The Diesel Jeep Build

The flywheel looks worse than it is with rust. It was very humid and wet a few winters ago and the humidity with condensation caused surface rust on lots of parts that were raw metal. I took some krokus cloth to a small area and it polished with zero piting. The flywheel was freshly surfaced prior to mounting it on the crankshaft.

There is an alternator on the engine and it's a fairly large one so I may keep it there cause it has the tap for a tachometer which will be nice to have.

More to come but at least there are some pictures. I have some of the ZF transmission and the D300 transfer case coming soon.

RR
D300 left hand, driver's side?
I didn't know they existed.
 
The Diesel Jeep Build:

A bit wordy but designed to make it a fun read with a background as to reasons why on the build.

First off I will apologize in advance as this isn't really a YJ Wrangler but a CJ-7 that I am working on.

Now that I have that out of the way, the reason I have placed it here is because much and many of the diesel Jeep conversions out there involve YJ Wranglers which are a very close cousins of the CJ-7. So much of the build will have direct relevance to anyone looking to do such a conversion on their YJ 1st or 1 1/2 generation Jeep Wrangler. Having owned 3 YJ Wranglers over the years, I can say that they are more "alike" than different to the CJ line of Jeeps perhaps than even to a TJ Wrangler predecessor that came after.

Suspensions are almost identical, axles are similar, layout is nearly the same and believe it or not, all Jeep Wranglers from 1987 until the end of the 2nd gen TJ are dimensionally almost the same, (within 1/2" in all major body layout dimensions). In fact the YJ Wrangler tub will nearly bolt onto a CJ-7 frame and a CJ-7 front hood, fenders, grill and dashboard will literally "bolt right up" to a YJ Wrangler requiring no real modifications whatsoever.

So with these explanations out of the way, I will begin to rough out over the course of the next several months "The Diesel Jeep Build" and will welcome all Jeep owners of any year breed to freely comment and even encourage posting of images if you yourself have taken the leap to "Oil Burner" status. Consider this to be the home on all of @Chris sites for any Jeep that does not contain Spark plugs yet does not run strictly off of electrons and magnetism. If you have a diesel hybrid, you may post here also.

Another point I will make is that if you own a factory diesel Jeep of any kind, feel free to post it here as well, I will not consider it hijacking to discuss diesel motive Jeeps of any kind but I will be posting pictures of my build as it goes and may introduce pictures of a previous engines not diesel that were in this build I've swapped before in prior lives mentioned.

Background:
I've done lots of motor swaps in a few Jeeps over the years and two decades back when I owned a black 1995 YJ S model Wrangler while wheeling the famed Rubicon Trail I met up with a guy who had a similarly equipped FJ sporting a diesel engine coming down Cadillac Hill while I was going up. The very tired 2.5L AMC 4-cylinder 3-speed automatic was very noisy and had extremely low oil pressure. I had repaired it after a failure from the previous owner who never changed the oil, merely "added" more oil...... All the time! And as we know, more is always better right? WRONG! The motor was loud and rattled like a diesel so the FJ owner stopped me on the trail to "compare" notes.

Thus germinated the seed that was planted in my mind of someday owning "The Diesel Jeep Build" and the rest, history........


Having owned 12 different Jeeps over the last quarter century give-or-take, that germinated seed grew and grew until I finally pulled the trigger on the build we come to now. That guy's above mentioned FJ had an old Detroit 6.2L GM V8 in it and an NV4500 GM variant 5-speed 1-ton transmission with the rest still being the Toyota frame, transfer case & axles. What intrigued me was he claimed to be getting North of 25MPG fuel economy and could drive "round trip" from the SF bay area to the Rubicon Trail, play for a week then drive back on ONE 26 Gallon Tankful! I was hooked!

