My Neighbor's 40 MPG Jeep Wrangler Diesel Conversion
86My Neighbors Diesel Jeep
I own a 1997 Jeep Wrangler with a four cylinder gas engine and five speed manual transmission.
Around town it gets about 16 mpg and on the highway about 20. While this isn't as bad as a Hummer I think it should do better, especially for such a light vehicle.
One thing the Jeep does not have going for it though is its shape. Jeeps are aerodynamically like a brick. They have to push a lot of air aside and this eats up mileage.
The only way you might get more mileage is to lower it down a bit. (I shudder at the thought, I mean why have a Jeep then?) or to change the engine as my neighbor Jim recently did.
Jim has the kind of shop that I envy, a twenty by forty foot domed barn with a rolling lift that he can remove engines with. He has the works, air compressors, lots of tools and body work equipment.
His latest project was to take the engine out of a 2002 diesel Jetta and put it in his Jeep Wrangler.
I'm not 100% on all of the details involved but he had to modify the transfer case because of differences in the torque of the diesel compared to the old gas engine.
The Jetta engine fits fine inside, with room to spare, on new modified motor mounts. The fuel tank, flushed and cleaned is the same one.
I drove around in it with him and it sound almost the same, with a little throatier diesel growl on hills.
He claims that he has checked it numerous times by dividing the amount of miles driven by the amount needed to top off the tank and he is getting at least 40 mpg on the highway, sometimes more, and around 30 mpg city.
Here in our area diesel is costing about 70 cents more than gas per gallon but even at that rate it is still a big improvement, not to mention the extended cruising range.
The diesel Jetta Wrangler conversion handles hills in four wheel drive just as easy, maybe better thanks to low end torque, as the old gas motor.
I think Jim just may be on to something. He is talking about starting a diesel Jeep Conversion company and I might be his first customer.
Update To Story: My friend and neighbor passed a way last year, a few months after I wrote this hub. His son drives the diesel jeep now. I really think he was on to something good. It is too bad that too many states have such tough laws against converting a vehicle to diesel. I would advise anyone who wants to do a similar diesel jeep conversion to first find out what the state law is on that subject.
Diesel engines are a much more efficient way of using fuel. That is why they are the engine of choice in most of the cars on the road in Europe, where fuel costs three times what it does here.
I'm not a mechanic and not about to try anything so bold but have done some things to my Chevrolet Silverado 1500 truck to squeeze another one to three miles per gallon out of it.
Here are some of those things I've done: How To Get Better Fuel Mileage From a Full Sized Pickup Truck
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Is there anyway I can get your neighbors contact information to find out what he did. Sounds like a very interesing conversion
I'd pay your neighbor to put a TDI in a wrangler for me. It would be 1 to 2 years before I'd be able to do it but I would love to have a wrangler with that engine in it. Please post any information you have about how much he would charge to do it, how long it would take etc.
He's an older gentleman who just works on his own projects but he's flattered from the attention my hub brought to his project. I'm going to see if I can take a photo of under the hood. I suggest googling "jeep to diesel conversion". You can often find TDI engines from Jettas in the salvage yard. Contact a local engine shop to see about finding someone to do the swap.
Could you ask your neighbors what transfer case did he use
and how he find out the correct setting/ratio
I'm planning on doing a simmilar "upgrade" using a Mercedes Diesel Engine
Inspired by your enighbourg experience and this web site
see this link --> http://www.dieselbombers.com/diesel-engine-convers
Thank you for sharing with us
Could you ask your neighbor what transfer case did he useand how he find out the correct setting/ratioI'm planning on doing a simmilar "upgrade" using a Mercedes Diesel EngineInspired by your neighbor experience and this web site
see this link --> http://www.dieselbombers.com/diesel-engine-convers
Thank you for sharing with us
And I'll be his second customer! All this bull about America not being ready for diesel is so messed up. I mean come on, 2009 VW Polo in the UK, a little smaller than a golf 3-cylinder diesel gets over 72 mpg and requires almost no engine maintenance!
Almost every car sold/made in in our great America, that gets bad/ok gas mileage, has an exact same euro counterpart with a diesel engine that gets almost DOUBLE the gas mileage. Can you imagine driving a REAL SUV (Jeep, Land Rover, 4Runner, Range Rover, Suburban, Land Cruiser) that gets26-40 mpg! or a Big luxury car (jaguar, BMW) that gets over 50 mpg!
Well they're not ferry tales, there just in the rest of the world, not North America . . . they say its because the infrastructure is not there for diesel and diesel is dirty. BS! Gas stations that want to move with the times can change a gas pump to a Diesel one, not to mention it could be a free government project to clean up the environment and create a lot of jobs (yes thats right! new diesel technology uses less fuel to go a mile and burns a lot cleaner the the same amount of Gasoline! thank you BMW Audi Mercedes!) and everyone knows that in the US diesel is a little more expensive, and I can't figure out why! Diesel fuel takes many less steps to make and refine than gasoline that takes more time and more steps!
