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1996 Plymouth Voyager DIESEL conversion - Suggestions?

12K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  Christ 
#1 ·
I have a 1996 Plymouth Voyager 3.0 6cyl.

I LOVE my voyager. Its one of the single most "comfortable" vehicles I have ever owned I do not want to give it up.

The tranny puked on me. no reverse to speak of and I have to "play" with it to get it to shift up the gears. Its dying. The engine is not so swell either but it runs fine overall.

Before putting all this work into it the only thing lacking in my voyager is fuel economy. Pre Ethanol I was average 26-28mpg leaning more toward 28mpg (I baby it)

Post ethanol I seem to max at 21-22mpg. Really sucks.

So before putting all this work into it the IDEAL solution would be to convert to DIESEL. If I could puta small 1.6L diesel engine into this I bet I could get 40mpg (the 1.6L can do 50+mpg but the voyager is a brute at nearly 4000 pounds!)

Is this possible? IS THERE a diesel engine and tranny combo (auto preferred) that will "kind of" bolt up to a voyager with minimal fab work? ie that will "fit" in the engine bay etc.. ??

ie anyone know if there is way to do this? I figure I can probably get a diesel engine and tranny for not much more than replacing the engine tranny that is already in their.

any help would be greatly appreciated! then I would have my wonderful dual slider comfy seats lots of head room cloud riding minivan AND diesel fuel economy :) (hey I can dream right?)

I REALLY love my voyager but so badly need better fuel economy.
 
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#2 ·
hi mate i cant advise on what tranny will bolt onto a diesel, but i would just like to say personally a 1.6 diesel would be so under powered to pull your van, giving really poor diesel economy. you should really do your home work and try get at least a 2.5 diesel..... good luck anyway!!!
 
#4 ·
This IS my homework. this is my initial "probe" into if its feasible.

and I think the 1.9L (my bad the 1.6L is a gas engine the 1.9L is the diesel) would be ok.

It is used in a 3,015 pound beetle. My minivan is 3400 pounds (this assumes the diesel engine and tranny are similar in mass) The Beetle is 1368kg's which google tells me is 3015 pounds.

I don't think the extra 400 pounds is going to have THAT much of an impact ??? Especially since I never "hammer" it ie push it. I always baby it :) shoot for max economy.

but if the 2.5L is the way to go. So be it. I just want to break 40mpg :)
 
#5 ·
There are thousands of these in europe. Unfortunately, they would be expensive to get because, well, they're in europe.

I would also wonder about whether you might have issues with your local jurisdiction's safety or emissions inspection process, if you swapped for a diesel. Should check out that stuff before you get too far.
 
#7 ·
Thats another beauty of diesel. in PA here Diesel is emissions EXCEMPT so my yearly inspection "tax" gets cheaper :)

Plus you can STORE diesel long term. Its home heating oil. so if I can a home heating oul tank get the permit install said tank. I can FILL IT with diesel fuel (big nono to use off road diesel in cars around here)

Then I can buy diesel when its cheap and at 40mpg half 2/3rd's of a tank is a YEARS worth of fuel!

thats all fun and all what I really care about is the long lifespan of diesel engines and the MPG's :)
 
#8 ·
Back in the late 90's I was stationed in Germany. There was a lot of those diesel minivans with 5 speed transmissions. I'd love to have one stateside. One gentleman I talked to said they come out of a conversion company in Italy. I haven't been able to find any information on the web about this.
 
#10 ·
If you want to get one for the States, why don't you look for a left hand drive one from France or Germany (or elsewhere on the Continent)?

FWIW, I rode in a Gen 3 van with a turbo-diesel and a 5-Speed manual transmission in Germany a few years back. The thing had over a half of a million Kilometers on it and the owner said that he usually kept them for three-quarters of a million to a million kilometers. Yikes!
 
#14 ·
Diesel swaps in some states become emissions exempt. You have to go through one state emissions check after you update the title, in order to complete the process, then you no longer have to pass OBD inspections.

Not all states, but some.

I'm using a 40HP Thermo-King Mercedes OM636 to do the same swap in my 2000 Caravan base... I plan on using a 5 speed from a Neon Highline, for the longer gears, and probably seeing if I can swap xfer gears to something even longer. I don't plan on the van ever doing 65 MPH again, so it's not a big deal. It takes about 32-38 HP to move the van @ 60 MPH.

The engine I'm using is either 1.7 or 1.8 liters, with a precombustion chamber. It's supposed to be super efficient. I hope to see 50 or more mippigs.
 
#17 ·
I use to have a right hand drive jeep and loved it but that was a long time ago. I was just thinking how much fun a diesel manual trans rhd minivan would be and have the wife sleeping on the 'driver's side' :) Besides, I'd have a better chance of survival in the event of a head on collision.
 
#21 ·
I have the same wishful idea of a diesel swap.
My thought is to ship only the engine bay compartment from a wrecked CDR 2.5l from europe and swap all the necessary components over to a good body. The only part I think that would be missing is if the tank has a different pump system.
I imagine the shipping costs would be much less as you are only shipping the engine compartment and there should be no hassle of trying to import a vehicle.
All you need is someone to source, package and ship the 'part'.
Better yet, if you vacation over there, find one yourself!

Any euopean buds volunteering?
 
#23 ·
As long as legal issues don't prevent it, you can always just swap in an industrial diesel engine from just about anything else, provided it will fit dimensionally. Transmission plates are much cheaper than international shipping. Don't go outrageous on the size/output of engine you put in, and you can run it on your OEM transmission. IIRC, the "1" rated transmissions can handle ~150 ft.lbs of TQ, as long as they're adequately cooled.
 
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