Dodge Ram 1500 4BT & NV5600 w/ Electrical Concentration

[sirhannick]

Hi Guys,
I've been milling around here for a while and also have been collecting everything I need to get my conversion started. This isn't going to be a quick conversion because I'm going to focus on making the vehicle run and look like it came out of the factory with a 4BT & 6 speed. That means I want to get ALL of the gauges working and get great reliability. I'm an Automotive Technology student at the College of Lake County, but I am also studying Electrical Engineering. I've got the 2001 Chrysler Service Manual, so between that and my electrical expertise I plan to get everything working that I can. I will include both photos in my build up, but also wiring diagrams, and connector pin outs. I want to make this easy to duplicate for all those owners of Dodge Ram 1500s out there. I'm going to try to cover every aspect of the conversion, but do it slowly and with detailed precision. This build will not be done until the end of the year as that is what I have planned for. I hope I can help you guys out as well as you me.

For Reference:
kscarter's 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 Build-Up: http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3616
JakeDiesel's 1994 Dodge Ram 1500 Build-Up: http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3503
pigeon's 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 Build-Up: http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4294

[JakeDiesel]

Good luck sounds good. I did the same thing with a 94 dodge 1500, with the electical, if you have any question just ask and I will do my best to answer.

[pigeon]

is there an issue with the oil pan and your diff with the 1500? sounds like a 1500 would be a lot easier than a dakota from what i have read. might be getting a bread van soon

[sirhannick]

Mine is a 2WD, so I don't think I'm going to run into that issue. I'm not at that stage anyway. Most of the parts are DIRECT fit and swap. I put the gauge cluster in this past weekend and have fun pegging it at 4k rpms. It's 100% accurate because it gets a digital signal from the PCM.

Note the differences between the coolant temperature gauges. Technically the gas on should have 195 degrees as the middle, not 210. That always pissed me off. The diesel one is correct with 190 in the middle. It allows me to actually make SENSE of the temp I'm seeing on the gauge.

[sirhannick]

Got my engine! Check it out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=120261454871
I think I got a pretty good price too. It's a 120HP 4BTA with ~50,000mi on the rebuild. Will be picking it up ASAP, ironically, in my gasser.

[JakeDiesel]

Looks like a good deal. Are you going to buy the other parts seperately or do you already have them. Let us know how you make out. Good luck.

[pigeon]

Hey looks good. Are you going to get the intercooler and intake, down pipe and all the extras? I am in wisconsin now and going be looking at a bread van tommorrow. Nice find on the motor, when are you going to start swapping?

[sirhannick]

I don't need any of the extra parts. I have a complete Dodge 3500 CTD. I will be using the exhaust manifold, turbo, and downpipe off of it. I plan to do the modification of the 6BT exhaust manifold to a 4BT manifold by chopping of the first and last ports. I believe that modification was brought up in a different topic on turbos or on discussion of different manifold types. If I find it again, I'll link it. I'll be using the MASSIVE intercooler off the 3500 CTD.

[JakeDiesel]

i used the intercooler for a 5.9 to and it works fine.

[Pantherman]

Originally Posted by sirhannick

Mine is a 2WD, so I don't think I'm going to run into that issue. I'm not at that stage anyway. Most of the parts are DIRECT fit and swap. I put the gauge cluster in this past weekend and have fun pegging it at 4k rpms. It's 100% accurate because it gets a digital signal from the PCM.


Note the differences between the coolant temperature gauges. Technically the gas on should have 195 degrees as the middle, not 210. That always pissed me off. The diesel one is correct with 190 in the middle. It allows me to actually make SENSE of the temp I'm seeing on the gauge.

I'm shootin' to buildup a S10Blazer, hoping to make it look as stock as when it came out of the factory, good luck on your project, sounds like it'll turn out nice.

Pantherman

[sirhannick]

Did a lot of work today, so lets start with a few pics of what we're working with!

Got them both sitting next to each other for "easy" work. The 4BT is straining a 1000lb Chinese engine stand and the 6BTA just resting on some wood.

245HP 6BTA 24v H.O. Late 01'

120HP 4BTA

[sirhannick]

First up lets get that alternator bracket on. With the OEM alternator on the 4BT off, this is what the bracket looks like. It's held on with 3, 10mm bolts.

With that off we see what we have to work with.

The 24v uses 4, 10mm bolts to hold the bracket, but 3 will be sufficient since we only have 3 holes to work with! Later you will see I have the bracket upside-down.

Now we have the upper bracket for the alternator installed!

