The Alabama Turbo Diesel

[ThreeComanches]

About time for an update eh? Not a whole lot to say other than I finally towed the diesel to the automotive shop at the tech school I'm at. Let the engine swap commence!

[ThreeComanches]

On 9/28/2023 at 11:29 PM, Salvagedcircuit said:

Hot dang! That's a score. New Hampshire shines again.

Going to northern NH is truly a time capsule. Just 2-3 years ago you could still get parallel port printer cables at computer stores near Franconia.

The Staples up in Littleton carried a year 2003 ATI radeon 9200se graphics card until about 2017.

@SalvagedcircuitI know you said this a while back, but I can confirm this now. I bought around 100 original iMac computers in Franconia back in March!

[ThreeComanches]

I finally got a bay in the shop...

 

 

With that being said, I got the transmission out in the first week. The top bellhousing bolt was a royal pain.

 

 

With any luck, I should have the engine out within the week.

[Salvagedcircuit]

17 hours ago, ThreeComanches said:

@SalvagedcircuitI know you said this a while back, but I can confirm this now. I bought around 100 original iMac computers in Franconia back in March!

 

Hahaha! That's excellent. Northern NH is such a time capsule, It's great. Enjoy the 100 imacs. How do you use all 100 at the same time? a Beowulf cluster?

[ThreeComanches]

On 7/30/2024 at 3:42 PM, Salvagedcircuit said:

 

Hahaha! That's excellent. Northern NH is such a time capsule, It's great. Enjoy the 100 imacs. How do you use all 100 at the same time? a Beowulf cluster?

Now that you mention it, that's not a bad idea

[ThreeComanches]

Ladies and gentlemen... the engine is out! Only took me about 10 days of work!

 

Come next week, I'm going to start getting the new engine ready to install.

 

[Salvagedcircuit]

4 hours ago, ThreeComanches said:

Ladies and gentlemen... the engine is out! Only took me about 10 days of work!

 

Come next week, I'm going to start getting the new engine ready to install.

 

Excellent work!

[Awesome]

You scored with this one. My buddy keeps teasing me that we should swap the '86 to a turbo diesel.

[ThreeComanches]

In the process of getting the new engine ready to install. The hardest parts to find were the intake & exhaust manifold gaskets. I ended up having to order them on eBay from the UK. I got ahold of a shop manual for the diesels so that should make this job easier. I salvaged many parts from another J8S I got ahold of back in May.

 

Regarding the engine that was in it: turns out the block is the original. That's about the only original part about it. Everything else was salvaged from a LeSharo engine. I'm hoping I can have the truck running and driving before the end of October.

[Salvagedcircuit]

Aww Yeah. a turbo diesel update

[eaglescout526]

If I still worked at a mopar dealer I would’ve helped you out as much as I could’ve. I remember there being a couple valve covers still around for the thing as NOS. 

[ThreeComanches]

@eaglescout526I sure do appreciate that!

[ThreeComanches]

Ladies and gentlemen...

 

The new engine is in! I repeat, the new engine is in!

 

 

 

[89 MJ]

[Salvagedcircuit]

1 hour ago, ThreeComanches said:

Ladies and gentlemen...

 

The new engine is in! I repeat, the new engine is in!

 

 

 

Aww Yeah homedogs

[ThreeComanches]

Ladies and gentlemen... the Alabama Turbo Diesel runs... kinda.

 

On October 10th, I finally got everything buttoned up enough to crank it and it ran. However, it had a strange issue. The idle was abnormal and it wouldn't respond to the throttle. At all.

 

With that, I thought it might be vacuum or fuel related. After looking through my 2.1 literature and doing some research online, I found my issue.

 

Since the engine and pump were NOS, that meant the 30 year old fuel in the pump had gummed everything up and the metering sleeve was stuck over the relief valve.

 

 

To get the metering sleeve to budge, I had to soak it in diesel fuel and some ATF.

 

 

Upon getting it free and putting ATF on the plunger and sleeve, I put it all back together thinking that solved my issue. To my dismay, the problem still persisted. I finally found a shop an hour from me that specialized in the Bosch injector pumps. I took it there and they told me it needed a complete rebuild. It was not cheap either.

 

[ThreeComanches]

After installing the freshly rebuilt pump, the truck runs properly and purrs like a kitten. I will have videos up soon.

 

In the meantime, once it ran, all that was left were brakes and the radiator. The original one had build up in it. With that said, I took it to a local radiator shop and asked for it to be flushed. I found out that it would have to be recored... they priced that at $600. Decided to order a radiator for a gasser Comanche and make it work.

 

While waiting for the radiator, I replaced all of the front brake hardware: soft lines, calipers, pads, rotors, and regreased the bearings.

 

[Salvagedcircuit]

Excellent progress 

[ThreeComanches]

The new radiator is in.

 

The only main real difference is the lower hose outlet on the new radiator is on the driver side. On the original radiator, both hose outlets were on the passenger side. However,I made it work with two hoses. The system was bled with minimal fuss.

 

[jpnjake]

Hell yeah, great progress so far!

 

Keep up the hard work 

[ThreeComanches]

Once I replaced the front braking hardware, another issue presented itself: most of the rear brake lines were rusted out. With that said, I went ahead and ordered a kit for it off of Summit Racing. While waiting for them to arrive, I started on solving some electrical issues. The issues are the following:

 

Battery wouldn't charge

Tachometer acts goofy and points at random

Glow plug light and water sensor light don't light up anymore.

 

The battery issue was sorted relatively quick. The positive post on the alternator had come loose. Lightened 'er up and she's charging!

I checked the pulsing at the tach post on the alternator. I'm getting a pulse so I'm thinking the tach itself might be shot.

I determined that the glow plugs are working. But, I haven't diagnosed further.

 

[eaglescout526]

5 minutes ago, ThreeComanches said:

Tachometer acts goofy and points at random

If youre good with electronics, it could be fixed. Mostly capacitors and resistors on the back. 

[ThreeComanches]

Just now, eaglescout526 said:

If youre good with electronics, it could be fixed. Mostly capacitors and resistors on the back. 

I'm not the best but I'm fairly decent. I have another cluster from an 85 Diesel XJ I'm gonna hook to it tomorrow to see if it makes a difference.

[The86manche]

14 hours ago, ThreeComanches said:

I'm not the best but I'm fairly decent. I have another cluster from an 85 Diesel XJ I'm gonna hook to it tomorrow to see if it makes a difference.

I actually fixed mine on my v6 tach with a new voltage regulating chip. My tach was acting up and soldering in a new one fixed my issue. But eagle is right it's mostly just capacitors and resistors.

[eaglescout526]

40 minutes ago, The86manche said:

I actually fixed mine on my v6 tach with a new voltage regulating chip. My tach was acting up and soldering in a new one fixed my issue. But eagle is right it's mostly just capacitors and resistors.

Got a write up on this? I’d love to fix mine in the future in the event it fails. I remember sending a couple off to another member. Not sure what happened to that member.