Building a diesel powered RHD TJ Wrangler (Picture Heavy)

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Glad to hear you have had such great progress. Good for you.

Thank you! It's been a heck of a journey to get to this point, I need to figure out what is causing the minor coolant leak.

Grant,
That is GREAT news & I am so happy that things are working out finally. Looks like we're both finally getting to see the fruits of our labor paying off. The Jeep sounds great & appears to be driving a lot better in the videos too. I know that has just got to feel so good at this point.
So how does driving it on the street feel now? Is it getting any better?

Rick

Hey Rick thank you so much and you are correct, it's great that we are both beginning to see progress on both of our builds!

It's weird driving it now because I almost don't have to constantly monitor all the various gauges. Especially with flushing out the radiator, everything stays VERY cool right now. I really need to replace the thermostat again, and I have a re-route of my cooling system I'd like to try as well, I think I'm opening up the thermostat earlier than it should because of how I'm routing the turbo coolant return line back into the cooling loop.

I just took the TJ out again today and it just kind of drives like a normal TJ until you get onto the throttle, then you know you are not driving a stock TJ!

That's great news! Can't wait to hear about driveability and "a day in the life of" updates

Hopefully soon! I caught a cold after I filmed all of that right around New Years and I'm still recovering from it, I'm like 90% better but still out of it somewhat! I need to make some other adjustments and I think a set of front ball joints are in my future as well at this point!

Thanks
Grant

 

[Wildman]

I'd guess not having all your attention on the gauges makes it a little easier to drive than when you had to have your attention on them. I know now that I'm not trying to watch every gauge as I drive gives me more time to be paying attention to the road too.
Get over that cold soon. I'm fighting one too.

 

[zebra12]

Hey TJers,

Projects like my BEW TDI swap with an automatic transmission would not be possible without the communities around it supporting them. When I posted my last video stating there was a design incompatibility between my BEW TDI engine and AW4 automatic transmission, it was around the idle rpm that both the engine and transmission were designed for. Turns out I was wrong, and I've never been so happy to be wrong!

First off, I want to apologize. I really don't have any pictures to include with this post. I had a TINY window to get the new tune on my ECU, swap out the higher stall torque converter I was running, and re-install the stock torque converter back into my swap . . . again.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

After posting my last video, another TDI Swappers and YouTuber, Kyle (https://www.youtube.com/@TDISwaps) messaged telling me I could get the idle RPM lowered on my BEW TDI from our tuner. He had a BEW TDI running at 750rpm on a truck with an automatic and sent me a video of it working.

That sent me down the rabbit hole of getting the equipment and software I needed to pull my tune off and send it to my tuner Tekmektronics, whose tune I've been running on my swap since I went to the GTD1752vrk turbo. Once I got the cable and software to work, I was able to send Tekmektronics my tune, he was able to make the necessary changes to lower the idle RPM on my BEW TDI to 700rpm and then all I had to do was write that tune back to the ECU.

I then tested the tune very quickly on my property. The tune allowed the best engagement I've ever felt going from Park to Reverse or Neutral to Reverse or Drive. Also, the engine seems quieter as well, and I wasn't able to notice any additional vibrations from the lower idle RPM either.

Having confirmed the lower idle RPM tune was working, I then, in one day, dropped the transmission and transfer case to re-instal the stock stall torque converter. The stall speed of the stock torque converter, which is between 2000 and 2200rpm, worked SO much better on the road with my BEW TDI than the custom high-stall torque converter I had installed previously.

One other thing that happened while I wasn't filming was I had to drain the water out of the coolant system again because it's been below freezing where I live. For whatever reason I decided to completely pull the peacock out of the radiator instead of just opening it and all the dirt and sediment can out of my radiator. I then proceeded to flush the radiator several times with very hot water until it started coming out clear.

After putting actual coolant in the radiator, I took my TJ out for a test drive, and WOW what a difference. My TJ has not run and driven this well since it was stock truthfully. The engine isn't pushing the transmission through my brakes anymore at stops and it goes into gear with just the slightest pump. Driving is just as great now as well, the stock stall torque converter is well matched for my BEW TDI engine, and cleaning out the radiator DRASTICALLY affected the cooling efficiency of my entire system. I'm barely getting the engine up to 170° now, I installed a 180° thermostat during the summer to help with temperatures, but I think I need to go back to the stock thermostat to make sure everything gets up to temperature correctly now.

