Coverting an Expedition to diesel engine

[OTEP]

In Oz, they usually use the space reserved for the 'sub tank' (2nd fuel tank) on Patrols and Cruisers. Unfortunately, the Expedition does not have provisions for a subtank.

[StanSuarez]

Hope you guys don't mind my gravedig on this old thread to bring up any new updates on this topic.

Fast forward 4 years since the last post and gas prices have only gotten higher while good condition Expedetion and F150 bodies are getting cheaper. Heck, I pass by an auto shop everyday on my way to work and there are TWO F150s gathering dust near it's entrance.

My primary interest would be an F150/Diesel project. My attraction would be the large cargo capacity and sturdy body(for crash-worthiness). Primary use would be for a provincial people/cargo hauler.

My wife's family in the province travel a lot and though their SUV serves them well, they sometimes need to bring along a second vehicle for their baggage and extended family members. Their current "backup" vehicle is an Isuzu Highlander base model and its really "knocking on heaven's door" as it is.

I'll probably go for the 2wd V6 model so that I won't have to deal with the transfer case and front differential anymore. Also, I think they're the model without the step-sides which gives a bigger cargo area.

My primary questions would be- which diesel engine should I look for? I prefer one of the older truck engines for easier maintenance and parts availability in the province. No exotic surplus Jap SUV engines please. I don't mind the extra noise from the Jap truck engines for as long as it has the necessary power to haul the fully loaded F150 at speeds up to 120kmh during highway driving and be able to climb steep grades with ease.

A 5speed tranny is a MUST I guess. I'll probably have to condemn the column shifter on the F150 and jury mount a cable shifter compatible with the truck engine's transmission but that's not an issue.

If anybody else has gone down this road or at least knows about somebody who has done it, I'd love to hear from you guys.

[ghosthunter]

Why not just opt to purchase a Hyundai Starex or Nissan Patrol or even a (fugly) Honda Pilot?

This would save you from having to custom fit a diesel engine into the Ford XP. It would also save you the hassle of looking for a compatible tranny for it too.

Another major headaches of the older XPs are the fuel pump and air suspension. Expensive to replace and somehow tends to fail more when not used for a long time.

[niky]

Hope you guys don't mind my gravedig on this old thread to bring up any new updates on this topic.

Fast forward 4 years since the last post and gas prices have only gotten higher while good condition Expedetion and F150 bodies are getting cheaper. Heck, I pass by an auto shop everyday on my way to work and there are TWO F150s gathering dust near it's entrance.

My primary interest would be an F150/Diesel project. My attraction would be the large cargo capacity and sturdy body(for crash-worthiness). Primary use would be for a provincial people/cargo hauler.

My wife's family in the province travel a lot and though their SUV serves them well, they sometimes need to bring along a second vehicle for their baggage and extended family members. Their current "backup" vehicle is an Isuzu Highlander base model and its really "knocking on heaven's door" as it is.

I'll probably go for the 2wd V6 model so that I won't have to deal with the transfer case and front differential anymore. Also, I think they're the model without the step-sides which gives a bigger cargo area.

My primary questions would be- which diesel engine should I look for? I prefer one of the older truck engines for easier maintenance and parts availability in the province. No exotic surplus Jap SUV engines please. I don't mind the extra noise from the Jap truck engines for as long as it has the necessary power to haul the fully loaded F150 at speeds up to 120kmh during highway driving and be able to climb steep grades with ease.

A 5speed tranny is a MUST I guess. I'll probably have to condemn the column shifter on the F150 and jury mount a cable shifter compatible with the truck engine's transmission but that's not an issue.

If anybody else has gone down this road or at least knows about somebody who has done it, I'd love to hear from you guys.

Isuzu sells powertrain packages brand-new... but you can get surplus at a good price.

You may be interested in heading out to http://forum.fordclubph.com (the local Ford club). There is a thread there on an F150 diesel conversion. And there is a member there with a classic "Clubwagon" (E150) that's running on diesel power. You can get tips from these guys on how to do it, and maybe even schedul a visit to take pics and ask for advice.

[altec]

i've heard of expys and monteros that were fitted with LPG. My neighbor wanted to buy a bank foreclosed 2009 gas fortuner. He is in the taxi business and wanted to fit it with LPG. He said it will be installed where the spare tire is. With the F150/sporttrac, either you can put it where the spare tire is, or put it at the cargo box. That would be better than changing to diesel engines and have to worry about any transmission incompatibilities. He wasn't able to buy the fortuner as someone beat him to it by one hour. Price sold was only 1M. But the idea is there.

