Two year circumnaviagtion of Africa in my 2007 JKUR - The Road Chose Me

[SSF556]

I forget which engine is in yours.. it's not an OM648 is it?
My mechanic has one sitting in the shop, we here having a good look at it today. It would be such a good engine if there was a standalone option that wasn't $10k

-Dan

The engine in the 2007-08 GC is the OM642 V6 ...there are tunes that get rid of the DPF for ROW travel and no DEF. Plus these engines are everywhere in sprinters, e350 taxis, ml350s, even the gwagen got them in europe. It should bolt easily to either the manual or auto JKU tranny.

 

[Dan Grec]

The engine in the 2007-08 GC is the OM642 V6 ...there are tunes that get rid of the DPF for ROW travel and no DEF. Plus these engines are everywhere in sprinters, e350 taxis, ml350s, even the gwagen got them in europe. It should bolt easily to either the manual or auto JKU tranny.

Ahh, right, the 642.

Bosch do have a standalone that will drive that... for about $6k. Every now and then there is talk on http://www.superturbodiesel.com/std/ of someone that's going to build/buy/whatever a standalone for it.. and then it kind of goes nowhere.

Hopefully sooner or later someone will have these mb computer controlled engines figured out.

-Dan

 

[Dan Grec]

Hey All,

The build is progressing, we're pushing hard now to make SEMA.

I installed an AEV Rear Bumper, Tire Carrier and Hi-Lift Mount.



Then I put a Hi Lift Extreme and a set of MAXTRAX on that mount



-Dan

 

[kpredator]

looking good dan

when is your departure????

 

[Dan Grec]

when is your departure????

Thanks. SEMA is Nov 3-6, then I'll drive over to the East Coast as fast as possible, ship probably mid November, and be into Africa in early-mid December.

It's all moved back a month or so from my original plan, but it really makes no difference, as long as I can still avoid the rainy season at the equator.

-Dan

 

[Keith Starr]

Love your website, can't wait to follow along! Safe travels Dan.

Keith

 

[Dan Grec]

Hi All,

Making lots of progress on the build, the Mercedes Diesel swap is really coming together now.

Length has been as issue - Ron from North West Diesel Offroad moved the radiator forward a little:


Intercooler mounted up front:


3 Inch exhaust all the way from turbo outlet to muffler in the rear:


AutoMeter Sport Comp II gauges are a perfect match the for stock gauges:


I've been working on the engine itself, doing maintenance items like water pump, thermostat, oil pump, etc. etc.


We test-fit the AEV Front Premium Bumper and Warn Zeon 10-S winch


Ron from North West Diesel Offroad has amazing fabrication skills, this project is well beyond my abilities as a backyard mechanic.

Tons more pics, details and story on my site: http://theroadchoseme.com/jk-mercedes-diesel-conversion-progress

-Dan

 

[Dan Grec]

The diesel conversion on my Jeep is extremely close to finished.

I put an insulated cover on my Dometic CFX-35 fridge to combat the extremely hot temperatures I expect in Africa


I made it official:


I've built a drinking water tank/pump/filtration setup using a Shurflow 12v pump and a PURA UV1 0.5 micron filter and UV lamp



More details and photos on The Road Chose Me

I can't wait to drive it!

-Dan

 

[JKU87]

This is great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Frank]

My plans for SEMA got pulled out from under me for this year This is one vehicle I was really excited to see! Best of luck on your travels.

 

[Dan Grec]

My plans for SEMA got pulled out from under me for this year This is one vehicle I was really excited to see! Best of luck on your travels.

Sorry to hear that Frank, thanks for the well wishes.

The diesel swap is about 10 times more work than I anticipated, and we're coming right down to the wire.

I expect to pull a few 20 hour days this week on it

-Dan

 

[Comanche Scott]

Hey Dan,

I saw you got the crank sensor issue resolved. Congratulations! :beer:
Things are looking great!

 

[Dan Grec]

Hey everyone,

The Diesel conversion in my Jeep has been an enormous amount of work, unfortunately the Jeep wasn't ready for SEMA.
Maybe I'll make it in sometime the future.

Things are coming together really well, I absolutely can not wait to drive my Jeep.



All the details on the Mercedes Diesel conversion and a ton of new photos are now in today's issue of the FREE JPFreek Adventure Magazine

-Dan

 

[Comanche Scott]

I've had the pleasure of doing a lot of custom work over the years. Sometimes complete projects, sometimes just a small part.
A couple of things I've learned:
Every one, has taken more time & resources than expected.
By sticking to the project plan/goals and sweating out the details, they have all come out better than expected.

Based on your progress, I'm betting you will achieve the same results. :beer:

 

[Dan Grec]

IT'S ALIVE!

The Mercedes diesel is running like a champ, though the Jeep computer is obviously very upset - the dash is lit up like a Christmas tree.
I have not driven it anywhere yet, though I probably will in a day or two.

The engine sounds great - like it's way bigger than 3.0. Very smooth off-idle, a little lumpy on idle. It gets smoother and smoother as the revs build, way past 4000 rpm

Reading the trouble codes I see the computer says "Cam Sync State - out of sync" and it just stays that way, so I think it's unhappy with the signal it's seeing.
I only have one notch in the cam trigger wheel I bought from jdjeeps.com, so I'm seriously thinking about putting 12 notches in it like other people have done to see if that makes a difference

I also see the "Crank Sync Sate" flip back and forward from "In Sync" to "Out of sync", so I'm not certain it's picking up a strong signal from the crank sensor - I want to move the crank sensor closer to the trigger wheel - I was told to get it to about the thickness of two pieces of paper!

My tach is not working, and on the CAN bus I see "Engine RPM 0", which explains it (The tach just displays whatever value is on the CAN bus)
I need to figure out WHY the Jeep doesn't think the engine is turning, and at least satisfy the computer enough so that it knows the engine is turning.

I wish I had access to a scope so I could check the output from those two sensors to see if they're picking things up like they should be.

Any help/input extremely welcomed.

Thanks,

-Dan