I just wanted to give an additional shout out to a few people, Kyle, David, Ted, Tekmektronics and HGM Electronics. Without the knowledge being shared in the community and the help of other individuals, I would not be able to have this Wrangler TDI Swap where it is today.

Thank you so much for all the help!
Grant

Good video, and my wag (wild ass guess) is the average wtj forum member owns zero sweaters.

 

[Brandon.k]

Did you end up lifting the rhd?

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Hey TJers,

It amazes me how swapping out one part can completely transform a project. Earlier this year I watched a video online about how having a properly sized intercooler for your diesel was essential. When I first installed my intercooler, I bought the biggest intercooler I could cram into my front grill. I replaced it with a new intercooler that is similar in height and length, but the depth is different and the inlet/outlet now matches the rest of my boost piping. It made a WORLD of difference. New intercooler is on top and my originally intercooler is below it.

To quickly go over the differences between these two intercoolers, the most important difference is the inlet/outlet size. The original intercooler was 2.5" inches on both the inlet and outlet. The new Intercooler is 2" on the inlet and out which matches the diameter of all my boost piping and my intake manifold as well. I'm no longer causing a restriction when I leave my intercooler because I'm immediately necking down from 2.5" to 2".

The next two dimensions are equally as important. The core height of the first intercooler, ie the fin that actually do the cooling, was right at 6" tall. The new Intercooler has a core height of 7" and the fins/tubes are not as tightly packed either. The width of both intercoolers was nearly identical but the depth was also different. The original cooler had a depth of 3.5" and the new intercooler was only 2.25" deep.

What all these differences came down to was my first intercooler, while it cooled extremely well, blocked a lot of airflow to my radiator. I was also introducing turbulence into the charged airflow from going 2" ~ 2.5 on the inlet and worse going from 2.5 down to 2" on the outlet of my intercooler. The new intercooler fits better in the front grill and allows more airflow to the rest of the system as well.

When I took it out for a test drive, I did noticed a few interesting things. The most surprising change is how much quieter my setup is now. At almost every throttle input now, my swap is MUCH quieter. For the first time since I have diesel swapped my TJ, I can hear my tires when I'm cruising down the road. Honestly, the noise has been reduced so much, it's a joy to just going cruising around in my Wrangler now with how much quieter the setup is.

The only other two notable differences are I have more boost everywhere, cruising etc and accelerating I see higher boost numbers than previously though my max boost still seems to be around 26 ~27 psi, I have a feeling that is a restriction in my exhaust with it only being 2.25".

Lastly, my EGTs are both cooler and hotter. Idling and cruising around my EGTs differently are cooler, I need to check old videos to get the exact amount. My first intercooler had a much larger cooling capacity, I struggled to get my EGTs to 1000°, now under extremely hard acceleration in 3rd gear, I've seen my EGTs momentarily hit 1200° until I let off the throttle and my EGTs instantly went below 900°.

Overall I'm thrilled with the intercooler swap and I'm still surprised by how much better the new intercooler seems to be performing everywhere.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

Thanks
Grant

 

[Irun]

Hey TJers,

It amazes me how swapping out one part can completely transform a project. Earlier this year I watched a video online about how having a properly sized intercooler for your diesel was essential. When I first installed my intercooler, I bought the biggest intercooler I could cram into my front grill. I replaced it with a new intercooler that is similar in height and length, but the depth is different and the inlet/outlet now matches the rest of my boost piping. It made a WORLD of difference. New intercooler is on top and my originally intercooler is below it.

View attachment 625826

To quickly go over the differences between these two intercoolers, the most important difference is the inlet/outlet size. The original intercooler was 2.5" inches on both the inlet and outlet. The new Intercooler is 2" on the inlet and out which matches the diameter of all my boost piping and my intake manifold as well. I'm no longer causing a restriction when I leave my intercooler because I'm immediately necking down from 2.5" to 2".

View attachment 625827

View attachment 625828

The next two dimensions are equally as important. The core height of the first intercooler, ie the fin that actually do the cooling, was right at 6" tall. The new Intercooler has a core height of 7" and the fins/tubes are not as tightly packed either. The width of both intercoolers was nearly identical but the depth was also different. The original cooler had a depth of 3.5" and the new intercooler was only 2.25" deep.