Certainly, I am now a Jeep guy but before I drove Jeeps, I drove Suzuki's and knew the elusive good fuel economy that could be obtained in a 4x4 vehicle because my Suzuki 4x4 routinely would get better than 24MPG HWY even geared down with relatively big tires, although WAY under powered as it was. I was searching for that same kind of economy when I finally moved "up to a Jeep" which I had always wanted but couldn't afford as a poor younger driver. The shock though was from Jeep getting relatively poor economy with the 4 or 6 cylinder engine of roughly 12-14MPG BEST. This meant a round trip to the Rubicon Trail would take a minimum of 3 to 4 tanks full in either of my Wranglers at the time and carrying extra Jerry cans to have any long range. YUCK!

Moving forward:
By the time two plus decades rolled around, I had owned nearly a dozen Jeeps and none of them got what I would call spectacular MPG. Some were definitely better than others 18.5 in my 5-speed 2dr 4x4 4.0L XJ, and some stock ones or properly geared ones got fairly good mileage compared to friends who also had 4x4's of comparable capability. I had a CJ a long long time ago (not saying how long) but long enough that a new one was under $10K out the door! Let's leave it at that as I don't like being called a geezer, senior or old dude quite yet. I don't feel I'm getting grey and old and you are only as old as you feel RIGHT GUYS???? All my kids are under 10 so I must still be young.... Yeah right, who said don't have kids 'till you can afford them? That would be like just before you're ready to RETIRE! Nevermind, I love my kids and wouldn't change a thing!

I happened to be one day, as someone else I know from another forum said: "Smoking the Jeepers Crack" (called Craigslist) and found a VERY cheap old Jeep. I didn't know exactly how old because the add didn't give specifics but it said old Jeep for sale $1500 OBO and had a photo of a half-engulfed in a giant Bougainvillea, Jeep front end sticking out of it. Not pretty but at this time (20 years ago) CJ's and YJ's were commanding relatively big money on the used market and from what I could see, it looked straight and rust free. Before I drove about an hour away to "see" what the seller had for sale I called to talk to him. He told me it was at a friends house in the back yard and they were selling the house so it had to go TODAY! It was a Saturday morning and I could go look, he said he wasn't available and that others wanted it but I insisted to let me drive over and check it out first then wait for him to show later that afternoon. He reluctantly agreed and said OK. I took down the address and drove straight out there after swinging by a friends house and "borrowing" a few hundred in cash (I did a lot for this guy on his YJ so you could call it owing a favor so to speak). Cash is king and I wanted close to his asking price so I could wave some around and see if he'd bite on it. That is, if I decided I wanted it after actually seeing it. Long story short, the motor was in a crate in the back of the Jeep. Parts were in a nearby shed and it didn't have any registration for over 7-years. He was a Jeep mechanic and bought it from a customer who blew the motor on it and traded it in for another newer Jeep. Word was something like he bought it from the dealership for the guy's down payment on SAID NEW JEEP and planned (for the last 7-years) to put a new warranty motor he had at work in it. The AMC 2.5L 4-cylinder out of a 2002 TJ, (just coming out new at the time) Wrangler with fuel injection and all that goes with the conversion. He never got around to it and had to stash everything in a friends back yard until several years later the friend wanted to sell his house and clean up the back yard "mess" first. That's where I came into the picture.

Turns out it was a CJ-7 and was 100% complete except for the original hard top and full doors were robbed off it by another friend of the PO's for his Jeep so it had YJ half doors and a bikini top instead. The seller knew his buddy wanted to swap the top but had no idea he actually did swap the parts already. This virtually destroyed the carpet and interior of the Jeep, (great negotiating point though), that and the Bougainvillea plant growing throughout the cab and rest of it. Only the hood and one fender were visible from the overgrown thorn bearing monster plant! I asked the home owner if I could "hack the bush back to get at the Jeep" and he said FINE DO IT, I want it all GONE! He even lent me the pruning sheers and a pole chain saw to cut it away with. 15 minutes later, there was a nice relatively unmolested original paint white CJ-7 with everything to put the motor back together in the back cargo area. I negotiated $1200 fast cash and called AAA for a flatbed home! DONE!

