Any Thoughts On Detroit Diesel Conversion?

[fred heath]

Found a good deal on a 3/53. Will fit the engine bay.

Always liked the old diesels.

[zero]

Found a good deal on a 3/53. Will fit the engine bay.

Always liked the old diesels.

I had a 3-53 in a 1/2 ton Ford pickup truck. Pretty useless but sounded like I was going 50 MPH when I was only going 20 MPH. Considering the chronic oil leaks of all the 2-stroke-cycle Detroits and the noise - seems it would not be a fun engine in a Toyota motorhome. 3-53 besides being low on power - weighs 1/2 a ton. That's a lot of extra weight to stick in the front of a Toyota mini-truck. 22RE gas engine would pull better. I still have a 3-53 in my backhoe, a 3-71 in my Allis Chalmers dozer, and a 2-53 in my little Deere bulldozer. All keep the dust down by dripping oil everywhere - and noisy - but also very rugged. If I had time and money and wanted an older diesel in a Toyota RV - something like a Cummins 4BDT would be my choice. Four-stroke-cycle, no oil leak problems, and common.

When I had the 3-53 in my Ford pickup - it got around 13 MPG when driven at 60 MPH. Ran like a dog and was very underpowered. Same truck with a Cummins 4BDT had much more power and got 22 MPG at 60 MPH. MUCH better setup and a lot more quiet.

[fred heath]

If you mean a "4BT" Cummings, I found one but it's a little more than I want to spend.

Guess I'll keep looking.

[linda s]

85diesel a member of this group is putting a Mercedes diesel in his Sunrader 4x4. He's already done it in a 4runner so it will fit and he says he would never consider driving gas vehicles ever again. Apparently the Mercedes diesels are plentiful and cheap.

Linda S

[zero]

If you mean a "4BT" Cummings, I found one but it's a little more than I want to spend.

Guess I'll keep looking.

I "mispoke" via my keyboard. There are two very popular diesel engines used in bigger RV and pickup swaps. Both 3.9 liter and both with the same foot-print. 4BDT Isuzu and 4BT Cummins. The latter became common for a awhile because of all the Frito Lay type van-trucks that had them. 3.9 Cummmins and 3.9 Isuzus were used to repower many trucks that originally had Ford 300 sixes, 350 Chevy V8s, GM-Detroit 6.2 diesels, etc. Nice thing about the Cummins 3.9 is they can be found wit bell-housings that bolt right up to Ford or GM transmissions. They are usually to expensive for my tastes though. I can find 5.9 Cummins pretty easy for $1500. The smaller 3.9s though often sell for $2500-$3000. The one I had cost me $1600 plus $500 to ship it to my place from out west. Those Dee-troit 2[-strokes a very rugged and fun - but also leaky, noisy, low on power for their weight, and AWFUL starters in cold weather.

[zero]

85diesel a member of this group is putting a Mercedes diesel in his Sunrader 4x4. He's already done it in a 4runner so it will fit and he says he would never consider driving gas vehicles ever again. Apparently the Mercedes diesels are plentiful and cheap.

Linda S

I'd like to hear how it worked out. Those older Mercedes like the 5 banger used in the 80s were crude and not very fuel efficient. I had an 83 that got in the high 20s for fuel mileage. That's pretty bad for a diesel car. My 91 VW Jetta gets near 50 MPG. My 85 diesel Chevette got a best of 48 MPG. Diesels inherently make less horsepower and torque then gas engines. That's contrary to the popular myth that states the opposite. So if you want to replace a 2.4 liter gas engine - it takes something like a 3 liter diesel to make the same horsepower and torque unless you add a turbo. But the same turbo can be added to a gas engine and then the gas beats the diesel again. Now with diesel often costing 50 cents more per gallon then gas - a lot of the diesel advantage has been lost.

[fred heath]

I "mispoke" via my keyboard. There are two very popular diesel engines used in bigger RV and pickup swaps. Both 3.9 liter and both with the same foot-print. 4BDT Isuzu and 4BT Cummins. The latter became common for a awhile because of all the Frito Lay type van-trucks that had them. 3.9 Cummmins and 3.9 Isuzus were used to repower many trucks that originally had Ford 300 sixes, 350 Chevy V8s, GM-Detroit 6.2 diesels, etc. Nice thing about the Cummins 3.9 is they can be found wit bell-housings that bolt right up to Ford or GM transmissions. They are usually to expensive for my tastes though. I can find 5.9 Cummins pretty easy for $1500. The smaller 3.9s though often sell for $2500-$3000. The one I had cost me $1600 plus $500 to ship it to my place from out west. Those Dee-troit 2[-strokes a very rugged and fun - but also leaky, noisy, low on power for their weight, and AWFUL starters in cold weather.

