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Diesel Swap idea

B

btfury

NAXJA Forum User
Location
AR
So I've been doing some research lately, and realized that there were diesel models of the old Toyota Land Cruisers (BJ40, among others). They used the Toyota 3B engine, I believe, and got around 30 mpg...

Would one of these engined be a good swap candidate? Looks like somebody put one in a ZJ (which I'm assuming weighs more than our XJs). And the XJ can't weigh that much more than an FJ40, right?

http://www.overlanddiesel.com/71/2274.html


Obviously you'd lose some power, but wouldn't that be a bit cheaper than swapping in a CRD from a Liberty?

I've been thinking about trading the XJ in for an old BJ40 or similar diesel cruiser :shocked: (I know... I can't believe it either). I'd just love to be able to run biodiesel and get around 30 mpg in a 4x4, and buying something else might be easier/cheaper (somebody please persuade me not to do that!!).
 
The old FJ's were tanks, my old 67' tipped the scales at near 5000 lbs. As far as the conversion, it wold be fairly expensive, you would be better off to put the money somewhere else. imho.

But if you insist on doing the swap, look at the 80's XJ's, some of them were diesel. According to Wikipedia-
[edit] Engines

  • 1984-1996 2.5 L AMC 150 I4, 105 hp (78 kW) – 130 hp (97 kW)
  • 1984-1986 2.8 L GM 60° LR2 V6, 110 hp (82 kW)
  • 1985-1987 2.1 L Renault turbodiesel I4 (initially sold in U.S. and until 1993 in Europe)
  • 1987-1990 4.0 L AMC 242 I6, 177 hp (132 kW) with Renix fuel injection system
  • 1991-1996 4.0 L AMC 242 "High Output" I6, 190 hp (142 kW) with Chrysler fuel injection system
  • 1994-1996 2.5 L VM Motori turbodiesel I4 (sold in Europe and South America)
 
I just had this conversation with a few friends this weekend.

I understand the whole better mileage thing. In fact, I want to get better mileage myself so instead of buying a pickup with a gas engine, I opted for a Diesel. The mileage is great, and I really didn't pay too much extra for the Diesel.


Now, on to our beloved unibodies:
I am currently getting around 10-12 MPG on my modified XJ. It sucks.
If I was to go out and do a diesel conversion, I woudl spend 2-3K on the engine, and an additional 2K on the adapters, electronics, etc.


So to gain an additional 20 mpg, I would have to fork out 4k (conservatively) and then pay 4.50+ per gallon. My |Jeep would last an additional 5-7 years


I haven't done the math, nor do I want to,but it just doesn't make sense.


Enjoy!

John
 
Or you could try a GM passenger car/light truck diesel and use small-block adapters. Get one of the early ones without computer controls. Should be a simple enough job.
 
tbburg said:
Or you could try a GM passenger car/light truck diesel and use small-block adapters. Get one of the early ones without computer controls. Should be a simple enough job.
Click to expand...

Any idea where I would be able to find one of these?
 
GI-John said:
I just had this conversation with a few friends this weekend.

I understand the whole better mileage thing. In fact, I want to get better mileage myself so instead of buying a pickup with a gas engine, I opted for a Diesel. The mileage is great, and I really didn't pay too much extra for the Diesel.


Now, on to our beloved unibodies:
I am currently getting around 10-12 MPG on my modified XJ. It sucks.
If I was to go out and do a diesel conversion, I woudl spend 2-3K on the engine, and an additional 2K on the adapters, electronics, etc.


So to gain an additional 20 mpg, I would have to fork out 4k (conservatively) and then pay 4.50+ per gallon. My |Jeep would last an additional 5-7 years


I haven't done the math, nor do I want to,but it just doesn't make sense.


Enjoy!

John
Click to expand...

Thanks for the rationalization... That's what I've been thinking, as well. Which is why I thought that selling the XJ for around 9k and picking up a diesel Cruiser for around the same price would make more sense economically speaking...
 
A few options for you:
http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4732&highlight=jeep+cherokee+4bt

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1524&highlight=jeep+cherokee+4bt

copied from post:
"Maybe steal a CRD from a Liberty/Grand Cherokee or try a VW 1.9 TDI? I had an '03 Jetta TDI, and always thought it'd be a great engine in one of my Cherokees; they're very easy to bump up to 150HP and 250lbs of torque, and you'd be getting 35+ mpg all day long, even with bigger tires, since the XJ and '99-04 Mk4 Jettas weigh the same at 3,200lbs each."

I personnaly did a 4bt in a 53 dodge m37. It ran like a champ but we had to fab a bell housing to mate it to the trasmission. Definetly high on the required fab skills, but is do-able.
 
u should be able to use the gm dieselfrom early 80's truck, they are easy to spot, looks like a spider on top of the intake, try to get everything from a donor vehicle, i am not real sure, but i dont believe they got much better fuel mileage than what u are getting now, in the early 80's somebody made a little truck that was diesel, maybe nissan or toyota that was a 4 cyl. i would go that route
 
Maybe if this is a trail only rig. Generally, you can't legally swap older engines into a newer vehicle. If the emissions station is expecting OBDI,OBDII,etc and you show up with an old diesel engine from an FJ40, they are going to ask questions. If you live in a place where inspections and testing aren't registration requirements, you'll probably be fine.
 
