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Engine to put into a dodge caravan
by
pengyou
on 28 Jun, 2006 10:53
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I have a 1986 Dodge Caravan with a 2.4 liter gasoline engine. The car is in very good shape but I need to start doing a lot of cross country driving. Can someone recommend a diesel engine that will let this van cruise at 75 mph, pull at least 55 mph up steep grades (through Colorado) and is relatively easy to find in the U.S.?
I don't ask for much, do i?
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#1
by
SMOKEYDUB
on 28 Jun, 2006 18:45
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they have diesel caravans in europe. ebay maybe?
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#2
by
zyewdall
on 29 Jun, 2006 14:50
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Yeah, you could see if you could get a european caravan, which apparently came with a 2.5liter turbo diesel
http://www.allpar.com/model/caravan.htmlIt appears that those only came with the 5 speed manual transmission, so I don't know if it would bolt up to an auto tranny from the US version.
Now, finding one of those and getting it to the US would probably be somewhere between really hard and impossible...
Why not get something like a VW vanagon and put a TDI in it? I bet it would be cheaper (plus what you'd end up with would be a much better vehical) than trying to bring a diesel caravan or conversion donor over.
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#3
by
zyewdall
on 29 Jun, 2006 14:52
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Or, I bet a TDI would do okay in the caravan, if you could make it match up to the tranny.... Slow, but considering the TDI jetta's can make the passes in Colorado at 75mph or higher, it should still pull 55 in the minivan.
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#4
by
firestorm13666
on 29 Jun, 2006 23:07
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What about the old Dodge Omni's that came with a 1.7 Vw engine and a auto trans i think.Why not try to swap the trans in?My bro and i have thought about doing this a few times.
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#5
by
bvolks73
on 19 Sep, 2006 23:18
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I thought about that one myself. I have a manual transmission from one of those old Omni's and figured it wouldn't be too hard to use it and a TD VW engine in a Caravan body. Couldn't be any more gutless than the original automatic. The only thing that really scared me away from it was the thought of designing some sort of shifting linkage for it. I've never seen a standard Caravan around here.
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#6
by
lesharoturbo
on 20 Sep, 2006 10:25
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A buddy of mine had a 5 speed turbo 4 gasser in his Caravan. This was circa 1990. It was the same engine offered in the Shadow. It was about 140 horses and 170 tourque. About the same as the early 3.0 Mitsu V-6's. Boy that thing would move.
Bernie
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#7
by
745 turbogreasel
on 21 Sep, 2006 03:13
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I beleive the Izusu Chevrolet Duramax is the lightest light duty truck motor readiliy available in the US today. Mount it low in the middle of the car, and it should hit 150 with little or no engine modification.
Unfortunately, your FWD platform doesn't lend itself to easy conversion, so unless you are blessed with plenty of time and strong fabricaton skills, or lots of money, you might bre better off looking for a more siutable vehicle.
Possiblly a turbocharged(real hared to work on) Ford if it must be a van.
The cheap route wold be to get a wrecked diesel truck, and replace the body with your Caravan....kinda soccer mom hillbilly style.
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#8
by
clbanman
on 08 Aug, 2007 23:48
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A co-worker has done several Caravan VW diesel conversions. Use the VW engine and trans. Get custom axles made up. Simple and easy according to him, and he says the Dodge service mechanics don't know what to think when they hear it running. As far as I know, all of his were mechanical pump engines, so wiring changes were minimal - glow plugs and fuel shutoff.
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#9
by
jbg
on 13 Aug, 2007 07:46
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A co-worker has done several Caravan VW diesel conversions. Use the VW engine and trans. Get custom axles made up. Simple and easy according to him, and he says the Dodge service mechanics don't know what to think when they hear it running. As far as I know, all of his were mechanical pump engines, so wiring changes were minimal - glow plugs and fuel shutoff.
Roger that, I remember seeing a video on YouTube where a guy had an 80s era Caravan with the a A3 TDI. Was a great swap. Of course I cannot locate this video ...
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#10
by
jtanguay
on 13 Aug, 2007 22:20
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i just bought an 06 motor from a seat ibiza. it has side mounts like the dodge caravan.
there was a guy on youtube that put a 1.6TD in a caravan, but the video has since been removed... not sure why!!!
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#11
by
Slave2School
on 14 Aug, 2007 14:06
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Big oil conspiracy
lol. I would so rock a TD Caravan, it would be great for the kids.
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#12
by
jtanguay
on 15 Aug, 2007 20:00
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Big oil conspiracy lol. I would so rock a TD Caravan, it would be great for the kids.
he claimed to get 1200km with the stock caravan tank & 1.6TD.
imagine a PD engine? get around 300-400 ft/lbs torque, 200hp... 40-50 mpg.
damn!!!!!!!!! that would rock the kids :lol:
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#13
by
clbanman
on 18 Aug, 2007 14:22
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#14
by
Slave2School
on 20 Aug, 2007 12:10
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That is very cool. It would be great to take it to a Chrysler dealer and ask for a a timing belt job hahaha.