[larshell]

niky, I have been trying to register to fordclubph for the fast few days now. I got no reply from FCP. Close na ba sila for new members? If none member ba you can't view threads?
Thanks!

[StanSuarez]

Thanks for the link to Fordclubph. I too am waiting for my account activation. Hopefully I can find more answers there.

I see the benefits of the LPG conversion only if you have a donor truck that is in good running condition. This is also assuming that I want to retain the expensive to maintain Ford Triton Engine. Though fuel costs would be lower with LPG, keeping said engine in tip-top running condition would still be rather expensive.

Besides, for this project to be financially attractive- I need to find a project truck that is dirt-cheap. The cheapest ones happen to be the ones with engines busted beyond (economically viable)repair.

*Starex and SUV suggestions- I'm afraid we need a large pickup bed for their 2nd vehicle. Cargo hauling capability is the primary concern since it will also do dual-duty as their farm service vehicle where they need it to haul fertilizer and other farming implements. They already have an SUV and an AUV for passenger hauling.

Keep it coming guys.

[voltscastillo]

if you can somehow fit a subic-sourced light truck engine in there (yung pang 6 wheeler), it could work. from subic/cagayan/cebu because it may be cheaper there to just buy the whole truck, take out the engine and wiring harness and tranny (then sell the body). also, they have 4wd trucks there.

you may have to convert the air suspension to coils too.

even if it can be done, though, it will be expensive. i've seen 6 wheeler double cab 4wd trucks with pickup beds, a/c and a/t going for as low as 200-250k in the subic auctioneers in malinta. these are better bets financially than what you want to do with the expy. for the price of 1 expy and conversion costs (which will butcher the expy and make you an endless source of amusement from ford purists), you can buy 2 of those trucks i'm telling you about.

pang farm lang naman eh.

or if you really want some attitude, buy a 4wd 6 wheeler truck, take out the shell, and bring it over to the guys who make those hummer h1 look alike bodies. i hear they can put an h1 body on just about anything with the proper length wheelbase. you can spend the rest of the money on putting in leather, and big tyres.

[tsupermario]

elf truck maybe or something similar, or smaller

[ghosthunter]

*Starex and SUV suggestions- I'm afraid we need a large pickup bed for their 2nd vehicle. Cargo hauling capability is the primary concern since it will also do dual-duty as their farm service vehicle where they need it to haul fertilizer and other farming implements. They already have an SUV and an AUV for passenger hauling.

Keep it coming guys.

How about a ISUZU NHR-PV?


http://www.isuzu-truck.com/LM/features/type-hhr.html

Heavy duty. It can carry both passengers and cargo. Diesel.

[jjmd3_787]

Sa laki ng engine ng Expedition e pwede siguro makina ng ELF o Mini-FORWARD. Tapos kabitan ng turbo-intercooler.

[niky]

I see old American iron for sale all the time. Two months ago, there was a 1980 F350 with dual rears for sale for just 150k.

Local dropsides will also give you a huge bed... but probably don't have the same level of axle articulation (and obviously, not the same load capacity) as a full-sized pick-up. And the cabins aren't nearly as comfortable.

[Gen. Miting]

ako din di pa din naaprove dyan Gen. Miting din ang handle ko

[StanSuarez]

Sigh, the FordClubPh forum is a bust. I got approved but I have to go through hoops and send 500pesos for membership if I want to view the sub-forums. I have a Ford car that makes me eligible for membership, but joining their EBs and Meetings is next to impossible since I'm from Davao City. Kaya dito ko na lang ipatuloy ang research ko.

*Expedition Air suspension conversion- not an issue since I'm targeting an F150 Crew Cab pickup for the conversion. I do believe they have Leaf springs for their rear suspension.

*Nicky, tsupermario and other suggestions for the flatbed trucks- Yep, their cargo carrying capacity is undisputed but it's the combined cargo carrying and passenger comfort of the F150 that's really pushing my buttons right now. Currently, when my in-laws travel to the farm they have to ride in their SUV while they bring along a 2nd vehicle carrying farm supplies. If I could pull off the F150 conversion, then they'll simply have to bring along the F150. 2 vehicles = 2 drivers to payroll, 2 registrations to pay for, 2 gastanks to fill, 2 engines to maintain and 8 sets of tires to replace. Hopefully the savings of going from 2 vehicles to 1 during their weekly farm excursions would end up paying for the cost of acquiring the truck in a year or so.

*ghosthunter, thats an awesome truck sir and I've also looked at the Korean alternatives such as those from KIA. I'm afraid they cost a lot more than what I'm willing to spend on this project though. Plus, their on-highway comfort(or lack thereof) will leave you battered after a 200km trip.

