Suzuki Jimny Diesel Conversion

laurpat

I’m looking for some advice – I’m after picking up spotless 2000Suzuki Jimny. It was sitting up for a while but all is perfect with it.

I’m planning to stick a VW 1.9 TDI engine into the little Suzuki as I have a complete doner Passat.I also plan on jacking it up and giving it all the toys and converting to commercial.Why – I’ve yet to figure it out.

Has anyone ever done similar or can suggest someone to carryout the work. Any Information would be appreciated as to conversation kits etc.

Toyotafanboi

i see lots of cons and not so many pros.

the cons being the TDi is a less reliable, more complex and a heavier engine than what is already in the jeep, i have a feeling you would also be losing the 4wd aspect of the jeep to go TDi. have you measured would it work at all given the fact that the TDi is generally longitudinally mounted and is probably 5 foot long going into a chassis over a meter shorter than it's original, designed for a transversely mounted engine.

possibly an easier task if you created your own space frame and just cut the body off of the jimny and plonked it on top when you're done, in a monster truck kind of fashion.

the pros being, it would certainly be a talking point, one of a kind and an absolute case of "built not bought". it would also be an excellent way to pass the days/ years if you have too much free time. if your bank account is getting too full, this could also be a good solution.

all that being said, go for it if it's what you want to do. it would be cool to see. you could be doing worse things with your time and money .

CianRyan

Why buy a spotless car to do such horrid things to it?

The revvy little engine on the Jimny is part of its charm, it's got all the torque it needs to pull itself out of a hole.
You'd lose the AWD, locking diffs and long range box, so jacking it up would land you with a FWD, open diff pretend jeep rather than the capable off roadee it is now.

It would be cheaper and better to simply buy a Golf and put it on stilts.

mullingar

No way will it physically fit and to also retain full 4x4 running gear

JBokeh

The 4x4 gear will be fine as they do not have a centre diff,and the 4wd is actuated by vac on the hubs. The transfer box can be driven from a shaft from whatever gearbox you're using. Your big problem will be the weight,the jimny has an alloy engine that weighs SFA,whereas the VW engine is fairly heavy. You can get them on the continent with a 1.5 renault diesel engine though. I had a Jimny,and it was the most dead car I had ever driven,but it was on Mud terrains.

I wouldn't use the jimny box as it is softer than cheese

Lutecia

The Jimny was offered with the Renault 1.5 dCi for a number of years, so if you really want to really want to convert it to diesel, that might be the best option.

gctest50

mullingar wrote: »

No way will it physically fit and to also retain full 4x4 running gear

internets broken ?

laurpat

Thanks every one for the feedback -

I'm looking at putting in a kit from Acme Adapters or similar. Has anyone ever used the kit http://www.acmeadapters.com/store_engine.php

bazz26

Good luck

CJhaughey

I doubt the shafts and transmission will take the increased torque of the 1.9.
I could be wrong but they are pretty small items compared to the Passat driveshafts.Hardy-spicer joints I can get my hand around and my hand isn't big.

Mycroft H

I doubt it. It's all lightweight pieces of kit not fit for a torquey 1.9tdi. It's also going to be waaaay too heavy, you'll need suspension changes too. Have you not seen the size of the stock springs, they're tiny! Driving dynamics? The back end is already light enough, plonk a Tdi in there it's only going to get worse.


If you want more power fit a 1.6 out of a Vitara/Ignis/Liana. It's a lot more simple and plenty of people have done it before, so google will be your friend.

mgbgt1978

^^^^ What he said.
Many years ago (alright back in the early 90's) the offroad guys used to replace the 1.0/1.3's in the Suzuki SJ with the Vitara 1.6.....a fairly easy conversion so they said.

dgt

You'd be better off putting in an old 1.4/1.5 Pug diesel engine and turbo that. Much simpler and far less to go wrong, without gaining too much weight

Sitec

Go for it regardless, it might end up being a dog but a project like that will be great fun. Join as many specialist forums as you can and don't jump in to buying parts without reading reviews etc. There's plenty of conversions that make no sense on paper but turn out great. Best of luck.

JohnBoy26

I can't see it working, then again if you could borrow these two for a few hours

winnie the schtink

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

i see lots of cons and not so many pros.

the cons being the TDi is a less reliable, more complex and a heavier engine than what is already in the jeep, i have a feeling you would also be losing the 4wd aspect of the jeep to go TDi. have you measured would it work at all given the fact that the TDi is generally longitudinally mounted and is probably 5 foot long going into a chassis over a meter shorter than it's original, designed for a transversely mounted engine.

possibly an easier task if you created your own space frame and just cut the body off of the jimny and plonked it on top when you're done, in a monster truck kind of fashion.

the pros being, it would certainly be a talking point, one of a kind and an absolute case of "built not bought". it would also be an excellent way to pass the days/ years if you have too much free time. if your bank account is getting too full, this could also be a good solution.

all that being said, go for it if it's what you want to do. it would be cool to see. you could be doing worse things with your time and money .

tdi engines are generally transversly mounted and the suzuki is north south

Toyotafanboi

winnie the schtink wrote: »

tdi engines are generally transversly mounted and the suzuki is north south

indeed you're right, the Jimny is longitudinal, tbh i had never had any experience with one, i just assumed it would be transverse like most small jap hatchbacks.

the 1.9 TDi in the b5 and b5.5 Passat (the donor car the OP has) is longitudinal though.

winnie the schtink

it is, and i have always thought this to be a far nicer layout

gctest50

http://www.rocky-road.com/samurai-diesel.html




http://www.fotosik.pl/showFullSize.php?id=b49974301d55e085

hth

greasepalm

which leads me to wonder how easy is it to roll over was it not this model?

gctest50

yip - less likely to burn to death so easily with the diesel tho ??

peugeot into vitara kit

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kit-to-convert-a-Suzuki-Vitara-1-6-petrol-to-a-Peugeot-XUD-Diesel-engine/181467411558

calmini-bit-less-rollover kits

https://www.calmini.com


.

Mycroft H

greasepalm wrote: »

which leads me to wonder how easy is it to roll over was it not this model?

No, it was the Samurai and even that was overstated by the media. The Jimny is fine as small 4x4s go.