New Project Ideas

This summer/fall I will be planning a new Jeep project, its either going to be XJ or MJ with 6" lift.
What I am sort of interested in doing though is dropping a diesel in the XJ/MJ.
What diesels have people seen around in Jeeps?
My brother was telling me about a I4 Turbo that was in some box trucks, EX: Hostess trucks?
Also would there be any problems with transmissions, axles and the lift itself? I hang out on my brothers suzuki and TDI forums alot so I hear alot about diesels but I never hear about diesel MJ/XJs.

What diesels fit in the engine bay the best?
What transmissions work the best with the diesel MJ/XJ combo?
Would the little D35s hold up to the torque?

Any info would be helpful
thanks
mark

being that you said 6" of lift, I figure you will be running 35" tires...or more.

the D35 will be the first thing to go...

as a matter of fact you may not even need to crank a diesel to grenade the d35

get the picture?

88-xj-laredo said:

Would the little D35s hold up to the torque?

mark

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well if you hang out on the zuk and TDI forums why not to the obvious swap of a tdi into a sami ?

The tdi in a sammi is a much easier and better suited swap than anything for a XJ. The tdi is gonna be under powered in a loaded lifted trail ready XJ, but i have seen them and swap kits for a sami and that seems like the best swap to me.

the diesels that fit best i think is a mercedes benz diesel from an 80s 300 series. I have a link somewhere it fit in a grand and looked ok.

i personally am a fan of the Cummins 4BT or ISB 3.9 liter turbo-charged four cylinder his engine can be found in some Ford
E350 cube vans, Chev/GMC P30/P3500 step vans, and Case 580 Tractors. This ISB puts out 145-170 HP and 420 pounds of torque. That is 80 pounds more than the 6.0 Vortec V8. Unfortunately the ISB is so new the chance of getting one used is slim. Buying one new is a little pricey. You can get a 4BT from some generators i think, as well as marine applications, and TONS of GM bread vans were converted from SBC v8 to the 4BT. You can get the 4BT in a used fleet van sale for $1,000 - $1,500 for an aluminum van the drive it home part out the drive train, and salvage the body since aluminum is $$$$ the last few years. There is a yahoo group for the 4BT, where guys will post sales for the other members.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/cummins4BT/

the 4bt is a 4 cylinder version of the cummins diesel found in dodge rams. ohhh and it bolts up to chevy turbo 350, th400, 700r4, 4l60e etc.


I would find the diesel engine you dig and can get your hands on THEN find an appropriate ride.

your not gonna convert this to bio diesel, are ya? cause that wouldnt be cool

What wouldn't be cool about a XJ that ran on bio diesel?

xcm said:

your not gonna convert this to bio diesel, are ya? cause that wouldnt be cool

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xcm said:

your not gonna convert this to bio diesel, are ya? cause that wouldnt be cool

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No, I don't really want to convert it to bio, wouldn't really be worth it, just having a diesel XJ/MJ would be enough for me.

with the way diesel prices has skyrocketed, i dont really see the point. you're not going to get any better mileage vs a 4liter I'd wager, and last I looked 87 octane unleaded is cheaper.

cummins has a nice 4cyl that will fit

dzraces said:

cummins has a nice 4cyl that will fit

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in my above post i mentioned them: Cummins 4BT or ISB 3.9 liter turbo-charged four cylinder

do you know of anyone that swaped one into an XJ ?

there is allot of guys getting high 20s to 30 mpg with 4bt swapped into yj, scrambler, land cruisers, waggies, etc. They are great engines.


heres a few of my bookmarked diesel links

iesel cj8 Mercedes Benz 2.9 Liter inner-cooled turbo-diesel with a 5-speed gearbox! http://www.cookbros.com/mbz.html


jeep diesel swap forum/message board http://messages.jeep2diesel.org/


B3.3T Jeep YJ with 32 mpg http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php? t=112807&page=1&pp=15

mercedes 300 turbo diesel in my MJ

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57574


this guy makes some nice kits for vw diesel to zuks (sami, tracker/sidkick) http://www.acmeadapters.com/index.php?sound=Y

be sure to check out his gallery of photo and builds guys complete ... some say they are getting 38 mpg !

I dont see how you cant save money getting 40 mpg or atleast break even, then have the benefit of the diesel longevity and all that torque for wheeling and stop and go city driving. I WANT ONE !!!

I'd say the 32mpg wouldn't be expected in an XJ (weight).

I guess at that point it'd be a matter of checking if the increase in mileage is enough to offset the cost of diesel.