*voltscastillo, sourcing truck engines aren't a problem here. I just wanted to know WHICH engine I should start shopping around for so I can check the costing and viability of the project. I'm hoping somebody with first-hand or 2nd hand information about a similar project can share their experience and insights.

Sensya na sa kakulitan, but a carpenter once taught me, "measure twice- cut once".

[renzo_d10]

ako din di pa din naaprove dyan Gen. Miting din ang handle ko

You won't be accepted because your posts will be either senseless or super biased.

[mazingerZ]

Try considering a 4DR5 or 4BA1 engine. You might as well remove the XPs engine, transmission, air suspension and replace it. Your ride might look like frankenstein's monstr tho.

[niky]

Sigh, the FordClubPh forum is a bust. I got approved but I have to go through hoops and send 500pesos for membership if I want to view the sub-forums. I have a Ford car that makes me eligible for membership, but joining their EBs and Meetings is next to impossible since I'm from Davao City. Kaya dito ko na lang ipatuloy ang research ko.

The F150 thread is in the "Me and My Ford" section. As far as I know, it is public. Only the Workshop area and the errh... Private S*** is private.

You can possibly find the contact details of the guy there. If I remember correctly, he also posts here in tsikot. His handle is jetsinker

The guy used an RD28.

http://forum.fordclubph.com/viewtopi...150+conversion

*Nicky, tsupermario and other suggestions for the flatbed trucks- Yep, their cargo carrying capacity is undisputed but it's the combined cargo carrying and passenger comfort of the F150 that's really pushing my buttons right now.

I quite understand.

*ghosthunter, thats an awesome truck sir and I've also looked at the Korean alternatives such as those from KIA. I'm afraid they cost a lot more than what I'm willing to spend on this project though. Plus, their on-highway comfort(or lack thereof) will leave you battered after a 200km trip.

Ride comfort per se isn't that bad (though it's not great)... but the accomodations leave much to be desired.

It could be worse... it could be an L300...

Personally, I don't know if I'd go with an RD28... perhaps a more common Isuzu engine would do better... though you'll definitely want a turbocharged one just to make sure it will be able to pull its own weight.

[larshell]

I got thru na sa FCP but workshop is not open for general public.

Nakita ko rin yan F150 converted to diesel thread. It's not the 1st time I saw F150 converted to Diesel. Meron sa bulacan F150 runing on 4BA1 Isuzu engine.
Engine room is a lot nicer, He did use the Orig air filter and radiator. Ok pagkakagawa. Makupad daw sabi ng owner.

[cocoy]

another thing you also have to consider is the weight of the engine.. the replacement engine should be about the same weight as the original engine.. other wise in the long run your suspension will suffer...

way back in the day there used to be a lot of dodge ram pick ups where i grew up in bukidnon... these where converted to diesel engines.. but these pickups had solid axles and had leaf springs for the suspension.. so the weight of the diesel engine didnt matter too much..

i think the best engine you can put in an F150 is the 6 cylinder diesel toyota landcruiser engine.. whether its turbo or not it shouldnt matter much..

[niky]

another thing you also have to consider is the weight of the engine.. the replacement engine should be about the same weight as the original engine.. other wise in the long run your suspension will suffer...

way back in the day there used to be a lot of dodge ram pick ups where i grew up in bukidnon... these where converted to diesel engines.. but these pickups had solid axles and had leaf springs for the suspension.. so the weight of the diesel engine didnt matter too much..

i think the best engine you can put in an F150 is the 6 cylinder diesel toyota landcruiser engine.. whether its turbo or not it shouldnt matter much..

The F150 was built to carry a V8. An iron-block V8. A 4.6 liter, iron-block V8. Unless you're replacing it with a 6 liter diesel, I don't think there will be a problem.

I got thru na sa FCP but workshop is not open for general public.

Nakita ko rin yan F150 converted to diesel thread. It's not the 1st time I saw F150 converted to Diesel. Meron sa bulacan F150 runing on 4BA1 Isuzu engine.
Engine room is a lot nicer, He did use the Orig air filter and radiator. Ok pagkakagawa. Makupad daw sabi ng owner.

Just pointing out that specific thread is in the public area. Our workshop has lots of fun stuff... but the guys who did diesel conversions did so before they joined. It's a simple matter of PM'ing them for advice.

Not surprised... the 4BA1 is kind of underpowered for the size fo the vehicle. You want something more powerful... probably the aforementioned Landcruiser engine or a Pajero or Trooper (not the 4JX1!!!) engine. Won't be quick, but will be torquey enough for what you need... don't expect to retain the towing capacity... not unless you can find a 4-6 liter diesel that will fit.