Over the years I made slow improvements to the CJ-7 such as replacing both factory axles with built premium axles. I cleaned the interior and installed a nice stereo, CB & ham radio. There was also a Tuffy locking console installed and new off-road lights. The Jeep had a Rancho 2 1/2" lift kit installed probably pretty close to when it was new by the shape of all the bushings and shocks. I removed that lift and installed a hybrid SOA/SUA at the time I upgraded both axles. I figured when I am ready to install the diesel engine, I wanted everything else in the Jeep to be up to the task. I rebuilt the factory tilt GM steering column, the clutch petals and booster. I also converted the Jeep to 4-wheel disc brakes when I swapped the rear axle. The front end got crossover high steering, a new thicker one-piece welded power steering bracket and heavy duty AGR rock-box. 1-ton steering by Rough-Stuff and new heavy duty lockout hubs by Mile Marker. I still had an old Super Top BesTop frame in the garage for my last trail riding YJ so I swapped that on it and bought a brand new skin with windows for it. Luckily I also had the YJ half upper wire frames so new skins for them and the doors were ready to go.

What's nice about the YJ wrangler and the CJ-7 body is dimensionally they are so similar, most of the parts interchange so I was able to use the YJ Wrangler SuperTop and factory metal YJ half doors on the CJ. Also the uppers fit great too. Even the back seat fits with minor adjustment from YJ to CJ-7!

When I did the axle swaps I also reached into my old YJ pile-O-parts that were saved and installed Pro-Comp YJ Wrangler 4" lift kit in the rear straight off the YJ and onto the CJ. They are an exact fit and still SUA out back. The shocks also fit with some mods to the mounting tabs on the new rear Ford 8.8 axle I used. Up front I used a fresh pair of stock 6-cylinder hard top heavy YJ 2.5" wide leaf springs in SOA configuration over the new GM Camper Spl Dana 44 front axle I built for the CJ. The front shocks were ordered specific for application because the YJ uses studs on top instead of eyes on both ends like the CJ does. Both axles have 4.10 gears and lockers. Front is an ARB, back has a full case Detroit and then armored covers.

I also reached again into the stack of YJ spare parts-O-plenty for the front and rear 4" lift extended SS brake lines from the YJ ProComp lift kit. They fit perfectly!

Here is where we come to The Diesel Jeep Build part and I will post photos over the next several weeks along with some photos I have from various other upgrades like the axles since all this tech is VERY similar to YJ Wranglers, just a little different.

The Jeep was originally a 4-cylinder AMC 2.5L powered T-4 4 Speed Jeep. I unbolted the motor mounts and bought M.O.R.E. V8 motor mounts for a short-lived Chevy 350 V8 TBI engine swap I had going. That came out and gave way for a 5.3L Vortec V8 Gen III gasser that was in there with another set of M.O.R.E. mounts. That engine and transmission were sold to another forum member for his TJ Wrangler and the engine bay is now EMPTY and ready for the Cummins BT engine I have in a crate. It is an ex-Frito-Lay bread/chips delivery van "Cummins Re-Power Program" fleet engine. It went almost 300K with another engine, then was removed and factory Cummins Remanufactured engine refit program motor installed. It has around 45K since the refit before retiring the van and runs great.

This Cummins motor was originally setup for a GM Allison 1000 2WD automatic but the seller was kind enough to swap the SAE to bellhousing adapter out for a Ford style and flywheel so I could use my ZF s5-42 5-speed O.D. manual. I am going to have to flip the oil pan to rear sump because it is currently front sump so I need another pickup tube.

Now I am working on the sump and cleaning up the engine to get it ready. I am also working on the engine bay and mocking up the engine mounts.

