Just pulled a 5-cylinder VM Motori 3.1L engine out of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Gotta be replaced with a freshly overhauled Isuzu 4BC2 for enhanced reliability. Altough lacks a turbocharger, one pulled out of a Komatsu engine is gonna be retrofitted into the Isuzu.

That was a busy week, the owner of that Lumina was really tired of feeding that V8 on petrol. Fuel efficiency increased with the 2.7L J2 replacing the 6.0L Chevy V8. If it couldn't keep 9kmpl on road traffic, now it does 12kmpl in city and around 14 on road. It was positively possible to keep the stock gauges and passive theft deterrent by converting mechanical input signal from the alternator pulley into electronic signal with emulators attached to the stock ECM so all the electronics work as they were supposed to do. Just the anti-lock brakes required some major work to get rid of the vacuum boost.

After disassembling a wrecked Kia Pregio yesterday, today is going to be a busy day. Even though I'm not really sure about the owner of a Chevrolet Lumina ute who claimed to be interested in the engine for a swap into his pickup, there's always a good demand for a recently-overhauled J2 engine anyway.

Isuzu C223 engines are nowadays pretty rare, altough a few ones can be still found in operating conditions. Well, now it's time to replace a timing belt, tensioner and pulleys of a C223 from a mobile electric power generator.

There was a long time since I messed with a petrol engine before. Replacing an ignition coil, spark cables and fitting a stator to replace the archaic distributor into a Ford 302W, but the good old 4-barrel carburator is going to be retained. The engine lays into the bay of a Mazda ambulance.

It's a very strange feeling to build a petrol engine for a bakkie originally diesel-powered, but that's what I'm gonna do right now. Just a few people can wholeheartedly tell they enjoy a Mazda R2 with its 64hp rating into a B2200, and even less ones would be confident to boost it when they want more power instead of trading it for something more powerful. Well, it was about time to get the tired unit out of a '93 Mazda overhauled after 20 years and some 600,000km of good services, but the owner turned out with a quite surprisingly idea to drop a Ford Cologne V6 with a freshly re-sleeved block, a pair of Weber 450cfm 2-bbl carburators with spring-activated 2nd stage instead of the vacuum-activated setup, and a distributorless electronic ignition. Crankcase breathers might be open instead of PCV-ported. I was expecting to just refurbish the old R2, but sometimes things go another way.

best engines for a vintage Ford full-size pickup repowering

American trucks have an unique style that is beloved by much people, but the engines are not the most fuel-saver ones. Having the engine replaced by a diesel unit may solve that matter, but finding the right engine for the vehicle is not so simple. Many options available, from 3-cylinder agricultural engines to V8 turbochargeds often larger than the petrol engine intended to be replaced.

Deutz 912w (indirect injection), 912 and 913 (direct injection) can be found in versions with 3, 4, 5 or 6 cylinders, with turbo available for the 4 and 6-cylinder units. These are still enjoyed because of the air cooling, saving space and weight from a radiator setup.

Perkins 4.203, 4.236 and 6.357 are old-school powerplants, but still well-known for a legendary reliability. On a sidenote, the 6.357 was designed to fit easily into the engine bay of any vehicle fitted with a stereotypical American V8 from the 50s, including passenger cars in spite of their tighter engine bays.

Mercedes-Benz has a wide variety, from the die-hard OM616 and its 5-cylinder OM617 version, which are still reasonable for the F-100/150, to many low-speed units which are still no overkill to the frame. OM904 is a good option for the F-250, still able to retain a honorable towing capacity.

From Nissan, TD-series and ZD-series are other options to consider. TD27 for the F-100/150, with the TD42 still able to move the F-250, benefitted from its size comparable to the MWM, a Brazilian engine which had been available for the '98-'05 RHD F-250 in Australia and Southern Africa. ZD30 can be found in naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions, and in spite of its DOHC head it can fit easily even into tight spaces, making it easier to retain some comfort features such as a high-capacity aircon.

Isuzu is another strong player in the diesel field. Nearly any engine which was available for the NKR and NPR can be used in a Ford full-size pickup. Even the slow 4BA1, once the standard for jeepneys, or the 4JB1, are enought for the F-100/150, providing a satisfactory performance even for a brand-new F-150, and altough it's quite risky they also work into the F-250. If it can move an overloaded jeepney, might not be that hard to move the F-250 actually. Anyway, I would not recommend anything smaller than the 4BC2 for the F-250. 4HF1 is another great powerplant for a full-size Ford.

The Ford Fiera used an older carburator-fed version of the Endura-E 1.3 petrol engine that was used in the Ford Bantam bakkie, that also had the option for the Endura-D 1.8 diesel while the Fiera had an outsourced Isuzu C-240. Ford didn't invest so much on light diesel engines before as it does now. But a truck without a diesel engine can be at last a half-truck, not a real truck. Even an ego-hauler F-350 with a petrol V8 or that boat-anchor V10 that has less torque than nearly any 4-cylinder heavy-duty turbodiesels above 4-litre is less worth than a non-turboed Toyota Dyna.