Jason-RJR said:

I'd say the 32mpg wouldn't be expected in an XJ (weight).

I guess at that point it'd be a matter of checking if the increase in mileage is enough to offset the cost of diesel.

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More towing capacity, torque and better mileage. I would not expect 32mpg in a XJ, Sammys are doing low 30s with a TDI, so I imagine 4BT+XJ would be low 20s, maybe better?
I think I want to find an MJ for this, would there be any upside to using a MJ over an XJ, even though they are pretty much the exact same thing cab forward?

Thanks for the links motorcity.

88-xj-laredo said:

More towing capacity, torque and better mileage. I would not expect 32mpg in a XJ, Sammys are doing low 30s with a TDI, so I imagine 4BT+XJ would be low 20s, maybe better?
I think I want to find an MJ for this, would there be any upside to using a MJ over an XJ, even though they are pretty much the exact same thing cab forward?

Thanks for the links motorcity.

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I guess it would really vary on what you do with your Jeep. Personally I guess I don't think low 20mpg + diesel cost would offset the 16-17mpg + 87 octane cost. Also I don't really see something I would tow with when I look at my Jeep, and I think my 4 liter provides plenty of torque.

One of those depends on what's important to you and what your preferences are sort of thing, ya know. Everyones probably different.

Jason-RJR said:

I'd say the 32mpg wouldn't be expected in an XJ (weight).

I guess at that point it'd be a matter of checking if the increase in mileage is enough to offset the cost of diesel.

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A stock XJ and stock YJ are very close in weight, depending on which year and which options i think you can get them around 120 lb difference. Thats pretty negligible difference on a 3300 lb vehicle thats shaped like a brick in both cases. If the guy with the 32 mpg YJ i would expect a similarly equiped XJ (same tranny, properly geared ) to perform just as well.

No real world experience in such a swap. I am just in the learning stages, reading, bookmarking stuff i come across. So i cant say for certain.

BIG Pet peave: I don't know where people get the idea that an XJ is heavy that's just totally wrong...

Honestly it should be described as amazingly LIGHT, Lots of folks here report 3200-3400 pounds about the same as a 5.0 MUSTANG GT's hell the GT covertable I owned years ago weighed 3800 pounds.

If you still don't believe our XJ's are super light:
MY WIFES ACURA INTEGRA 2 door weighs MORE THAN MY XJ! going by its factory curb weight.

A YJ on the other hand wieghts well over a THOUSAND pounds more. MY YJ's curb wieght is 4800 pounds. My XJ 3200 with no rear interior and 33 inch tires!

Wranglers are heavy pigs. In fact anything after a CJ3a or arguably a CJ5 in the universal Jeep style is a heavy pig.

I have heard that the 2.1L turbo diesel XJ's (sold here between 87 to 89 IIRC) approach 30mpg with an Auto. The 2.1 is underpowered and probably working harder than is ideal.

The 4BT which is at least somewhat popular for YJ and CJ swaps; Popular enough for the motors to pop up on ebay occasionally with "Jeep" in the title if that's an indication. Are 100-ish HP, low torquers that I would not want to drive on the road very often.

Basically it would be kind of like driving the 4.2 liter with bad rod knock

Well, I saw bigger and just assumed heavier, but I am sure they could be close.

As for your Cherokee weighing as much as your integra...im lookin at the XJ being 400+ heavier

Integra Coupe Curb 2672 lbs(coupe)

vs

[SIZE=-1]Stock specifications for the Jeep Cherokee XJ. Curb weight 4wd = 3057 lbs - 3386 lbs [/SIZE]

Jason-RJR said:

Well, I saw bigger and just assumed heavier, but I am sure they could be close.

As for your Cherokee weighing as much as your integra...im lookin at the XJ being 400+ heavier

Integra Coupe Curb 2672 lbs(coupe)

vs

[SIZE=-1]Stock specifications for the Jeep Cherokee XJ. Curb weight 4wd = 3057 lbs - 3386 lbs [/SIZE]

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Who knows maybe I read the Integra's gross vehicle weight by accident. It does seem too good to be true now that I think of it.

Still the point remains it's a light vehicle even without considering that it's a big long all iron engine, solid axle SUV.

Being 400 pounds heavier than a 2 door, IFS+IRS inverse 1.8L four banger with it's wee little integral sideways "transmission" with tires that are smaller than my RIMS, less than half the height and a foot thinner and several feet shorter... well that should be impressive :soapbox: