Diesel Conversion Questions

[jdnet]

Hey guys,

After looking at the prices of engines and the taxes I have come to the conclusion that pulling out the petrol engine out of my tribute and sticking in a diesel. Basically I'm looking at a 3C turbo and leaving the same auto transmission, it will be modified to fit though. I was just wondering if there's anyone here who has converted into diesel and I would like your opinion on the convert in terms of overall performance and problems.

BTW I know this will put a dent into the resale values and all but I'm not worried at this point.

[thusithasam]

What is your vehicle model?

[Magnum]

if your talking about converting a Townace its successful but its a failure on Carina

[CyRaX]

He's talking about a Mazda Tribute lol

[miniace]

Yes you can do it!

But its not economical and reliable to retain the same auto box. Suggest you go for 3c turbo auto box.Thats simple and straight forward.Its a matter of changes.I have a guy who can handle it. PM me for detail only when you are really ready for it please.

MINIACE

[jdnet]

  On 7/17/2011 at 1:15 PM, miniace said:

Yes you can do it!

But its not economical and reliable to retain the same auto box. Suggest you go for 3c turbo auto box.Thats simple and straight forward.Its a matter of changes.I have a guy who can handle it. PM me for detail only when you are really ready for it please.

MINIACE

Already got a guy on it. Just need to get him the engine. He's pretty well known for converts so maybe the same guy. Thanks though.

Anyway care to elaborate on why it won't be economical to save the transmission? From what we concluded, since it's a FWD Part time 4wd it would take a lot of work to retain the 4wd in it i.e. axle, transfer case, drive shafts etc.

[miniace]

  On 7/17/2011 at 2:07 PM, jdnet said:

Already got a guy on it. Just need to get him the engine. He's pretty well known for converts so maybe the same guy. Thanks though.

Anyway care to elaborate on why it won't be economical to save the transmission? From what we concluded, since it's a FWD Part time 4wd it would take a lot of work to retain the 4wd in it i.e. axle, transfer case, drive shafts etc.

Cool, Sure thats not the same guy.

Not economical as you will have to do loads of changes when it comes to combine alien parts.From housing to rods and wheels. But your case, I thought thats a 2WD Tribute.You will have loads of work mate, yet mission is not impossible if you have a good guy.

Happy to help..drop a line here will share my opinion ! Good luck mate!

MINIACE!

[harshansenadhir]

  On 7/17/2011 at 2:07 PM, jdnet said:

Already got a guy on it. Just need to get him the engine. He's pretty well known for converts so maybe the same guy. Thanks though.

Anyway care to elaborate on why it won't be economical to save the transmission? From what we concluded, since it's a FWD Part time 4wd it would take a lot of work to retain the 4wd in it i.e. axle, transfer case, drive shafts etc.

Save the transmission, either use an interfacer plate in between tranny and engine or use tranny side bell housing of tribute and engine side bell housing of the 3c. Measure out the optimum length of the complete bell housing. Create a new one using these halves. Since this is auto, use the original tranny torque converter. You will have one disadvantage in using original tranny and final drives, that is engine will over rev as diesel rpm range is way less than petrol engine's rpm. I.e this final drive might be designed to rev the engine to 4k rpm when traveling at 120 where as in the diesel engine this is almost close to rpm limiter

[LaRa]

I’ve done a diesel conversion to my Sportage recently, using the same manual gear box with the new Mazda R2 engine. In terms of performances it does very well in fuel + pulling even without Turbo. The only difference you may feel is the vibration and you can overcome that by doing a perfect mounting job & using good silencer flexible ect..

(Hope you can use the same Radiator? Pls consider about the hose side of your new engine.)

I will PM you some places where you can find good engines with warranty.

[Abbas]

Today diesel conversions are very common. i think the 3c engine are used in most of the mazda tribute jeeps converted. i have seen a few done and they seem to be good.one was advertised recentlly at wasa@n#a car sales .according to the person their the engine mountings are suppose to be a bolt on. its always better to change the gear box and and the rear diff also! other wise ur gear changing will have a effect . hope this helps. i had converted a montero sport and ran it for 2years with out any issues. the main thing is how the engine and gear box mounts to the vehicle to avoid vibrations .always try to mount the engine to ur original brackets on the chassis without cuing and welding new brackets.

[jdnet]

  On 7/18/2011 at 2:00 AM, harshansenadhir said:

You will have one disadvantage in using original tranny and final drives, that is engine will over rev as diesel rpm range is way less than petrol engine's rpm.

Will it be that bad or manageable?

