Building a diesel powered RHD TJ Wrangler (Picture Heavy)

Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, but are you going to attempt to get more power out of that thing? If so, how are you going to do it?

I have to assume with that little amount of power, it's not going to be the best to drive.
 
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Chris said:
Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, but are you going to attempt to get more power out of that thing? If so, how are you going to do it?

I have to assume with that little amount of power, it's not going to be the best to drive.
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Yes I will, but at first no. I just want to get it running and driving. I have multiple things planned to get more power which I'll do in stages.

  1. Stock Power - I just want to shake down the entire TJ, make sure everything is happy and I'm not having issues with the doubler, the AW4, my new TCU, basically everything on the build is working as it should. This will allow me to also get a base performance for 0-60 times and Fuel Economy as well!
  2. Adjust the Mechanical Fuel Pump for more power. This is the easiest and cheapest way to improve performance. Again check 0-60 and see how it affects Fuel Economy
  3. Adjust the waste gate on the turbo for more boost. This is where I will start to see some really gains, though I'm limited to around 13PSI since I don't cool the charged air right now. Again check 0-60 and Fuel Economy.
  4. I actually have another stock Kubota Turbo that I might try out and see how it spools compared to the turbo that is currently on the V2403. Again 0-60 and Fuel Economy.
  5. Add a Water-To-Air Intercooler Setup. This is where I should see big gains. I don't think I'll get much over 85 ~ 100hp but torque should be above 200ft/lbs with ease at near idle and I should be able to adjust the mechanical fuel pump for the charged air as well. Again 0-60 and then Fuel Economy again.
  6. Debating trying a Boost Controller such as the Turbosmart TS-0302-1002 to help manage boost curve etc. Again checking 0-60 times and Fuel Economy
  7. The final step if I'm still not happy with everything is upgrading the turbo to K03 Borg Warner Turbo which I know does 25PSI of boost and adjusting the fuel pump for it. That would be around 140hp and like 325ft/lb torque.
I'm more interested in fuel economy at the moment than I am about power and torque. If I can tune the turbo I have with an intercooler setup and adjust the fuel pump and get around 35 ~ 40 MPG, I'll probably not upgrade the turbo until I do a lift and bigger tires down the line truthfully.

-Grant
 
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disjaukifa said:
Yes I will, but at first no. I just want to get it running and driving. I have multiple things planned to get more power which I'll do in stages.

  1. Stock Power - I just want to shake down the entire TJ, make sure everything is happy and I'm not having issues with the doubler, the AW4, my new TCU, basically everything on the build is working as it should. This will allow me to also get a base performance for 0-60 times and Fuel Economy as well!
  2. Adjust the Mechanical Fuel Pump for more power. This is the easiest and cheapest way to improve performance. Again check 0-60 and see how it affects Fuel Economy
  3. Adjust the waste gate on the turbo for more boost. This is where I will start to see some really gains, though I'm limited to around 13PSI since I don't cool the charged air right now. Again check 0-60 and Fuel Economy.
  4. I actually have another stock Kubota Turbo that I might try out and see how it spools compared to the turbo that is currently on the V2403. Again 0-60 and Fuel Economy.
  5. Add a Water-To-Air Intercooler Setup. This is where I should see big gains. I don't think I'll get much over 85 ~ 100hp but torque should be above 200ft/lbs with ease at near idle and I should be able to adjust the mechanical fuel pump for the charged air as well. Again 0-60 and then Fuel Economy again.
  6. Debating trying a Boost Controller such as the Turbosmart TS-0302-1002 to help manage boost curve etc. Again checking 0-60 times and Fuel Economy
  7. The final step if I'm still not happy with everything is upgrading the turbo to K03 Borg Warner Turbo which I know does 25PSI of boost and adjusting the fuel pump for it. That would be around 140hp and like 325ft/lb torque.
I'm more interested in fuel economy at the moment than I am about power and torque. If I can tune the turbo I have with an intercooler setup and adjust the fuel pump and get around 35 ~ 40 MPG, I'll probably not upgrade the turbo until I do a lift and bigger tires down the line truthfully.

-Grant
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Sounds like you've got it all planned out. It's always easy to get horsepower when you're dealing with a boosted engine. Bigger turbos, more psi, water-to-air intercoolers, etc.

I get you on the fuel economy thing, but you've got to be able to drive it up steep inclines (mountains for instance) at highway speed without it putting up a fuss. That's always been one of the things that makes or breaks a car for me. Even my 4.0 wasn't very good at that. Of course that's my own fault for adding so much damn weight to it of course.
 
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Chris said:
Sounds like you've got it all planned out. It's always easy to get horsepower when you're dealing with a boosted engine. Bigger turbos, more psi, water-to-air intercoolers, etc.

I get you on the fuel economy thing, but you've got to be able to drive it up steep inclines (mountains for instance) at highway speed without it putting up a fuss. That's always been one of the things that makes or breaks a car for me. Even my 4.0 wasn't very good at that. Of course that's my own fault for adding so much damn weight to it of course.
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That is one of my reasons for doing this entire build. I have a LONG hill on the way to my house from the next town over, probably 1.5 miles long and straight but it's a climb as well. The 4.0l it would jump between 3rd and 4th gear the entire time. My 2006 Liberty CRD would plunk into 5th gear and just chug honestly. All of my testing on the engine is going to be on that hill. I want to be able to go up that hill with ease in overdrive on my AW4 automatic as well as being able to gain speed without downshifting if I need to as well. I'm thinking with 200+ ft/lbs of torque at cruising speeds it shouldn't be a problem. Looking at dyno graphs for stock 4.0ls they would only have 120 ~ 140ft/lbs of torque at my cruising speed going up that hill.

-Grant
 
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Should we start taking bets on v01 (stock) 0-60 times? 🤣

It will be interesting to see how much adding boost affects the mpg. I would think adding boost will increase the efficiency of the engine giving you higher numbers.
 
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Alex01 said:
Should we start taking bets on v01 (stock) 0-60 times? 🤣

It will be interesting to see how much adding boost affects the mpg. I would think adding boost will increase the efficiency of the engine giving you higher numbers.
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Well I'll have more HP and Tq than my 74 Super Beetle and that did 0-60 in about 18 seconds so maybe 15 seconds :unsure:

The biggest upgrade I need sooner rather than later is a water-to-air intercooler, once I have that I don't have to worry about how much boost I'm pumping through the V2403 anymore because the air is cooled.

-Grant
 
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disjaukifa said:
That is one of my reasons for doing this entire build. I have a LONG hill on the way to my house from the next town over, probably 1.5 miles long and straight but it's a climb as well. The 4.0l it would jump between 3rd and 4th gear the entire time. My 2006 Liberty CRD would plunk into 5th gear and just chug honestly. All of my testing on the engine is going to be on that hill. I want to be able to go up that hill with ease in overdrive on my AW4 automatic as well as being able to gain speed without downshifting if I need to as well. I'm thinking with 200+ ft/lbs of torque at cruising speeds it shouldn't be a problem. Looking at dyno graphs for stock 4.0ls they would only have 120 ~ 140ft/lbs of torque at my cruising speed going up that hill.

-Grant
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Ahhhh, I feel your pain then. I never minded the 4.0, but once I started taking it through mountain passes I found that all it could really do was maintain speed, but not actually pass anyone or pick up any speed. The 3.6 Pentastar engine on the other hand is the exact opposite.

I blame it on the poor flowing 4.0 cylinder head, horrible stock exhaust manifolds, and other things.
 
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Chris said:
Ahhhh, I feel your pain then. I never minded the 4.0, but once I started taking it through mountain passes I found that all it could really do was maintain speed, but not actually pass anyone or pick up any speed. The 3.6 Pentastar engine on the other hand is the exact opposite.

I blame it on the poor flowing 4.0 cylinder head, horrible stock exhaust manifolds, and other things.
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Interesting, I heard the Pentastar 3.6 was a good engine but I've never driven it myself. I do wonder if I should have tried upgrading the 4.0l but none of those upgrades would have really boosted my fuel economy the way swapping to the diesel was going too. I'm just WAY too use to my 2006 Liberty CRD, that turbo diesel will climb just about anything while staying in 5th gear.

I think that is what I've got so use to with my Liberty CRD, you get in a gear and stay there until you decelerate out of the gear's speed.

