Converting Petrol To Diesel

[Andrew_C]

Ive done a few searches and got a little bit of info but I still need a bit more. I'm considering converting my GQ petrol to diesel.
What is involved?
I know I need the motor,
Can i use the bell housing, clutch (mine is only 2000k old) starter motor or do I need to get diesel ones, Also radiator and airfilter housing.
I know I would need an alternator,and diesel sedmentor. I have a good 2 1/2 inch exhaust with extractors so would reuse them. Also how difficult is the wiring.
Has anybody done it and what problems were encountered?

Thanks

[Snatchy]

Hi Andrew

I am having ths done at the moment/this weekend. What makes it a bit easier for me is that i have two complete vehicles to pick and choose bits from, and initially only one needs to work at then end of it. My entire diesel engine/gbox/transfer from one is going into a body that was a petrol auto.

Apparently the bellhousing is a bit different petrol to diesel. Not sure about starter motor.

Radiator is different. Outlet and inlet are on different sides i think. A mate had a petrol modified to suit a diesel for $100 or $150 or something.

Not sure about airfilter housings.

No idea about clutch. I would have thought petrol/diesel would use the same - Just a guess.

The instrument cluster is different. diesel one has glow plug light obviously. You could rig up a light to suit that does not appear on the dash - ie. on the console or something maybe?? Either way you will need a glow plug relay/timer wiring etc. I am using the instruments from the diesel so don't know exactly. Maybe the tacho needs something different cause the petrol gets signal from the dizzy, and the diesel gets signal from somewhere else (just guessing)????? Speedo should be OK.

From memory there is no extra wiring apart from glow plug stuff when going from petrol to diesel. I have pulled a Fark load of useless wires out so far (not including the auto transmition wiring i will be reusing elsewhere). And everything i have left and need still works thankfully. Hooray.
So wiring is not difficult i think.

PM me if you have questions.
Cheers

[swbpatrol]

i had mine done about 6 weeks ago a very simple job. The bellhousing can be be used you just need to tap another hole for the diesel starter motor (which is different) and machine some of the inside to the bellhousing. Personal to save all the work go to the wreckers and get a bellhousing i paid $80 for mine. For the wirinig you are better off to get a whole loom from the wreckers so you keep things standard and reliable. Doing this is very simple just plug the new one in. The manifolds are the same to so u can use your existing exhaust and the mounts are in the same spot to. Any more info needed?

Chris

[Andrew_C]

So basically I would need:
Engine
A radiator - or change mine
Fuel Filters
Bell housing
Alternator
Starter motor
Air filter setup or silicon up the holes for the carby in mine (will this work)
Same clutch
Minimal wiring, mostly guages and starting setup and alternator

[chimpboy]

Just curious - what's the appeal of this swap? I mean, I can see why someone might choose to buy a diesel in the first place, but once you are going through the hassle of an engine swap, why not put in something that's a genuine and substantial improvement, eg a v8?

You're just swapping one mediocre engine for another.

Please explain!

Jason

[Snatchy]

Air con brackets should be the same on each block so should be able to be reused. Just leave the gas pipes connected and unbolt it from the block, and when the diesel is in rebolt it back. No need to regass etc.

Power steering might need some attention. The pump on Diesels is on drivers side, petrol on passengers side. therefore you would need diesel brackets, and maybe some stuffing around with hoses. Might be easier to make sure your engine comes with all accessories?

I think it would be better to get the proper air cleaner setup from a diesel to give 100% seal. The engines arn't cheap as i am sure you could tell us.... if you get dust or water in there it would be a false economy. Maybe try places or someone that has fitted turbos to try and find a cheap air filter housing?

[Andrew_C]

I just want as simple a swap as possible from petrol to diesel, If it's to hard or expensive, Ill just keep what Ive already got. Im not after big horsepower, just want something reliable that is reasonably fuel efficient unlike the TB42 I have at the moment, It's not too bad but getting a bit tired and drinks fuel by the bucket full. (It's not on gas and I don't want to put it on, Im going up into the deserts in July for 8 weeks). I think ive done almost everything I can to the TB42, Extractors, Exhaust, dizzy, filters.

Any other ideas?

Anybody with a cheap Diesel wagon GQ for sale? or diesel v8?

[swbpatrol]

It cost me about $5200. $4200 for the complete engine that was removed for a V8 Diesel conversion so i got most stuff then the rest of the cash was just stuff that popped up but id happily spend $10000 for this as the outcome is awesome and totally kicks arse and has wicked fuel economy. Where are you located??

Chris

[Andrew_C]

Melbourne, yeah a guessed about $5000

[Snatchy]

Resurecting this topic since i did this a few weeks ago.

Much easier, neater and quicker (ie. $$) to get an entire diesel wiring harness and replace the petrol one, rather than adding bits to the petrol one. Differences include: need to have the fuel filter warning light, alternator wiring needs to go to other side of engine bay, glow plug stuff, something else i can't remember. The plug under the front passenger seat and the wires going to the back of the vehicle are the same, so only the front half of the wiring loom is needed.

Get power steering pipes from a diesel. it bolts on but there are not captive nuts in one spot on the petrol chassis (well mine anyway). A small weld fixes that.

It is easier to have all the diesel vacume hoses and fuel hoses and clips that they attach to - the ones that go across the firewall. Getting ALL the clips off a donor vehicle without risking breaking some requires pulling the entire dash, heater, etc. out. PITA. $80 for vacume pipe clips from wrecker apparently.

