Dodge 50 with blown motor mitsubishi TD

[86Jetta]

Hello from North Dakota,
I just signed up with some questions.

I have an opertunity to buy a 82? Dodge 50 with 2.3L? mitsubishi turbo diesel
The sad news: it's for sale because it ran out of oil going down the road when the oil pressure line broke.The guy said it locked up & or? lost power when he noticed it.
He said it happened in1990 or 1991 so it may be in otherwise good condition(it's been in a quanset under cover)

Anybody out there have an opinion on how bad the damage, maybe hopeless(crakeshaft/rods).
I don't know a lot about this motor or mechanics in general

Also anybody have a motor for sale or a source for one.

Thanks for whatever I can learn.

[burnt_servo]

RUN far far far away from that engine .......

i had one in a 1985 ford ranger 4x4, and had nothing but trouble with cracked heads ,  and blown head gaskets ( even after i had a machine shop cut o rings into the head , and install a set of studs ) .

there was a reason why ford only used that engine for 3 years , and why dodge only used it in the d50 for 4 years .... it was costing them too much in warenty work to keep the head sealed .

[FJ40Jim]

Is that the same engine in a Ranger?

I *thought* the fords used a Mazda (Toyo Kogyo industries) sourced engine.

FWIW, I had a dodge power ram 50 4WD minitruck, but with the 2.6 gas and 5spd.  Nice truck, far less rusty than toyotas I've owned since then.  The problem was there were no fix-up parts available: lift kits, locking diffs, gears, bumpers, etc.

[burnt_servo]

in 1984 they used a what may have been a mazda diesel , in 1985 , 86 and 87 they used mitsubishi diesels

[zyewdall]

Funny... This is the first I've ever heard that it was a bad engine.  I've had trouble with mine ('84 D-50) but not with the head leaking.  Rocker arms came loose from improper torque, and broke, but other than that, it's been a pretty good engine for me.

The D-50 wasn't actually a dodge, but a Mitsubishi, and I thought the reason they stopped selling it (in '91 I think, but the diesel stopped in '84 or '85 because fuel prices went down and no one wanted a diesel any more) ' was because Dodge introduced the Dakota instead -- which, IMO, was a real piece of crap compared to the Mitsubishi -- at least every one I've drive has been.  Mitsubishi has continued to use the newer version of the 4D55T, the 2.5 liter 4D56T for many more years outside the US.

[burnt_servo]

i was working at a local ford dealer for several years , and the reason given to me by the guys there for ford dropping the engine was too many warenty claims on the engine it's self   ........
 this was after i bought one myself  

a person is much better off swaping out the mitsu motor for a 1.6 td wv

[zyewdall]

a person is much better off swaping out the mitsu motor for a 1.6 td wv

Well....  Except that it's even harder to find a 1.6TD than a 2.3TD Mitsubishi engine down here.... why did VW only sell the TD's in Canada    :x

[burnt_servo]

a person is much better off swaping out the mitsu motor for a 1.6 td wv

Well....  Except that it's even harder to find a 1.6TD than a 2.3TD Mitsubishi engine down here.... why did VW only sell the TD's in Canada    :x

www.car-part.com

i really find that hard to beleive ... the mitsu's where only 3 or 4 years with the dodges , and 3 years with ford , then maybe in a japenese only  vehicle .  and very very little to no aftermarket  parts available .

vw are out there in the early 80's in all sorts of various vehicles WORLD WIDE up until 2006 models with the tdi ( think m- tdi)  , with tons of aftermarket supliers of  various engine parts , INCUDING brand new  heads ....
 which you can't get with the mitsu motor , and is the weak point in that engine .

when i finally yanked  that engine out of my ranger  , the guy i sold the parts too was estactic , since he had just bought one , and blew the head gasket ( or so he thought ... he cracked the head )  and he couldn't believe why i would want to get rid of everything  so cheap .  ( i had 4 complete motors in various states of  disaembly ) .
i got a phone call 6 months latter from a woman who bought his truck from him  and all my old parts + another wrecked ford ranger  diesel   , asking for help with ... guess what ... a "headgasket " problem .....

i then helped her install a 2.3 ford gas engine into it from the wrecker .
and several years latter i still see the truck running around town .

it has a very poorly designed head  , if the head was properly designed , it would be a great engine .

[zyewdall]

I agree that some of the japanese diesels, the toyota's especially, have very poor parts support here in the US, but the mitsubishi seems to be be better than the toyota, and going by my current quest to find a 1.6TD that's not completely worn out.... easier to find complete running engines too (like in the local junkyard, instead of having to have it shipped from Canada).  And my local Mitsubishi dealer carries parts for them even.

I can't speak for the head design... but there are a number of other design features of VW that I feel both mitsubishi (and toyota, if they were more available in this country) did much better.   The glow plugs for example..... 10 minutes to replace them on the mitsubishi because they on the top of the head instead of the side...  And steel return fuel lines (biodiesel and squirrels did not agree with the rubber ones on the VW....).  For me at least, it's been alot more maintenance hassle to keep my VW running than my Mitsubishi.