A good diesel

[djmoore85]

Seems like this would be the best place to post/ask this, but who produces a good inline diesel engine, 4-6 cylinders, and possibly where to find it? And, if luck has it, a company that produces a good engine/tranny/transfer case setup for diesel? If this question should be in a different area, please let me know. Thanx in advance for any info.

[beef_bourito]

the dodge cummins inline 6 is pretty good. what are you planning on doing. it helps to know your goals so that we can provide you with the best advice for your case. so what displacement are you looking for, where is this engine going, what are your performance goals, etc. the dodge I6 is as big as some of the other diesel v8's in terms of displacement, the nimber of cylenders doesn't really determine the displacement.

[curtis73]

I agree with the cummins. The 6BT like the 5.9 used in medium duty trucks and the dodge ram is darn near bulletproof. Its smaller cousin the 4BT is the same engine geometry minus two cylinders.

The older Mercedes diesels were never overly powerful, but they are very reliable.

One diesel manufacturer that caught my eye recently is MWM. They are a brazilian company recently acquired by International. They make a family of 4.2L inline sixes that range from all mechanical with a wastgate turbo, up to completely electronic with a VATN turbo.

Nissan makes a pretty good line of diesels with the newer UD trucks. www.udtrucks.com

I've personally never dealt with them, but VW has a wide variety of diesels ranging from 1.6L fours to 2.5L inline 5 and V6, and isn't there also a V10 diesel from VW in overseas markets? I've heard mixed reports. Power and smoothness are great from what I've driven, but they say their long-term reliability isn't up to snuff.

After you've chosen a diesel, the tranny is easy. Almost any of the inline diesels you choose will either have an SAE bell pattern, or the manufacturer will make SAE adapters for it. Then you just choose an SAE transmission. For instance, the cummins has an SAE#3 bolt pattern, so with almost no modifications you could bolt up any of the Allison medium duty automatics, a Ford 4r100 or e4od from a powerstroke application, a T10 four speed, a Dana spicer 6 speed... pretty much anything that was ever installed behind medium duty diesels, or anything available today. Nissan makes 6 speeds for behind their own UD engines. Aisin makes automatics for SAE applications. The possibilities are endless

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Almost any of the inline diesels you choose will either have an SAE bell pattern, or the manufacturer will make SAE adapters for it. Then you just choose an SAE transmission. For instance, the cummins has an SAE#3 bolt pattern, so with almost no modifications you could bolt up any of the Allison medium duty automatics, a Ford 4r100 or e4od from a powerstroke application, a T10 four speed, a Dana spicer 6 speed... pretty much anything that was ever installed behind medium duty diesels, or anything available today.

I have read the SAE#3 pattern the same as the small block chevy V8 pattern.
Is this true?
If yes, it would make some swaps quite attractive.

[curtis73]

I'm proud of you MagicRat. I expected you to reply, "there's no such thing as a good diesel"

The SAE patterns are not like corporate patterns, so the #3 isn't a chevy style thing. The SAE standards for bell patterns were established to make things easier for the genset manufacturers to match up their powerplants to the generators, and it caught on in the 60s to include medium and heavy trucks, marine, and agricultural applications.

Here is a picture that might help with identifying SAE patterns:

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by curtis73

I'm proud of you MagicRat. I expected you to reply, "there's no such thing as a good diesel"

I did consider exactly that reply!
But that would have been too easy. Maybe I should say a 'good diesel' has a really tall exhaust stack!

Thank you for the SAE chart. It was exactly what I was looking for and explains the bell housings on the trucks I have owned in the past
(my Cummins L-10 (in my Ford 9000 truck), my stinky Cummins 855 (in an International S-2600) and my massively stinky Detriot Diesel 6-71. (GMC Brigadier)

[djmoore85]

This thread was in reference to a thread in the Jeep forum, I am going to be rippin out the now-useless I-6 that is in my 94 Wrangler and want to build a reliable diesel drivetrain for A) It will be my primary vehicle when I get out of tech school/basic for the first couple of years in the service, B) I want something that will do good off-road such as mudding or mild to moderate trail conditions, not necessarily rock-crawling, but if I have to go off the beaten path, that low-rpm torque would be mighty appreciated. This would be the basics of what my application would be. And as a side note, I do know fram, suspension, etc. may require strengthening to deal with any weight issues, that is why I am leaning more towards a I-4 or possibly I-5. If I could fit the I-6 with no issues, then I will. Definitely wish to keep it inline instead of V- layout for balance purposes and engine bay space. If you need any other info let me know, and any feedback I get is much appreciated.

[beef_bourito]

dodge has the I6 diesel, it's also of the same family (chrysler, dodge, mercedes, plymouth, jeep) so it might be easier to do than if you wanted to put something from gmc or ford. you can put that in then get a banks performance kit that will increase gas mileage, power, and torque without affecting reliability. it can add over 250lbs of torque and 100+ hp easily. that will help get you out of those sticky situations that a stock one might not be able to do without sacrificing gas mileage or driveability. i don't know how much it weighs or anything like that but i'd suggest using that or one of the v8's from ford or gmc because they're designed for trucks and will be more likely to get you out of tough places than the ones made for cars.

[djmoore85]

Originally Posted by beef_bourito

dodge has the I6 diesel, it's also of the same family (chrysler, dodge, mercedes, plymouth, jeep) so it might be easier to do than if you wanted to put something from gmc or ford. you can put that in then get a banks performance kit that will increase gas mileage, power, and torque without affecting reliability. it can add over 250lbs of torque and 100+ hp easily. that will help get you out of those sticky situations that a stock one might not be able to do without sacrificing gas mileage or driveability. i don't know how much it weighs or anything like that but i'd suggest using that or one of the v8's from ford or gmc because they're designed for trucks and will be more likely to get you out of tough places than the ones made for cars.

For sure, I would definitely not use one from a car, the Cummins I6 is my top choice, but if room/weight becomes an issue, then I would have to move to finding a reliable I4, and I was looking into the Bank's PK, I would have to see if I end up going with a I4 whether they make a kit or not for the engine I get. Hopefully I can squeeze the Cummins in, because I could just transplant the tranny, transfer case and such straight to the Jeep, and drivetrain problems solved! The axle/diff rebuilding would probably be left to me though, as those components from a 4x4 Ram would definitley not fit. I'm not too sure there is enough room under the hood for a V8 diesel, and I would prefer to keep the inline setup so there would be room to do work on it if needed. Any other suggestions, all radical ideas, pretty much just throwin stuff out and puttin what will work together, so any suggestions yall have I'll take and look into. Thanx again for all the help