My wife's Renegade is a 9-speed automatic and I just want it to pick a gear when we are driving down the highway, but it does get like 27mpg so I really can't complain. Plus I was SO happy to get my wife in a Jeep as well :sneaky:

-Grant
 
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disjaukifa said:
Interesting, I heard the Pentastar 3.6 was a good engine but I've never driven it myself. I do wonder if I should have tried upgrading the 4.0l but none of those upgrades would have really boosted my fuel economy the way swapping to the diesel was going too. I'm just WAY too use to my 2006 Liberty CRD, that turbo diesel will climb just about anything while staying in 5th gear.

I think that is what I've got so use to with my Liberty CRD, you get in a gear and stay there until you decelerate out of the gear's speed.

My wife's Renegade is a 9-speed automatic and I just want it to pick a gear when we are driving down the highway, but it does get like 27mpg so I really can't complain. Plus I was SO happy to get my wife in a Jeep as well :sneaky:

-Grant
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The Pentastar 3.6 is a wonderful engine in terms of performance. I actually think that it would make a great swap into a TJ if that was possible. I suspect it wouldn't be as difficult as some swaps too, since it's a Mopar engine, and that usually means things are more compatible than if it was a Chevy engine for instance.

The 42RLE transmission in the TJ was an afterthought. But, that's what they get for using a recycled transmission from a FWD Dodge vehicle. It never had any purpose being in a Wrangler, but they obviously didn't want to waste more money (and therefore profits) putting in a proper transmission unfortunately. The third and fourth gear hunting on that transmission is just ridiculous most of the time. That's why I always drive with OD turned off.
 
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disjaukifa said:
Well I'll have more HP and Tq than my 74 Super Beetle and that did 0-60 in about 18 seconds so maybe 15 seconds :unsure:

The biggest upgrade I need sooner rather than later is a water-to-air intercooler, once I have that I don't have to worry about how much boost I'm pumping through the V2403 anymore because the air is cooled.

-Grant
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I'm going with 21 seconds. But, I think once you get the turbo on it it's going to vastly improve.

Have you considered a CRD swap in the future? I bet you could find a rear end collision donor fairly cheap.
 
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Chris said:
The Pentastar 3.6 is a wonderful engine in terms of performance. I actually think that it would make a great swap into a TJ if that was possible. I suspect it wouldn't be as difficult as some swaps too, since it's a Mopar engine, and that usually means things are more compatible than if it was a Chevy engine for instance.

The 42RLE transmission in the TJ was an afterthought. But, that's what they get for using a recycled transmission from a FWD Dodge vehicle. It never had any purpose being in a Wrangler, but they obviously didn't want to waste more money (and therefore profits) putting in a proper transmission unfortunately. The third and fourth gear hunting on that transmission is just ridiculous most of the time. That's why I always drive with OD turned off.
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Yeah the gear hunting was annoying so I won't miss the 42RLE for that but I truly believe that had to do more with tuning than anything else.

I really wish I could get a group of us big enough to go to HGM Electronics and tell them we want their CompuShift TCU for the 42RLE. I would switch back to that transmission because of the doubler we can put in the back on it!!!

@Chris if you thought that was a possibility could we try getting a group of us together and talking to HGM about making the harness and firmware for the 42RLE? I know it would be right at $1K but then we could swap any engine we want into our Wranglers and keep the 42RLE. I really believe it's the tune that's the problems with the 42RLE not the transmission itself.

Alex01 said:
I'm going with 21 seconds. But, I think once you get the turbo on it it's going to vastly improve.

Have you considered a CRD swap in the future? I bet you could find a rear end collision donor fairly cheap.
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So the V2403 has a turbo on it right now, but it's just really low boost, but yeah I know what you mean, once I get tuning on it the turbo and fuel pump I can see everything improving!

I have a 2006 CRD as my daily and I've contemplated doing the swap like @Mike Alfano is doing right now. If anything I would probably do that swap to a JKU 4 door though I had the crazy idea to get the V6 CRD from a Grand Cherokee and swap it into a JKU :geek:

StG58 said:
I believe the secret sauce is a good manual transmission and proper gears. But that's just me.
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Ehhh yes and no. Manual would have saved quite a bit of time in terms of cooling and not needing the CompuShift TCU however even finding the correct pedals/linkage for my RHD was even more difficult!

At the end of the day it's a matter of personal preference. I actually really like the AW4 just for how good the transmission is, and how dirty cheap I can buy them all day long. If I blow mine up, I can replace for about $100~$150!!!

