I have often looked into putting a diesel engine in my 2002 Ranger. It has been done with the Cummins 4bt and Kubota engines, there is even a place in Texas that will drop a 3.0L TDCi in for $22k
Diesel Toys - Ranger Swap

The 4bt knocks and shakes more than my 2001 7.3L F250 did.
There are not many parts and not a lot of information or help for a 3.0L TDCi in the USA.
The Kubota engines do not have enough power for me to justify the swap.

With the 2015 Transit coming out this summer powered by a 3.2L TDCi it seems to me the best engine to swap into a Ranger.
Ford Transit 3.2L Duratorq TDCi Power Stroke
And here


What do you think?

This is obviously a long way off for me, but if it is a good idea, I just might do it. And if I do a complete rebuild on my Ranger while doing the swap I could justify spending the money as to have a new car, again. I have lots of reasons for wanting to do this, but I will not get into that now.

 

I think getting one of those to run outside of the donor vehicle will be a challenge. You're probably going to have transfer every sensor, module, and strand of wire to get it to run. Probably have to use the Transit gauges too.

If you get a complete donor Transit it can be done but how many thousands will that be, even for a wrecked one?

 

Cummins 3.3 ?

Turn the power up on a kubota?

Isuzu diesel engines are also nice.

Stay away from the newer computerized engines, it will be a nightmare to make everything work again.

 

Not to mention more expensive to get running. You need all the donor wiring and computers. I really want a Isuzu 4HK1 (5.2L) in my F250 and the engine itself is not outrageously expensive ($3-5k) but I need the whole NPR to be sure I get every little thing required to make it run, and those are still going for $15k or more. A 6BT makes more sense then, I'm just not ready to jump on the Cummins browagon.

For a Ranger sized vehicle there just aren't a lot of mechanical injection diesel options to choose from in the US with a huge void between the 2.0L and 4.0L classes. There's the MB 3.0L but I'm not a huge fan. The Cummins 3.3 is a decent choice but hard to find and very expensive.

If I were building a little mileage monster pickup I'd find a 2WD 5spd Ranger and put in the VW 1.9L with a Toyota trans (adapters already out there). That should knock down 40+ mpg. A friend of mine has one in a lifted 4x4 4Runner but he's done a lot of engine work and expects about 200hp out of it. How long will it last at double the original power levels?

 

Dt 360-


A little info on it:
Cummins Swappers


And if you search around, a few swaps have been done.

 

He needs to do a lot more tuning. Too much smoke for my tastes.

The DT360 is one I'm interested in but I'm having a hard time find any of those either. Every time I pop the hood on a IH/Ford MD truck around here it's a DT466. That one is way too big for my truck.

 

The 360's have a mechanical pump, so tinkering with that, and turbo selection, you could have a clean running engine, or a smoke pumping behemoth.

There are lots and lots of dt360's around, and cheap. Probably the most under rated diesel engine ever.

 

Isuzu 4BD is an excellent engine. Easier to buy a donor delivery truck, source the engine and accessories and then sell off the truck for scrap.

Adapters are available to mate the engine to nearly any trans, manual or automatic.

Josh

 

Look for an old Ranger with the Isuzu 2.2L "Pup". Came out in the 1980s. Very doggy but will get 30s+ all day long. There's one guy that I've followed who dropped in the 4.5L VT265 V6 PowerStroke into a Ranger. Essentially its the 6.0 Leaker but 2 cylinders missing and has 2 turbos in a 6.4L setup. Over complicated though for electronics, but parts are mostly avalible since most 6L parts will work in it.

 

The 83/84 Ranger Diesel was a Mazda/Perkins 2.2l 4 cylinder.

The 85-87 Ranger Diesel was a 2.3l 4 cylinder Mitsubishi.

Josh

 

Yeah the little Isuzu came in the Chevys, not Rangers.