The Mercruiser, 87FJ60 with a OM606

[Jacobs]

Nice work on the install. Looks well thought out.

Sorry to be off topic, but what is your impression going from a stock cam to the Colt cam in your Cummins truck?

Honestly if my cam wasn't bad I wouldn't have done it. It didn't cost much more than a stock one and made sense at the time. I did it for fuel mileage but so much changed I'm not sure how much it helped. The truck did go from a 5800 lb 2wd to a 8000 lb 4x4 and my mileage remains at 19 or so, but it also went from auto to manual. Most guys say a cam isn't worth it unless you're pushing a lot of air and power... It does sound really cool

 

[esh]

Thanks! We have got to get him to at least finish the spacer on a lathe, the mill just didn't have the required tolerance, and I think steel is much more appropriate. He is a good guy, very inventive. I also had to cut a notch in the adapter plate for the clutch slave cylinder to fit and one bolt hole was off about 40 thou. You know though, I've installed aftermarket bumpers sold by the thousands that require more modification to fit, so props to Luke!

Edit, I also added the dowel pin to the spacer to match the stock dowel pin in the flywheel. Luke machined the flywheel for the Merc bolt pattern and that turned out perfect though. I think that's a good addition, we also used the dowel pin on the Merc crank so the spacer is dowel pinned at both ends, but I think he had that already.

Nice job, especially working out the tricky parts! Glad to hear the motor mounts are holding up. I'd read about long term concerns with liquid filled Merc or Rover mounts in a 4x4 truck setup and have been thinking of using cheap, thick Cummins mount pads for my OM617. Also stoked to see you mounted them similar to what I had planned.

Luke won't have the lathe up for a while.. one of the assistants did some significant damage to it recently. :-/


Now, let's see an OM642 swap.

 

[69rambler]

Honestly if my cam wasn't bad I wouldn't have done it. It didn't cost much more than a stock one and made sense at the time. I did it for fuel mileage but so much changed I'm not sure how much it helped. The truck did go from a 5800 lb 2wd to a 8000 lb 4x4 and my mileage remains at 19 or so, but it also went from auto to manual. Most guys say a cam isn't worth it unless you're pushing a lot of air and power... It does sound really cool

Thanks for the reply.

 

[D1Scout]

electronic issues

After switching to the 603 IP what other electronic/ecu issues did you have to overcome? I'm thinking about using a OM606 turbo in a project also switching to the 603 IP, but don't want to have to rely on any electronics/ecu...

Your expertise would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Falco80]

Wow, awesome job. Good to see something different to an OM617. From all i've seen the 606 is a great engine that you can get quite a bit of power from. Got any vids of it running?

 

[warpdriv]

any updates?

 

[mbz]

hey buddy, I am new in this forum and could not believe my eyes when I seen your post on the 606 swap, I am in the shipping business and ship Mercedes diesel to south America and also own a 87 land cruiser that I hate how it runs, spent to much money already on carburetor and it still runs runs like crap, and since I've shipped hundreds of the 98/99 e300td and drove lots of them, my dream has always been to put a 606 motor in my land cruiser, I think I found the person to do this, is there a way I can get a hold of you besides this forum?, phone number?.
Regards,
JG

 

[ColToyota]

A few other things to note, the 603 pump shuts the engine off with vacuum, with some clever use from a VSV I was able to get it to shut off using 12V.

The transmission I was able to retain the factory crossmember but had to modify it. It really was a matter of straightening out the engine so it wasn't mounted diagonally if you will.

Glow plugs have to be hooked up, I just ran them to a momentary button and a Ford starter solenoid since an ECM has controlled them since about 1970. This works fine, but they like to be run for a few seconds on and off while the engine is warming up. It rattles really loud if you don't until warmed up. Common mod on old Mercedes diesels when the ECM fails.

You have to buy the injection pump lock tool to swap the injection pump. I guess you could get by without it, but I wouldn't attempt it. I borrowed it from an employee at the owners shop. The timing is done by an AB light (search around)- but I assume I got it so close it was fine, or they re-set it.

From talking with the owner, I would expect 18-25 mpg out of a 606 with a 603 pump, depending on tire size, lift driving conditions etc, and it's not a cheap swap.

The engine sounded just perfect. Sounds like it belongs in there, it had the Merc diesel rattle quite nicely, but not obnoxious. It makes tons of power, WAY more than a healthy cammed 2F, but is a bit sluggish while the turbo spools up. The wastegate defaults to open so if you try to drive it without boost control, it's a complete dog.

I have the spacer and adapter plate in a CAD file, I paid to have it copied- I'm not going to steal 4x4 labs work, but if I can't get him to make me one in under 6 months, I have options... Now to figure out that pesky pan and do this high class style to a really clean cruiser, I think that would really be just a killer setup.

Excuse my ignorance, What does mean VSV? I'm in the early stages of installing* an OM602 on to an FJ45.

Do you know if the OM606 has the same bolt pattern as the 602? It would be great if you can help me with the CAD files, I live in South América and it's hard to find these adapters over here. Thank you!

 

[orangefj45]

Vsv Vacuum Switch Valve.

Used on most cruisers from 81 thru 98 to control emissions, T-Case and other functions.

Georg @ Valley Hybrids

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

I'm not sure what you're talking about in your first post regarding the oil pan and pump etc.. It seems like some misinformation. The pan can be swapped with a rear sump pan from an OM648...direct swap and it uses the same gasket as the 606 pan. The OM648 oil pump is also utilized. There is absolutely no need to modify the pan or figure out a jackshaft style pump. Then there is the 1/3 of the oil pan being part of the motor mount? the motor mounts are completely engine block mounted and other people have in fact made new pans buy cutting off the mounting flange, the biggest issue is warpage and properly cutting down the oil pump pickup. As for the lower radiator hose and need for a custom radiator, You can use a generic flexhose like I did or get a hose skin kit from hose candy if you want to be really custom looking.

 

[JramFJ]

Thank you much! It's truly a hobby that turned into a profession, it's all I've been doing for $ for about 7 years now.

The 606 the owner got from an insurance buyback from his totaled daily driver, after doing some research the 606 is very robust compared to the 603. The late model 603's are pretty good from my understanding but the 606's are TOUGH.

The guys in this video are running a stock block 606 with a modded 603 pump, there is some BS in the video but it's pretty entertaining when he gets on the ragged edge of the 606 imo:

Jacob,
Do you know of anyone on the east coast that has done this OM606 swap in an FJ60/62? Actually any shops that have done it would be great? Really looking at diesel and absolutely can't see spending the money on the Cummins R2.8.

Thanks,
JramFJ