First post here apologies if it's long

Looks like I am in the right place finally, I have posted this on a few other boards and not gotten much in the way of answers.

I have been offered a 1988 Nissan King Cab 4x4 Automatic Pickup with a siezed V6 (VG30??) Cheap. Timing belt went and the engine ate itself. It's straight and pretty clean.

So I immediatley thought about converting it to diesel and ultimatley Vegoil or Biodiesel. I have my 2003 Jetta TDI running on Straight Vegtable oil (well not this month, but for the last 15K miles it has)

I did some looking around at the Jap/JDM engine importers websites and there are a few different Nissan Diesel Engines available. I would like to use a 4cyl Turbo Diesel.

I did some googleing and found that D21 4x4's were available with TD27T 4 Cylinder Turbo Diesel engine and Automatic Transmission. Like this 1992 Nissan Turano 1 (Pathfinder) 4cyl TD Automatic for sale in Japan.

I am not at all familliar with Nissans, I have been mostly a GM and VW diesel user.

I did some searches here and it looks like a couple of you have done this swap, if I am not mistaken the TD27T Engine will bolt up to the Gas 4cyl HB/pathfinder Bell Housing and use the same mounts correct??

Is the TD27T mechanical or electronic injection??

I called one of those places that import the JDM Front Clips for the ricers NAD Auto is near me in Atlanta They can get me a Terrano 1 Front Clip with the TD27T, 4x4 Auto Trans, rear drive shaft, rear diff, ecu, wiring harness and diesel fuel tank like this JDM Toyota 4Runner 2L-Turbo with Automatic Front Clip for around $2000.00. That's not a bad price considering what it comes with and it's a turbo diesel motor. Anything diesel isn't cheap. (I have called around some wrecking yards and have been quoted $600-$800 for a used V6.)

Any help or input appreciated from anyone that's done a diesel swap in
a Nissan truck or is using the TD27T would be great. I would like to
particularly know about the reliability and parts availablity.

I did some usenet searches and found a bunch of posts from people in the UK and Australia seems they are very happy with the power and reliability of the DT27T. A couple of posts about towing boats with them owners had nothing but nice things to say.

I am in the process of trying to track down the availabilty of spare parts, filters, and manuals. If I can find an available source for the stuff, I may just do it.

Looks like parts going to be available from Nissan Fork Lift Dealers in the U.S., have them mailed from Austrailia, or some combination there of. As far as filters go I am sure they will cross reference to something available in the states.

I found a source for a Terrano 1 owners manual and a TD27T (engine only) shop manual (covers engine only) in english Here. Still would need a Chilton / Haynes equivalent for the wiring and tranny which are different than the US models. Maybe there is something in Australia or New Zealand.

On another note while surfing for engine info I came across a bunch of D21 Crew cabs.

I have never seen any of those before, Can the Cabs and Frames be brought in as parts?? I didn't ask the guy at NAD Auto if they can get them or how much.

Probably allot of money to spend on an old truck, but would be a nice project. Don't see many D21 Turbo Diesel Crew Cabs Around in the U.S.

If Possible I would avoid an automatic at all costs.

Don't know much about that particular engine, but IIRC the biggest issue with converting to diesel is emissions laws. Might want to check in your state to see what the rules are.

quote:

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Originally posted by System-F:
If Possible I would avoid an automatic at all costs.

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Are the Slush Boxes that bad???

quote:

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Originally posted by Packman5280:
Don't know much about that particular engine, but IIRC the biggest issue with converting to diesel is emissions laws. Might want to check in your state to see what the rules are.

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I don't know what the exact rules are but, currently there are no state emission or vehicle inspections.

I dunno.. the slushboxes arent THAT bad.. just keep the fluid cool and change it if it ever gets too hot.

I leave the AT in it for now, more swapping than I already want to do. If it goes belly up I can swap it then.

