Suzuki Samurai diesel conversion

[addautomotive]

I bought a used, but complete, acme conversion kit to install a 1.6TD into my suzuki samurai. I used the 1.6 TD engine out of my mother's old Jetta. Took last week off to do the conversion.

Fired it up last night, and it is running really well.

It didn't at first... it was blowing tons of blue smoke, none at idle but lots and lots when revved. Took it for a spin, thinking it just needed to be run, but it was still making a huge cloud of smoke; it was embarassing. My heart sank, I thought I had put in a crap engine (it was out of my mother's old jetta and it never burned oil like that before).

Once it was warm, I decided to give it an italian tune-up. I started gently, then MASHED IT in second and then third. The smoke actually caused cars to pull over, someone flashed their lights at me.

Then, I heard the turbo spool up and the smoke stopped.

I think the turbo was sticking, causing high enough vacuum on the intake that it was pulling oil past the turbo seals. Once the turbo freed up, it stopped completely.

Anyway, I feel a LOT better about it now

A few outstanding issues:

- I get a rattle when I let the clutch out... in gear or in neutral. Doesn't sound right
- I broke the nipple on the heater core, and now it leaks badly. I looked under the dash last night, it doesn't look like fun
- Stock suspension, I had the springs re-arched and another leaf added to clear the oil pan. It is still only 1 1/2 inches from the axle. Will have to put longer shackles.

Anyhoo, I'm very pleased. Now my household is all VW diesel. I'd like to convert it to SVO within a couple weeks.

[DieselsRcool]

Sammy gearboxes are notorious for that. Mine rattles louder than the engine at idle when warm, but hasn't failed me or gotten worse yet. I have a friend with a prestine 86 with 27,000mi on it. It rattles a little with the stock gas engine. I think the diesel makes ot way more pronounced.

[addautomotive]

Oh really? I hadn't noticed it doing that before, and thought that I may have put the throw-out bearing in incorrectly. I tried adjusting the clutch to make sure it was releasing all the way, but that didn't make a difference.

As far as you know, is it just the throw-out bearing rattling, or the tranny itself?

The other things that may have affected it:
-Transmission "clocked" a bit towards the passenger, a compromise with the conversion
- Changed the gear oil

I wonder if either of these would have made the rattle more pronounced?

[Chestrockwell]

I've owned a few zuks and the sammi trannys aren't great. Input bearings make noise but they will last for a very long time doing it; that's probably what you're hearing. I've got a friend who swears that good synthetic trans oil makes it quieter and definately easier to shift... might be worth a try.

[deepmud]

yay, another sammy

The input gear is weak the diesel with it's sharp power pulses and high torque makes it worse - if your trans was iffy, the torque may push it over the edge. My turned up 1.9td killed 3. They are easy to swap out tho, since you can put it up and hold it with one hand  lol.

I recommend Spring Over Axle Conversion -SPOA- (cheap, easy) and 31's for getting the rpms down. My Dad's 1.6td Samurai is set up that way, and is clean, straight, and a kick in the pants to drive.

[addautomotive]

Deepmud,

I am getting a spare set of axles & spare transmission that I intend to rebuild. I was thinking I could use this set to go SPOA... but I'm nervous about how it affects handling... this vehicle sees far more highway than offroad... like 10 to 1. What are your thoughts?

[deepmud]

I love the way a spoa zuk handles. I used to run mine with 35's on a tight road hard enough to slide the back end. They are stiff and stable cornering cars. True, it's going to be easier to roll it if you wreck or slide into the ditch, but it doesn't seem to be much of an issue. They don't sway or feel scary. Handles corners better than my stock Expedition. Go for it. It's even easy to un-do it if you decide I'm crazy later

[addautomotive]

Thanks for the advice deepmud!

Here's the plan...
I'm going to put in 1.5" lift shackles for now.

I have a line on a spare set of axles, and I'll set those up for SPOA and put in new bearings etc... The guy also has a tranny for me, so I'll rebuild that too. Then I can take it off the road for a weekend in the spring and bolt in the "new" axles and a rebuilt tranny.

One more question: What starter are you using? I imagine you'd have starting issues, if no-one else. I have a used sidekick automatic starter, and I'm wondering how well it will spin the diesel engine in January.

Here's a short, dark video I shot tonight:
(love the sound!)
http://www.youtube.com/v/GQbzj-RMbiY

[deepmud]

Let's see - I started with a 1.9td cranked by a Geo Storm starter - Keltec kits used that one. I burned one up trying to start the rig at -40. It was a used one, however. I've heard the Tracker starter is fine. Gear reduction starters of 2hp seem to be good enough. Currently, the TDI-M seems to crank nicely with a Toyota starter on the Toyota flywheel - now - the Toy flywheel is way bigger than the turned-down VW flywheel with a Suzuki ring-gear on it. So there is more leverage to work with on the Toyota conversion.