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Wow! I had no idea the VW TDI's were that affordable and light in weight.... Still curious about the Mercedes 617 swap, hopefully someone will chime In on it; whether its worth the work to get it to fit properly, adaptors to Jeep AX15/NP231, mileage, etc., etc. (reason being I already have the engine) ;)

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Wow! I had no idea the VW TDI's were that affordable and light in weight.... Still curious about the Mercedes 617 swap, hopefully someone will chime In on it; whether its worth the work to get it to fit properly, adaptors to Jeep AX15/NP231, mileage, etc., etc. (reason being I already have the engine) ;)

 

So what condition is the 617?  If you do a Google search for Jeep 0m617 conversion, you should find a ton of information.  Not to mention parts sources for the conversion.  The swap has been done a number of times into any number of Jeeps

 

There are bargains on everything if you have time and keep looking.  I had to go to Montreal to get my bargain TDI engine.  But Anita grew up in Montreal.  She still has friends and family there.  So making a 2200 mile trip to pick up an engine was just part of a vacation!

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Weight and size was my concern in the beginning with the 4bt so 4thats why I decided on the 3.3. I can tell it doesn't way hardly anymore than the 4.0. That and 4bts are in EVERYTHING. there is an electronic common rail qsb 3.3 too... But I haven't found any "cheap" 3.3s. Mine were a heal of a deal but not cheap. Parts are as easy to come by as the 4bt, as long as you have part numbers or can talk to somebody intelligent at a dealership.

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krustyballer16, That 3.3 is a reasonable weight to replace the 4.0, much better for the front end than a 4BT.  Your 3.3 engine find was a good deal, but required a whole lot of work and education.  The 3.3 also is a good displacement to get more power and torque out of without giving up any reliability.  I have been following your project since your first post.  So keep updating your posts.  Please!

 

Actually saw a late 40's/early50's Studebaker pickup with a turbocharged Cummins 3.3 in it last month at a memorial hot rod run for the father of my sister-in-laws husband.  Not the time or the place for me to get any info about the Studebaker.  But it really looked well done and very well finished.  The fellow actually had the truck set up for towing a loaded car trailer.  That is not something you can do with a Comanche.

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krustyballer16, That 3.3 is a reasonable weight to replace the 4.0, much better for the front end than a 4BT.  Your 3.3 engine find was a good deal, but required a whole lot of work and education.  The 3.3 also is a good displacement to get more power and torque out of without giving up any reliability.  I have been following your project since your first post.  So keep updating your posts.  Please!

 

Actually saw a late 40's/early50's Studebaker pickup with a turbocharged Cummins 3.3 in it last month at a memorial hot rod run for the father of my sister-in-laws husband.  Not the time or the place for me to get any info about the Studebaker.  But it really looked well done and very well finished.  The fellow actually had the truck set up for towing a loaded car trailer.  That is not something you can do with a Comanche.

Thanks. I see I really need to update my build thread! Wow! But Ya, reliability with enough power for anything I want to do in a jeep. And in a Comanche, you're right, not a good tow rig. I'd like to put my other motor in some kind of willys or cj rat rod.

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I just went to school on the new Dodge Promaster 3.0 liter 4 cylinder just now being released in the states. Its not a VM Motori engine but a Fiat industrial engone. Seems like a fairly compact engine and is said to weigh just over 500 lbs with 295 lb ft of torque. I know this probably won't be a swap option for a while yet but might be something to look into in the future.

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When will the Dodge Promaster actually be offered for sale?   What is the turbo on that diesel?  Guess it is on the small side for drivebility and good low end performance.   295 lb/ft from 3liters??  Not a lot for a modern turbo diesel.  Peak horsepower around 140???

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Promaster has been for sale since spring with the 3.6 Pentastar V6 and 6 speed auto. The diesel version was just recently released and has a single dry clutch automated manual trans. Both are front wheel drive. The small Pro master City will be out after the first of the year and have the Chrysler 2.4 with the multi air cylinder head and 9 speed auto.

 

I'm not sure about what the turbo is. They didn't get into that in the training class. And I don't have the book in front of me to give you the HP number.

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  • 9 months later...

I've been casually following a couple of TDi builds and thought I'd share them here.  

 

This guy runs a company that does EV and diesel conversions; this is his XJ build using a BEW

 

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=431357

 

 

This is another XJ conversion not as well documented.  

 

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=448164

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For those of you who may think the VW 1.9 TDI engine does not/can not have enough guts for the MJ.  I thought I would share the results of a turbo upgrade I just did on my  96 Passat.

 

160 horsepower and 285 lb/ft torque at the front wheel (not the flywheel) for an every day driver tune.  Changed the turbo to a VNT turbo from the 170 hp factory engine from Europe - GTC1549VZ  and up sized the injectors to match.  The first tune was way to smoky for me, but produced 172 hp and 313 lb/ft of torque.  The second tune with less fuel but still too much smoke = 165 hp and 303 lb/ft torque.  Final street tune was developed after 6 or 8 runs on the dyno.  Boost is set to a max of 24 psi on each of the tunes out of respect for the 20 year old pistons with 287K miles on them.  Only fuel was changed to reduce smoke for the daily driver.  Right now smoke is just about zero under full throttle.  In the next few months, boost will be raised to 28 psi and fuel will be added with a goal of 180 hp and 330 lb/ft.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

Well, in a year's time I've gone back and forth in my head about a hundred times; TDi? 4.8LS? 318? MegaSquirt-ed 4.0?  

 

But last week I stumbled upon a local deal I couldn't refuse and took the bait.  My mind has been made up for me!  

 

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Its a 2000 Jetta GL with the ALH engine.  At almost 400k on the clock the engine will definitely need gone through, but it runs and drives.  I'll be pulling all the necessary parts here soon but I won't likely see any swap progress for a long time.  

Oh well, I'm still excited!  . :MJ 1: .

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EXCELLENT!

 

The ALH is a good choice as you can use the gastodiesel engine mounts.   

 

I picked up an AHU motor from a 98 for $200 last September.  It runs OK, but needs new nozzles.  Got the whole power train package, including wiring from the ignition switch to the radiator fan.  Also purchased the adapter kit from gastodiesel.  Unfortunately, with the AHU, the motor mounts are different.  So can not use the gastodiesel mounts.  Found a 2 wheel drive AX15 transmission from a member here also last September.

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Very nice!  The AHU is the older one with the stamped sump and such right?  1Z? 

 

Are we the only two on this board riding the TDi bandwagon?

 

Yes, as far as I know.  The AHU is between the 1Z and the ALH.  The ALH has a VNT turbocharger, while the AHU/1Z has a waste gate turbo.  All 3 engines are VERY closely interchangable.  Only the ALH is tunable over the OBDII port.  All three engines share the same 90 hp 149 or 157 lb/ft rating.  My 96 Passat has the original 1Z engine, with just more fuel mods and a later turbocharger from Europe.

 

Are you on the TDIClub?  I am john.jackson9213  over there.

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i agree with you both, TDI is the way to go. Good mpg and a good amount of power out of such a little engine. Have either of you found a way to get the VW electronics to talk to the jeep dash, and how well do you think the Ax15 will hold up?

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i agree with you both, TDI is the way to go. Good mpg and a good amount of power out of such a little engine. Have either of you found a way to get the VW electronics to talk to the jeep dash, and how well do you think the Ax15 will hold up?

 

The AX-15 will have no problems - the transmission can live with a small block V8.  But like anything, it will break if you don't take care of it. 

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I'm beginning to wonder about the whole gastodiesel engine mount thing after getting a closer look at this thing in the flesh and reading about all the trouble people are going through with the accessory drive... why not hang it from the factory spot at the front of the engine and "dog bone" it on the turbo side?

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