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It is time to start documenting the history and progress of this project. The search for an original diesel Comanche started 6 or 7 years ago. After a couple of conversations with the California DMV and BAR about attempting to do a diesel conversion on my 1991 Comanche I quickly figured out that the best thing for me was to find a real 1986 or 87 original MJ diesel. It simply avoided a whole lot of issues in California. Some of you may have seen my thread from last summer with pictures of me towing the 1986 Diesel Comanche I purchased in Victoria, B.C to the shop in northern Michigan that will be installing a Volkswagen 1.9 TDI engine in place of the broken down Renault 2.1 original Turbo Diesel engine. Here is a link to that part of the Comanche's journey with a couple of pictures along the way: http://comancheclub.com/topic/51141-86-diesel-mj-on-its-way-to-new-home/?hl=victoria&do=findComment&comment=521006 I drove 1200 plus miles from San Diego to Victoria on Vancouver Island to pick up this truck and then towed it 2000 more miles to northern Michigan. Since 2013 the truck has had 3 different owners before I purchased it last summer and has been offered for sale at least twice here on the Comanche Club by different owners. Here is the first time the truck showed up on the club. Notice that the truck ran in 2013 and that IslandXJ did put some work into the truck before he lost interest and sold the truck: http://comancheclub.com/topic/40422-86-diesel-mj/ By August 2015 the truck was offered for sale by the second owner. http://comancheclub.com/topic/48148-diesel-5-spd-low-milage-vancouver-island/?hl=diesel This time I spoke at some length with the seller but I passed on the truck because of the price and a third owner purchased the truck in September 2015. By June 2016 the third owner listed the truck For Sale on the Victoria, B.C. Craigslist. By now the truck was advertised for parts and not running. After several phone calls, fresh pictures and verifying both the registration and the VIN number as a real factory diesel MJ I purchased the truck via PayPal and otherwise unseen. The purchase price was $350 Canadian or about $286 U.S. More info and pictures of progress will follow in the next week or so as I gather some pictures.

So I've been poking on this little guy for a while, between the other stupid things I've got going on. Basically it's a 1989 2wd SWB, and it came with a dead 2.5L. Not exactly what I want. I didn't do a teardown on the engine but based on the amount of blowby in the airbox the rings were probably taken out at some point. So that junk came out, and I'm going to jam a Mercedes Benz OM617 in there, come hell or high water. I finally had the time to string some video together so I can share it with you. Warning, the video is 18~ minutes long. Obviously I need to fire my graphics designer that does the video thumbnails though.

Hi All, first post. New to Comanches but not Cherokees. Bought my 97 XJ stock in 05 and it's now a wrinkled, caged, one ton, rig on sticky tires. Current daily driver is a 1980 Mercedes 240D 4spd. Lowered 2", 2.88 diff swapped for the stock 3.69, pump tuned and timing advanced. Yes, this is a 64hp/100tq motor and I'm guessing I may have added 15% to that on the high end with those mods but... it makes peak torque at 2400rpm and is a sweet highway cruiser. Gets 35mpg on my 60 mile round trip commute. It is rusty though... and a little too far gone to save. So, I have decided to combine my love of unibody Jeeps, manual transmissions, and mechanical diesels and swap the motor into an 86 2wd 5spd longbed. I am hoping that swapping the motor into a vehicle slightly less aerodynamic but a little lighter will keep my fuel economy number right about where it is now. Back in December, a friend and I turned and burned from CT to TN and back in 28hrs to get the truck. It supposedly ran, but I never even bothered. The driver floor is rotted through but there is not a speck of rust anywhere else on the truck. I was able to acquire a motor to use for mock up from a local guy. Pretty much just a long block left exposed to the elements for years. This allows me to keep driving the Mercedes in the meantime. Using the Koch MercedesDiesel4x4 adapter kit. Next up, I adapted the Jeep alt bracket to the Mercedes alt bracket. My goal through the whole build is to use as many factory Jeep components as possible. With the alternator, it also simplifies wiring. This past weekend, a few buddies came over and we got the 2.5 out and mock up motor bolted to the transmission. The first issue I ran into was firewall clearance with the exhaust manifold. OM615 diesels use the same bolt pattern and port locations on the head but have a center dump so I ordered one on ebay. I used the passenger side stock Jeep mount unmodified and tried to do the same with the driver side but it wasn't possible due to clearance issues with the injection pump. I modified the stock bracket to move the mount back about 2". Next up is front oil sump clearance issues. A big bonus to using a 4 cylinder rather than 5 cylinder (and a 2wd rather than 4wd) is that it appears I will be able to notch the front side of the oil pan, modify the tie rod, and build a new trackbar and then maintain stock height. I want a 100% stock appearing truck and was very opposed to lifting the truck like most do in order to gain clearance with these parts. After that, cooling system and exhaust. Will keep the pictures coming. Thanks for reading!