Design criteria for the mounts:

1. Support and position the powertrain with enough strength to keep the mounts from getting damaged in severe rock crawling torque use.
2. Clearance for the body and hood maintained along with positioning for drive shaft clearance.
3. Help to isolate vibrations from the powertrain while running, (recommended Cummins engineering is above the centerline of the crankshaft) to accomplish this.
4. Transmission/transfer case mount with similar criteria.

Looking into fluid filled mounts from some other widely used application to reduce cost and increase ease of sourcing the mount.

Pictures to follow of where we are at soon.... I will edit this to add more and any table of contents as time goes by with posts.

Rebuilding the D300 transfer case with a JB conversions 4:1 and 32 spline HD output shaft. This will also get a conversion input spud shaft kit for mating to the ZF s5-42 transmission at the same time.


Thanks for looking,
more to follow......
RR

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TSLs, my kind of guy!
 
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Ordered the D300 31 spline input and clocking kit from AA on Friday. Says it's supposed to be delivered today sometime. Lets hope that schedule is correct so I can get on with this.

The same kit for both the ZF s5-42 and the C6 according to the website.

Ordering the pilot bushing for the ZF to Cummins crank and a full hydraulic clutch system with the "heim rod end fix" for 1990's Ford trucks.

So far under $400 for all this stuff as of yet. Will determine what clutch size and type to go with soon. Think I will try to measure and see if the 11.5" will fit otherwise it will be the 11" but definitely want heavier duty than the 10.5" used in the Chevy 5.7 V8 that was in there last.

Parts to order next:

Fluid filled motor mounts & cut some angle iron to fab motor mounts up.

(Not going to pay the ridiculous prices that others want for pre-fabb'd motor mount kits in excess of $250-$400!)

Pilot bearing.
Clutch master/slave kit.
Heim joint kit for clutch master.
Clutch pressure plate & friction disc.
Twin-Stick kit.
D300 master rebuild kit.
JB Lo-Max 4:1 kit
JB 32 spline F & R output kits.

May as well do a full transfer case rebuild and 4:1 upgrade while I have it all out on the bench right?


We'll see...

RR
 
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Well some parts came in Friday from one of my favorites:

20210416_063020.jpg
 
So the transfer case to transmission adapter came in a week ago and I am waiting on several clutch parts including pressure plate, clutch disc, throwout bearing, master & slave cylinder with connecting lines, a special rod end to modify the new master cylinder pivot point and some bellhousing to SAE adapter bolts.

I am in the mock up stages for figuring out the motor mounts and transmission mount arrangements and also gathering some parts to complete the turbo charge tube and exhaust fittings. There should be plenty of fuel flow with the electric fuel pump I have back on the rear fuel tank cross member. It was designed to be around 18 PSI volume for a throttle body fuel injected V8 350 engine I had in the Jeep years ago. It free flows when drawn through and when powered up provides positive pressure so it should feed the P7100 Bosch fuel injection pump just fine on the Cummins engine and help as a "lift" pump even though one is not strictly required.

The fuel lines were replaced years ago with stainless steel oversized tubing from a 1991 Suburban fuel system back in 2006 or 2007 that have worked with all the other engines in the past including the LM7 5.3L Vortec I had in the Jeep last. No fuel starvation and the return is also stainless steel and almost as large as the main delivery. There should be zero fuel delivery issues.

The arrow tank has a draw straw with a small "sock" attached at the bottom of the pickup and the discharge for the return just flows from the top back into the tank. I pressurized the tank since it has so many dents and dings from wheeling to make sure there are no leaks. It holds pressure for several hours and no signs of leaks when it was filled with gasoline in the past. It has been thoroughly wiped clean and dried so only diesel fuel will be inside when it is refilled the next time.

I am also removing the fuel fill-pipe lead restrictor from the neck and looking for a "Diesel fuel only" labeled bezel to replace the gasser one. If I can't find one I will use my stamp set as a slight branding iron to relief and color fill the words into the original or replace it with a stainless bezel and stamp it with the words neatly so it looks factory. I will also print a nice "D" fuel pump for the background in the fuel gauge with a small arrow pointing to the side where the filler is located. I think nice small touches like this will give it that "factory installed" look & feel.

