Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 21:53:22 +1200
Reply-To: Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject: Re: Blew the heads (both)... DIESEL
In-Reply-To: <001c01c1b940$d17c14e0$8cb318c8@WINDOWS>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" ; format="flowed"
Hi Javier
Sorry to hear it, but I guess it was inevitable. Best leave your dead
engine as an offering on the plain at Nazca...
>1) I can get a Toyota LD24 diesel engine for about US$ 900.00
TOYOTA LD? Nissan car/van diesel engines of the 60s-early 80s were
the LD series (LD20 four, LD27 four, LD28 six). A Toyota 2.4 I can't
remember the designation of, but these are OK, but AVOID the 2.4
turbo!!! These drop valve seats, which destroys the engine. They are
well-known for this.
>2) Diesel is my engine (have to save gas money)
Sure will. Especially if diesel fuel is a lot cheaper than gas, as it
is here. But depends on the engine.
>3) DonĄt know if with or without turbo
Advice from importers of used Japanese engines: Best steer clear of
turbodiesels, they generally overheat and crack heads, as do Toyota's
2C-T (2.0) and 3C-T (2.2). Turbodiesels will SUCK fuel if you boost
much, and you'll have to, as there's little power off-boost. My wife
has a Toyota Estima (=Previa) with stock 3C-T, and it's economical if
driven gently, but at highway speeds it's ALWAYS on boost, and begins
to slurp (but I suspect this engine is very high-km and badly worn).
Driven over 110kmh, it starts to gulp. It had a replacement (used)
engine fitted just before we bought it because... head cracked. I'm
just waiting for it to crack again.
>4)Any comments on a Nissan engine?
I had an 88 Nissan Skyline GT-D Passage diesel, SOHC noncrossflow
RD28 six. Smooth, quiet, reasonably fast (automatic too), not very
economical. EXTREMELY unreliable engine, as I found out when it
reached 72000km and started eating oil, oil light began glowing at
idle... and I never did manage to fix the huge clouds of thick black
smoke it left whenever I hit the diesel pedal. I found that the last
owner in Japan was GIVEN the car because it was stuffed, and they
gave it away too... Only then did engine importers tell me they
stopped bringing in RD28s, as they are ALL buggered by 69000km!! The
bores and cranks wear, heads warp... junk. The LD28 this engine
replaced was somewhat more reliable, but noisy and crude.
Nissan diesel vans do not have a good reputation and in fact Nissan
vans of any kind are not very popular (it doesn't help that they're
ugly, at least the bigger ones). Nissan's 1989 Bluebird diesel was
not reliable either; someone in our taxi company was stupidly trying
to be different. Everyone else was running Toyota Coronas, mostly
diesel, but this person insisted on having a gas Bluebird. It gave
lots of trouble. She bought another and that one did too. She saw
diesel Coronas replace the gas ones, so bought a diesel Bluebird. It
gave no end of trouble. She was proud of her economy... until I
figured out that the Coronas were using half the fuel she was! She
ditched the Nissans and never looked back from her "new" Corona. When
one car dominates the taxi fleet, this is pretty good evidence as to
what lasts. Our diesel Corollas (1C 1.8) and Coronas (2C) have been
great. Nissan diesels have a real tendency to smoke badly, but
Toyotas generally do not.
>5) Which is the smallest diesel engine to move the van
Nonturbo 2C and 3C are fine engines, but somewhat underpowered for a
big van, though far better than a 1.6 Golf diesel engine! However
they would certainly do a manlike job. Ideal would be an EFI Toyota
1KZ 3.0 four or a 1KZ-T turbo (I have heard that THIS turbodiesel is
reliable, or rather, importers haven't reported any trouble with
them, and I'm told the big Hiaces so equipped really fly). But ehey
are expensive. Try a Daihatsu Charade diesel, that 1.0 triple's
exhaust throb sounds really nice!
>6) Is it possible to also add an automatic Toyota transmission along with
>the engine?
I would say no, because though you can position the engine so that
the diff output flanges are aligned with the rear hubs' input
flanges... (you'd have to get custom driveshafts fabricated, and if
this isn't very well-done they will probably break, probably when you
are 200km from civilization and armed bandits try to stop you...) you
would need to reverse the differential's rotation, as the
transmission will now be facing forward in FRONT of the engine, while
in the FWD car the engine would have originally been BEHIND the
engine, facing backward. This can't be done, I would think. An Audi
trans would work if inverted, but this will drop your engine down
about 10-15cm, which is unacceptable, especially in a country with
many rough roads. You cannot use a rear-drive transmission unless you
do a midengine job, which means a great big engine hump behind the
front seats (or else use an underfloor 3C-T Estima engine!). I know
someone in Germany has fitted a Golf V6 with trans into his T3, so I
guess the diffhead may be reversible in this Golf trans, but it might
not be able to stand diesel torque.
Best would be to fit a Porsche transmission, which rotates the
correct way and can handle the added torque (a G50 would be better
than a 915 trans). You would have to get an adaptor plate and
flywheel fabricated, as I doubt KEP or anyone else will have an
adaptor for any Japanese diesel engine to VW/Porsche transmissions.
The same adaptor plate will with with both a rear-engined VW trans
and Porsche trans.
All this would cost...
Regarding your specific questions:
I doubt the nonturbo Toyota 1/2/3C engine will fit under a stock T3
lid, but here is the measurement of the 1C (1.8-liter) crank-center
to top of head:
Note that later-model 2C engines have the vacuum pump on top of the
camshaft, so the engine is taller than pre1992 2Cs and all 1Cs). As
closely as I can measure it (access is restricted) the 1C in my
Corolla is very close to 40cm tall, measured vertically. A 2.4 would
surely need a raised lid. I include a jpeg of my van's raised lid,
which is a steel wall attached to the stock lid, to clear a 3.8 V6.
This will not reach the list. The FWD 1C and 2C engines are slanted
somewhat backward in FWD cars, with nothing crossing the valvecover;
earlier (RWD) 1Cs are upright and have fuel lines crossing the
camcover. Estima 3C-Ts are of course flat on their sides (a flat-4
that's not a boxer!), so would be an ideal conversion for a VW van...
apart from cracking heads.
Please ask again if I've confuesd you...
--
Regards
Andrew
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