[jdnet]

  On 7/18/2011 at 12:29 PM, Abbas said:

Today diesel conversions are very common. i think the 3c engine are used in most of the mazda tribute jeeps converted. i have seen a few done and they seem to be good.one was advertised recentlly at wasa@n#a car sales .according to the person their the engine mountings are suppose to be a bolt on. its always better to change the gear box and and the rear diff also! other wise ur gear changing will have a effect . hope this helps. i had converted a montero sport and ran it for 2years with out any issues. the main thing is how the engine and gear box mounts to the vehicle to avoid vibrations .always try to mount the engine to ur original brackets on the chassis without cuing and welding new brackets.

Thanks for the info. I do think the mounts will have to be modified due to the difference in the location. Eitherway I would be more than happy to get rid of the gel mounts I have and put in the regular mounts. Mine have reached the end of their life and the replacements are more than 100k for all four.

[jdnet]

  On 7/17/2011 at 6:42 PM, miniace said:

Happy to help..drop a line here will share my opinion ! Good luck mate!

MINIACE!

Thanks will let you know if I get stuck somewhere.

[harshansenadhir]

  On 7/18/2011 at 3:47 PM, jdnet said:

Will it be that bad or manageable?

Do some math on final drive difference and see how the engine would rev at 100 km/h. I had a converted 504 and a KE72. Both were trying to throw out pistons at 90 and above speeds. Managed to touch 110 in 504 but engine was maxing out at that time. For city driving there's no issue though.

[Crosswind]

  On 7/18/2011 at 4:19 PM, harshansenadhir said:

Do some math on final drive difference and see how the engine would rev at 100 km/h. I had a converted 504 and a KE72. Both were trying to throw out pistons at 90 and above speeds. Managed to touch 110 in 504 but engine was maxing out at that time. For city driving there's no issue though.

If you use the same engine that comes with the diesel version of these cars, will you have this problem? For example, if you use a Mahindra engine with the 504 or 1C engine with the KE72 or Mazda R2 engine with the Sportage?

Of course Jdnet is at a disadvantage here because there was never a diesel version of the Tribute, so this question is a bit OT.

[harshansenadhir]

  On 7/18/2011 at 5:36 PM, Crosswind said:

If you use the same engine that comes with the diesel version of these cars, will you have this problem? For example, if you use a Mahindra engine with the 504 or 1C engine with the KE72 or Mazda R2 engine with the Sportage?

Of course Jdnet is at a disadvantage here because there was never a diesel version of the Tribute, so this question is a bit OT.

Still the issue will be there as it has nothing to do with the engine alone. The final drive ratio of a diesel is higher than of a petrol. Say if engine revs one round, petrol final drive revs one round where as in a diesel it might be running two rounds. This is only very hypothetical example to elaborate. The reason is petrol rev limit is higher and it deliver high torque in higher rpms where as in diesel rpm limit is lower and it delivers high torque without having to rev the engine higher.

[toyota sucks]

I asked a person converted a montero 2001 to diesel, with a 3.2 montero engine.

but in about 6 months he again put the petrol one back again,

he didn't want to tell anything about it when i asked him

so i think it's better to keep the original engine with u atleast for some time

[miniace]

  On 7/19/2011 at 2:55 PM, toyota sucks said:

I asked a person converted a montero 2001 to diesel, with a 3.2 montero engine.

but in about 6 months he again put the petrol one back again,

he didn't want to tell anything about it when i asked him

so i think it's better to keep the original engine with u atleast for some time

You are giving him nightmares dude..The 6G74 GDI to 3.2 4M41 direct injection is a very simple and a straight forward swap.

MINIACE

[Abbas]

i have currently a pajero 2001 GDI i recently swapped with 3.2did (4m41) and currently running the vehicle with no issues. yes its a straight forward conversion but the wiring is a killer. i did it with my mechanic at my residence it took 2weeks . about 4 days to put the engine and gear box and the rest to lay the wiring. when u buy the full complete kit u get complete from the full wire harness, two shafts , computer box radiator, fuel tank, silencer kit, meter board , everything basically of a pajero diesel other than the body ,and its just to fix it up and this is one of the easiest conversions to do for a person who has a basic wiring knowledge more than mechanical. i have currently run over 10000km on it and i have no problem with the vehicle. only problem u will notice is u might find the engine a bit too loud and its normal for 4m41 bec of its D.I.D and has a timing chain.power is great producing around 165bhp and plenty of torque and fun to drive.