RR
 
Waiting for brown santa to show up with more parts. Ordered the clutch master, slave and line all pre-bled and ordered a pilot bearing for the crank shaft.

Have ordered several parts to rebuild and upgrade the D300 transfer case while everything is out.

I have an Atlas II but unfortunately it is for left hand drop front axles...... May sell it or may save it for a future Jeep but as yet undecided there.

RR
 
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Waiting for brown santa to show up with more parts. Ordered the clutch master, slave and line all pre-bled and ordered a pilot bearing for the crank shaft.

Have ordered several parts to rebuild and upgrade the D300 transfer case while everything is out.

I have an Atlas II but unfortunately it is for left hand drop front axles...... May sell it or may save it for a future Jeep but as yet undecided there.

RR
Just curiosity, I'm not really looking for one, but what spline is that Atlas, and what would you have to get for it?
 
Just curiosity, I'm not really looking for one, but what spline is that Atlas, and what would you have to get for it?
The Atlas is 23 spline, same as MOST Jeeps built since 1990 that had an AX-15 or automatic later and were 6 cylinder powered.

It is an Atlas 4.3:1 twin stick and has the drive shaft brake on the rear output shaft. It does not have the clear sight tube option and does have the clocking ring option for tummy tucking etc. It was new in 2014 and ONLY HAS 5 off-road runs with about 500 street miles on it before it was pulled, barely broken in. This makes it is a newer revised design case later serial number unit. It is laid out for DRIVERS SIDE axle carrier and front drive shaft.

I would need around $2500 for it to make it worth my selling it.

The only thing you would need to add is the twin stick cable shifters kit or mechanical linkage kit since they would be different vehicle-to-vehicle ex: TJ vs. YJ or XJ or JK etc. and you would have to buy it anyhow even with a brand new Atlas II because they are sold separately specific to the install application. Otherwise, it is all there and would save anyone at least $800 + over a brand new one with current pricing and no lead time to get it. Plus, as a used part there's no sales tax either if that applies to your state, just shipping or you can come pick it up.

I would install it in the CJ if the CJ weren't passenger side front axle drive shaft/carrier and if I didn't already have the JB Lo-Max 4:1 with other 32 spline upgrades on the Dana 300 already.

RR
 
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The Atlas is 23 spline, same as MOST Jeeps built since 1990 that had an AX-15 or automatic later and were 6 cylinder powered.

It is an Atlas 4.3:1 twin stick and has the drive shaft brake on the rear output shaft. It does not have the clear sight tube option and does have the clocking ring option for tummy tucking etc. It was new in 2014 and ONLY HAS 5 off-road runs with about 500 street miles on it before it was pulled, barely broken in. This makes it is a newer revised design case later serial number unit. It is laid out for DRIVERS SIDE axle carrier and front drive shaft.

I would need around $2500 for it to make it worth my selling it.

The only thing you would need to add is the twin stick cable shifters kit or mechanical linkage kit since they would be different vehicle-to-vehicle ex: TJ vs. YJ or XJ or JK etc. and you would have to buy it anyhow even with a brand new Atlas II because they are sold separately specific to the install application. Otherwise, it is all there and would save anyone at least $800 + over a brand new one with current pricing and no lead time to get it. Plus, as a used part there's no sales tax either if that applies to your state, just shipping or you can come pick it up.

I would install it in the CJ if the CJ weren't passenger side front axle drive shaft/carrier and if I didn't already have the JB Lo-Max 4:1 with other 32 spline upgrades on the Dana 300 already.

RR
Fantastic info for someone who may be interested, like I said I was just curious, but it might help you unload it.
Actually sounds like a pretty good deal...
I'll have a lower crawl ratio with the future SM420 than I would with an Atlas and a stock box, about 86:1.
Not the 100:1 I used to have, but still pretty creepy.
 
