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2003 Diesel engine swap.

14K views 21 replies 11 participants last post by  Wanganator 
#1 · (Edited)
i have in my possession a 2003 5 peed 4 door 4x4. i also have a 98 3.1 liter isuzu trooper turbo diesel with around 60,000 miles on it. im kinda feeling a diesel conversion is coming. i already did it on the trooper. i know every thing that has to be done already, the radiators inlets and outlets are in the right place. the power steering res is on the correct side. and i got a shop right down the street that will build the adapter plate. the air cleaner is on the correct side. ill have to re route the clutch line, extend starter electronics , modify throttle cable, and get a rpm modulator from dakota digital. alternator on diesel is on top of engine too (no more stupid dead alternators)! !

specs on 4jg2: 95.4 mm bore x 107 mm stroke
112 hp at 3,600 rpm
192 lb·ft at 2000 rpm
(pump has been turned up, but these are stock specs)

specs on vg33e: 91.5 mm bore x 83 mm stroke
170 hp at 4,800 rpm
202 lb·ft at 2,800 rpm

isuzu gets about 27 mpg on interstate with 31x10.50x15s. nissan weighs less than the isuzu. with that diesel and the high gearing of the gas nissan transmission we are talkin some serious fuel mileage.
what do yall guys think?
 
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#2 ·
Sounds cool. You should check Colorado's diesel emission testing to see what's permitted if you haven't done so already. A small number of states have started testing car and light truck diesel emissions that they used to expempt.
 
#3 ·
Sounds like a real cool idea!! Good luck!!!
 
#4 ·
check emissions first, but it sounds cool.

lots of people talk about engine swaps, but few actually do it. i'd like to see this and it sounds like you have the parts and ability.
 
#5 ·
That would be awesome if you managed to do it.
 
#6 ·
well emissions isnt a problem cause my truck is registered in bowie county, texas. as long as a diesel has a muffler, it passes. The trooper is registered there too, iv put over 10,000 miles on it since the swap, no problems at all. But i think id rather sell the trooper (only post-91 european spec trooper in the usa) as a whole, then just buy another 4jg2 without transmission and transfer case. and i sure do appreciate that gas is only 3.50 and diesel is a whopping 4.30. im gonna do the sea foam thing and see if i cant get my mileage back. its at 17.8 now city or interstate. stock tires. i need 21 consistently to make it worth keeping the gas engine.
 
#11 ·
hah. hope not. the owner can just say he bought it used and the diesel was already in it. that engine is in the isuzu med cab foward trucks in usa, but if they get down to the nitty gritty then that engine serial number is listed as installed in a isuzu bighorn with a vin number that was at one time registered in japan.
 
#14 ·
The only way an engine swap is "legal" per FEDERAL standards is if the engine is from the same year or newer than the vehicle it is going into, and all US emissions equipment is present and working. Different states (such as California) may limit swaps to engines available for that specific vehicle from the factory. The laws may have changed some since I last looked into swaps, but that was the cliffs notes from what I read.
 
#15 ·
So how do those custom hot rod/chop shops get away with putting whatever engine they feel like in the vehicles they build?

Or are those registered as U-builds (don't know if that exists in the states)?
 
#16 ·
In most cases (or at least in quality builds,) they use an engine newer than the vehicle the engine is being put into. I don't know if they have to keep all of the emissions stuff relative to the year of the engine, or just to meet with the standards of the year the vehicle was manufactured. The people dropping engines in that are older than the car either don't have emissions, go to shady inspection stations, or find some other way to get around the local laws, but are still generally illegal to federal standards. Will they get caught or punished for it? Most likely not, unless their vehicle is involved in some other federal case or if they really want to stick someone with a fine or lawsuit for something.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Two sets of standards have been defined for light-duty vehicles in the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990:

Tier 1 standards, which were published as a final rule on June 5, 1991 and phased-in progressively between 1994 and 1997.
Tier 2 standards, which were adopted on December 21, 1999, with a phase-in implementation schedule from 2004 to 2009.
Tier 1 standards applied to all new light-duty vehicles (LDV), such as passenger cars, light-duty trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUV), minivans and pick-up trucks. The LDV category included all vehicles of less than 8500 lb gross vehicle weight rating, GVWR (vehicle weight plus rated cargo capacity). LDVs were further divided into the following sub-categories:

Passenger cars
Light light-duty trucks (LLDT), below 6000 lbs GVWR
Heavy light-duty trucks (HLDT), above 6000 lbs GVWR

so i lucked out, the trooper is a 1993. 1 year before testing, therefore exempt? im not sure, but i found a cool web site Emission Standards: United States

update
i sea foamed the gasser. after i let it sit for around twenty mins, all kinds of smoke came out of that beast. couldnt even see the dirt road behind me. we will see if it get mileage back up. if it doesn't, its time to pay a little homage to Rudolph Diesel himself ! ! ! ! !
 
#19 ·
i know its insane right ! ! they have egr systems and everything, but the gov just will not allow a diesel into the us cause they are way more efficient and the oil companies dont want em here. thats my suspicion anyways. maybe if someone with common sense gets elected one day (fat fu**ing chance), we will be able to have more 4 banger diesels. yall know that the car company mihandra designed an suv, a 4 door truck, and 2 door ute for the us. all with a small diesel turbo diesel made by the same company. they were tested to our epa regs, but the gov said no cause the company tested the engines in an overs seas lab.
 
#20 ·
If it's not legal its even more badass. I fully support the idea of this, and I'd love to see it documented. These trucks are great platforms, and a more economic diesel would solve the main gripe most owners have with them.

Just curious, is that engine the top mount intercooled one? Are you going to relocate the IC or cut up the hood? I'd also be curious to see how you wire everything up (do you essentially bypass the ECU and just use a speed sensor off the trans??), and if you'd have room to position the block/trans to use the stock driveshaft.

Goodluck, please take lots of pictures :)
 
#21 ·
ok ill try to answer your questions.

1. engine is not intercooled, however it does have the mounting holes for one. intercooled is 4jg2-t, mine is just 4jg2

2. only wire connections are alternator charging and ground switch wires, injection pump kill switch, oil pressure, water temp, starer, glow plugs, and rpm sensor on pump gear. all analog. then wire up and auto system for fan. the ecm stays in vehicle to let the gas guage work, and the check engine bulb gets taken out.

3. i will use nissan gearbox and relocate the motor mounts to suite. the diesel is wwwaayyy lighter than the v6, how ever it is just as tall ( due to the long stroke, thats what she said) but i measured and it should fit just find, even the cutout out for front axle lines up.
 
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