Can I switch a gasoline engine with a diesel or biodiesel engine?

By admin | Jun 22, 2009
thrower asked:


can a 4 Cyl. gasonline engine be replaced with any diesel or biodiesel engine in a 1960s or 70s van?
and how would it be done?
and if its a lot of work how much would it cost?

Kansieo.com
5 Comments so far
  1. Richard W June 24, 2009 8:18 pm

    IF you can even find a diesel engine that will bolt up to your transmission, you would have to have whatever controls the injection (manual or computer controlled) installed as well.
    The torque from a diesel is usually much greater than that of a 4 cylinder gas engine. You might well ruin the transmission and or rear differential in a short time.
    The cost would far outweigh any benefits.

  2. dodge man June 25, 2009 1:35 am

    i own a repair shop and anything can be done these days but you have no idea of the time and money it would take to do it ,also the degree of knowledge needed to do this would be ,considered to be very high,and the cost would be ridiculous to do,good luck.

  3. httnmrtt June 25, 2009 11:36 pm

    You have a 4-banger in a van? Yes, if you can find a diesel that will fit, it can be done. But you’ll have to include the computer controls, emissions add-ons and all the peripherals. It’s more than just changing a block. I would be surprised if you could get it done for less than $8,000 (US$).

  4. The gr8t alien June 27, 2009 9:15 pm

    You can just need to clean old fuel out of system and you will have to get a new computer for the new engine to run in vehicle there are places like jegs.com and jcwhitney.com a few others that you can order all you need you can also order transmisions and rearends etc.. etc from these places

  5. kutn_up June 30, 2009 12:19 am

    yes you can.I have done it before.but that was 20 some years ago and mostly in pickup trucks. since you are talking about a 60 or 70 model van you dont need a computer because they didn’t use them then.i dont know of any van though in that era that had a four cylinder.finding a good diesel engine from that era may be tough

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