Ranger Diesel Swap? What did you do?

[Hobbytastic]

Hello, I Just recently got a 97 Ford ranger from a friend. Its a 2wd and a 2.3 l4. I'm thinking about eventually doing a Diesel swap into it. It needed a little work to get running, but it has 218000 miles in it, so I'm suspecting I'm going to have to replace or rebuild the engine eventually.
So I wanted to hear if any of you Swapped a diesel into your ranger, if so what Engine did you swap into it, what mods/features does your truck have (Lift, 4x4, etc.), what do you mainly use it for, and finally what kind of fuel mileage do you get on average since the swap.

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

I swapped a 5.0 into mine but down the road my next project will be a mercedes turbo charged om617 into a Bll. They get 25+mpg and are all mechanical except for the fuel shut off switch. You can get adapters for them from mercedes4x4.com

 

[Curious Hound]

I would like to go diesel with mine. It will depend on what's available that I can afford when the time comes to do it. The Mercedes and the Cummins 4bt are fairly common. There's a forum section here on TRS that concentrates on diesels. You can get a lot of ideas and info there.

Eric B

 

[fte]

I have done a diesel swap in 4 rigs, two Cherokee's one Ranger and my current DD a 2001 Sport Trac. The first swap was the Mercedes OM617 in a Cherokee, next was the 89 Ranger, this time I went with the Kubota V2203 2.2l DI turbo. This motor made the Mercedes seem like a much smaller motor, what I thought was a fairly sweet motor now was under powered and got considerably les mpg. The Kubota returned 35-42 v/s 23-31 and delivered more performance across the board. Since then I have built two more with the Kubota, another Cherokee (just r&d and to sell) and my Sport Trac. It is mated to a Nissan 6spd, 2wd and has all acc. Although the Sport Trac is @ 1000lbs heavier, the 6spd keeps the little motor in it's power band, mpg's are a bit lower than the Ranger, 32-38, but power is still good. I won't be doing any heavy hauling or towing, that's what the Ram diesel is for.

 

[Curious Hound]

Is that Nissan transmission auto or manual? What rpms are you turning with the Kubota engine?

This is an interesting idea. How does overall cost of the project compare to the mercedes?

 

[fte]

Is that Nissan transmission auto or manual? What rpms are you turning with the Kubota engine?

This is an interesting idea. How does overall cost of the project compare to the mercedes?

The Nissan 6spd is a manual out of a 2008 Frontier. The rpm is @ 2200 at 75-80 mph. It will do a bit over 90mph, then the gov kicks in. The sweet spot is 1800-2300, I generally cruise the freeway at @ 2100. I have 3.08 rear gear. The swap cost wasn't much different than the Benz, I sourced the Kubota's at a good price before they got popular, bought 4. I had to do a lot more custom one off parts, but that's what I like to do.

 

[Evguy1]

I've done a number of diesel swaps over the last 15 years (Cummins/Dakota, Isuzu/Jeep ZJ, Isuzu/Dakota) and have now done a few with the VW TDI. I found them by far the easiest swaps to do with losts of online support and tons of aftermarket go fast parts.
Here is my Ranger swap: http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=161412

Just about finished a Jeep JKU with the TDI.

 

[Whitbread]

I've ridden in/driven/worked on lots of diesel swapped vehicles out there and IMO, the VW TDI's can't be beat for a 5klb and under vehicle. You can get 200hp/400lbft with relative ease, they're small and light, LOTS of aftermarket support, and can be made mechanical if you absolutely insist on zombie proof factor. 4bt's are way too heavy for the power they make (unless you spend $5k on a performance motor build) and will give you a massage chair experience at idle.