It's always a pleasure to come back in Namibia. A nice place to perform experiences with fish-based fuels and lube oils, by the way. I have already seen some people stuffing differentials with raw fish livers, but they deteriorate quite quickly so I don't advocate for that, a better way is to extract the liver oil, filter it properly and then it can be used to lube gears, including older non-electronic automatic gearboxes, or as a feedstock for biodiesel. Some people might be thinking I gone crazy for being favorable to use it into automatic gearboxes, but the first ATF fluids were based on whale oil. Anyway, fish liver oils can also be directly blended with regular diesel fuel as I have done a few times.

Semi-bonnetted puller vans became quite an obsession to me, there was simply no rear-driven van to keep up with the Fiat Ducato on the open road. After watching what a Ducato can do with the smaller 2.3L engine, I don't understand why there are some American nationals skeptical about the 3.0L that goes in their local version, the Ram ProMaster. Maybe it's not amerikano enought as it would be with a Cummins or a Caterpillar under the bonnet, but the only feasible Cummins engines to bolt into that are made in China anyway, the ISF-series. Sure the Ducato is not a beauty contest winner with its froggy front fascia, but it sounds good enought to get the jobs done, and it's more comfortable than the average forward-controlled vans. Perfect match for the ambulance segment with its full-width body.

front-driven vans have a pleasurable ride

Took a ride in a Fiat Ducato semi-bonnetted van. That 2.3L Multijet turbodiesel really feels stout, could be a good replacement for nearly every petrol V6 altough its 120hp might be portrayed as underpowered at a first sight. Front wheel drive in a van might sound weird for many in the Philippines, but it doesn't perform so badly. Have also seen a handful of those Opel Vivaro mid-size vans available in Singapore, larger than the Zafira formerly available in the Philippines, seems like Southern Africans became more open-minded in regard of commercial vehicles and its drivelines. Even though their layout is not so smart regarding the overall vehicle extension as a forward-control van they get benefitted from the lower deck height, which in passenger vans increases the comfort and in cargo vans the cargo volume is higher due to the lower frame profile since there's no need to overcome driveshaft clearance. Car-like cornering is also possible due to the front wheel drive, enhancing stability. Our driver got a Volksie (as the T3 Volkswagen vans are affectionally called in South Africa) for his family use, which only advantage over the Ducato is still the ability to cope with rougher terrain in cross-country trips due to the weight balance and independent rear suspension, but wouldn't miss a chance to get its 5-cylinder petrol guzzler replaced by a Multijet...

EGR bypass in a Chevy Trailblazer today, 2WD with manual gearbox and 2.5 engine. A hose and clamps to bypass the cooler, then removed, with blanking plates around the EGR valve body which couldn't be took apart because of the signal input required by the ECU. Turbocharger spools up quicker now.

Keeping a Fiat Strada on the road

I've worked on a Fiat Strada for the first time yesterday. A nice little bakkie, as the locals refer to pickups in South Africa. Unfortunately we didn't have this one in the Philippines, but is a good 3/4-tonner which is slightly bigger than second-hand Japanese multicabs but more comfortable and stable, which would be a desirable feature to cope with hilly roads. The 1.7TD engine with 70hp feels more responsive than its power could suggest, and is related to the 1.3 naturally-aspirated which was available in the Fiat Uno once assembled in the Philippines.

Replacing and hooking up the glowplugs of the old Hilux was a must today, and now it fires up quickly. An upgrade to Cummins-styled grid-heater is not discarded, because it's deemed more reliable and longer-lasting.

This time the job could be performed quickly. The 4JB1 ended inside a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee that originally had a 318cid V8. The automatic gearbox was too slippy, not deemed worth to keep, got replaced by a manual out of a rolled-over Isuzu Rodeo. There is still some wiring work left to be done, but it's gonna be arranged with signal converters that will allow the stock OBD-II controllers to give input for the electronics. Even the ABS brakes are fully-operational, but the vacuum booster was bypassed and now is gone.

It had been a long time ago since I've driven a Toyota Hilux with the 2L engine. I used to like the L-series Toyota engines because they fare well using waste cooking oil as fuel. Glowplugs on the one I driven were not hooked up, so cold start-up required some sort of lighting fluid to pre-heat it. I was scared as hell, but it worked.

Dismantling an old skidsteer tractor last night I got a good surprise to find out it had a 4JB1. This little jewel of the Japanese crown might find its way into a Jeep as usual, but this time a Grand Cherokee instead of a Wrangler.

EGR bypass in a Corolla with the 2.0D-4D turbodiesel, not related to the old 2C. Just bypassed the cooling fluid lines and blanked the valve body, but didn't delete it. Had to clean the intake manifold which had lots of soot deposits starting to clog. A water+meth injection is still considered to come, and might still keep NOx in standard levels or even reduce them more than the EGR could ever do. Plus, the combustion will get enhanced not just due to the absence of EGR but because of the water+meth too.