View attachment 625829

What all these differences came down to was my first intercooler, while it cooled extremely well, blocked a lot of airflow to my radiator. I was also introducing turbulence into the charged airflow from going 2" ~ 2.5 on the inlet and worse going from 2.5 down to 2" on the outlet of my intercooler. The new intercooler fits better in the front grill and allows more airflow to the rest of the system as well.

View attachment 625831

When I took it out for a test drive, I did noticed a few interesting things. The most surprising change is how much quieter my setup is now. At almost every throttle input now, my swap is MUCH quieter. For the first time since I have diesel swapped my TJ, I can hear my tires when I'm cruising down the road. Honestly, the noise has been reduced so much, it's a joy to just going cruising around in my Wrangler now with how much quieter the setup is.

View attachment 625832

View attachment 625833

The only other two notable differences are I have more boost everywhere, cruising etc and accelerating I see higher boost numbers than previously though my max boost still seems to be around 26 ~27 psi, I have a feeling that is a restriction in my exhaust with it only being 2.25".

Lastly, my EGTs are both cooler and hotter. Idling and cruising around my EGTs differently are cooler, I need to check old videos to get the exact amount. My first intercooler had a much larger cooling capacity, I struggled to get my EGTs to 1000°, now under extremely hard acceleration in 3rd gear, I've seen my EGTs momentarily hit 1200° until I let off the throttle and my EGTs instantly went below 900°.

View attachment 625834

Overall I'm thrilled with the intercooler swap and I'm still surprised by how much better the new intercooler seems to be performing everywhere.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

Thanks
Grant

Very, very cool to see this drive the way it did. It's been a journey, but the destination was well worth it!

 

[Wildman]

Hey TJers,

It amazes me how swapping out one part can completely transform a project. Earlier this year I watched a video online about how having a properly sized intercooler for your diesel was essential. When I first installed my intercooler, I bought the biggest intercooler I could cram into my front grill. I replaced it with a new intercooler that is similar in height and length, but the depth is different and the inlet/outlet now matches the rest of my boost piping. It made a WORLD of difference. New intercooler is on top and my originally intercooler is below it.

View attachment 625826

To quickly go over the differences between these two intercoolers, the most important difference is the inlet/outlet size. The original intercooler was 2.5" inches on both the inlet and outlet. The new Intercooler is 2" on the inlet and out which matches the diameter of all my boost piping and my intake manifold as well. I'm no longer causing a restriction when I leave my intercooler because I'm immediately necking down from 2.5" to 2".

View attachment 625827

View attachment 625828

The next two dimensions are equally as important. The core height of the first intercooler, ie the fin that actually do the cooling, was right at 6" tall. The new Intercooler has a core height of 7" and the fins/tubes are not as tightly packed either. The width of both intercoolers was nearly identical but the depth was also different. The original cooler had a depth of 3.5" and the new intercooler was only 2.25" deep.

View attachment 625829

What all these differences came down to was my first intercooler, while it cooled extremely well, blocked a lot of airflow to my radiator. I was also introducing turbulence into the charged airflow from going 2" ~ 2.5 on the inlet and worse going from 2.5 down to 2" on the outlet of my intercooler. The new intercooler fits better in the front grill and allows more airflow to the rest of the system as well.

View attachment 625831

When I took it out for a test drive, I did noticed a few interesting things. The most surprising change is how much quieter my setup is now. At almost every throttle input now, my swap is MUCH quieter. For the first time since I have diesel swapped my TJ, I can hear my tires when I'm cruising down the road. Honestly, the noise has been reduced so much, it's a joy to just going cruising around in my Wrangler now with how much quieter the setup is.

View attachment 625832

View attachment 625833

The only other two notable differences are I have more boost everywhere, cruising etc and accelerating I see higher boost numbers than previously though my max boost still seems to be around 26 ~27 psi, I have a feeling that is a restriction in my exhaust with it only being 2.25".