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1986 Jeep Comanche Long bed. Originally Equipped with a 2.1TD Renault mated to an AX5 transmission as a 2wd truck. Unsure of the rear axle. The truck is now equipped with a 1.9 liter Volkswagen Diesel engine out of a 97 VW Jetta or Passat mated to a AX15 transmission, still as a two wheel drive truck. The factory door has been replaced and the build sticker is ineligible. I am the current owner of this MJ located in the sunny Murrieta, CA. The truck is currently going through its 2nd make over (that i know of, grandpa {johnj92131 was my grandpa and owner before i} funded the TDI swap for his own project and had his own desires with the truck). Currently it is getting the head rebuilt, head studs to handle MORE boost, and getting the engine bay re done to be more cosmetically pleasing. Getting rid of the clutter and making it look like a shaved engine bay with minimal wiring exposed, the fuel and oil lines are now going to be AN lines so they can be clutter free. Otherwise, the truck is still road worthy and currently registered in Ca as a clean truck that is legal. The Idea for the truck is to get a small lift, to get the weight of the truck up a little and make a wider stance. id like to use the diesel to flat tow my XJ out on long trips. At some point the truck will be fully restored, and painted. I will be experimenting with Megasquirt and a Racepack to see if i can get the TDI to communicate on a full stand alone ECU, if successful it will bring the truck into 2021 technology. Another mod that will hopefully come in the future would be converting from AX15 to a NSG370 for the 6 speed aspect and better gearing for a diesel

Alrighty, as some of you may or may not know a year ago I finally won the bid on a wrecked CRD. Since 2005 I had been bidding on wrecked CRDs and had been constantly outbid even on low prices(like loosing a bid at $2600). Well I was ecstatic that I finally won the bid, the only downside is that the Jeep was for my father not me. We proceeded to fix the vehicle and drive it out to california for him, he has been driving it ever since and has run up over 30k miles in only a year, the little oiler makes a great vehicle for him. Its repair can be seen here: http://www.colorado4wheel.com/images/libby/libertyrepair.html Well a little while back now at the beginning of april, and uncannily enough exactly one year after purchaing my fathers Jeep, on my 22nd birthday I purchased an engine that I had found on craigslist. The engine was setup to mate to the NV3550. A plan was formulated and I started looking for an MJ. Now I had been stalking a MJ at my local insurance auction for a few weeks, well everything worked out just right and today I won the bid on it for $850: http://www.klode.com/Kws/Napplications/display_pics.aspx?Stockid=882018&Exit=Close So the project should begin in earnest soon. The CRD engine, with a NV3550 and NP242 will be dropped in. A 4WD front end will be installed, and Dana 44 in the rear. I have the interior/dash out of a 01XJ that will be installed. 97+ doors will be put on as well.(some of these parts to either be sourced cheap from the junkyard, or a parts TJ or XJ). The Chinese Jeep 2500 front ends parts will be installed, and the whole vehicle will be repainted PR4 - Flame Red. Later 16" FreedomXJ/5.9ZJ wheels will be installed and a shell for camping put on the back. Jeep 2500 front end: http://www.colorado4wheel.com/content/Jeep2500.html The tail lights will be the overseas 97+ XJ tailights as seen here(as well as the 16" freedom wheels seen here):

So to cut a long story short I have a old buddy that is a hard core jeep nut who owns some really old and rare jeeps, and it seems like every time I talk to him he has something rarer yet just hiding in one of his many storage lots (he's got a lot of stuff). So after buying my 87 comanche he mentions a diesel Cherokee that he was meaning to pull the drivetrain out of and put in his own comanche at some point, but since he got older he realized he won't get to all of his projects so he has been slowly selling his jeeps and he sold the comanche a year ago, yet still has the diesel Cherokee and was wondering if I would buy it. However I wasn't super excited about it as I have heard that the Renault diesels that jeep sold from the factory weren't the most powerful and I really liked my 4.0. But he talked me into at least looking at it so the sucker I am went out to look at and boy am I glad I did!!! It turned out not only to be a diesel Cherokee, but a diesel Cherokee Woody Wagoneer, that had a factory turbo, and every single option known to man on it, select trac, roof console, A/C, factory AMC mudflaps, floor mats, the works. It even had the original owners manual specific for the diesel, and all the original maintenance records! Its white with the wood paneling, and the grille is the later wagoneer grill without the dual headlights, but rather the thin slats, I've attached a video of it running. So now for my questions, how rare is diesel Cherokee woody wagoneer? I know they didn't make many wagoneers, and I know that they didn't make many diesels, so if any one has any production numbers or someone I could get in contact with to get answers from I would appreciate it! And yes I bought it, I know I'm a sucker, but I've never heard of one or seen one this rarely optioned and this clean... And no I will not gut it for the drivetrain, but I'm stuck on whether I should just clean and polish it and throw it at an auction to make a quick buck. Or should I give it a 2 inch lift, throw on some wheels and tires from a 2019 rubicon wrangler, and maybe throw a nice dark metallic gray vinyl wrap over the wood grain and make it into a bearable two tone modern looking 4x4 mall queen. Give me your thoughts, I'm pretty open to ideas at the moment... It also depends on how rare this bird is and what it might bring at a auction all spiffed up and looking factory stock. And if your wondering, I'm most definitely not going to hack this and make it into a capable 4x4, I think a mall cruiser that looks like it might be capable, (but not really) is what I'm after if I do modify it.