[sirhannick]

So now that we have the upper Alternator bracket installed, we must turn to the lower one. The lower bracket also hold the A/C compressor. We find on the 4BT that the lower radiator hose connection is where the bracket goes.

So we must remove it. There is a rubber O-Ring in here that will need to be replaced.

After attempting to fit the bracket I have to pull of the oil filter.

And it fits! Note that we have accomplish 4 things here. Now the lower alternator mount is up. The A/C compressor mount at bottom. The belt tensioner for the 24v is mounted on this bracket also. That is the one we will use. Finally, we've move the coolant hose location to that of what we would find on a Dodge truck.

[sirhannick]

A/C compressor fit in just fine!

Here you can see the two locations for through bolts that will hold the alternator.

And after a test fit I discover I had the top bracket upside down...no biggie

Mount that alternator!

[sirhannick]

Just as on a Cummins you would find in a Ram, the A/C compressor and alternator are in OEM locations. No custom bracket fabrication needed.

[sirhannick]

I wanted to change the oil filter assembly with the one on the 24v. I thought it was just a plate, but I made my own little discovery. Most of you may already know that behind the plate is a oil cooler/heater. First off I removed the turbo & manifold.

As most of you know the 4BT oil filter screws into the engine at a 90 degree angle. Here you can also see I bolted up the Dodge Ram CTD engine mounts. The mounts which were used on this engine were in the front, and these bolt hose were unused, but there.

Removed the plate to find a gasket. Be careful as there's a second plate behind this holding back the coolant. It fell off when I unbolted the first plate on the 24v, but on the 4BT it had to be nudged off.

And remove the second plate to reveal the inner coolant chamber. You can see cylinders 1 & 2.

[Diesel Durango]

lookin good! i wish i'd done my swap with a complete ram parts truck to start with. woulda saved me some headaches. i did end up with one to do my trans swap, helped a bit, but not as much as it would have before.

why not use the CTD thermostat housing?

[sirhannick]

So I decided to throw the 4BT cooler next to the 24v cooler for comparison. They're basically the same. The 4BT cooler, on the left, has 5 layers, while the 24v on the right has 7. I'm using the 24v one.

Comparison of the gaskets. They have holes in all the same locations, so I believe they are identical.

The interior side of the plates which basically looks like an auto trans valve body. The chambers are completely different, but they use the same gaskets, so I believe they should be interchangeable. Will look into this more later (or just wing it).

View of what they look like on the exterior. Obviously the oil filter locations are different, but they both have the large bolt at the top (not sure what's it's for)

[sirhannick]

Test fit of the cooler and it fits just fine. I'll leave it there for now till I get new gaskets.

[sirhannick]

Originally Posted by Diesel Durango

lookin good! i wish i'd done my swap with a complete ram parts truck to start with. woulda saved me some headaches. i did end up with one to do my trans swap, helped a bit, but not as much as it would have before.

why not use the CTD thermostat housing?

Thanks! As far as the CTD thermostat, on the 24v, it's integral and cast into the block so I can't swap it. I wanted to use it, but won't be able to. I can take some pictures of that at some point if I remember.

[sirhannick]

Gotta get rid of that restrictive OEM intake! Lets throw the huge one from the 24v on there!

Here you can see just how restrictive it is. Only uses about half of the area of the adapter plate for the actual intake pipe.

Found this interesting, but don't really know what it is. It was on the 24v and was in replacement of the intake adapter. Seems it may HEAT UP the intake air? Should I use this? I don't think I'm going to as it wasn't on my 4BT and I would have no way to control it.

[IMG="http://picasaweb.google.com/sirhannick/DieselConversion/photo#5205919354310843330"][/URL]

The massive intake is installed! So now I can use OEM intake piping from my OEM Ram intercooler. No futzing around!

That's all for today folks! Phew!

[pigeon]

Hey do you know what size bolts you used to mount the 4bt to the stand? (im lazy) i got my motor today, same as yours only its aftercooled 120 hp.
Thanks

[Diesel Durango]

Originally Posted by sirhannick

Thanks! As far as the CTD thermostat, on the 24v, it's integral and cast into the block so I can't swap it. I wanted to use it, but won't be able to. I can take some pictures of that at some point if I remember.

gotcha, i wasn't sure how the 24V's are.

[Pantherman]

That thing that looks like it would heat up the intake air, I believe that to be the air intake heater that 6BT's used to help start in the cold, cold mornings.

Pantherman

[Diesel Durango]

oh yea, that is the grid heater. You can write a program to control it on cold days, it will help a little bit with cold starts and allow it to run cleaner when the air is cold. The factory i cycles it on and off and alternates between the two seperate grids. They pull a LOT of current, just FYI.