel style as the US.

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Pick a country with US military bases and LHD and you've got your answer. Someone probably bought it while in the service and shipped it back.

a guy back home has one, hes in the shop once in a while for parts, but he must do all the wrenching himself...too bad

2.5 TD XJs were available as Sport and Limited in the UK (RHD) and Europe (LHD) from the early 1990s to the end of production. They were built in the US, though.
They were fitted with a 4 cylinder motor made by italian firm VM Motori (owned by Detroit Diesels)
It has an iron block and four seperate aluminum heads. Fuel system was Bosch, mechanical on pre 97 models and fly by wire on 97 onwards.
Transmission was manual only, AX15 up to '99 then NVT3550 after. Transfer case was 231 and axles were D30 front and D35 Trac-Loc rear.
Most reliability issues were with pre '97s which used to crack cylinder heads at about 60000 miles ($$$$$) and also cam follower failure/worn pushrods causing a pushrod to jump out of the rocker arm ($$).
Performance was pretty good, with great acceleration (as you noticed) and good fuel economy, but they were a tad noisy for those used to a 4.0.
They also fitted the same VM 2.5 with AX15 to the ZG (Austrian built ZJ) for Europe. VM also supplied versions of this engine to Rover, Land Rover and Vauxhall (GM)
A 5 cylinder 3.1L variant with 44RE auto transmission went into the WG (WJ) for 2000 and '01 before being replaced by the superior Mercedes-Benz 2.7L common rail in '02.
The KJ Diesel is another VM Design with a similar block, but a single DOHC cylinder head and common rail fuel system. This offers improved performance and is far more refined, and available with auto or manual transmissions.
The latest Jeep diesel offering is the WH (WK) 3.0 diesel which sports an all new Mercedes-Benz designed common rail V6 on a 5 speed auto tranny.

aardvark4x4 said:

Transmission was manual only, AX15 up to '99 then NVT3550 after.

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Do you have any ability to confirm whether or not the AW4 was available as a special-order option with the 2.5TD in RHD markets? Reason I ask is that I knew someone who had one in that configuration (at least, I assume it was the AW4 - didn't know much about Jeeps at the time), but it was an Irish-, not UK-market vehicle. I know that we got certain variants that weren't offered in the UK, such as the 4-door vans.

Have never come across a diesel XJ with auto transmission. Nothing in any European technical data about it. I would guess it was a petrol XJ converted with the engine and tranny from something else, possibly a japanese 4x4. The AW4 would be difficult to use as the diesel doesn't have the throttle position sensor like the petrol ones, so it was probably a non electronic tranny if it was fitted to a factory Jeep diesel XJ.

BTW how do those LeBaron hood vents fix to the hood? I'd like a set for my XJ if we can work out a way of getting payment through. Do you have a Paypal account?

aardvark4x4 said:

Have never come across a diesel XJ with auto transmission. Nothing in any European technical data about it. I would guess it was a petrol XJ converted with the engine and tranny from something else, possibly a japanese 4x4.

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Mkay, I could go with that. FWIW, the people who owned the Jeep were not the original owners - and they sold it a couple of years back (I emailed them to ask last night). Didn't remember if it was a 3- or 4-speed auto either, but my rather shaky recollection is that it was a 4-speed.

Thinking about it, I seem to recall that it was a Japanese-import model. We used to take the highest number of exported secondhand Japanese cars after New Zealand, so the theory of a Japanese autobox in it may make sense. Hm, I wonder if the Japanese market could get autoboxes on the TDs.

The AW4 would be difficult to use as the diesel doesn't have the throttle position sensor like the petrol ones, so it was probably a non electronic tranny if it was fitted to a factory Jeep diesel XJ.

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Unless someone fitted some sort of TPS-alike device to it, but yeah... That would be quite a bit of work.

BTW how do those LeBaron hood vents fix to the hood? I'd like a set for my XJ if we can work out a way of getting payment through. Do you have a Paypal account?

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I'll PM you all the details.

Perhaps it was a Bejing Jeep built vehicle. They still make XJs out there, but I don't think they ever did diesels.

LostintheWoods said:

FYI the diesel xj's were never sold in north america, south america yes not here.

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Actually they were sold here in Canada. I've only seen the older 2.1's but I have personally seen 2 of them. Couldn't say how those worked as they both had cracked heads.