I posted a teaser in the 'What did you do to your Expo Jeep today?' topic a while back, and promised to make a full thread about my swap once it was complete.
I have been wanting to swap a diesel engine into one of my vehicles for years, and finally this summer/fall, after over a year of research I bit the bullet and started wrenching. I had considered many options from the common Cummins 4bt and Mercedes OM617 swaps to something more exotic like a Deutz. The 4bt was ruled out, because the Jeep is relatively light, and I didn't want to deal with the extra size and weight. The Mercedes was eliminated, because I wanted a direct injection engine, preferably something industrial. I like weird and obscure things, and I'm a HUGE fan of Deutz engines. The only Deutz engines I could find within my budget would have likely needed complete rebuilds to be trusted, so I reluctantly passed on those as well. I briefly considered a Cummins B3.3 until I started looking for them and choked when I saw the price of the few I could actually find!
Eventually I stumbled upon some discussions between several people with Rangers and S10s who were swapping small Kubotas into their trucks with great results. The engines are 2.2L V2203 diesels that are used in a lot of tractors, Bobcats, etc. They were also the standard compressor engines in Carrier Transicold refrigerator trailers. California emissions regulations now require that refer trailer engines meet current standards, so all of the engines from any of these trailers that go into California are being pulled out and replaced by engines with more current certifications. There are hundreds (thousands?) of these engines floating around in surplus right now, making the price very attractive!
A quick search put me in contact with a local guy who had purchased the whole lot of surplus engines from a puller to sell and finance his own swaps. He made me a great deal and turned out to be a fantastic resource for ideas and help solving issues I ran into along the way.
Here is the V2203DI, all of 48hp@2000RPM naturally aspirated, and <400lbs.
Here's the Jeep
I have been wanting to swap a diesel engine into one of my vehicles for years, and finally this summer/fall, after over a year of research I bit the bullet and started wrenching. I had considered many options from the common Cummins 4bt and Mercedes OM617 swaps to something more exotic like a Deutz. The 4bt was ruled out, because the Jeep is relatively light, and I didn't want to deal with the extra size and weight. The Mercedes was eliminated, because I wanted a direct injection engine, preferably something industrial. I like weird and obscure things, and I'm a HUGE fan of Deutz engines. The only Deutz engines I could find within my budget would have likely needed complete rebuilds to be trusted, so I reluctantly passed on those as well. I briefly considered a Cummins B3.3 until I started looking for them and choked when I saw the price of the few I could actually find!
Eventually I stumbled upon some discussions between several people with Rangers and S10s who were swapping small Kubotas into their trucks with great results. The engines are 2.2L V2203 diesels that are used in a lot of tractors, Bobcats, etc. They were also the standard compressor engines in Carrier Transicold refrigerator trailers. California emissions regulations now require that refer trailer engines meet current standards, so all of the engines from any of these trailers that go into California are being pulled out and replaced by engines with more current certifications. There are hundreds (thousands?) of these engines floating around in surplus right now, making the price very attractive!
A quick search put me in contact with a local guy who had purchased the whole lot of surplus engines from a puller to sell and finance his own swaps. He made me a great deal and turned out to be a fantastic resource for ideas and help solving issues I ran into along the way.
Here is the V2203DI, all of 48hp@2000RPM naturally aspirated, and <400lbs.
Here's the Jeep
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