All good points. To me, the most attractive swaps would be either the Toyota 3B swap or the VW TDI swap... neither of which has been done (to my knowledge). Like I said before, I've been thinking about selling the XJ and picking up either a BJ40 or HJ60... But would rather swap the diesel into the XJ if it could be done relatively easily.
 
cbarto said:
A few options for you:
http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4732&highlight=jeep+cherokee+4bt

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1524&highlight=jeep+cherokee+4bt

copied from post:
"Maybe steal a CRD from a Liberty/Grand Cherokee or try a VW 1.9 TDI? I had an '03 Jetta TDI, and always thought it'd be a great engine in one of my Cherokees; they're very easy to bump up to 150HP and 250lbs of torque, and you'd be getting 35+ mpg all day long, even with bigger tires, since the XJ and '99-04 Mk4 Jettas weigh the same at 3,200lbs each."

I personnaly did a 4bt in a 53 dodge m37. It ran like a champ but we had to fab a bell housing to mate it to the trasmission. Definetly high on the required fab skills, but is do-able.
Click to expand...

They may way the same, but keep in mind that the XJ has the aerodynamics of a house on wheels. If you put the I6 in a honda you'll get much better gas mileage.
 
True... but I would imagine you'd still get in the upper 20's (at least with the 3B). The BJ40 weighed a lot more than the XJ does, and had similar aerodynamics (if not worse).

Also, I think the 3B would be a fairly easy swap (as easy as a diesel swap could get, anyway... In the Grand Cherokee swap, they used an NP231 and mated it to an H42 Toyota 4 speed. I wonder if it'd be possible to have Novak or Advance make some kind of adapter that would let the 3B work with the AW4. Probably not, but who knows.
 
dinorl007 said:
u should be able to use the gm dieselfrom early 80's truck, they are easy to spot, looks like a spider on top of the intake, try to get everything from a donor vehicle, i am not real sure, but i dont believe they got much better fuel mileage than what u are getting now, in the early 80's somebody made a little truck that was diesel, maybe nissan or toyota that was a 4 cyl. i would go that route
Click to expand...
the early 80,s gm diesels are junk. they used the 350 blocks, which do not have a strong enough bottom end to handle being a diesel.
 
j-nut said:
the early 80,s gm diesels are junk. they used the 350 blocks, which do not have a strong enough bottom end to handle being a diesel.
Click to expand...

Actually that's a myth. They were designed from the ground up as a diesel. They had issues with their head bolts, which is what gave them a bad rap. Lots of blown head gaskets.

I've thought of two possible diesel swaps. First would be a 2.3L Mitusbishi 4D55 tirbodiesel mated to the A44DL (or KM148) which will bolt up to an NP231. Second would be one of the Mercedes 3 L 5 cyl (OM608 or OM617?) turbodiesels mated to a NV3550. I thought someone made an adapter that would work for this.
 
Lee_N said:
Actually that's a myth. They were designed from the ground up as a diesel. They had issues with their head bolts, which is what gave them a bad rap. Lots of blown head gaskets.

I've thought of two possible diesel swaps. First would be a 2.3L Mitusbishi 4D55 tirbodiesel mated to the A44DL (or KM148) which will bolt up to an NP231. Second would be one of the Mercedes 3 L 5 cyl (OM608 or OM617?) turbodiesels mated to a NV3550. I thought someone made an adapter that would work for this.
Click to expand...

Those are pretty interesting possibilities. Any idea as to the weights of those engines?
 
I have been thinking the same things, but it makes sense to me to find an old XJ with a stock diesel which should require less fab and more avaliable parts to be a direct swap.

Not too long ago, I was watching one of the shows on Spike TV (either Trucks or Extreme 4x4) and they did a diesesl swap into a Sami and then also used a conversion so it would run on veg oil. IIRC they used a VW engine. If you search their website it may turn up some useful information.
 
Jess said:
I have been thinking the same things, but it makes sense to me to find an old XJ with a stock diesel which should require less fab and more avaliable parts to be a direct swap.

Not too long ago, I was watching one of the shows on Spike TV (either Trucks or Extreme 4x4) and they did a diesesl swap into a Sami and then also used a conversion so it would run on veg oil. IIRC they used a VW engine. If you search their website it may turn up some useful information.
Click to expand...

I did the work and found it for you. There is also links for parts they used in the conversion.
Good Luck!

http://www.powerblocktv.com/sites/xtreme/episodes/index.php?ep_num=XT2008-03&ep_sea=0801
 
Yeah I've been doing research on a VW swap for a long time now... and every time I bring it up a lot of people seem to dismiss the idea very quickly saying that the engine wouldn't have enough power...

I think still think they'd be a good candidate. They're easy to bump up in horse and torque... and the gas mileage would almost certainly improve. A lot of people have told me that the mileage wouldn't be that much better (even though the XJ and Jetta weigh about the same) because of the XJ's aerodynamics... I don't think that would matter all that much though, since BJ40's (the diesel version of the FJ40) got around 30 mpg and were fricken boxes with wheels (even more so than our XJs).

A lot of people suggest the 4BT, but I wouldn't consider doing that simply because of the weight of the engine. I really think that a smaller, lighter diesel (like the 1.9L TDI or possibly the 2.3L 4D55) would be a better candidate.
 
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