I will also have a D44 for the front of a Jeep Wrangler that can be adapted to a TJ, YJ, XJ, MJ or ZJ coming available soon also. It is driver side carrier and is stock 61" wide with manual hubs and a locker. These are leftovers from other projects in the past that I have to clear out the parts from.

RR
 
I will also have a D44 for the front of a Jeep Wrangler that can be adapted to a TJ, YJ, XJ, MJ or ZJ coming available soon also. It is driver side carrier and is stock 61" wide with manual hubs and a locker. These are leftovers from other projects in the past that I have to clear out the parts from.

It was originally out of an SJ full size Cherokee narrow track from the 70's and has thick axle tubes. This is not the flimsy TJ Rubicon D44 that is just a D30 stolen from the XJ front end design with a D44 center section. This is like a full size truck D44 with small inner C's and thick axle tubes, full thick center casting but the correct width for a TJ or a YJ at 61" across.


RR
 
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Well.... Slightly off topic but kind of related....
Got another diesel engine..... This time a 2-cylinder for a sailboat that runs and has the transmission attached. I have been cleaning it up to sell or install in a sailboat next to the Cummins so I hope to attach some pictures soon. Not only do I think diesels are best for a Jeep but they are definitely the best and safest for boats hands down!

Been working on several jobs at work that have sucked all my spare time since things are opening up and changing workload has increased 10 fold. A good thing!

Hope to update the build with more work soon and "brown santa" is on the way with more Jeep related goodies too!

RR
 
Have a 92 YJ with a Mercedes 5 cylinder engine in it. Do you know anything about a Mercedes are 617 - 1/4 - 16 - 02
Yes the OM617 is a battle axe of an engine with many having gone a half million miles or more in cars all around the globe. Mercedes OM engines aren't the most powerful but they are miserly in fuel consumption and can push a Jeep down the road alright especially when turbo charged.

Lucky for you, parts are plentiful for the OM series engines and used engines that can be rebuilt as a replacement for you are frequent, even 40 years on today......

The 4-cylinder non turbo engines found in the older 240D cars were very under powered and took a long time to get up to speed especially if there were an automatic transmission behind it, however all of them were misers at the pump and run forever if proper maintenance schedules were followed. These were two reasons they were some of the most popular models in the late 1970's and early 1980's diesel craze that hit before GM and some VW engines ruined the image of a durable power plant that was super on fuel. The oil embargos of the 1970's forced American drivers to look at alternatives to big V8 gas powered cars and trucks as fuel costs spiked and supply shortfalls caused huge lines at the pump.

Dozens of manufacturers jumped into the diesel fray with Nissan, Volvo, Mercedes, Peugeot, Audi/VW, Toyota, Isuzu, AMC/Renault and others importing small to moderate numbers of diesel powered vehicles into the US auto market by 1980 with varied success.

The problems with GM and some VW diesels soured a lot of people in the idea of a diesel car in their driveway when early attempts were made at converting gas motors to diesel (GM) or design flaws in cylinder heads or castings caused abnormally high failure rates (VW) as examples. This and supply parts on some were hard to get being not very popular or the car companies no longer importing diesel vehicles after just a few short years. Think parts for a Peugeot or a diesel Renault.

The stink didn't help either because remember this is before electronic diesel engine management so soot and smell along with an increased cost of service for periodic maintenance for twice the oil capacities and big filter changes over their gas counterparts made people think twice about a diesel. Those who jumped on the diesel bandwagon though were mostly rewarded with a good reliable long lasting vehicle for the most part. I know my family was real pleased with our 1983 Chevrolet 3/4-ton 6.2L diesel van we had. My dad sprung for the extra $2,500 cost to have a GM-Detroit diesel over a 350 C.I. gas engine and other than the fact that the 700R4 Hydramatic transmission was a P.O.S. in the early days, (we had no less than 6 installed in and out of warranty) the diesel engine was far better than our neighbors 1984 gas version van of the same type. Our van lasted longer and literally got TWICE the mileage of the gasser by comparison. It also had a ton more power at altitude when going over mountain passes in California and Utah as compared to the gas equipped model.

