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More diesel discussion.

Stomis

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So I've been doing a butt load of reading for my s10 project. I'm thinking I'm going to be taking some early on advice that I was given by a certain someone on here that I shot down at first.

It seems like the Mercedes 5 banger turbo diesel will be in the s10s future.

Theres a few reasons why I've decided to not go with the 6.2 and a few reasons why I'm going with the 5 cylinder Mercedes motor.

The first is engine compartment space. I talked back and forth a little with s10 diesel on pirate about his 6.5 swap into his s10. The most major issue he told me he face was needing to delete the entire airbox in the engine compartment and going with aftermarket addon heater/ac for hotrods.

This was my first major concern especially considering I want heat and ac as this is the last rig I plan on building at least for quite some time.

From what I've been reading this motor is suppose to be one of the most reliable motors of all time. 3 liter, mechanical, turbo, 125hp / 175 ftlbs stock. From the little reading I've found with an intake, exhaust, and worked pump they can make 175hp and 200ftlbs easily.

Now other than way more engine compartment space theres a couple other big pluses to using this motor. They redline at 5600rpms and can be driven to 5200 with no ill effects. I was hesitant about putting a mercedes plant in a chevy but it really seems like the best motor for the application.

Now the really big plus is with 35s and 4.56s the rebuilt SM465 I have will put the mercedes motor right in its sweet spot at 65-75 mph. The cars they came stock in originally had no OD and ran at 2800-3100 RPMs for cruising.

So ontop of not shoe horning the motor in I have a rebuilt good trans ready to go for the project.

OM617 mercedes 5 cylinder turbo diesel, sm465, np241 will be the drivetrain. Plus this motor is suppose to be capable of 40mpg driven properly and will probably be easy to hit the high 20s in the truck.


Thoughts?
 
Sounds good! I'm as big a fan as there is for 6.2's, but I had a little trouble putting a 6.2 with 6.5TD stuff in my '67 C-30. The small block motor mounts wouldn't work, I had clearance the frame for the crossover pipe, I had to run the exhaust outside the frame rail, and to build a custom heater box to have a heater. I small block is tight in an S10, so I 6.2 would be even worse.
 
before i settled on my TDI jetta, i was strongly considering a diesel mercedies as my next vehicle. Im not gonna lie though, those power levels sound a little high to me, although i was looking at early to mid 80's cars. maybe in the 90's they got it higher. If you want to start modding it for power, check out www.superturbodiesel.com. of all the mercedies sites i found in my searching they were the most "ck5 like". A few even pointed out the injector pump on the merc engine was the same style used on the P pumped cummins engines in dodges. and they started modifying delivery valves the same way and stuff like that. bigger turbo's, compound turbos, etc. They would probably be a great source of info and support durring the swap and modding.
 
was a 4bt ever an idea?


4bt was absolutely considered and was my first motor of choice. Theres just too many inherent issues with it. First off people think theyre worth their weight in gold. Secondly the power levels and rpm range would require a very stout OD trans (IE NV4500) which just makes things even more expensive.


Dreamer as far as the tuning and power goes from what I've read a few hours in the IP and a couple wrenches can yield 125 hp removing a restricter. The problem is no one has set numbers for X modifications because theres nothing off the shelf for performance.

I plan on doing an air to air intercooler, modifying the pump, full 3in exhaust, and custom intake. Based on what others have dynoed this should have me around 150-165 hp and 220 ftlbs. I havent even looked into swapping the turbo to a larger trim turbine yet either.
 
I think that sounds like the PERFECT drivetrain for a small truck! :bow: What do you expect for mileage? 30 MPG?
 
I think that sounds like the PERFECT drivetrain for a small truck! :bow: What do you expect for mileage? 30 MPG?

I dont want to be over optimistic but if the motor likes the 3000rpms like I've read then I dont see why it isnt possible. I'm definately expecting 23-28 minimum.
 
I think having access to those rpms will be great. that's my only complaint every once and a while about my 6.2
 
Good choice. I started reading up on the 4/5 banger Mercedes diesels about a year ago. They are with out a doubt a very reliable engine, In fact the car that holds the worlds record for mileage is a Mercedes 5 cyl. diesel. Do a google search and you will find a bell housing adapter to to adapter a Chevy transmission to the Mercedes 4/5 cyl.

I have been wanting to to swap my Isuzu 4 cyl into my 63 Scout for a while now. Problem is I can not find an adapter for a trans. I am seriously thinking about a Mercedes 4 cyl. as the space is very limited. There are a sh!t load of Mercedes diesels running around here. Problem is people will not turn loose of them. They can beat the snot out of them and they wont die.

I personally think a Mercedes 5 cyl diesel with a 700R4 in a C-10 with a 4" drop would make a sweet cruiser.
 