[Watchman]

  On 7/20/2011 at 11:01 AM, Abbas said:

i have currently a pajero 2001 GDI i recently swapped with 3.2did (4m41) and currently running the vehicle with no issues. yes its a straight forward conversion but the wiring is a killer. i did it with my mechanic at my residence it took 2weeks . about 4 days to put the engine and gear box and the rest to lay the wiring. when u buy the full complete kit u get complete from the full wire harness, two shafts , computer box radiator, fuel tank, silencer kit, meter board , everything basically of a pajero diesel other than the body ,and its just to fix it up and this is one of the easiest conversions to do for a person who has a basic wiring knowledge more than mechanical. i have currently run over 10000km on it and i have no problem with the vehicle. only problem u will notice is u might find the engine a bit too loud and its normal for 4m41 bec of its D.I.D and has a timing chain.power is great producing around 165bhp and plenty of torque and fun to drive.

That's a lot of parts. By 'shafts' did you mean the differentials? and is there a reason (besides fuels mixing if not properly cleaned) you had to go for a new fuel tank?

And curiosity sake, do you mind sharing how much all these parts cost

[Abbas]

To watchmen,

yes i could have used the same tank as their is no difference in shape or capacity but the reason being on the petrol tank u get the petrol pump and 2 other pressure release valves that connect to a black box(i cannot remember the technical name so please excuse) near the engine.ya with a little but modification i could have used the same tank but since i received the tank with the kit why just waste that extra time, that was about it.

you asked me the cost of the kit without the labour of installation it cost me 1.2mil . yes i could have brought a cheaper diesel vehicle putting the difference but still when u compare the price of original diesel montero this cost me about 3million cheaper adding the cost my GDI pajero. for some it may sound stupid but for me it was worth it.

[Watchman]

  On 7/20/2011 at 9:17 PM, Abbas said:

To watchmen,

yes i could have used the same tank as their is no difference in shape or capacity but the reason being on the petrol tank u get the petrol pump and 2 other pressure release valves that connect to a black box(i cannot remember the technical name so please excuse) near the engine.ya with a little but modification i could have used the same tank but since i received the tank with the kit why just waste that extra time, that was about it.

you asked me the cost of the kit without the labour of installation it cost me 1.2mil . yes i could have brought a cheaper diesel vehicle putting the difference but still when u compare the price of original diesel montero this cost me about 3million cheaper adding the cost my GDI pajero. for some it may sound stupid but for me it was worth it.

Thanks man.

Interesting! I didnt know here were actual kits. I take it these are all brand new parts?

[Abbas]

no bro all parts are recondition !:)so u have to check before u pay for it!

[jdnet]

  On 7/21/2011 at 10:38 AM, Abbas said:

no bro all parts are recondition !:)so u have to check before u pay for it!

so basically the spare parts places just create a kit with all the used parts you would need for a convert?

[jdnet]

  On 7/19/2011 at 1:59 AM, harshansenadhir said:

Still the issue will be there as it has nothing to do with the engine alone. The final drive ratio of a diesel is higher than of a petrol. Say if engine revs one round, petrol final drive revs one round where as in a diesel it might be running two rounds. This is only very hypothetical example to elaborate. The reason is petrol rev limit is higher and it deliver high torque in higher rpms where as in diesel rpm limit is lower and it delivers high torque without having to rev the engine higher.

Well I spoke to the guy and he swears it will not be a problem. Anyway I've never done converts or looked into it for that matter so this is where my knowledge ends.

[jdnet]

  On 7/20/2011 at 11:01 AM, Abbas said:

i have currently a pajero 2001 GDI i recently swapped with 3.2did (4m41) and currently running the vehicle with no issues. yes its a straight forward conversion but the wiring is a killer. i did it with my mechanic at my residence it took 2weeks . about 4 days to put the engine and gear box and the rest to lay the wiring. when u buy the full complete kit u get complete from the full wire harness, two shafts , computer box radiator, fuel tank, silencer kit, meter board , everything basically of a pajero diesel other than the body ,and its just to fix it up and this is one of the easiest conversions to do for a person who has a basic wiring knowledge more than mechanical. i have currently run over 10000km on it and i have no problem with the vehicle. only problem u will notice is u might find the engine a bit too loud and its normal for 4m41 bec of its D.I.D and has a timing chain.power is great producing around 165bhp and plenty of torque and fun to drive.

wow that seems like a conversion to a stock diesel since everything is bieng replaced with the mitsu parts for the diesel version.

Anyway this conversion is a bit different from yours due to the fact that the tribute did come as diesel. So far the only thing thats going to really be changed are the mounts and the actual engine. The same fuel pump will be used alond with the radiator, tank, etc. From what i've been told the same fuel pump can be used by taking out the wire between the pump and computer and some other mod.