Lastly, my EGTs are both cooler and hotter. Idling and cruising around my EGTs differently are cooler, I need to check old videos to get the exact amount. My first intercooler had a much larger cooling capacity, I struggled to get my EGTs to 1000°, now under extremely hard acceleration in 3rd gear, I've seen my EGTs momentarily hit 1200° until I let off the throttle and my EGTs instantly went below 900°.

View attachment 625834

Overall I'm thrilled with the intercooler swap and I'm still surprised by how much better the new intercooler seems to be performing everywhere.

Here is the video if you'd like to watch:

Thanks
Grant

Glad you are getting things figured out Grant.

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Very, very cool to see this drive the way it did. It's been a journey, but the destination was well worth it!

It really has been, I'm over half way done with my next change/upgrade. Decided to install a Resonator in my exhaust system as well to reduce exhaust noise, I actually bought the resonator before I swapped the intercooler, I'm interested to see how it does!

Glad you are getting things figured out Grant.

Finally it seems, but better late than never! I have a few other things I need to sort out, I think I might to upgrade the radiator, it's keeping up but once I put gear and a RTT on my Wrangler, I'm concerned coolant temperatures are going to be too hot. It's something I'm actively looking into right now.

Thanks
Grant

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Quick update. I put diesel in the Wrangler yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised by the mileage. I had driven 232.5 miles and I put in 9.07 gallons of diesel fuel which was just a hair under ½ a tank . That comes out to approximately 25.6 mpg.

I say this is surprising because a good 90 minutes of that tank was having the engine run between 1900 ~ 2300 rpm while I was working on the cooling system and figuring out how to bleed it correctly. Another 60 minutes of that was me using the TJ to move fallen trees on my property with a recovery rope. Lastly probably 50 miles of that tank was me flooring the throttle constantly to see how the new intercooler was affecting my EGTs.

In summary, with not driving optimally the Wrangler still got nearly got 26mpg. In the past I've had similar situation with this TJ with this setup on the old intercooler and it was closer to 22 ~ 23 mpg. I've just finished an update to my exhaust system, once this heat wave goes away here in NC, I think I need to do a few more fuel economy tests like I did last year to see what this TJ can achieve both in-town and pure highway driving.

Thanks
Grant

 

[NashvilleTJ]

That's incredible, Rusty. That's over 3 times my mileage...

Diesel conversion, hmmmmm.......

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

That's incredible, Rusty. That's over 3 times my mileage...

Deisel conversion, hmmmmm.......

It's the reason I wanted to do the swap. It's a ton of work and it will cost you more than you think. That being said if you go ALH with an AX-15 manual transmission, that is the most economical way of doing the swap. I've been stubborn as hell to get it working with an automatic. Also 25psi of boost when you take off from a stop light will leave everyone around you confused on why a TJ is accelerating as fast as it does! It's not the fastest thing on the street, not even remotely close, but compared to other TJs, it's fast.

 

[Wildman]

It's the reason I wanted to do the swap. It's a ton of work and it will cost you more than you think. That being said if you go ALH with an AX-15 manual transmission, that is the most economical way of doing the swap. I've been stubborn as hell to get it working with an automatic. Also 25psi of boost when you take off from a stop light will leave everyone around you confused on why a TJ is accelerating as fast as it does! It's not the fastest thing on the street, not even remotely close, but compared to other TJs, it's fast.

See now you've got me questioning why I followed in Jeff's footsteps instead of yours.... Dang Nab It...

25+ MPG sounds pretty good. Wonder how the ALH & auto would move 38" tires?

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

See now you've got me questioning why I followed in Jeff's footsteps instead of yours.... Dang Nab It...

25+ MPG sounds pretty good. Wonder how the ALH & auto would move 38" tires?

With an automatic, I would recommend a BEW or even better the CJAA Common Rail. The problem with the ALH is it doesn't want to idle low enough for the automatic torque converter, the BEW gets away with it because it's a PD Diesel instead of a traditional Injection Pump Diesel. The CJAA is the best option because it's Common Rail and from the factory idles at 800rpm when at operating temperature.

I have a 2014 Jetta with a CJAA TDI that I'm about to list for sale if you want it , I bought it just in case the BEW TDI didn't workout. The CJAA can make VERY nice power with a CP3 pump upgrade, a turbo upgrade and a tune. I think guys are hitting 250hp out of the CJAA just with those mods, more than enough to move your 38" tires, though I doubt you'll be getting the same mileage, but I would guess you would be 20+mpg for sure, maybe 23 ~ 25 highway. It really depends on gearing in both your axles and transmission.

