convert a gas motor to a diesel?

[mornin151]

Could a feller get a gas motor converted over to diesel? Run a higher Compression piston use spark plug holes for injectors and then use a grid heater on the intake, you could use a injection pump from a toyta diesel or else maybe the one on the 4bt.

how hard do you think it would be?

 

[Jason]

Gm tried. It's a recipe for failure.

 

[mornin151]

i take it was with the 6.2?

I would put a little more thought and time in to it. You would have to find all the things that this gas motor lacks to meet to make it diesel l.e. compression. injectors pump things of that nature. then make it better. I think that the injectors and pump choice would be part of the problem. Just cause GM failed to make it work doesnt mean it cant be done in my mind. maybe the christmas food is getting to me an im on crack but i think it could be done.

 

[DriverSideImpact]

It'd be sorta easy-ish to do in theory and get it to run. Just take the carb off. Raise the compression as much as possible. Make a screw-in adaptor to put in injectors in the spark plug holes and route it to an injection pump. The timing would be an issue...you'd need to figure out a way to connect the inj pump to the engine (camshaft, crank, cogged belt, chain/sprocket, something like that).
But it would need to be very low compression for a diesel. It would start like absolute garbage and would have no power. It would basically just spin itself. Any sort of load would cause way too much heat and everything will melt and getting more than a 14-16:1 comp. ratio would cause shit to break (just like running 25 psi from a turbo on a stock gas engine will destroy it). Making it more capable of actually turning something would require a shit load of modifications, and would have the end result of being unreliable as hell (AKA Oldsmobile 4.3/5.7L diesels which were just highly modified small blocks)

Remember a diesel's source of ignition is the heat from the compression of air. High pressure fuel is then introduced to that very hot dense air and it burns.

Direct injection (DI) diesels run at a lower compression ratio, but need very fine-holed injectors. And highly compressed fuel (most modern DI diesels have injection pressures well over 30,000psi). The fuel is injected almost as a vapor. Converting the engine would need to be direct injection. But you'd be very limited on the psi you could run in the fuel system.

Indirect Injection (IDI) diesel's have a pre-combustion chamber built into the head, where the fuel is introduced to the air then burns into the cylinder. They run very high compression ratios (the GM 6.2L and Navistar 7.3L and similar IDI non turbo engines run 22-24:1 ratios).

Doing the opposite is way easier...and a lot more effective. A lot of super-mod methanol pulling tractors run converted diesel engines. And I have heard of a few 6.2 diesels being turned into gas engines.

 

[DriverSideImpact]

i take it was with the 6.2?

The GM 6.2L was designed ground up as a diesel. The only thing it shared with a gas GM engine is the engine mounts and bellhousing bolt-pattern. The engine isn't really a failure. It was just an underpowered workhorse engine compared to the 7.3 N/A and 6BT Cummins. The only real problems it had was related to not having an adequate cooling system...which is no fault of the engine.

I would put a little more thought and time in to it. You would have to find all the things that this gas motor lacks to meet to make it diesel l.e. compression. injectors pump things of that nature. then make it better. I think that the injectors and pump choice would be part of the problem. Just cause GM failed to make it work doesnt mean it cant be done in my mind. maybe the christmas food is getting to me an im on crack but i think it could be done.

Addressing and overcoming the issues would cost you in the neighborhood of 60x more $$ than just rebuilding and putting a 6BT Cummins in a Ranger/B2. You would more or less need to totally remake everything about the engine and build a ground up engine for it to be close to reliable and capable of being used in a vehicle.

 

[Jason]

i take it was with the 6.2?

I would put a little more thought and time in to it. You would have to find all the things that this gas motor lacks to meet to make it diesel l.e. compression. injectors pump things of that nature. then make it better. I think that the injectors and pump choice would be part of the problem. Just cause GM failed to make it work doesnt mean it cant be done in my mind. maybe the christmas food is getting to me an im on crack but i think it could be done.

5.7. and no offense, but if you think you can out-think those engineers on such a project, you may as well just set the truck on fire....

 

[clifford97]

the amount of tme money and fustration you would go through to do that, it would be easier just to find a diesel motor and swap it...

sig

 

[James86]

If you really wanted to be cheeky, make a steam engine out if it then....

 

[shane96ranger]

Gm tried. It's a recipe for failure.

What a POS the 5.7 diesel was. Damn near all of these got yanked in favor of a gasoline 5.7 liter.

 

[Diehardfordman]

Gm tried. It's a recipe for failure.

it was the 350 if I remember...POS prime reason why not to convert gas to diesel. two different monster as construction in the block and heads are different. Yes it can be done but you will have a 2010's verson of the 350 POS.

 

[Duane867]

Put a small tractor motor in it.

 

[mornin151]

ok this is the reason i wanted to do it,

the 4bt is just as much as a 6bt and in that case i have a ve pump 6bt that i could use in a year cause its in a truck and i'm going to put a p pump in it in a year i think. the other thing the adaptor plates are $$$ for them in my mind. so i though to my self this motor on the stand is claim a very strong gas motor so I would think it should handle the compression for a diesel. I dont know how i would be able to get a 4 cyl diesel other than a cummins to mount up to a ford trans. ( most likely a ZF5) I drive fork lift and they use toyota and mazda diesel motors the yoda's arnt too bad of a motor. people at fleet where they get worked on are just SMF and dont know shit.

Like i said i really like diesels I just cant see spending 1500 on a 4 banger when i can get the 6 for the same price and have more power stock. Ihave a 91 VEpump in a 86 F350 crew and have the pump turned up and the boost is turned up also and that thing has some good power. in my mind. I'm happy with it. I pulled away from a honda civic that was trying to pass loaded with a 24 ft car trailer and 95 turbo civic on it.. the civic had to let off cause they would of rear ended a truck if they didnt...

any ideas on a diesel motor that would mount up to a ford bell housing that doesn't cost 1500 or more?

 

[DriverSideImpact]

You can find adaptors for anything. Mitsubishi, Mazda, Perkins/Isuzu all had 4cy diesels in small trucks. Volvo cars had 6 cyl diesels. Mercedes had 4, 5 and 6 cyl. TD and N/A diesels. Nissan/Datsun had 6 cyl diesels in old Maximas and the 720 Pickup and International Scouts. I've seen Jeep Cherokees with Mercedes 5cyl turbo diesels hooked up to the Jeep trans. Anything is possible.
Or you could take the trans out of the donor truck/car you get the motor from...seeing as all the cars/trucks listed are RWD.


On a side note: the 5.7L diesel was good for one thing....Being converted back into a gas engine. They were beefed up a lot internally from the gas engines they were designed from, just not enough to be a good diesel.

 

[Original_Ranger84]

You found both a 4 cyl and a 6 cyl cummins for 1500 bucks!?! where? I looked and the cheapest one I could find was like 7000.

Also in all honesty swapping a diesel would be cool but not very cost effective.

 

[mornin151]

yeah when they are new in the create they are that much you can get good used ones for 12-1500 depending on miles. or a core for like 750-800