Good news on the parts front. I emailed Jesco Engines. They told me they do not stock parts for the TD27T but, they can special order them.

nothing wrong with the slush boxes.. I am simply warning about the extra power absorbed by the tranny even with the torque converter locked up. You can get away with it on a larger diesel but with a smaller diesel a manual transmission is going to provide worlds more power to the rear end... imho

Good point, I have driven a few Mercedes 240D Automatics, I know what ou are talking about.

I have been doing some more searching.. Found a listing of Terano filters on a Russian Webpage It lists fuel, oil, and air filters from Bosch, Fram, Purolator, etc. I haven't been able to find them listed from any US sources yet.

Looks like I am going to do the swap, I'll need a few months at least to get going. The Front cut will take a month or two to get here. My wife also announced today she found a new house so we will probably be moving as well. I'll buy the truck with the bad motor I just need a place to store it now I might be able to stash it at a friends house. Upshot is I will have time toreally research it and source parts.

On the crew cab subject I found a picture of a guy sitting in the back of one.

Looks pretty cramped, no more space than my Jetta Wagon. probably wouldn't be worth while to get a cab mod the frame, etc. I'll ask how much one is and see about it now that I have time..

You could always stretch it by adding an extended cab to the crewcab to give you all kinds of room. Any bodyguy could do that. Then move the seat back and you have a Nissan Limo with legroom galore

Holy Crap, Great Idea. Don't know if I could keep it a long bed though, that would be one long ass truck but it would be the shizz off road...

Something else I thouht of.. take just the tops of the doors and rear roof/window section from the crewcab.. and graft them to the bottoms of the pathy doors and C pillar of a pathfinder.. so you'd have a wheelwell that goes slightly into the doors but with all the headroom and flat back window of a crewcab. Then weld in a section from a harbody bed including the front of the bed (to form the bed wall behind the backseat under the rear window), and bob the tailend so you get a short 3-4ft bed with tailgate behind the "crewcab".. but it'd all be part of the body of the truck.. Now THAT would be cool.

I've thought about doin this to my truck for a while. It would really be the only way you could do it, as the old crewcab bodies may not be street legal here in the US, due to no crash testing. But, modifying a Pathfinder body would be completely legal and would retain the correct VIN #s and you could get an ultra-short wheelbase.

FWIW, you could even use the rear part of a regular cab pickup cab & part of the door frames to do it if you have a pathy body around.. The only tricky part would be finding glass, which you might be able to get from a crewcab fronty with some careful placement of the door frames.

quote:

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Originally posted by datz510:
It would really be the only way you could do it, as the old crewcab bodies may not be street legal here in the US, due to no crash testing. But, modifying a Pathfinder body would be completely legal.

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See that's what I don't get about the U.S. laws and the NTSB it's just doesn't make any sense.

You can't bring in a non crash tested crew cab truck because it is "unsafe".

Meanwhile they'll alow any idiot with a sawzall and a welder (no not you datz510 ) to to create frankenstien's monster, put tags on it, and drive it because at one point it was a "crash tested" vehicle.

I once saw a truck a guy built by welding a Chevy Suburban 4x4 and the bed and frame of a Chevy Long bed truck together. It was totally ghetto Style Tan in front Blue in the back and rust all over. Thing had to be 25ft-30ft long.

I have also seen countless other weird mods like turning a 4 door sedan into a "convertable" by hacking the roof off. There is also guy around here with a toyota pickup that welded another set of front doors into the cab. He chopped the fronts off so they were square welded them shut, welded sheetmetal over where the windows were so it was all closed up and solid and was just a huge ass cab with 2 doors.

If can get a cab I'll splice it in between the cowl/winshield and b-pillar of a King Cab U.S. truck that's got a good VIN and call it a "Hand Built" custom truck.

Many states have safety inspections that would catch that sort of thing. Arizona doesnt and it surprises me sometimes when I see some of the "creations" on the road. Basically if it has 4 wheels, passes smog, and has a legal VIN#, you can drive it here.

No inspections or smog required here, I have seen a few rolling nightmares that weren't modded, well they had the dented, bashed, smoking, rusted mod going on.