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cummins 4bt in a xj

If you're just interested in running biodiesel, how about this for a diesel swap - use a Mitsubishi 4D55 (2.3L) turbodiesel found in some Mitsubishi Mighty Max pick-ups, Dodge D-50 pick-ups, and Ford Ranger pick-ups. This engine will bolt to an Aisin Warner KM148 4 speed auto, which in turn will bolt to an NP231 tcase. You need an NP231 with the 23 spline short or medium input shaft. These have been bolted together but no one has figured out all the details from there (oil seals, etc).

The Mistu engine is harder to find than a 4BT, but it's much lighter and more compact. Should be a lot easier to fit in the engine bay, plus no adapters are required. This is the combination I would like to try.
 
Lee_N said:
If you're just interested in running biodiesel, how about this for a diesel swap - use a Mitsubishi 4D55 (2.3L) turbodiesel found in some Mitsubishi Mighty Max pick-ups, Dodge D-50 pick-ups, and Ford Ranger pick-ups. This engine will bolt to an Aisin Warner KM148 4 speed auto, which in turn will bolt to an NP231 tcase. You need an NP231 with the 23 spline short or medium input shaft. These have been bolted together but no one has figured out all the details from there (oil seals, etc).

The Mistu engine is harder to find than a 4BT, but it's much lighter and more compact. Should be a lot easier to fit in the engine bay, plus no adapters are required. This is the combination I would like to try.

What is a Aisin Warner KM148 4 speed auto ? that the trans in our XJ's ?
 
The KM148 is the auto found in a first generation (thru 1990) Mitsubishi Montero. It is a hydraulically controlled transmission and can be found with a hydraulic torque converter lock-up. To mate to the 4D55 turbodiesel you need to find one behind the 2.6 L four.
 
tealcherokee said:
Aisin Warner KM148 4 speed auto

A W 4

If you mean the KM148 is the same as the AW4, no it's not, but it's just as bulletproof. The AW4 is the same as what's installed in later Montero's but the KM148 is completely hydraulic. Just the overdrive is controlled by a solenoid.
 
Lee_N said:
If you mean the KM148 is the same as the AW4, no it's not, but it's just as bulletproof. The AW4 is the same as what's installed in later Montero's but the KM148 is completely hydraulic. Just the overdrive is controlled by a solenoid.

Interesting.

Mechanically is the AW4 the "same" as a KM148 the way a 700R4 is the "same" as a 4L60E?

More importantly I suppose, does the KM148 have a removable bellhousing like the AW4?
 
Yes, the bellhousing bolts on. This transmission has been used in Toyotas and Isuzus. It's also known as an A44DL or an AW372L (the L indicates the lock-up feature). As a result, you can use an Isuzu bellhousing and bolt on to a Chevy V6 bolt pattern (the 2.8, 3.2, etc)or an Isuzu V6, a Toyota bellhousing to bolt on to a Toyota V6 or V8, or the Mitsubishi bellhousing to bolt on to the 2.6L 4 or 3.0 & 3.5 V6.

I don't have any info on whether the internals are similar to the AW4.
 
I once came across a guy with a Suzuki who had swapped in a small diesel motor from a Chevy Chevette. He used the stock Chevette transmission and clutch, ran a short intermediate shaft to a divorced t-case with 6:1 low gears, and 5.38s in the axles. Still gutless, but it worked and was a pretty cool thing to see.
 
I abandoned a 4bt swap, the cost will eat you alive. I was going to use the nv4500 trans, you can get them freshly-rebuilt and shipped to your door just under 1000 dollars from GCParts (very large rebuilder, I can get contact info to you if you need it, it was 963 dollars on a pallet from the midwest to me in Virginia, might cost you slightly less if you're closer to them). What'll kick your teeth in are the rest of the things, clutch for example. Go price a good HD clutch for a cummins (4bt/6bt nearly the same with varying number of cyinders, clutch is the same, so you can look at the dodge sections). Every part is expensive, so try to get the 4bt with the bellhousing, flywheel, etc get every darn extra thing you can.

A jeep with a 4bt is at burnsvilleoffroad.com if you don't see his pics (it was his jeep that he did this to) then email him.
 
that's the place that did that KJ CRD motor swap into a TJ isn't it? Now that would be a project..
 
[Start Hijack]

Lee_N said:
Yes, the bellhousing bolts on. .

I think I read this right but I would like to double check.
The bellhousing from KM148 and it's cousins would bolt to a Jeep AW4


[End Hijack]
 
vetteboy said:
I once came across a guy with a Suzuki who had swapped in a small diesel motor from a Chevy Chevette. He used the stock Chevette transmission and clutch, ran a short intermediate shaft to a divorced t-case with 6:1 low gears, and 5.38s in the axles. Still gutless, but it worked and was a pretty cool thing to see.

IIRC these are an Isuzu 1.7 liter diesel engine. Not sure of the tranny, maybe have been either Mazda or Koyog-something-or-other.

It was a fairly popular swap into a Samurai around here. I've been away from the Suzuki thing a while now so I dunno how popular it is right now. No one in the club is running one AFAIK. Those diesel Chevettes were rare when current, hard to find now.

FWIW, the divorced t-case setup is stock on a Sam (~2.26:1) so swapping ina 2wd drivetrain is no biggie as long as it is short enough.
 
natep1 said:
I think I read this right but I would like to double check.
The bellhousing from KM148 and it's cousins would bolt to a Jeep AW4

That might be a stretch. What we've determined is that both transmissions have removable bellhousings, not that they are interchangeable.

They may be, who knows. That would be the next thing to check, or if there is enough material on either tranny to redrill for swapping.
 
I don't believe the KM148 bellhousing is interchangeable with the AW4, but there are versions of the AW4 that's used in an Isuzu, a Toyota, and a Mitsubishi. Plus, I do know the Isuzu bellhousing will bolt on an AW4. It's been done in an Amigo. I'll try to find a pic of a KM148 bellhousing for comparison.
 
xjfrank said:
I abandoned a 4bt swap, the cost will eat you alive.

There's also the weight equation - 4BT's are comparatively heavy, and while they're not bad engines rather dated compared to current stuff.

A jeep with a 4bt is at burnsvilleoffroad.com if you don't see his pics (it was his jeep that he did this to) then email him.

There's also another thread going that discusses this as well as what (minimal) research I've done into doing a CRD swap into an XJ. FWIW, I'm not aware of a 4BT conversion on their site, but they do have a TJ with a CRD in it.
 
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