We consistently out paced them in both power and fuel economy on several long distance trips of 500 miles or greater with less trouble and nearly DOUBLE the range at each fill-up. Made them think twice about gas and when it came time for a new truck to pull their trailer 10 years later, they chose the (new back then) Dodge RAM 2500 Cummins 6BT diesel power over the V10 gas and they never looked back again.

I have seen several Damler-Benz OM powered diesel Jeeps over the years and actually considered the conversion myself using a later 6-cylinder electronic controlled diesel to convert my TJ Wrangler and keep it smog legal. I ended up nixing the idea when it was discovered that the later 300SD ECM controlled cars were wired with a bio-degradable wiring harness of all things and were having massive harness failures over time. The problem was so bad that Mercedes offered free harnesses and to replace the harness for almost 10 years on several of their cars to customers who were affected with this problem.

Corporate "woke-ism" even played a role all the way back in the mid-late 1990's and that's how it happened to Mercedes customers again with the bio-time bomb wiring. This souring many off of production diesel cars again when a second wave of popularity started to hit in the late 1990's. Very unfortunate.......

I believe that the diesel engine is still the "greenest" of the internal combustion engines especially considering the all the advancements in technology. However, I still don't believe it's popularity will ever gain again as it has in Europe and the far east now that hybrids and electric cars have such a hold on the market today. However, if you are a prepper type who likes to be prepared for anything I still say the diesel is the best way to go because the range alone makes it superior to electric or hybrids when some diesel powered vehicles can travel 600-800 miles in a single fill-up without adding auxiliary tanks. Add some auxiliary tankage and the range can be well over 1,000 miles + in a single filling.

Diesel is superior to gas for range and that is one major reason why no production sailboats have been outfitted with a gas motor since 1978. That and the safety factor over gas where fumes from gas are heavier than air and sink causing potential explosions etc. Long distance cruisers in the sailing world all have diesel auxiliary engines for their safety, durability and range period. Do these cruising sailors know something the car world people don't get? Perhaps.

RR
 
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A short update:

Pilot bearing ordered and coming. Turns out the previously ordered one was the wrong part a few steps above. ✔️
Clutch parts some are ordered and on their way. The parts not ordered a few steps above. ✔️

Finally de-crated (put on stand) the engine after 5 years and beginning prep to clean it up. ✔️

Starting the fabrication of motor mounts and will have to take more pictures to post up of progress. ✔️

I got back into sailing and sailboats so that hobby had robbed me of some time from the Jeep project but back to it as I would like to get it on the road BEFORE the Jeep turns 40 years old ✔️ & ✔️!

RR
 
Yes the OM617 is a battle axe of an engine with many having gone a half million miles or more in cars all around the globe. Mercedes OM engines aren't the most powerful but they are miserly in fuel consumption and can push a Jeep down the road alright especially when turbo charged.

Lucky for you, parts are plentiful for the OM series engines and used engines that can be rebuilt as a replacement for you are frequent, even 40 years on today......

The 4-cylinder non turbo engines found in the older 240D cars were very under powered and took a long time to get up to speed especially if there were an automatic transmission behind it, however all of them were misers at the pump and run forever if proper maintenance schedules were followed. These were two reasons they were some of the most popular models in the late 1970's and early 1980's diesel craze that hit before GM and some VW engines ruined the image of a durable power plant that was super on fuel. The oil embargos of the 1970's forced American drivers to look at alternatives to big V8 gas powered cars and trucks as fuel costs spiked and supply shortfalls caused huge lines at the pump.

Dozens of manufacturers jumped into the diesel fray with Nissan, Volvo, Mercedes, Peugeot, Audi/VW, Toyota, Isuzu, AMC/Renault and others importing small to moderate numbers of diesel powered vehicles into the US auto market by 1980 with varied success.

