Cummins 4bt swap? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Cummins 4bt swap?

LAWG_rider

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Joined
October 2, 2006
Messages
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City, State
Cookeville, TN
Year, Model & Trim Level
'92 XLT
I am pretty much obsessed with diesel engines. Has anyone heard of a person swapping the Cummins 4bt in to an Explorer? Will it fit without a body lift? How does the 745lb weight of the 4bt compare with the 4.0?

Should I keep dreaming of this swap or throw away the dream before before I become obsessed?
 



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here is a link from a jeep. Click Here

But search out that site. There is a lot of info that has to be searched for. It just takes a lot of time. I was thinking about it but just didnt want it in my wheeling rig. Would be a cool dd though.

Also there was a explorer and its no longer together. It was on pirate4x4 I think.
 






Well that sight is pretty sick. I just searched the sight and not google. DUH!
 






i think you'd have a hard time making it fit.. you wouldn't be the first to try though.. i hear about diesel swaps quite often, i dont think any of them ever got finished though.

i usually try to talk people out of this sort of thing because i hate to see a perfectly good truck become a pile of junk completed project.

swaps ALWAYS involve far, far more modification and money spending than you originally anticipate. and i think the "if you have to ask, you cant do it" philosophy may apply to this sort of extreme modification in most cases as well.

if you do decide to do it, join the site for sure, heck.. join anyway, we'll do our best to help you succeed. If you just want a diesel though, sell you're explorer and buy something which is already diesel.
 












Thanks guys. This is probably going to be a couple years down the road. I just like to envision what my Explorer could be. As far as I am concerned the 1st gen Explorer is just the right size for me. I don't need anything bigger or smaller than it. I just want to make it the car of my dreams.

I really can't wait for the James Duff bolt on SAS to come onto the market. That and a diesel would make my dream Explorer.
 






I've seen one in a BII on youtube which was pretty cool.

A local guy put one in his Dakota. Throws down 11's on the strip. I think he's got something like $20,000 into the swap so far...
 












just go with a 6bt.....
 






Not a lot of room under the hood for the 5.9... it would be sweet though...
 






sawzall blades can be bought cheap man....and fiberglass, seam sealer and metal arent that hard to put on.....lol

on the 4 bt, they mount at the front of the engine so that would be your biggest issue (making a crossmember to mount the front of the engine. transdap sells adapter to fit a cummins into anything. they only need a hot wire to the injection pump to run, and an alternator. very simple engines, id go intercooled though, with a turbo spooling to around 35 lbs of boost, they are easy to adjust fuel too, 9/16 wrench and some cable cutters make them blow mad smoke
 






I too have been contemplating this for a little while now and would like to know a little about the gas computer and wiring. Does the computer have any sensors etc that are not engine related? would I still need the computer plugged in with the simple 4bt?
 






its pretty much a straight forward swap, id probably just take all the sensor wires off the 4.0, tape them up and hide them somewhere out of the way, find the right starter wires to run the cummins starter, run a hot wire preferably off the acc, to the injection pump. If you can adapt the sending units from the 4.0 to the cummins all your gauges, except the tach.
 






Hi Just another note! you dont have to use the front motor mounts on the 3.9 cummins it has mounting holes on the sides of the block also so you can use the motor mounts out of a doner truck Freto Lay truck or a Dodge with a 5.9 cummins!!!! Some modes will have to be done though
 






4bt will fit, even without a lift

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showthread.php?120-4BT-in-a-Ford-Explorer...&highlight=explorer

The 4bt weighs roughly twice what the 4.0 OHV weighs

A b3.3 is easier to fit, and if you want, I can give you a link to a guys swap thread for that too.

You can find a 4bd1t for cheaper usually, and they are almost the same as a 4bt (size, weight, power, economy, tuning possibilities)

a mercedes om617 supposedly will fit without any modification(edit: after measuring, it seems one must relocate the radiator, and may need to cut the rad support just to get the engine set inside), and in the later models, like from the 83 300D for instance, they are only short about 25 HP from what the 4.0 makes stock, but they have slightly more torque, and run about the same revs as the 4.0 ohv. You can get more power out of those engines and they are nearly indestructible.... seriously, they outlast any vehicle they are put inside of. Just so you know.... a 4bt in stock trim out of an older bread truck is also usually tuned for around 130 horse....

If you are not Towing anything a VW 1.9 TDI will pull an explorer around too. If you tow.... well, watch your EGTs

Average cost of a swap if you don't have a combination of tremendous luck, a cheap or free engine, and more tools and fab equipment than most people can dream of..... 5000-10000. An engine and adapter plate on their own can run 2000-3000 for a used engine and around 1000 for the adapter plate/flywheel and all that noise. You can find 4bts with a ford bellhousing adapter already on them though, so that is one way to save money. All the little expenditures, hoses, clamps, wire can add up to $1000 or more in no time. Plus, there is more. The reason the average is so high is because most guys choose to rebuild the engines and make them run good before they go through all the work of putting them in the truck. (no sense spending all that money on an engine that might crap out on you in 6 months)

It is not cheap, and it will take you more than 10 years to recoup the money from the swap if you are looking to do this just for the fuel savings.

It is not easy to do by ANY stretch of the imagination. If you don't know diesels, or don't know what you are doing, stop now and learn more. When you do know what you are doing, expect to devote the better part of a year (some take longer) to the swap if you are just putting in a few hours and weekends here and there. They can be done in much less time, but generally, you need to be pretty damn well equipped and know what the heck you are doing. That and you need all the cash upfront to buy everything you need.

Like rhauf said earlier though, if you just want a diesel, buy something that is already diesel. It is cheaper and easier, and you can still easily get mid 20s to lower 30s for fuel economy out of even full size trucks. The ONLY reason to ever do a diesel swap in a vehicle is because you have a vehicle that you cannot justify separating yourself from. This is why most of the diesel swaps you hear about are on Jeeps. Guys love their jeeps, and they can't get anything like a jeep with a diesel. Explorers.... well to some people, they are the perfect vehicle.... but.... well, if you are just looking for a diesel vehicle, an explorer doesn't have a lot to offer.

Unless you are madly in love with your explorer, do NOT contemplate putting a diesel engine in it. You will just get frustrated and get rid of it.
 






I was at first wanting to do a 4BT into my 97 sport.. but I ended up with a V8 swap, and it ended up alot cheaper and quicker to do... GooD LucK though, I love the fact of a Diesel pushing an explorer...
 






FIND, that swap thread would be nice to read through if not for tips and advise as much as for good reading material. If its not too much trouble?

Thanks
 









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Yeah I read that one....multiple times haha. I also got to see mooktank's website before it got hacked or whatever, real nice conversions on that site.

I've been reading up on that site for a while now and I enjoy looking at others swaps. I'll just keep researching and when I think I'm ready....I'll research some more so that if and when the time comes, there should be as little snags as possible.
 






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