Build Mitsubishi 4D34-3AT3B diesel swap into 94 FZJ80

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Fromage said:
Re: Parts availability - Being a fairly significant player in the delivery truck market parts supply is good. I have a local dealer, they are knowledgeable. As with my Cummins swap into my Land-Rover the parts guys that work in the real truck world are usually a cut above. In my search I saw several of these Fuso trucks with 300, 400K miles so I figure the engine must be pretty good to have lasted that long. Also they are used in 4wd Canters in all kinds of nasty places (Oz, etc) and they seem to hold up. Pushing a little Cruiser around I'd probably say 500K kms between rebuilds, about the same as a 4BT, Isuzu 4BD1, etc.

The injection pump is a Zexel, basically a licensed copy of Bosch technology. No plans for biofuels in the near future. I want to squeeze 30 mpg (imperial)out of this mess. That is really my first goal.

Here is some info I found with respect to horsepower and torque curve:

2001_FESP_Page_2.jpg


Given the limited RPM range I think it's going to be a pretty strong little engine.
Click to expand...

Hi guys. First I would like to introduce myself and say thanks for the good reading.
Ive been researching a Diesel swap for my '98 LR Discovery for several months now and this post from Fromage came up a few days ago.
Im having issues in some of the LR forums....it seems several are wanting to argue rather than help.
I dont want to just PM anyone, I think that would be rude.
Fromage, have you posted the Cummins swap for your LR? If so please let me know where. If not and you dont mind sharing info, when is a good time to PM you about this?
If anyone has any input I would appreciate anything you have to share.
Thanks!
 
MD424 said:
Hi guys. First I would like to introduce myself and say thanks for the good reading.
Ive been researching a Diesel swap for my '98 LR Discovery for several months now and this post from Fromage came up a few days ago.
Im having issues in some of the LR forums....it seems several are wanting to argue rather than help.
I dont want to just PM anyone, I think that would be rude.
Fromage, have you posted the Cummins swap for your LR? If so please let me know where. If not and you dont mind sharing info, when is a good time to PM you about this?
If anyone has any input I would appreciate anything you have to share.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Where globally are you?

I have both a RRC with a 4BD1T (zero lift, 1" longer bump-stops) and a RRC with a factory 300tdi. IMO the cummins packaging doesn't work as well for a landrover chassis.
 
Hey MD, I did not do a thorough write up on the 6BT 109. I am currently working on turning it into a double cab with a longer wheelbase, bigger axles, and an NV4500, again, no build thread since progress is embarrassingly slow.

I would not do a 6BT in a Disco. The LWB leaf sprung trucks swallow a 6BT surprisingly well with some massaging, but the entire drivetrain needs to be updated. I had previously run 80 series axles on the 109 and finally decided to go to 1 ton stuff because of the torque and weight, and I had to heavily reinforce the frame. It isn't so much an engine swap as building a vehicle up around a LR body.

The coiler frames aren't as easy to swap the 6BT into, and the axles are a lot weaker as far as the steering knuckle/king pin and wheel hubs. I would be worried about the weight of the engine. There is a lot of info online about using the 4BD1T in a Land-Rover coiler, some of the guys in Oz have come up with adapters that allow the stock 5 speed trans from the NPR trucks to be used with an LT230. I think that would be an ideal swap, and cheap too, these trucks come up for 1000-1500 bucks in NY state when they are rusted out. The Fuso would be another good candidate, but because the transmission integration that exists with the Toyota A442F doesn't benefit you, I think I would stick with the simpler Isuzu engine and try and get the ready-made adapter from Oz.

Unless you want to make some serious power, the Isuzu should fit the bill pretty well, Dougal and others are getting up to 200 hp and 400 ft lbs of torque pretty reliably from the 4BD1T. Based on how the 145 hp Mitsu moves my heavy old 80 series around, 200 hp should make a Disco really get up and go.
 
Thanks Fromage!
The bigest source of my.....iritation is most of the kits and information was readily available for the Mitsu swap 15 or so years ago. Now that i need it not only can i not find them but it seems no one including the companies that used to offer them here even want to talk about it. I'll look at some places in Australia as well to see what i can find. At this point i want to do it just to show it can be done easily, corectly, and fairly inexpensively.
Please feel free to share my info with anyone who can help with the parts.
Thanks again!
 
I've seen a photo of one range rover classic with the 4D34, but it was a really early version with a fully mechanical pump. That would be a pretty simple swap. I wasn't aware that there were kits. Which trans do they use? The ZF?
 
Fromage said:
I've seen a photo of one range rover classic with the 4D34, but it was a really early version with a fully mechanical pump. That would be a pretty simple swap. I wasn't aware that there were kits. Which trans do they use? The ZF?
Click to expand...