The problems with GM and some VW diesels soured a lot of people in the idea of a diesel car in their driveway when early attempts were made at converting gas motors to diesel (GM) or design flaws in cylinder heads or castings caused abnormally high failure rates (VW) as examples. This and supply parts on some were hard to get being not very popular or the car companies no longer importing diesel vehicles after just a few short years. Think parts for a Peugeot or a diesel Renault.

The stink didn't help either because remember this is before electronic diesel engine management so soot and smell along with an increased cost of service for periodic maintenance for twice the oil capacities and big filter changes over their gas counterparts made people think twice about a diesel. Those who jumped on the diesel bandwagon though were mostly rewarded with a good reliable long lasting vehicle for the most part. I know my family was real pleased with our 1983 Chevrolet 3/4-ton 6.2L diesel van we had. My dad sprung for the extra $2,500 cost to have a GM-Detroit diesel over a 350 C.I. gas engine and other than the fact that the 700R4 Hydramatic transmission was a P.O.S. in the early days, (we had no less than 6 installed in and out of warranty) the diesel engine was far better than our neighbors 1984 gas version van of the same type. Our van lasted longer and literally got TWICE the mileage of the gasser by comparison. It also had a ton more power at altitude when going over mountain passes in California and Utah as compared to the gas equipped model.

We consistently out paced them in both power and fuel economy on several long distance trips of 500 miles or greater with less trouble and nearly DOUBLE the range at each fill-up. Made them think twice about gas and when it came time for a new truck to pull their trailer 10 years later, they chose the (new back then) Dodge RAM 2500 Cummins 6BT diesel power over the V10 gas and they never looked back again.

I have seen several Damler-Benz OM powered diesel Jeeps over the years and actually considered the conversion myself using a later 6-cylinder electronic controlled diesel to convert my TJ Wrangler and keep it smog legal. I ended up nixing the idea when it was discovered that the later 300SD ECM controlled cars were wired with a bio-degradable wiring harness of all things and were having massive harness failures over time. The problem was so bad that Mercedes offered free harnesses and to replace the harness for almost 10 years on several of their cars to customers who were affected with this problem.

Corporate "woke-ism" even played a role all the way back in the mid-late 1990's and that's how it happened to Mercedes customers again with the bio-time bomb wiring. This souring many off of production diesel cars again when a second wave of popularity started to hit in the late 1990's. Very unfortunate.......

I believe that the diesel engine is still the "greenest" of the internal combustion engines especially considering the all the advancements in technology. However, I still don't believe it's popularity will ever gain again as it has in Europe and the far east now that hybrids and electric cars have such a hold on the market today. However, if you are a prepper type who likes to be prepared for anything I still say the diesel is the best way to go because the range alone makes it superior to electric or hybrids when some diesel powered vehicles can travel 600-800 miles in a single fill-up without adding auxiliary tanks. Add some auxiliary tankage and the range can be well over 1,000 miles + in a single filling.

Diesel is superior to gas for range and that is one major reason why no production sailboats have been outfitted with a gas motor since 1978. That and the safety factor over gas where fumes from gas are heavier than air and sink causing potential explosions etc. Long distance cruisers in the sailing world all have diesel auxiliary engines for their safety, durability and range period. Do these cruising sailors know something the car world people don't get? Perhaps.

RR
 
Do you know what year this engine is according to the numbers AR 617-014-16-02? This engine is turbocharged the wiring in the yj is laying on the floor in my shop. It is a mess. I will need to reinstall the wiring harness under the hood, but the harness isn't going to patch up to the engine. What does a diesel engine like this require 4 the proper wiring? Hi I see that it is mechanically injected, and I think Hi-C sensors in certain spots. Such as temperature sensors. Because I have two different wiring systems, the body and the engine, how do I wire in that engine compartment?