So.... I purchased this truck many moons ago. I am ashamed to say that after nearly ten years the truck has not been in running condition for almost the entire time. I purchased it in Las Vegas, trailered it Texas, then a couple year later trailered it to California. I've let just about anything get in the way of getting this thing done, now i''m starting to make progress. Here's where it all started: https://comancheclub.com/topic/17442-old-drippy/?tab=comments#comment-178325 Started as: 1991 Jeep Comanche 2WD 4.0 AX15 Rough condition is an understatement... I decided to give this another try, this is what the final form is shaping up to be: Converted to 4X4 D30 4.10 Spartan Locker, manual locking hubs External slave AX15 NP231 / SYE Adam's Drive shaft...shafts Ford 8.8 LS 4.10, C-clip eliminator Mercedes OM617 Diesel Garrett T3/T4 Hybrid 97+ Front clip & doors Sheet metal on bed was garbage, decided on flatbed- only half done. 15 Gallon aux fuel tank, Also i painted it brown. Here it is as it sits today: Much more to come.

I haven't started a build thread here yet, but I figured now is as good a time as any. My MJ started its life out as typical base model Comanche Custom with the 2.5L TBI, AX4, NP207. It is now undergoing some major surgery as I am taking on the infamous 4.0L swap. When it's all said and done, it will have a Renix 4.0 from a '90 XJ, an external slaved AX15 from a '96 XJ and either a NP231 or NP242. I have a build thread over on CherokeeForum ('86 Comanche DD) and I will continue to update it there, but as of right now, this thread will start where that one left off. Also, to aid fellow members here in potential swaps of similar nature, here's my photobucket album: Comanche. More in the next post...

Been putting along on my diesel mj any info or interest would be appreciated would consider selling for the right price . Runs great call or text at 7169901156

Hey guys new member here. Anyways I found something that might be interesting for local so cal people. Found a 85 xj turbo Diesel engine on cl for 1k. Idek if it's a good price. I feel like I could find a whole xj for that. But anyways if anyone has a diesel and needs parts or wants to swap there you go cuz I know there rare

Need battery tray for 86 comanche diesel. Also interested in engine parts , Head, cam, cam followers etc. Anything for 2.1 turbo diesel may be of interest.

Well i decided to start a build thread on this on going project. Its currently got a RE 6.5 lift, 34-9.50 tsl's, custom bumper i built, dana 44 rear, dana 30 hp non d/s front, aw4. I'm swapping in a OM617 turbo diesel mated to a ax15. Starting the tear down. Pulling it apart. Out with the old the donor car my ax15 and transfer case that i traded strait across for my aw4 :banana: the bell housing and crank adapter. new clutch mounted drivers side motor mount Passenger side motor mount Drivers side Mount Drivers side drivers side Working on the Passenger side mounts now.

Title says it. lookin for a diesel instrument panel for a xj or MJ platform. Must be from a diesel, and I would like one with a tach. Ill take any year up to 1996. I need this to finish off my diesel conversion, hoping some guys on the other side of the pond can supply me.

Hi everybody!!! I'm new here and just thought I'd ask a question. I've searched everywhere but I cannot find a build log of someone putting a diesel Renault into a non diesel Comanche :???: I've been around the jeep scene for awhile now and I know people put a 4bt in them but nothing else :hmm: I searched this AWESOME forum and google but I found nothing. I imagine it would be easier just to find a diesel one but I've searched all north america and nothing (I'm Canadian eh). Just want you opinions on this topic. I know a few people on here have a diesel, hoping they will pop in to say hi :thumbsup: . :MJ 1: .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-Jeep-Comanche-/140891234934?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat=0&_from=R40&_nkw=140891234934&_rdc=1&forcev4exp=true

I'm doing a 1.8l Isuzu diesel to my 89 mj and I wanted to know if anyone Knew ware to get an adapter plate made/bought so it bolts to my transmission