-Grant
 
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zebra12 said:
With the upgrade, the 42RLE could handle the R2.8?
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I don't see why not :unsure:, there are Wrangler's out there running turbos or superchargers on their 4.0l with the 42RLE behind them pushing 350hp and 450ft/lbs of torque and the transmission is taking the power so I don't see why we couldn't bolt the R2.8l or even a tuned TDI engine to it.

The 42RLE actually has a really good gearing setup for a diesel swap we just need a better TCU to control it.
 
disjaukifa said:
Yeah the gear hunting was annoying so I won't miss the 42RLE for that but I truly believe that had to do more with tuning than anything else.

I really wish I could get a group of us big enough to go to HGM Electronics and tell them we want their CompuShift TCU for the 42RLE. I would switch back to that transmission because of the doubler we can put in the back on it!!!

@Chris if you thought that was a possibility could we try getting a group of us together and talking to HGM about making the harness and firmware for the 42RLE? I know it would be right at $1K but then we could swap any engine we want into our Wranglers and keep the 42RLE. I really believe it's the tune that's the problems with the 42RLE not the transmission itself.
Click to expand...

The problem of course is that there's nothing on the market that allows you to control the 42RLE shift points. I checked out HPTuners in depth, and there's no options to control the shift points. I also spoke to Dave Casper of B&G (who is one of the original TJ engineers for Chrysler), and he also mentioned his software won't let you control the shift points either.

However, we both know that unlike the 32RH, the 42RLE is indeed computer controlled. That makes me wonder why none of these software programs allow you to mess with the shift points.

I actually wasn't familiar with HGM Electronics or their CompuShift until know. I suppose if a thread was started about this with a bit of preface, the more people that chimed in, the better. I could send a link to said thread to HGM Electronics showing them the thread and all of the interest, and then seeing if they have any interest in building something for the 42RLE.

I agree that if something like this existed, it would make a lot of our lives a lot easier, since then the 42RLE wouldn't have to be completely discarded every time.
 
Chris said:
The problem of course is that there's nothing on the market that allows you to control the 42RLE shift points. I checked out HPTuners in depth, and there's no options to control the shift points. I also spoke to Dave Casper of B&G (who is one of the original TJ engineers for Chrysler), and he also mentioned his software won't let you control the shift points either.

However, we both know that unlike the 32RH, the 42RLE is indeed computer controlled. That makes me wonder why none of these software programs allow you to mess with the shift points.

I actually wasn't familiar with HGM Electronics or their CompuShift until know. I suppose if a thread was started about this with a bit of preface, the more people that chimed in, the better. I could send a link to said thread to HGM Electronics showing them the thread and all of the interest, and then seeing if they have any interest in building something for the 42RLE.

I agree that if something like this existed, it would make a lot of our lives a lot easier, since then the 42RLE wouldn't have to be completely discarded every time.
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Read the entire thread. If HGM would support the 42RLE I would do it. I was planning a diesel swap on another vehicle but canceled it due to cost. With the lower cost of the Kubota, I would do it in a heartbeat if I didn't have to swap the tranny(might look into it down the road anyways). What a lovely thread to read, so detailed.
 
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gregc291 said:
Read the entire thread. If HGM would support the 42RLE I would do it. I was planning a diesel swap on another vehicle but canceled it due to cost. With the lower cost of the Kubota, I would do it in a heartbeat if I didn't have to swap the tranny(might look into it down the road anyways). What a lovely thread to read, so detailed.
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I'm glad you have been enjoying the thread!!! Detail is what I was going for!!!

@Chris I'll start the other next week, I'm in Disney world this week with my kids!!!

-Grant
 
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I picked up a '95 YJ 4cylinder manual 4.10s over the weekend. It was free, but there's a lot of damage from a roll over. Early stages, I'm thinking I'd like to swap in one of the smaller Kubotas and stretch the frame a bit and fit in some type of pickup bed. I'm liking the doubler idea as well.

I'm pretty sure the engine is damaged (I'm gonna check though), BUT I just don't see swapping in another engine vs putting in something like the Kubota. Not sure if I'll go Ax-15 or some other trans or not. Definitely not going with the AX5 and the NP-231 was busted in half.

In any way, I'm trying to go back through this thread and gather up lots of info. and I'm still behind on your videos.
 
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