4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

Good grief, Lloyd...the more crackpot ideas you have, the more I like you.

--
Email sent to is never read.

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Ion drive would be easier...



"
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

A diesel is not just a petrol engine with an injector pump.

Were it viable the power would be substantially down as would reliability.

If fuel cost is your motivation have a look at lpg (I think you prefer
to call it propane) many cars here are dual fuel, mine are.

K

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message .. .
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd, the predictable response, of course, is "don't do it". Why?
GM themselves conducted this experiment on a grand scale back in the
70s when they attempted to take an Oldsmobile V8 gas engine and
convert it to diesel. It ran - for a while - but not nearly as long
as most people hoped. It was a reliability disaster since the block
was not really designed to take the compression loads and heat build
up associated with diesel service. There's a reason that diesel
engines weigh more than gas for comparable horsepower.

Why not do something really creative and create a hybrid van using a
smallish diesel to drive a generator, which recharges a battery bank?

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

If fuel cost is your motivation have a look at lpg (I think you prefer
to call it propane) many cars here are dual fuel, mine are.

K

Is there any truth to the rumor that when not running on petrol Aussie vehicles
are propelled by hot air? (just jokin')

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Probably cost in the range of buying a used diesel truck. cost of engine
and new tranny to hold the torque, and then new differential gearing, as the
RPM's max is much lower. Cheapest way would be if you could get an older
European sedan and tranplant the running gear.
Bill

"Wayne B" wrote in message
m...
"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
.. .
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I
don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd, the predictable response, of course, is "don't do it". Why?
GM themselves conducted this experiment on a grand scale back in the
70s when they attempted to take an Oldsmobile V8 gas engine and
convert it to diesel. It ran - for a while - but not nearly as long
as most people hoped. It was a reliability disaster since the block
was not really designed to take the compression loads and heat build
up associated with diesel service. There's a reason that diesel
engines weigh more than gas for comparable horsepower.

Why not do something really creative and create a hybrid van using a
smallish diesel to drive a generator, which recharges a battery bank?

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel


Are you attempting to convert a gas V6 to diesel, or are you replacing
the gas V6 with a diesel one?

Forget trying to convert a gas engine to diesel. Even a full staff of
engineers at GM tried it with the 5.7L in the 80's, and there were all
sorts of trouble. A gas engine block is just not made strong enough to
support the increased stresses that diesel operation will cause.

Now replacing the engine with a diesel is doable, although there will be
some gearing issues to deal with, as the torque curve and max RPM of a
diesel is much different than a gas engine, and the transmission and
differential gears need to be matched to these factors to achieve the
best performance.

Dave

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

It is doable but there are a *lot* of things to get right for it to work.
Make sure you get the tranny and rear end from the doner vehicle - the
gearing is different. You need to get the glow controls set up.

The small GM diesel had some serious problems with the oil passage routing -
some of the parts did not get oil for a long time on a cold startup. I would
recommend that you avoid using the V6.

I have been using 5.7L powered vehicles for many years. GM finally got it
right on the DX block, but by then the public had been so put off by the
early attempts that the project was doomed to failure.

Just like you - I think that diesel and boats go together. I have a freshly
rebuilt DX block engine sitting in my garage right now - I am thinking that
is might make a nice powerplant for the right boat. The cooling would have
to be from a heat exchanger as the heads are not set up to tolerate lake
water (and accompaning crud) in the tiny passages.

Mark Browne

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

You might find a diesel engine in a small Japanese vehicle, small tractor,
small boat or even a small Mercedes sedan?

Getting a small engine that will couple up to a proper transmission would be
great. Sounds like you need to try another news group?

rec.diesel.van.help

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...
Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 13:17:21 +0000, Dave Hall wrote:

Lloyd Sumpter wrote:

Hi,
This is kinda boating-related. Anybody hear of anyone who's converted
the Venerable GM 4.3L V6 to diesel? I'd like to do that in my van. I don't
see any room for anything other than a V6, and would like diesel.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36 - already has diesel


Are you attempting to convert a gas V6 to diesel, or are you replacing
the gas V6 with a diesel one?

Forget trying to convert a gas engine to diesel. Even a full staff of
engineers at GM tried it with the 5.7L in the 80's, and there were all
sorts of trouble. A gas engine block is just not made strong enough to
support the increased stresses that diesel operation will cause.

Now replacing the engine with a diesel is doable, although there will be
some gearing issues to deal with, as the torque curve and max RPM of a
diesel is much different than a gas engine, and the transmission and
differential gears need to be matched to these factors to achieve the
best performance.

Dave

Thanks for the response.

No, I wouldn't be doing a conversion myself. The 5.7L conversion was what
made me think of it, because the 4.3 is basically the 5.7 with 2 cyl
lopped off. I read about the 5.7 conversions, and apparently it had "mixed
reviews" - but I think it may have been at least partly because they were
used in marine environments. So I was wondering if there would be any
"converted" V6's out there...

Trouble is, the van's engine compartment is REALLY cramped, and I don't
think I could get anything other than a V6 into it - certainly not an
inline-6!

As for gearing, it's already pretty tall, and I'm expecting a reduction in
HP, so the torque would probably be about the same. (the 1.0L
normally-asperated diesel I'm buying for Far Cove is 26hp@3000, so
extrapolating to 4.3 gives 110hp - the existing engine is 190hp. I don't
want turbo: too complicated!) Also, the existing tranny is on its last
legs, so I'll be replacing it soon in any case.

So if there's a V6 diesel of about 4 litres or so, it might be doable.

Lloyd

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...


No, I wouldn't be doing a conversion myself. The 5.7L conversion was what
made me think of it, because the 4.3 is basically the 5.7 with 2 cyl
lopped off. I read about the 5.7 conversions, and apparently it had "mixed
reviews" - but I think it may have been at least partly because they were
used in marine environments. So I was wondering if there would be any
"converted" V6's out there...

Trouble is, the van's engine compartment is REALLY cramped, and I don't
think I could get anything other than a V6 into it - certainly not an
inline-6!

Lloyd, the Astro/Safari V-8 Conversion is rather popular. Also, the 5.7L
conversion in the Chevrolet pickups was an Oldsmobile engine. Not much in
common with the 4.3 except maybe the bellhousing pattern (I forget the
interchange among the GM engine/transmission families).

Rob
*
*
*

4.3L Diesel conversion
 

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 15:21:46 +0000, Trainfan1 wrote:


"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
...


No, I wouldn't be doing a conversion myself. The 5.7L conversion was what made
me think of it, because the 4.3 is basically the 5.7 with 2 cyl lopped off. I
read about the 5.7 conversions, and apparently it had "mixed reviews" - but I
think it may have been at least partly because they were used in marine
environments. So I was wondering if there would be any "converted" V6's out
there...

Trouble is, the van's engine compartment is REALLY cramped, and I don't think
I could get anything other than a V6 into it - certainly not an inline-6!

Lloyd, the Astro/Safari V-8 Conversion is rather popular. Also, the 5.7L
conversion in the Chevrolet pickups was an Oldsmobile engine. Not much in
common with the 4.3 except maybe the bellhousing pattern (I forget the
interchange among the GM engine/transmission families).


Wow - they can stuff a V8 in there?? I thought the V6 was cramped. And, since
one reason for going diesel is fuel economy (concern for burning too many
dinosaurs, not necessarily cost), going bigger doesn't seem to be the way to go.

Lloyd