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A different take on a diesel Ranger...




predator

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i'd buy that in a heartbeat if it wasnt on the coast...why cant anything ever be in the midwest?
 

adsm08

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I saw that one up for sale once before. Go for it man.
 

Captain Ledd

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I saw one before but it was white. Never seen the Red one before.

Apparently this Mercedes engine fit's well...
 

superds

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The Mercedes diesel engines are dang near bulletproof. Good fuel mileage, too. People commonly get 300,000 miles on them and they still run well. Some people get into the 500,000 mile range with them as well.

In researching engine swaps for my '90 Ranger, the OM617 from an 83-85 Mercedes 300 looked like a good candidate. The engine was rated at about 125hp from the factor but could be bumped to 145 just by turning the injector pump up. Any more power than that requires modifying the injector pump. Plus, the engine can still rev to about 5,000 RPM, unlike many diesels which like to stay around 3,000 RPM.

That looks like a fairly decent find, all the hard work is done for you. Just need to make it run! I thought I remembered seeing the white gen3 Ranger with an OM617 somewhere on TRS...
 

86 slo-vo

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that one has been for sale for a while now
 

AllanD

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no, the mercedes td's are not "bullet proof".

I suggest you Wiki the 300td engine before you buy any vehicle with one.

there are as I recall THREE different engines and one of them is absolute junk.


AD

The Mercedes diesel engines are dang near bulletproof. Good fuel mileage, too. People commonly get 300,000 miles on them and they still run well. Some people get into the 500,000 mile range with them as well.

In researching engine swaps for my '90 Ranger, the OM617 from an 83-85 Mercedes 300 looked like a good candidate. The engine was rated at about 125hp from the factor but could be bumped to 145 just by turning the injector pump up. Any more power than that requires modifying the injector pump. Plus, the engine can still rev to about 5,000 RPM, unlike many diesels which like to stay around 3,000 RPM.

That looks like a fairly decent find, all the hard work is done for you. Just need to make it run! I thought I remembered seeing the white gen3 Ranger with an OM617 somewhere on TRS...
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Overhauling a diesel would eat a lot of the fuel milage savings. And I highly doubt anything Mercedes will be cheap to work on.
 

AllanD

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Overhauling the 5cyl 300TD engine (the only one that is practical to swap into a Ranger) typically runs... around $9000

AD
 

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A friend of mine has one in his 92 4Runner, and it works well. It's a 5 cylinder, so the radiator had to be moved. He was lucky to score 3 of them for free, but he's needed all the parts. Last I heard the motor in the truck was leaking oil from the headgasket.

He likes the power though and pulls low 20s with 33s and 4.56s.
 

'99 EB Explorer

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lol...i'd have a really hard time justifying $1500 for something that doesn't run. Cool concept, but the fact that he used WAIST oil until it died would scare the crap out of me. Waist oil is for chainsaws...not truck engines.
 

CHKNFKR

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diesels can run on just about anything short of water. don't let the fact that he fueled it on waste oil scare you. I'm trying to find a local source of suitable waste oil so i can start running it in my 7.3 once spring arrives.
 

Mark_88

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Buy it, yank the engine out and sell it (but not to friends) and drop a Junkyard special into it...if the body and frame are OK, that is...

You'd probably come out farther ahead that way...
 

AllanD

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generally speaking you are better off with a 7.3 trying to run it on waste ATF.

They smell like burning plastic when run on ATF, but...
 

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