So lets recap, Diesel burns CLEANER, is better for the ENVIRONMENT, gets almost DOUBLE MPG, is CHEAPER and FASTER to manufacture so SHOULD COST LESS, the infrastructure is in place with little modification needed, and the ENGINES themselves require ALMOST NO MAINTENANCE! Now if someone in our Government could give me a well educated answer as to why they don't bless our country with the benefits of diesel is our everyday cars, I would be willing to listen, but let me give you the only reason right now, its because their being paid by oil companies not to allow them here! The US uses the most gas in the world, if all of our cars used half the amount, oils companies would loose have their money from our pockets.
And this isn't a new concept, somewhere around the 1950's, a carburetor was invented to triple the MPG of early cars, the patent for it was sold to a major car manufacturer, and destroyed so it could never be used. If your still interested in things that were hidden from the world for profits sake, google prohibition and the automotive industry, or something like that
Come on people, lets scream to the government that we want Diesel cars today, and hydrogen fuel-cells tomorrow!
Great idea to convert to diesel but probably illegal to use on the highway without EPA approval and won't pass visual inspection in states with a emissions equipment inspection. Each state has specific requirements for engine swaps to newer technology and a simple swap would only be legal in pre emissions models circa 1970-72 or older, anything else would require lots of paperwork and certifications. I'm fortunate enough to live in a state without inspections so could get away with a lot on a personal basis but once it's done for a business the person doing the conversions could be in serious trouble.
A very informative as well as helpful hub, really. Keep writing.
diesel jeep wranglers are made in toledo ohio and shipped world wide.2.8 crd when I saw them auto and stick trans. I would buy one if they sold it here... best fuel economy makes the sport utlity fun and affordable.If only we had enough people here in this country who knew how great it is,( quiet,cleaner and cost benifit analisys says aok. )why the rest of the world gets the diesel options and we dont.
Becouse goverment is corupted by BIG OIL companies to the core.oxigen flows around the globe.by producing diesel wranglers in toledo and seling them everywhere except USA and Canada they dont "save"us.Plain and simple they rather see us spending big bucks on gas stations.
This was great :-) I've been thinking about this too as I've been wanting to see if I could change a Jeep Wrangler into a fuel-efficient diesel. I started thinking about the VW TDI because it seems like, to me, that they get about the best fuel economy around for diesels in the US. Thanks so much for letting us know about your late neighbor! I'm sorry for your loss.
I put a VW D24t out ot a volvo 760 in my restored cj5. Inline 6 turbo diesel, indirect-injection, 32+mpg and loads of torque with the stock jeep t5 tranny and dana 300 t-case in the stock locations.
For those of you wishing to do a Diesel conversion you'd be better off going with a 4BT Cummins engine. Same as the 6 cylinder Cummins only minus two cylinders. Plenty of power, plenty of transmissions to bolt right up, small size, great fuel economy, and a heck of a workhorse. 500K to a million miles isn't uncommon on these engines. It's a very popular engine for diesel conversions. The 4BT was used in many commercial applications, step vans, "Bread" trucks, even some portable worksite generators etc.
There are some great websites out there regarding this subject. 4BTswaps is probably the best I've found.
Personally I hate diesel from my days as a truck driver, I can't stand the smell of it. But you can't beat them for torque, efficiency, and durability. Europe has many highly efficient diesels, it's rather a shame the US hasn't pursued this technology.
"One thing the Jeep does not have going for it though is its shape. Jeeps are aerodynamically like a brick"
..Sometimes you've gotta sacrifice aerodynamics for style!
wut year was his jeep and what engine was the jetta
This is the answer I was looking for to save my Jeep.
Not 5 minutes on the internet and to already come across something that could change my mind on getting rid of the vehicle I love so much. I have been looking allot into bio-diesel and how well it works, what the benefits of using it are, and not to mention, have a way to say "I don't drive a gas guzzler."
I would never have even thought that a Jeep could ever get 40 MPG, if you really want to get people to know about this business I think it would be a great way to set up his own custom workshop to specialize in Jeep work, not to mention the engine swap work as well.
Just found this link on TDI Jeep conversions for YJ's with the AX-5 Tranny.
http://www.hpamotorsports.com/TDI-YJ-AX5.htm
I wish jeep would look into doing something like this out of the factory.
My brother put a vw tdi in his Samurai, and even with 33" mudders he gets 30 mpg, my mechanic back in Oregon converts Chevy trucks to cummins diesel, I had a suburban with the cummins conversion, I had a 4" lift and 33" mud tires, and pulling a large john deere tractor on the freeway I still got 25 mpg...come on America! lets pull our heads out!
