Aftermarket? Truthfully there isn't much you can do to a diesel... They are not really designed to be hot rod motors. You can tweak the injector pump and timing a bit... Add a bigger turbo... Intercooler... and higher flowing exhaust but not much more than that. I suppose you could port and polish the intake system but really now... I have to ask you truthfully... What kind of AFTERMARKET is out there for fork lift motors?
Mercedes diesels are very well designed motors and many of them have traveled over a million miles with no service other than oil and filter changes. Of course if you have unlimited money to blow... You could get one of the new BMW diesels... But they really don't make any more HP than the Mercedes ones do..
Diesels are not go fast motors... If you are looking for go fast stay gas. Diesels put the ponies on the ground at low rpm. In fact my 2.9 TDI redlines at a whopping 4500 rpm. But it will propel a 3800 lb full size SUV from zero to 60 in about 8 seconds. It will also cruise happily at about 65 MPH all day long while turning around 1900 RPM and getting 34 MPG.
I straight up think that a lot of you have romantic ideas about small diesels with very little actual knowledge of them. I say this because I have had several diesel powered light trucks over the years and I know they are built to last.. Not built to be hotrodded and customized.
Of course my experience with the American small diesels is limited to the old GM failures and the poor excuse of Ford's lame attempts at engines up to 7 liters with issues of their own. I see a few of the powerstroke trucks here and if they are over 5 years old they are sitting in various states of disrepair usually needing very expensive fuel pump replacements.
Sorry if I pissed anyone off with this but please... If you are talking small diesels.. Ask those of us in the know. Another hint... We don't live in the USA.
Note: If you do decide to look at Mercedes.... Try to find one of the German ones and not the Korean built units. The Korean units have some weak casting issues in areas like fuel pump advance weight cages that shatter if you over rev even the slightest amount. Sprinter and Dodge Maxis have Korean engines.
I do apologize If I came across a bit on the harsh side. As I am sure you looked at all the videos you saw what CAN be done with a diesel. However it is expensive and expect them to last long. With that being said... Who knows what you could come up with if you put a little shade tree engineering into one.
I have often wondered if I snatched a larger turbo say off a Ford 7 liter or one of the big Toyota V8s and stuck it on my 2.9 if it would run like a striped ape or simply blow chunks of iron all over the road. I do know that there would have to be some modifications performed to the fuel pump advance setup to keep it from disintegrating.
Somehow it doesn't seem near as easy as when I grafted a Volvo turbo out of a station wagon onto my old Toyota 2H motor that was in my 86 LandCruiser.
Keep looking around.... Maybe you can come up with another decent small diesel that could be grafted into your truck. The only reason I kind of lean towards the Mercedes is they do run sweet and sometimes you can get the transmission and transfer case with the motor. The only problem with the Mercedes is when it does break the parts are very expensive.
Look for a wrecked Sprinter or an old 300 TD at the junkyard and ask what an engine goes for up there. 2.9 TDI Sprinter 2.8 TD 300
Just for the sake of curiosity I went out and measured the firewall to radiator distance on the Musso it is 32". The engine with fan takes up 31". Then I measured the cab of my B4000 it looks like when rad is installed it would be about 31" firewall to rad. I would say if you dropped the mechanical fan off the 2.9 and ran a 2000 cfm pusher on the front of the rad it would fit without hacking up the firewall. I then measured the frame rails inside to inside on both vehicles. You would have to play with the motor mounts a bit becuse the B4000 (Ranger) is just about 4" narrower. It will all fit under the hood as the Mercedes engine is actually 1" shorter height wise than my 4.0.
ya know. your killing me with a tack hammer here....
In fact my 2.9 TDI redlines at a whopping 4500 rpm. But it will propel a 3800 lb full size SUV from zero to 60 in about 8 seconds. It will also cruise happily at about 65 MPH all day long while turning around 1900 RPM and getting 34 MPG.
now think about this.....your already kicking any stock 50 states rangers ass off of the planet with those numbers.
my psd is 800k plus. its a gen 1.
i am pushing 450k with my turd 6.5.
4500 rpm with a diesel is hotrod. the new little international ones do get about 40 hp and 70 plus tq with just a tuner and intake. the ones they put in the asian gm types make great power too.
isuzu 4bd1 type of engines are big heavy bitches but can be cranked up pretty good and cost effective in relative terms.
reletive too are the goals.
a stockish 2wd with a 4 cyl diesel i assume is a workhorse biased towards 30 plus mpg, and with what is available 0-60 mph in 10 seconds or a bit less would be a happy standard for me.
stockish to say 3 in lift 33 in tire 4wd getting 30 mpg and 0-60 in 10 or less would be a wet dream.
then theres multi fuel options from there.
a 4bt cummins is a whole different animal though.
that can be hotrodded to wild power compared to its stock ratings and reliably so.
and it also happens to be the one us current yanks have most of for general ease of procuring and adapting to stupid easy to get trans/t case options..
when you step up to guys with bigger 4x4's like myself the v8 diesels are easy options as well. the 95-2003 powerstrokes are very common and cost effective to buy now at our wrecking yards.
of course this just depends on experience. to even suggest removing the stock mechanical fan and putting a pusher electric fan on in the scenario you measured up is something i would never consider. i would relocate/refit the cooling stack forward and open up some sheetmetal for flow in most every case on the ranger platform as found in the united states models. depending on how equipped from oem, theres at least 6 comortable inches going towards the bumper. 25/19 in radiators are easy to fit.
i been looking for a small 4 cyl diesel complete powertrain for my b2 for 8 months now that falls into the price/needs range. to the point i am looking at the 3.7 gassers in the fords now.
i would love to have the powertrain your enjoying right now in my b2.
i would not even think of modifying it for power with the numbers it makes in your truck already.
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