Most of the kits that i had seen were in Defenders but id have to say at least two were in discos. Although if my mememory hasnt failed me i "THINK" they were all manual transmissions R380's and the LT775.
 
Lots of updates.

I finally figured out the timing mystery. There is a "pre-stroke cut" relay in the wiring harness. I didn't know what it did, so I started observing it, and turns out, it doesn't do anything in normal operation. You remove it to disable the pre-stroke actuator, which removes it from the equation, and pulls a whole lot of advance out of the pump. Then, you can time it to the EPA tag 3 BTDC number with a pulse adapter and timing light. Doing this results in about 12 degree advance at idle, and 16-18 at WOT (hard to measure with the pulse adapter).It's just like disabling the vacuum advance on a gasoline engine to ensure that you get an accurate timing measurement.

I also figured out how to increase fueling easily. The pump has barrels that are individually adjustable by rotating them from side to side (like a P7100 pump). Next time I remove the pump for any reason, I'll have a pump shop crank them over to the right and rebalance them.

I bought a Kinugawa 19T compressor housing and all the associated bits, exact same stuff as Wheelingnoob, which will hopefully show up soon, I can't wait to try it out. I have the small straight outlet Volvo hot side, so I will need to adapt something. I bought the flange from Kinugawa, but it's only a 2" outlet, so I'll need a weld reducer or perhaps I'll just tig weld the stainless weld elbow right onto the turbo. We'll see what works best for packaging. I got the 25 PSI wastegate spring, hopefully it's not too much, but I can get it to 20 PSI right now in 3rd gear so we'll see what happens...
 
I had learned the same about turning up the fuel on your 3at pump. Exactly right, like a P pump.
I installed a very heavy motorcycle kickstand spring on my wastegate and it will spool right up to 15psi when the blowoff valve pops. I have not had the guts to plug that blowoff yet.
Are you still running that exhaust?
Try it without before you take it all apart...
 
Update, the outlet flange is 2" pipe, so closer to 2.5", so it should work well with the exhaust I have.

Pacer, I've run it with the exhaust disconnected before the restriction and I didn't notice a big difference. I'm planning on finishing the last section of the exhaust (tailpipe) when I install the turbo. I am sure it will improve things a bit. With it timed correctly it runs really good right now, but I have been the boost pressure behaviour now that I understand what is happening better (small compressor on large hot-side) and I think the new turbo will make it a new truck.
 
That turbo should work awesome on your engine! Look forward to see what you think, mine builds boost very quickly, used a small pressure gauge to test and got 18psi at 1600rpm (tach has not been perfectly calibrated yet so +/- 200rpm).


...via IH8MUD app
 
Really looking forward to it. My stuff shipped from Taiwan. How long did it take to arrive in your case?
 
So, the fun begins. I pulled my Volvo D04HL apart and it looks like the turbine housing is full of cracks. Here is a picture of the piece.

La Pêche-20140716-00439.webp


So I guess that opens things up. The flange on the Volvo wasn't that great for the Fuso application, which has an oddball 4 bolt pattern (about 2 7/8 by 2 1/4). I guess I will start looking at turbine housings to see if I can find something that will be more suitable...
 
Fromage said:
So, the fun begins. I pulled my Volvo D04HL apart and it looks like the turbine housing is full of cracks. Here is a picture of the piece.

View attachment 918051

So I guess that opens things up. The flange on the Volvo wasn't that great for the Fuso application, which has an oddball 4 bolt pattern (about 2 7/8 by 2 1/4). I guess I will start looking at turbine housings to see if I can find something that will be more suitable...
Click to expand...


If I was home I would send you mine, its not cracked if I remember right. Will not be there for 4 weeks though.
 
So, I am getting somewhere with the turbo now. I machined the CHRA for the new wheel, easy enough. Next is balancing, sending it out tomorrow.

The next question is whether to water cool or not. The factory turbo is very similar and is not water cooled. The diesel applications do run a lot cooler and few are water cooled. Water cooling means adding a lot of extra hoses and complexity with little benefit. In this particular situation, I would have to run the hoses to the opposite side of the engine, and I'd sure like to avoid it. I am thinking about just plugging the water cooling ports with allen plugs and leaving it be.
 
So I now have another dilemma!