I have had lots of 4-5 cyl Mercedes diesels before I got in to 4x4 and Chevys.
Great engines and as you know already almost unstoppable.
But if you want low end torque it is not for you.
That is only my thoughts though :o
 
I have had lots of 4-5 cyl Mercedes diesels before I got in to 4x4 and Chevys.
Great engines and as you know already almost unstoppable.
But if you want low end torque it is not for you.
That is only my thoughts though :o
Very true. Of course that's where gears would come into play. I think Stomis plan of the Mercedes/SM465/NP241 will still work in a S-10. Naturally the diesel will have some low end torque as it is a diesel. Couple that with the deep first gear of the 465 and the low range of the 241 and some low gears in the axles and he should be fine.
 
even with the low first gear of the 465 along with the light weight of the truck? what kind of power do they put out low?
 
Very true. Of course that's where gears would come into play. I think Stomis plan of the Mercedes/SM465/NP241 will still work in a S-10. Naturally the diesel will have some low end torque as it is a diesel. Couple that with the deep first gear of the 465 and the low range of the 241 and some low gears in the axles and he should be fine.
ha! beat me to it.
 
Lol you guys are answering questions for me...

The axles will have 4.56s in them. I think even on road skipping granny the truck will move fine. They make peak torque from about 1200rpms all the way to 3400rpms so in that sense they operate like a chuggin low rpm diesel.

As far as adapters I have seen the 4x4 labs mercedes to chevy stick adapters. I have no plan to use one, not for a thousand ****in dollars. I've seen adapters made just fine with a torch, and 1/2in piece of plate ('ll probably use 3/16s). I'll use a standard chevy flywheel redrilled to the mercedez crank and have a bushing turned to mercedes OD and chevy input ID.

The only snag I see with this idea is possibly needing to make a shim spacer between the flywheel and crank


O and the motor definitely wont be stock. Straight 3in exhaust, fleabay intercooler, tweaked pump probably to the near max it can put out with the stock 5.5 plunger. I'm still reading up on the tuned intake manifolds from NA cars and on re-trimming the turbo to kick in earlier and be more efficient.

I'm even thinking that with how nice and small the stock rad is for these things that I'll be able to offset the rad and get an IC that will be mounted up next to the open space in the support. So no low hanging IC and not IC hugging a hot radiator.
 
Curious as to why go to all this trouble/expense for 220lb-ft after mods to the chosen diesel engine. It just seems low, too low for all that work. Doesn't the original Vortec 4.3 put out 200lb-ft or more out of the box? Then you can bolt on a supercharger and go from there. I'd just hate to see someone go through all this work for a big power disappointment in the end.
 
Curious as to why go to all this trouble/expense for 220lb-ft after mods to the chosen diesel engine. It just seems low, too low for all that work. Doesn't the original Vortec 4.3 put out 200lb-ft or more out of the box? Then you can bolt on a supercharger and go from there. I'd just hate to see someone go through all this work for a big power disappointment in the end.


By no means am I after power. I'm after mileage, simplicity, and reliability. I made the decision to go to a diesel motor for a couple reasons.

The first being that I hate wiring and I hate complexity. This meant that if I got a vortec injected motor I'd want to swap to tbi and I didnt want to have to do that. The vortec injection is garbage and unreliable as alot of people know. I love TBI but its a pain in the dick to locate a later model TBI s10.

The second is that I've never had a diesel truck and have always wanted to tinker with one. What better candidate than a truck that will be all over the country on 35s and still pull almost 30mpgs :)

As an aside I find that as Americans we are power crazy for our vehicles. Now I've never been any different when it comes to cars but trucks I just never saw the point (primarily because I dont tow). My k10 has an LO5 thats probably 330 ftlbs and 250hp moving something like 5500lbs with 3.73s and 36in tires. A lot of people would find that truck to be way under powered especially for a wheel but I have no problem with it at all.

If you look at guys wheeling in other countries or hell just guys wheel old toyotas. 1.8L 90ft lbs of torque and 110hp pushing a 4500lb truck. It seems like a joke to alot of guys not having a healthy 400 or 500 horsies to get you going but I've never been a person that needed that to be happy, at least not when theyre rolling on mud tires. Cars is a different story :)
 
Those goofy looking dodge sprinter delivery vans have 5 cylinder Mercedes in them if I'm not mistaken.....They are built by Mercedes...


The Dodge Sprinter is also one of the most economically friendly vehicles of its size. The five cylinder diesel engine model has 156 horsepower, direct fuel injection, and gets 28mpg at 55mph. It's made to be fuel efficient even when hauling heavy loads and travelling long distances.


maybe a source for parts or transmission choices.....

just throwing this out there.....carry on..
 
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