Otherwise it is a bolt in job without issues. Having a donor vehicle is the go for price and less hasstles, i think. check out damaged vehicle auctions. Info at this topic:

http://www.outerlimits4x4.com/PHP_Modul ... hp?t=15934

Cheers

[Jameslux]

It would be cheaper to get gas put in with the rebate the pollies are talking about.

[RMP&O]

Just curious - what's the appeal of this swap? I mean, I can see why someone might choose to buy a diesel in the first place, but once you are going through the hassle of an engine swap, why not put in something that's a genuine and substantial improvement, eg a v8?

You're just swapping one mediocre engine for another.

Please explain!

Jason

Here is my opinion on the old topic....

Diesel has a number of advantages over a petrol motor off-road. And I am looking at this from a using it off-road stand point.

Diesel is fully water proof besides the air intake. If the air intake sealed up tight enough on a diesel it will run under water for ever. A petrol motor has many areas where water can cause it to shut down unlike a diesel which only has one. This is not counting the issues with starter/alt on both types of motors in deep water. The diesel has power/torque available in the perfect rmp range for off-roading, petrols often have to be reved higher to get the same power band. Higher reving generally means going faster which is not often a good thing in tricky off-road situations, ie loss of control. Plus reving higher sucks down more fuel. A diesel means far less maintenance over time which means less $$$ keeping it going. Plus you have less chance for some kind of failure out in the sticks. A diesel can go farther on a tank of fuel than a petrol which is a good thing when off-road far from fuel stations. The diesel will have zero probs on steep inclines. An older carbed v8 can have a lot of probs on inclines off-road....especially if the carb was never made for that kind of thing, ie 327 v8 Vette motor designed for street performance. A diesel has no fuel pump, dizzy, carb, coil, ect to worry about out in the mud/water/dirt/mountains/desert, one of which fails and you are broke down. Well, I guess a diesel does have those things in the form of an injection pump but it is one sealed up unit. The injection pump once tuned and set right is good to go for thousands of miles. Not to mention it is fully water proof. So from where I sit and for my usage a diesel will always be better. Not to say a v8 or other petrol motor *cough* P engine *cough* isn't good off-road....but I am saying there is much more to deal with and consider on a petrol motor in order to do the same things off-road.

On street a v8 will always be ten times more fun to drive. And out on the highway the power is real nice. For a road trip cross country my 6L v8 in the Chevy is awesome, I can easily cruise at 80mph with a 6,000lbs load. But for play in the mountains I am liking the diesel in my Patrol.

[mavzilla]

did ya think about selling the petrol patrol and going buying a diesel patrol instead / would kinda work out cheaper in my counting

[Sexy Fingers]

I may be old fashioned, but here's some food for thought. Rather than frig around swapping engines & wiring & this and that, why don't you sell your petrol powered patrol, and buy a diesel powered one. Seriously, the money you spend converting one to the other, you may as well buy one that was fitted with a diesel from the factory & I'll bet it will be more reliable and also will more than likely cost you less than converting.

[cooki_monsta]

altho that is true, the fact is then its not your origional truck!

[dangermowse]

i have also done this conversion and if you plan on keeping the patrol for a few years and driving it out to the middle of nowhere (like i do), the lessons learned and the knowledge gained by doing this swap is priceless. by the time your conversion is finished, you will understand your vehicle so much more and that may just be the difference between getting home and not getting home, and/or cheep fixes vs paying someone else bucketloads of hard earned cash to do it for you and possibly not doing it to the standard that you could have done yourself. my advice is do it once do it properly ask questions and just have a good go at it. pm me if you get stuck,

cheers, Rod.

[fnqcairns]

Ahh! stop pushing up the price of td42s!! one day my born as a diesel GQ might need another engine and you blokes are going to make me pay 3x as much!!:(...

[Jared2312]

Hi im looking at doing this conversation will I need to change the diff ratios I'm running 31s ATM

[chpd80]

Diff ratios will be fine with the new diesel engine.

When I did mine I used the Petrol clutch but had to change the flywheel to the diesel flywheel as the hole pattern was different. (and of course you will need the bellhousing for a diesel as well).
Dont forget the fuel filler neck which will be smaller diameter for the petrol, and the diesel pump at the servo wont fit down into it. I remembered when I tried to fill up with a line of people waiting at the local servo, (embarrising)
I certainly learned alot about diesels by doing the conversion myself.

[pigletracing]

Ive done a few searches and got a little bit of info but I still need a bit more. I'm considering converting my GQ petrol to diesel.
What is involved?
I know I need the motor,
Can i use the bell housing, clutch (mine is only 2000k old) starter motor or do I need to get diesel ones, Also radiator and airfilter housing.
I know I would need an alternator,and diesel sedmentor. I have a good 2 1/2 inch exhaust with extractors so would reuse them. Also how difficult is the wiring.
Has anybody done it and what problems were encountered?

Thanks

easy... FOLLOW THE STEPS.

1. GO TO SERVO, FILL TANK WITH DSL.
2. DRIVE CAR WITH DSL UNTIL ENGINE GO'S BANG.
3. BUY GQ DSL.

cheers piggy 0411444897


EDIT:
information regarding the posters vehicle has been deleted, I have however left his mobile number for those wishing to chase this vehicle further.

Piggy, there's a forsale section specifically for the sale of vehicles, in future please use it and link your add to threads such as this if need be.

Kingy

[V8Patrol]

thread cleaned.