 

[BlueC]

The only other two notable differences are I have more boost everywhere, cruising etc and accelerating I see higher boost numbers than previously though my max boost still seems to be around 26 ~27 psi, I have a feeling that is a restriction in my exhaust with it only being 2.25".

Lastly, my EGTs are both cooler and hotter. Idling and cruising around my EGTs differently are cooler, I need to check old videos to get the exact amount. My first intercooler had a much larger cooling capacity, I struggled to get my EGTs to 1000°, now under extremely hard acceleration in 3rd gear, I've seen my EGTs momentarily hit 1200° until I let off the throttle and my EGTs instantly went below 900°.

Thinking out loud here, maybe yall can help me understand something. I understand the above, smaller inlet/outlet & core = more restriction = higher pressures = higher temperatures, I understand that flow, and I understand removing the "steps" in the piping leads to less turbulence in the air. What I don't understand is why that would make it run quieter. Can anyone enlighten me on that?

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

Thinking out loud here, maybe yall can help me understand something. I understand the above, smaller inlet/outlet & core = more restriction = higher pressures = higher temperatures, I understand that flow, and I understand removing the "steps" in the piping leads to less turbulence in the air. What I don't understand is why that would make it run quieter. Can anyone enlighten me on that?

I've been trying to figure that one out myself, my best theory is the intercooler I was running had such a tightly packed core section that the engine had to work harder to maintain idle and cruising rpm. It's not much but it's the best theory I've got at the moment.

The first intercooler I had was rated for 600HP, this latest one I believe was 300 ~ 350hp, my TDI on a good day makes ABOUT 170hp, I need to dyno it honestly. I had read somewhere online, can't find it anymore, that for diesels, you take the HP rating and swap it for ft/lbs of torque your diesel engine is making. I'm making no where near 600ft/lb of torque, 300ft/lb is about right. Take that adjustment with a grain of salt, I wish I could find the article or webpage where I had read that months ago.

 

[Wildman]

With an automatic, I would recommend a BEW or even better the CJAA Common Rail. The problem with the ALH is it doesn't want to idle low enough for the automatic torque converter, the BEW gets away with it because it's a PD Diesel instead of a traditional Injection Pump Diesel. The CJAA is the best option because it's Common Rail and from the factory idles at 800rpm when at operating temperature.

I have a 2014 Jetta with a CJAA TDI that I'm about to list for sale if you want it , I bought it just in case the BEW TDI didn't workout. The CJAA can make VERY nice power with a CP3 pump upgrade, a turbo upgrade and a tune. I think guys are hitting 250hp out of the CJAA just with those mods, more than enough to move your 38" tires, though I doubt you'll be getting the same mileage, but I would guess you would be 20+mpg for sure, maybe 23 ~ 25 highway. It really depends on gearing in both your axles and transmission.

I think I'll skip the idea of another engine swap right now ...

Plus a road trip to NC while fun isn't a feasible option right now.

 

[NDSpeed]

That's incredible, Rusty. That's over 3 times my mileage...

Diesel conversion, hmmmmm.......

i just came back from a camping trip. 2 hour drive there two hours back. went wheeling for about five hours.

still had a 1/4 tank of fuel when i got home. think it was somewhere between 280-300 miles

way better then 1mpg/cylinder

 

[RustyAutoholicGuy]

I think I'll skip the idea of another engine swap right now ...

Plus a road trip to NC while fun isn't a feasible option right now.

WA isn't THAT far from NC

i just came back from a camping trip. 2 hour drive there two hours back. went wheeling for about five hours.

still had a 1/4 tank of fuel when i got home. think it was somewhere between 280-300 miles

way better then 1mpg/cylinder

What's your engine/transmission setup on your TJ?

 

[NDSpeed]

WA isn't THAT far from NC



What's your engine/transmission setup on your TJ?

R2.8L NSG370 5”lift 35” tires 4:10 gearing

 

[NashvilleTJ]

...

way better then 1mpg/cylinder

Right now, I'm not even getting that...



But, at about 70 ponies/cylinder it definitely helps me forget...