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Diesel-Powered Minivan Gets 39 MPG
Mark Steiner has always loved diesel engines, so when the family's 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyageur started leaking oil, there was only one thing to do. He pulled out the old engine and dropped in a 2.2-liter Isuzu diesel.
"I had repowered Ford Rangers with Isuzu engines before," he says, "but this was my first mini
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Diesel-Powered Minivan Gets 39 MPG ENGINES Engines 32-1-2 Mark Steiner has always loved diesel engines, so when the family's 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyageur started leaking oil, there was only one thing to do. He pulled out the old engine and dropped in a 2.2-liter Isuzu diesel.
"I had repowered Ford Rangers with Isuzu engines before," he says, "but this was my first minivan."
Because the Isuzu engine was a bit longer than the original engine, Steiner had to make room. Working with a cardboard template, he realized he only needed about 1 1/2 in. To get it, he trimmed out the frame rails and then reinforced them on the outside.
"The trickiest part was mounting the accessories, such as air conditioning, water pump and such," he recalls. " I had to make brackets for everything and find room, which was difficult since the engine was bigger.
"I also had to make an adapter plate for the transmission," he says. "I measured all the bolt holes and spacings. If doing it again, I would go to Chrysler and get the pattern."
To give it a bit more power when he needed it, Steiner added a turbocharger and a water-alcohol injector from Summit Racing. The resulting higher operating temps then required installation of a nozzle system for cooling the bottom of the pistons.
A machinist, Steiner even made his own aluminum oil pan. The engine came with a reefer cooler that he rebuilt.
With 16,000 miles on the new engine, Steiner says he's mostly satisfied. "It's so efficient, you can idle it on a hot day without the radiator, and it doesn't get hot," he says. "We get 28 to 35 mpg around town and 39 on the highway."
There are things he would change if he did it again, such as the wiring. He would install a completely new wiring harness. He admits still not having the cruise control working. The car's computer also doesn't respond correctly to air conditioning.
He may start doing conversions for others, he says. He estimates using about $4,000 in parts including the engine, servo, alternator and vacuum pack. He thinks that with labor, he could probably do a similar conversion for around $6,000.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Steiner, Rt. 1, Box 126, Keenes, Ill. 62851 (ph 618 835-2656).
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