Lostih has a later TD04HL housing with the angled flange that he'll sell me, this is a 7 cm housing. It isn't cracked and the angled flange would actually work very well in my application since my downpipe is already 3 inches. Wheelingnoob has a straight flange housing that isn't cracked, which is 6cm and would also work, and the last option is a TD04HL T25 turbine housing, which I suspect is actually from an HX25 application, which has a flange that would work better with my existing manifold (still not perfect). It's the priciest option, about 180 bucks from Kinugawa, plus a flange.

http://shopping.kinugawaturbo.com/kinugawaturboturbinehousingtd04hlt25flange6cminternalgate.aspx

My preference would be for the 7cm housing due to packaging, but I don't want to compromise off idle boost. Any opinions? I looked through the 4btswaps thread where the td04HL-19T is discussed but I didn't see a reference to the turbine housing. In my rudimentary understanding, I don't think it really matters except for response and how quick the boost rises, but I know just enough to be dangerous.
 
Update, no pics (I know).

I bought another Volvo turbo at pick and pull for cheap. It's a 16T from a V70. I cleaned it up and this one does not have any cracks, and has the smaller 6cm exhaust housing with the straight flange. I also got the factory exhaust pipe flange, which will work perfect. I also bought some metric pipe plugs, to plug the water passage through the turbo, so i am definitely going oil cooled only.

Other update, I put 1100 miles on the truck last weekend on a whirlwind trip down to CT, then NJ, then home. I picked up a boat and pulled it home, so half the trip was towing. On the way down, I made it 725 kms (on GPS), which is 450 miles, on one tank of fuel, which I would estimate was 20 gallons. I filled up in Ottawa and the fuel light was flashing on and off when i got to Ledyard CT. That's about 22 mpg US, or 27 mpg imperial. I was very impressed, I don't usually use the truck for long hauls and it surprised me. My Subaru gets pretty damn near the same mileage!! I definitely wasn't driving like an old lady, but I tried hard to keep the speeds at 60 mph (which is hard, since this thing loves to run at 70 since it has such a high OD).

The GPS highlighted that my odometer is totally out of whack. It will skip out and not count miles for a while, then click back in. Very weird, I guess I am going to need a cluster. On the way back, towing 2500 lbs, I used a lot more fuel, coming down to about 18 mpg, but I was running faster on the way home as well (running the hills through PA).

Next thing is the turbo upgrade. It may take a while before i get to it...
 
Hey Fromage, any updates on the conversion? I know it was a fair while ago now, I just though it'd be interesting to see how it has performed in the long run. Love all the info, especially about the aw450/a442
Thanks, Sam
 
I sort of forgot about the thread. It's been over 100,000 kms since I completed the swap, haven't really had any issues with it. It did shear the rubber on a motor mount during an off-road trip (I am using Anchor 2469 mounts, and they are cheap for a reason). It was the one under the injection pump, so it did get doused in fuel a few times, and the rubber might have been weakened. I replaced it (10 bucks) and no further issues.

I did end up installing the TD04HL-19T last year and it made a big difference off the line. It will put out 22-23PSI now very easily, and it really cleaned up the exhaust. I also installed a pyrometer and I've never seen it go beyond 1100F. It's fuelled very conservatively and I think there is a lot of power potential left in the combination.

One other big change is that I swapped the 295s for 315 Duratracs. I was worried about stock gearing and the higher OD in the 450-43LE combined with the bigger tires, so I debated it for a long time, and finally pulled the trigger. It works great. On some hills you notice a loss of power in 4th, but 3rd is more usable and it will climb anything you put in front of it in 3rd at 65 mph actual. On fairly flat highways it just ticks along. It has so much torque that you can easily pass, merge etc. I think I will notice it more towing.

The trans is still awesome. The lockup in 2nd, 3rd and 4th really improves the trans a lot. It's a great off-road combination as well, and the high OD and bigger tires give it long legs on the highway.

Many of the guys I 4 wheel with have 1HDT powered rigs and the low-down torque and power is noticeably better with this engine. It is definitely rougher and louder than a 1HDT, but I feel it works better off-road. In some instances you need a snap of power, and the 1HDTs take a while to spool up, while the 4D3 has tons of torque on tap at just off idle. It really works well.

There are a few things I have to do in the near future. I'd like to cut and turn the front axle, since it's sitting at 3-4" lift with no caster correction, and I would like to replace the Magnaflow muffler with something quieter. I think the packing in the Magnaflow has gotten packed with soot or blown out, and it's noticeably louder than it used to be. The exhaust note on this thing is terrible, it literally sounds like a backhoe, so a muffler would be welcome.

I did some digging on injector tips as well. The tips on these look very similar to a Bosch tip from a Cummins, but they are a little bit longer. The spray angle is 146 degrees, pintle tip, and they have a fairly large hole pattern. Aftermarket 12V injectors are 145 degrees, are available with a bigger pattern, and are longer, but a fatter sealing washer could account for it. I might pull the trigger on some dieselautopower tips and see where that takes me.

All in all, it works great, very happy with it. I'll try and get a few pictures.
 
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