kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 So, I know this topic has been discussed many times, but I'm looking for examples of diesel swaps in MJs. The 4.0 is a good motor, no doubt. But I love the low end grunt and the diesel sound (and the economy and veggy oil possibilities) What I wanna do is to retain the entire MJ driveline, just swap the engine, I don't want to have to swap the transmission, use a divorced T case etc. I'm considering a few options here, the Renault 2.1 is easy bolt in, but unreliable and hard to find. A cummins 4BT is too heavy for my tastes, and a little overkill. The mercedes 5 banger turbo diesel seems like a good option, but parts are scarce and I'd need a way to adapt it to the AX-15. Also considering a VW diesel, the 1.6 is pretty anemic, but cheap and easy. The 1.9TD seems like a decent candidate, with a work it can turn some respectable numbers, and the 1.9 TDI would be great if it werent so dang complicated. The toyota guys do the vw swap a lot, and if I could find a 22RET bellhousing, i can bolt it to my transmission, and use a common adapter plate to mount the motor. Last option is the VM motori diesel from the KJ CRD, but it has the same issues as the VW 1.9 TDI, very complex, and expensive. I'm leaning toward a VW swap of some sort, Have any of you heard about one of these motors swapped into a jeep? I'd like to hear your opinions, I'm already aware that a lot of people aren't going to think this is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WBKrazy Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 imo, the best and easiest diesel swap is an older 4b with mechanical fuel injection.. all the wiring required to make an electronically injected diesel run in a vehicle it never came in can be an extremely difficult task if you're inexperienced in such matters.. the older veedub motor seems to be a good choice too, but they can be finicky as well, and a nonturbo diesel is woefully underpowered.. i would stay away from the tdi and benz motors, unless you want to remortage your house when it breaks down.. that's my .02, good luck with whatever you choose to do and let us know how it goes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakeman17 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 that would be awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 imo, the best and easiest diesel swap is an older 4b with mechanical fuel injection.. all the wiring required to make an electronically injected diesel run in a vehicle it never came in can be an extremely difficult task if you're inexperienced in such matters.. the older veedub motor seems to be a good choice too, but they can be finicky as well, and a nonturbo diesel is woefully underpowered.. i would stay away from the tdi and benz motors, unless you want to remortage your house when it breaks down.. that's my .02, good luck with whatever you choose to do and let us know how it goes! See again the problem with the 4bt is that it is a commercial grade motor, it tips the scales at around 700 pounds, pretty close to having a big block chevy in the MJ... Id need to do some structural reinforcing, and itd be a lot of work to get the darn thing to clear the hood (its a tall motor) another reason I don't want it, is that I'd prefer not to have my teeth shaken out while I'm idling. I have seen a 4bt swapped into an MJ before (youtube) I don't know if he's on the comancheclub forum though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 84 diesel Cherokee for sale in PA. $600 I believe. Get it and swap the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 There was a guy down in (I think Alabama?) that swapped a Mercedes diesel engine into his MJ. Lost the truck when the ocean claimed the coast. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 84 diesel Cherokee for sale in PA. $600 I believe. Get it and swap the engine. Where did ya find this? I wasnt really looking for the Renault diesel, but I'll definately take one for that kinda money... It'd save me cash until I figure out what other engine I wanna swap in :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 There was a guy down in (I think Alabama?) that swapped a Mercedes diesel engine into his MJ. Lost the truck when the ocean claimed the coast. :( Yeah I also read about that, the benz 5 cylinder is a beastly engine, but his truck was a 2wd, and he had to use the factory trans from the benz as he could not mount anything else behind it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 nothing wrong with a divorced case. Plenty of wheelbase under there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7235 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7341 MJ4BTA is a member on here........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 nothing wrong with a divorced case. Plenty of wheelbase under there. I know it, but I don't want an auto, and the manual transmissions are scarce (if existant) stateside. Its not a bad transmission, but its not what I'm looking for. Big issue with an auto behind a diesel, is all those torquey revs before the TC stalls are wasted. If it really comes down to it, I'll use it, but my real ultimate goal is to retain the factory driveline (except the dana 35 obviously) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I reeeeeally like the CRD in my family's Liberty. that's a sweet engine. :D Sir Sam is working on putting one into an MJ right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akamcbird Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 i reeeeaaaaly like the crd and have been watching the jy for one. the install will be way outa my league but I'm betting its guna be a while before i find one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 29, 2009 Author Share Posted October 29, 2009 Yeah, I'm in the same boat, I think that KJ motor is a little over my head (and my wallet). I'd like to keep it all mechanical for simplicities sake, I've been reading over at the VW diesel forum, and read something interesting. Apparently theres a way to convert the VW 1.9 TDI (thats the complex, high pressure, computer controlled one) to a mechanical pump, based on a hybrid pump of parts from 1.6 IDI vw diesel and cummins 4BT pump. They call it a 1.9 TDIM... Most of this is still over my head as of now, but the more I read, the more I wanna do it. With the 1.9 TDIM I should be able to work it over to make HP comperable to the 4.0, but with waaaay more torque... From a 1.9! :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7235 viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7341 MJ4BTA is a member on here........ I think I am in love :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I still think the cummins B3.3 is a decent idea if you can find one. Or buy one new. I was willing to try that route out but never got around to it. It's lighter than the 4Bs, and smaller in all dimensions. You'd have to come up with your own accessory drive setup for it though, as you can't bolt the P/S and Vacuum pump assembly from the 4/6B to it. And the bellhousing pattern is SAE #3 or #4, so a certain amount of adapters would be needed either way. Also, you'd have to buy/make the kit to mount the turbo lower. Also, the Nissan SD33T should swap pretty good, but they're not plentiful. Some scouts had them, along with some nissan SUVs, and some larger nissan equipment had them too in either the turbo or N/A flavour. Also, the CJ-10a aircraft tugs had them, but I'm pretty certain it was the N/A version. The N/A version would not be worth driving, and I can't find any information if there is internal differences between the turbo and N/A engines (one would suspect not, but some N/A diesels lack extra oil jets to cool the pistons, and etc). The engine is basically the same size as a 4.0L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 84 diesel Cherokee for sale in PA. $600 I believe. Get it and swap the engine. Where did ya find this? I wasnt really looking for the Renault diesel, but I'll definately take one for that kinda money... It'd save me cash until I figure out what other engine I wanna swap in :banana: Already replied to your pm regarding this. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Sounds like you live on the wrong side of the atlantic, I have a diesel Mj as a trail beater/parts truck, and It should take me less than 1hour to gather up 4-5 nissan sd33t's, two of them are stored in my garage :brows: Joke aside, get the 2.1. Its a pretty good engine, way more reliable than the VM diesel that replaced it in 94 and a lot simpler than the VW option. And off course, its nice that its a bolt on. Maybe a little slow, but there are ways to get more power out of it if you want. If you choose to do it the hard way, I have to agree with Dirty, get a sd33. IMO one of the best diesel engines ever made. If I where to do a diesel swap, I wouldnt consider anything else. Not as long as there is engines available on the planet earth. And of they where all gone, then i wouldnt do it. Simple as that! By the way, you can convert a N/A into a turbo. A friend of mine did that on his nissan patrol. From what I know, all he did was to bolt on turbo manifoils, big intercooler and fired it up. Still running strong after years of abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 Well, I've been researching the Renault 2.1, from what it seems the Renault is regarded as a great motor over on your side of the pond, but stateside it's seen as junk. There seems to be two reasons for this as firstly, it is a european diesel and needs to be maintained as such, and either by a lack of training or pure negligence, not many of these motors had the maintenance done (or done properly). That leaves us with many non running motors, some badly running, and very few good running motors. This would not be a problem, just fix it right? Except there are NO parts here, except for one winnebago dealership out in Iowa. Now this dealership is not really that far from me, a few hours drive... This brings up my last issue, this truck is my ONLY daily driver. I simply cannot afford to have it die and have a couple days downtime whilst I wait for parts to be shipped in as I could not go get them myself. Sorry for the long rant here but I'm hoping to possibly shed some light on this motor for anyone who might be considering the swap over here in the states. The nissan SD33 is a good motor I had forgotten to consider, it is however still on the weighty side (dry weight 670 pounds). One thing I have forgotten to mention is that I carry around this entirely irrational hatred of anything automotive and japanese (or asian for that matter). I know I am entirely unreasonable, but I cannot be helped. :nuts: (P.S. I know some parts of my truck are Japanese, and I hope to fix that ASAP :yes: ) Oh and by the way Joop did I mention that I hate you? :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Wait a sec. You're contemplating an drastic engine swap in your only DD? :hmm: This sounds like a project that should be done on a whole nuther truck. I would go buy one with a blown engine and use it for the conversion. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted October 31, 2009 Author Share Posted October 31, 2009 well I'm trying to avoid having three cars, by spring ill have the mustang to drive a couple months before the teardown, so ill have that time to do the jeep engine swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 long as you have a plan. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joop Posted October 31, 2009 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Think i have to clarify myself a little here. The renault oilburner w/exhaust fan is good for what it is, the only diesel engine ever available in the MJ. If I where you I would not rely on it as my only DD. Even around here parts are hard to get. Oh and by the way Joop did I mention that I hate you? :cheers: Yeah, I hate you to! But I think i might like you if you trade your mustang against my diesel MJ! :clapping: :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeep guts Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I have a MJ with a 3.3 Cummins Diesel, 5 speed 4X4, ALL Jeep equipment converted to it. I did the entire job myself, I made all the parts from scratch, thats to say motor mounts, bell housing, all brackets, alternator, AC, power steering, and vacume pump. My biggested mistake was using the internal slave cylinder, and I think the flywheel is to lite, the center of the clutch has broke apart 3 times since the swap was completed. The little Diesel produces only 85 HP But it has 210 Ft Lbs. of torque, thats 5 less then the 4.0 gas jeep motor. I don't regret the swap at all and would do it again in a heart beat The 3.3 is a tight fit, height wise, I almost didn't do it because of it, But it does fit with stock suspention, 3" lift would make it much easier. I had to alter the oil pan and sump and oil pump suction tube as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kro10000 Posted November 1, 2009 Author Share Posted November 1, 2009 I have a MJ with a 3.3 Cummins Diesel, 5 speed 4X4, ALL Jeep equipment converted to it. I did the entire job myself, I made all the parts from scratch, thats to say motor mounts, bell housing, all brackets, alternator, AC, power steering, and vacume pump. My biggested mistake was using the internal slave cylinder, and I think the flywheel is to lite, the center of the clutch has broke apart 3 times since the swap was completed. The little Diesel produces only 85 HP But it has 210 Ft Lbs. of torque, thats 5 less then the 4.0 gas jeep motor. I don't regret the swap at all and would do it again in a heart beat The 3.3 is a tight fit, height wise, I almost didn't do it because of it, But it does fit with stock suspention, 3" lift would make it much easier. I had to alter the oil pan and sump and oil pump suction tube as well. Even though thats a little outside of my comfort level :bowdown: I'd love to see pics of that :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now