[JMonument]

Found a local 1984 Ford Escort with a diesel Mazda 2.0 motor. It has 135k miles. Oil looks good. No block cracks. No blowby. However, it does have a blown head gasket, which I am not worried about.

My Jeep:
-1971 Jeep CJ5
-T90 3spd manual transmission
-4cyl Iron Duke (blown rod-hopefully replacing with a diesel donor)

Questions:
-Is this Mazda 2.0 diesel a good candidate for my CJ5? If so, why? If not, why?
-I have spent about an hour trying to find an adapter for this motor to my T90 transmission. I found a guy on a forum that said he found one, but his thread is from 2007.

General Info:
-I am not necessarily looking for a ton of power. I don't want a weak motor, but I am not going to be crawling with this CJ5 - somewhere in between would be good

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

 

[DieselBuick]

It wouldnt be a bad choice at all. Might have to turn the fuel up and add a little air. The biggest problem I foresee is changing it from transverse to longitudinal mount. The other problem would be replacement part support, but thats the price of having an odd diesel.

 

[JMonument]

If it's that obscure, I should probably get a Mercedes to make sure I can get parts? Not sure I am following you on the " transverse to longitudinal mount..."

I was given the advice to look for a 240D Mercedes. I found one, but it has an automatic transmission. I was wanting to mate it to my T90 3spd. Wondering if whatever option I should choose should include the entire drivetrain?

In your opinion, what's the "perfect" diesel swap that will fit the smaller engine compartment of the early CJ5's, decent power, fit a T90 3spd and have easy to find parts? I've heard a lot of the diesel motors have lower oil pans and require a slight leaf spring lift... Is there any truth to that or a model by model case?

Thanks!

 

[DieselBuick]

The lifts are model by model and are usually required on the bigger engines.

Dont worry about getting the entire drivetrain unless its 4wd, you dont have the wheel base to get the whole drivetrain from a mercedes then run a divorced t-case. Best option is to adapt whatever engine you settle on to your t19.

Transverse mounted is the technical term for sideways mounted ie 99% of front wheel drive cars.

Yes adapters and parts are more available for the mercedes versus the mazda. But it all depends on what you want. Some people like to be different for differents sake and dont care that it may make finding parts harder, others want it simple.

The perfect swap for that engine compartment for me (emphasis on me) would be an isuzu refer engine, that mazda diesel, isuzu pup diesel, or some sort of old small tractor diesel in the 2 to 3 liter range. But I am one of those people that like to be different and could give a you know what less about availability of parts.

A mercedes, tdi, or idi volkswagen would probably be best for you, from the sounds of it. Adapters are readily available, those swaps have been done before so there is plenty of info out there, parts availability is great, and all those engines have great reliability records. The tdi swap will have lots of wiring involved due to it being computer controlled. Both the mercedes and idi volkswagens are mechanical so wiring literally means hooking up 3 wires.

 

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

The biggest problem I foresee is changing it from transverse to longitudinal mount.

this very same engine, altough in a turbocharged version, was available as an option in the 1st-gen kia sportage, and longitudinally-mounted...

 

[JMonument]

this very same engine, altough in a turbocharged version, was available as an option in the 1st-gen kia sportage, and longitudinally-mounted...

Kia had a diesel option? Never would have guessed... Crazy.

 

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Kia had a diesel option? Never would have guessed... Crazy.

well, kia had strong ties with ford and mazda at those times, so they basically used the same design of the mazda rf engine...