Quote Originally Posted by Maugan_VX
Joe,

Thanks for enlightening us (me).
Well, I first got interested in doing this prior to getting a VX when I wanted to build an '89 Trooper RS into the ultimate road and trail rig. I had been reading a lot about the then-new 4BD2TC as used in the NPR medium duty trucks and that a few HD Troopers came with the same engine. So I got really interested in fitting an intercooled turbo-diesel powerhouse into an RS, complete with the big ole hood scoop.

At ~$1000 and "plug and play" functionality, whats the downside? Does that price include the ECU?
From what I've learned only the very latest engine is (4JX1 IIRC) electronic with common-rail fuel delivery. All previous models are fully mechanical.

Will it behave with TOD and the 4L30E like the 6VE1?
I'm pretty certain you'd have to baby it if retaining the 4L30E, but it may just survive normal driving as it's not that bad of a tranny. Just not well-suited for high-torque offroad use. I still haven't fully deciphered the connection between the TOD computer and the ECU, but know only minor changes were made to the rally VX's which had 5-speed manual transmissions. My hope is to confirm soon that the TOD transfer case will mate with the diesel auto and manual trannies.

What are the changes needed to the fuel delivery system?
Diesels use a non-pressurized system with a vent and a return line. Our system is already plumbed and you'd need to just change the tank-mounted fuel pump.

Exhaust?
A new exhaust would be needed from the manifold to the cat since it's an inline 4-cylinder and diesels use a different cat/particulate filter set-up. Everything after the cat would work fine as diesels are pretty flexible with exhaust and not as sensitive as gas engines.

Are there any resources online that you'd recommend concerning diesel conversions in general?
I've found a lot of folk converting a variety of vehicles to diesel or US spec vehicles to domestic diesel spec, but nothing specific comes to mind. I'd just Yahoo! or Google "diesel conversion" and browse. There was a '98 Trooper on eBay twice recently that had a well done Mercedes OM617 conversion, and that is a potential back-up in the event Isuzu diesels proved too difficult to obtain.

what kind of emissions regulatory implications are there?
That I'm not 100% sure of as Florida is pretty lax in that department and I haven't really looked at other states requirements. It shouldn't be too difficult to poke around your particular state's DMV or DOT web pages to glean any local emissions regulations.

Curiosity is killing me.
Yeah, it's been getting me for years as I keep generating about 2 more questions for each answer I get. LOL!