XJDiesel
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Monrovia, CA
Yes, I have been running mine for the past 2 years. 84 MB 3.0 turbo, jeep AX5 trans, 4.10 final gears, 32" tires, 23MPG @ 75 MPH.
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Has anyone ever swapped any type of diesel engine into a XJ?
- Thread starter Roughnek7
- Start date
Hey guys, I have been doing some measuring on my Jeep and a 4BTA Cummins. I run a Case 580 Super L Backhoe which just happens to have that engine. We have been havin some trouble with the machine so needless to say the engine is sitting out on the chainfalls. The cummins runs about 32" from the bottom of the oil pan to the top of the valve covers.
I have been lookin at my parts jeep and I have it setup to try the diesel swap, With my 6" of lift I have lots of clearance for the engine. The other big factor with the cummins is the fact it holds 14L of motor oil. We have a small yard tractor with a 4B Cummins in it and the oil pan is much shorter. Bout 4" shorter than the model from the backhoe and it only holds about 7L of motor oil. If you had a custom oil pan made or could find a pan from another engine thats smaller you could fit the engine into a Jeep fairly easy.... You could have some custom coils made up for the extra weight The Length is around 30-34" depending on the fan you choose, and width is 24" from Injector pump to starter.
The engine would fit, I have been looking for engines for a little while now. I talked to a buddy at the Case dealer and he says you could easily reduce the amount of oil that engine holds for vehicular purposes. The engines can be found in piles of old backhoes, excavators, tractors, and my favourite.. Trackless MT municipal maintenance vehicles. In the Trackless machines they run 110-115hp and over 375ft lbs of torque and with some gentle massaging you can get 150hp out of the small beast. They start easy in the winter time... don't mind a little whiff of Ether if they need it and last just about forever. My unit right now has over 12 000hrs on it.. and a lot of thats hard hours.
I have been lookin at my parts jeep and I have it setup to try the diesel swap, With my 6" of lift I have lots of clearance for the engine. The other big factor with the cummins is the fact it holds 14L of motor oil. We have a small yard tractor with a 4B Cummins in it and the oil pan is much shorter. Bout 4" shorter than the model from the backhoe and it only holds about 7L of motor oil. If you had a custom oil pan made or could find a pan from another engine thats smaller you could fit the engine into a Jeep fairly easy.... You could have some custom coils made up for the extra weight The Length is around 30-34" depending on the fan you choose, and width is 24" from Injector pump to starter.
The engine would fit, I have been looking for engines for a little while now. I talked to a buddy at the Case dealer and he says you could easily reduce the amount of oil that engine holds for vehicular purposes. The engines can be found in piles of old backhoes, excavators, tractors, and my favourite.. Trackless MT municipal maintenance vehicles. In the Trackless machines they run 110-115hp and over 375ft lbs of torque and with some gentle massaging you can get 150hp out of the small beast. They start easy in the winter time... don't mind a little whiff of Ether if they need it and last just about forever. My unit right now has over 12 000hrs on it.. and a lot of thats hard hours.
projectxj
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Richmond Hill, Ontario
CRASH said:
Cummins B3.3T fits with a cowl hood and a TH400 or 350 trans
andyr354
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- North Central KS
That olds 4.3L diesel is a decent engine. Thing has almost twice as many head bolts as the 5.7L V8 (olds learned something there at least, but the public relations damage had already been done) and almost the same power. They are kinda hard to find though, but I happen to know where a running one is.
Guy I know just picked up one of those B3.3T cummins engines on a military DRMO auction for cheap. Has ONAN logo on it so it must have been part of a generator. Thing is almost the same size overal as a 4.0L with an SAE belhousing on it.
Guy I know just picked up one of those B3.3T cummins engines on a military DRMO auction for cheap. Has ONAN logo on it so it must have been part of a generator. Thing is almost the same size overal as a 4.0L with an SAE belhousing on it.
Just some general notes from looking at doing the diesel swap over the past couple of years:
- Avoid the Renault 2.1-litre turbodiesel. It's not a bad engine, but it's seriously underpowered (old diesel technology) and has virtually zero parts support for it in the US. Not knocking anyone who may be running one by saying this, but even as a French car enthusiast I wouldn't touch one if it were free.