Let me start off by saying that I love America and do not wish to be anywhere else other than here. Having said that, our nation has become too driven by greed. Ya'll have answered the most common question throughout this blog but I'll put them all together. Why won't America allow diesel engines in vehicles like the Jeep, certain SUV's, and others. Ready? Here we go- America makes money off of taxing gas. True they will make it off of diesel as well but with better mpg you're not fueling up as often and they aren't making as much money. Diesels can go more miles before needing maintenance but filters and oil for diesel cost more so this should cancel out. Diesel engines outlast gas BY FAR. Gas engines are considered worn out by 100-150k miles, whereas a diesel is just getting broken in good, cutting back on trades and the money made off of them. Oh and to the question of why diesel costs more than gas- Think of which vehicles use the most diesel...semi trucks and a lot of it. In my neck of the woods most purchase at least 100 gallons in a single stop and probably only average on the high side about 6mpg. They have no choice but to pay it considering that they don't have many other options. So you have the fuel companies to thank for that one. Think of the money they are making considering diesel is cheaper to manufacturer than gas. GREED RULES OUR NATION!!!
Interesting post you have. Nice, keep posting.
You guys might find this link interesting. I'm considering the swap myself however I wish the kit was a little more affordably priced. The tdi to Suzuki samurai kits are around 700 bucks. This one seems really steep at 2600.
http://www.hpamotorsports.com/tdijeep.htm There is the link.... there is a kit coming!
The reason there aren't more diesel vehicles in the US is due to California and their stupid particulate emissions standards.
I live in Canada (Montreal) and we also have this problem with corruption and greed within the oil companies and the government, they are making too much money to switch... besides what are we going to do about it, we depend on our vehicles too much and are too busy trying to earn a living/raise our families to fight. It's sad to say but the wake-up call for our governments has to be blood on the streets. As I am writing this the prices at our gas pumps is approx $5.12/gallon for regular unleaded. I have been travelling by car up and down the U.S. eastern coast (Vermont to FLA) every year for the past 20 years and I find the prices of gas is much more affordable in comparison. We don't have the same strict laws however for diesels here, you will see many more diesel cars than the U.S. but they are difficult to justy owning because they are much more expensive. IMHO, we will not see our governments letting in diesels anytime soon. Hopefully conversions like this Jeep will become so commonplace that the governments will have no choice.
NC
Hi. I live in Europe and indeed we have about 50% diesel cars here. The diesel technology is indeed very advanced however it is not that great. For example a diesel engine in the '90 was indeed indestructible gowever since 2000 the turbo diesel technology is not that reliable. There is the problem of the turbos that about 150.000 km need rebuild or replacement then there are diesel injectors, since the introduction of the common rail tech are about 1000 euros each (aprox 1.5k$)and they can often fail since the pressure that they operate are 14000 psi and there are a lot of rubber components inside of them. Also the consumables are more expensive on a diesel for example a diesel filter is 3 times more expensive than a gasoline one, diesel engines run only on fully synthetic oil, the spak plugs on a diesel are at least 5 times more expensive(altho they last longer), and also a gasoline engine starts at a compresio rate of 1:0(it runs poorly but it runs) a diesel will not. The good thing about diesels is their low end torque howevei in running costs here in europe you generaly buy diesel if you run more than 20000 km or more a year, otherwise is cheaper to run a petrol version of the engine of the same volume. In this case(wrangler) yes it would be nice to have an old school jeep with a nice low end torque, however 2600 $ is alot just for the kit + you have to buy the car that you intent to make a transplant to so here in europe it makes mor sense to buy the petrol version and mount a LPG(liquified petrolium gas) instalation on the petrol car. It is more economical, polutes less, and there are no headaches with the paperwork of the car. Hope this info helps
Hi guys, I live in Australia and own a 2007 JK Wrangler 2.8ltr Turbo Diesel. I love the car but would not recommend them to my worst enemy. Every time you need parts it takes two weeks to have them sent from singapore. I have just recently been told that my transmission is on its way out and will cost in the vecinity of $6000 to rebuild, then two weeks later the oil pump dies and they want another 6 grand in parts and 2 grand in labour as it is not a serviceable part. All this and the vehicle is less than a year out of new car warranty. This has unfortunately turned me off Jeeps and i will now never buy another Chrysler again.
Here is a link to the 1977 Jeep CJ-7 I converted to TDI diesel power. I love driving this thing. Diesel saved my Jeep!!!
John Gaga brought up an American phenomenon - they won't go to diesel here and it keeps our car costs deliberately high. He mentioned the Polo, and I asked a VW dealer once why they don't bring that one over because it would be really popular and his response was that it would compete with the Rabbit / Golf. Ludicrous! They are obviously forcing us to buy larger gas cars. My rant is this, American corporations such as auto manufacturers, Microsoft and so on, are deliberately keeping us poor and in debt. The truth is that we are still prosperous in America, but they make it hard for the common blue collar worker to get ahead.
This is a really fun hub, but my first thought was that if Jeep was able to put diesels in every Wrangler, they would never put anything as small as a Jetta engine in there, they would make sure it didn't get much over 30mpg highway and 26 in the city. Still an improvement but it would keep most people from spending the extra money on a diesel.
It is really sad that your neighbor passed away, but at least his son gets to enjoy the diesel mutant Jeep.
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Alex 3 years ago
I've been wanting to find someone who's converted a wrangler to diesel. It may be even easier now that they are making diesel wranglers overseas (not sure if they've brought them to the states yet). I'd love more info on how your friend did this, or where you are located-if it's close enough and he'd be willing I'd LOVE to have him do it for me.