I'm leaning towards the Detroit. A good condition engine will have very little air box drain.

Your engines must be old and tired.

Any diesel starts hard in the cold.

[zero]

I'm leaning towards the Detroit. A good condition engine will have very little air box drain.

Your engines must be old and tired.

Any diesel starts hard in the cold.

My comments about Detroits being hard starters have nothing to do with the condition of the ones I presently own. I've been working on Detroits since the 1960s and rebuilt many. They were very common engine in railroad refrigeration units, gensets, boats, over-the-road trucks (when bought on a budget), a few farm tractors, many industrial wheel and crawler-tractors, etc. Not all diesels start the same in cold weather. Indirect-injected diesels use glow plugs in any weather - hot or cold. Many of those will fire right up at 0 degrees F with good batteries and glow-plug heat. Some direct-injected engines like Deere 300 series, Perkins AD series, Cummins 3.9 and 5.9s - will start at 20-30 degrees F with no glow plugs if all is right. A Detroit 2-stroke is direct-injected with no starting aid for most versions. A healthy Detroit 2 stroke will skip and sputter and smoke and often barely start at 45 degrees F. Anything colder and they usually need a plug-in block-heater or a lot of ether jammed down the intake. BIG difference. Detroits two-strokes are well known for being hard starters - even when they were brand new. The four-stroke Detroits with indirect-injection aren't a lot better (like the 6.2s and 6.5s).

[Donnie]

My 4104 & the Flex both had Detroit's in them...4;71 in the Flex ==underpowered & a 6:71 in the 4104, enough power but it was a "drooler" had to keep a slober pan 'neath it....Both are gone to other owners & both are still on the road..

I am in the process of installing a 79 Mercedes 5 cyl turbo Diesel in a 1971 Ford E300 van/ Shasta 17 footer now. Smallest Shasta on a truck chassis'

Initial road test last week indicated that I need to pull the 3;70's & after doing the math...I'm going in with 4:56 gears...Got the carrier & brng kit off the web & will source a ring & pinion soon....Fuel mileage is not a concern as I will be running waste cooking oel.

It will be a summer only vehicle so where the furnace is now, I will install my grease tank.

Been running grease in a couple of early Rabbits for about 10 years..My homemade filter plant filters the mostly Soybean oel to 10 microns.

I love the smell of the exhaust as I sit at the shopper in the morning & get my wake up coffee I like to park near the Diesel pump if there is a free parking space..$4.25 a gallon sux...Although I do run the Dino Diesel in my Jetta

The Mercedes fuel mileage in the 79SD "Bark-o-lounger was poor at about 28..The Shasta weigh is about a thousand pounds more...It is a fun project & I enjoy doing it........Any grease burners on this site???...............................Donnie

[zero]

My 4104 & the Flex both had Detroit's in them...4;71 in the Flex ==underpowered & a 6:71 in the 4104, enough power but it was a "drooler" had to keep a slober pan 'neath it....Both are gone to other owners & both are still on the road..

The Mercedes fuel mileage in the 79SD "Bark-o-lounger was poor at about 28..The Shasta weigh is about a thousand pounds more...It is a fun project & I enjoy doing it........Any grease burners on this site???...............................Donnie

The old 2-strokes were called "Drip-troits" for good reason. Slobber-box build up, poor gasket sealing, etc.

I burn deep-fryer grease in my VW when I can get it - summer only. Used motor-oil too. Not so easy to get fryer grease anymore where I am. Too many people looking for it after diesel fuel got so high after the "ultra-low sulfur" boondoggle. I do it with care since rotary-distributor pumps are very sensitive to bad lube. If I had a car or truck with an in-line pump - I'd be much more carefree about alternative fuels. THAT is one nice thing about the 2-stroke Detroits. Crude simple plunger injection system that's like a garbage disposal. Hard to hurt it. My 83 Mercedes with a 5 cylinder diesel got a best of 28 MPG. That was when diesel was cheaper then gas (MUCH cheaper if I used farm fuel or heating oil). Also at that time -gas cars near the same size as the Mercedes often only got 20-25 MPG. My Datsun 280ZX with a 2.8 liter fuel injected gas engine gets 22-24 MPG. So at that time -28 MPG with cheap diesel fuel was a good deal. Hey - in my opinion - much of the diesel advantage was lost when ultra-low-sulfur fuel became the rule with high prices and lower BTU energy content. But NOW - the Feds are talking about coming out with ultralow sulfur gasoline. So who knows? Maybe soon - things will switch back and diesel fuel will be the best bargain.