- From a swappability standpoint, the 2.8-litre CRD from a KJ would likely be the easiest choice in terms of fitment on paper - you'd still need to come up with motor mounts and would likely want to grab the KJ's 5-speed autobox as well, but a fully-optioned CRD weighs about the same as a fully-optioned 4.0, so likely wouldn't require redoing the front suspension in order to cope with increased engine weight. The downside: it's going to be expensive. About $10-$12 grand if I remember correctly, assuming you don't do the work yourself (which I wouldn't, partly because this XJ is my DD and partly because I know when I'm in over my head). Bear in mind that you're going to have to change out the ECU, TCU, gauges, etc. and make all of it work when it's buttoned-up again; as far as I know, this isn't a drop-in by any means - hence the 'on paper' comment above.
I don't know much about the Cummins swaps, but suspect they'd end up being as complicated as the CRD swap for much the same reasons. Having said that, I'd certainly be VERY interested in seeing one done - using the Mercedes 300TD sounds appealing, but there are some fitment issues there I'm not keen on.
Also, take this for what it's worth (i.e., completely unconfirmed), but I had an interesting conversation last night with someone connected to Daimler-Chrysler. Apparently the new Mercedes S-Class has had its diesel approved for all 50 states from 2008 on. This has effectively greenlighted the diesel JK for the US market, so we can expect to see that engine (or a derivative thereof) in the JKs from either late in the 2008 model year or as a 2009. Jeep's apparently very anxious to raise their CAFE numbers, so assuming that California (and by association the other four states that follow our Nazi smog laws) doesn't pull another 'we were just kidding when we said we'd certify your diesel' schtick on DCX, expect to be able to drive one off the lot in a year or so.
How does that apply to XJ owners? Well, you'll be able to start picking them up as insurance write-offs shortly thereafter. The engines will be ultra-low-sulphur capable and low-mileage, so there'll be another realistic option in the swapout field soon assuming that everything goes to plan. I've already decided that the JK is going to be the XJ's eventual replacement and the diesel will seal the deal - but at least there's some light at the end of the tunnel for anyone planning on keeping their XJ a bit longer.
- Avoid the Renault 2.1-litre turbodiesel. It's not a bad engine, but it's seriously underpowered (old diesel technology) and has virtually zero parts support for it in the US. Not knocking anyone who may be running one by saying this, but even as a French car enthusiast I wouldn't touch one if it were free.
- From a swappability standpoint, the 2.8-litre CRD from a KJ would likely be the easiest choice in terms of fitment on paper - you'd still need to come up with motor mounts and would likely want to grab the KJ's 5-speed autobox as well, but a fully-optioned CRD weighs about the same as a fully-optioned 4.0, so likely wouldn't require redoing the front suspension in order to cope with increased engine weight. The downside: it's going to be expensive. About $10-$12 grand if I remember correctly, assuming you don't do the work yourself (which I wouldn't, partly because this XJ is my DD and partly because I know when I'm in over my head). Bear in mind that you're going to have to change out the ECU, TCU, gauges, etc. and make all of it work when it's buttoned-up again; as far as I know, this isn't a drop-in by any means - hence the 'on paper' comment above.
I don't know much about the Cummins swaps, but suspect they'd end up being as complicated as the CRD swap for much the same reasons. Having said that, I'd certainly be VERY interested in seeing one done - using the Mercedes 300TD sounds appealing, but there are some fitment issues there I'm not keen on.
Also, take this for what it's worth (i.e., completely unconfirmed), but I had an interesting conversation last night with someone connected to Daimler-Chrysler. Apparently the new Mercedes S-Class has had its diesel approved for all 50 states from 2008 on. This has effectively greenlighted the diesel JK for the US market, so we can expect to see that engine (or a derivative thereof) in the JKs from either late in the 2008 model year or as a 2009. Jeep's apparently very anxious to raise their CAFE numbers, so assuming that California (and by association the other four states that follow our Nazi smog laws) doesn't pull another 'we were just kidding when we said we'd certify your diesel' schtick on DCX, expect to be able to drive one off the lot in a year or so.
How does that apply to XJ owners? Well, you'll be able to start picking them up as insurance write-offs shortly thereafter. The engines will be ultra-low-sulphur capable and low-mileage, so there'll be another realistic option in the swapout field soon assuming that everything goes to plan. I've already decided that the JK is going to be the XJ's eventual replacement and the diesel will seal the deal - but at least there's some light at the end of the tunnel for anyone planning on keeping their XJ a bit longer.
1985xjlaredo
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Kansas City