robert Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Okay, So I look on ebay for Nissan motors, and I come across the Turbo/Regular diesels.... I'm curious to exactly which one fits a 1995 WD21? And how hard it would really be to swap from gas to diesel... Be extremely nice ya know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerranoNZ Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Okay, So I look on ebay for Nissan motors, and I come across the Turbo/Regular diesels....I'm curious to exactly which one fits a 1995 WD21? And how hard it would really be to swap from gas to diesel... Be extremely nice ya know? TD27/TD27T Quite envolved. Depends on how keen you are to loose acceleration Why do you want to change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Also please note that since Nissan never sold a diesel Pathy in the US, such a swap is *very* illegal in all 50 US states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Why is it illegal? Doesn't it conform to emissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Probably not. I don't think it's legal to convert a gas vehicle to diesel unless it was originally offered in such form in the country it is being driven in...but get this, you can convert a diesel to a gas engine no prob and it's emissions-exempt. My Chevy van used to be a diesel, now it has a carb'd 350. Still registered as a diesel on the registration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 That's exactly it. Unless there was a diesel version of the vehicle offered for sale in the US, you cannot convert a gas vehicle to diesel in the US. You can go the other way, as 88 mentioned. If you want to know why you can't convert a gas car to run on clean WVO as a diesel, ask the Democrats in Congress. They're the ones that set all this up in the 70s and 80s - and through to the 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Also please note that since Nissan never sold a diesel Pathy in the US, such a swap is *very* illegal in all 50 US states. Dont meant to knock you down, but I use to import JDM cars and engines, and as long as you get it inspected by the state, and it passes, you are fine. Is the pathy being registered in a area which has emissions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Dont meant to knock you down, but I use to import JDM cars and engines, and as long as you get it inspected by the state, and it passes, you are fine. Is the pathy being registered in a area which has emissions? It doesn't matter. If you would like to pay for my time, I can go look for and post the appropriate EPA regs. You can do whatever you want in terms of gas-gas and diesel-diesel conversions, but gas to diesel is illegal except in the above mentioned case. Is the EPA going to chase you for it? No. It is legal at the state level? Usually. If the Feds audit you or come looking for something to bust you on, are you going to spend some quality time in a cell? You bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 (edited) It doesn't matter. If you would like to pay for my time, I can go look for and post the appropriate EPA regs. You can do whatever you want in terms of gas-gas and diesel-diesel conversions, but gas to diesel is illegal except in the above mentioned case. Is the EPA going to chase you for it? No. It is legal at the state level? Usually. If the Feds audit you or come looking for something to bust you on, are you going to spend some quality time in a cell? You bet. Pay for your time? I already paid enough to my broker to get my business legal and going :-P , and then the market crashed... Had to sell it. :-( You just stated my point. As long as u get it inspected by the state and it passes, u are good to go. I guess the most important question is, is this going to be a street legal pathy or strictly off road? If its for off road application then you are good to go. Edited March 2, 2008 by racerdave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 (edited) Pay for your time? I already paid enough to my broker to get my business legal and going :-P , and then the market crashed... Had to sell it. :-( You just stated my point. As long as u get it inspected by the state and it passes, u are good to go. I guess the most important question is, is this going to be a street legal pathy or strictly off road? If its for off road application then you are good to go. Not quite. It's still illegal, whether your state passes you or not. (Ask the poor b***ards that imported R34 Skylines and registered them with their state only to have the EPA/Customs come crush them after the importation firm got audited.) The Feds aren't going to be running around to see if you've converted your car or not. If the Feds come to audit your taxes (which happens to me on a regular basis), or you come under scrutiny of a Federal agency for some reason, they're going to use the illegal diesel conversion as an excuse to bust you and add/or add additional charges. The penalty is the usual 10 year/$100,000 fine. I leave it to your discretion as to whether it's worth the risk. Edited March 2, 2008 by GhostPath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89pathfinder Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 In petersons offroad magazine, they converted a jeep 4 door wrangler to a diesel. Then proceeded to drive it on both highways and trails. Im not trying to say your wrong, but i think they would know the laws about converting vehicles to diesel and diesel to gas. This could be because it was a cummins from a dodge i believe, and if im not mistaken both jeep and dodge are owned by chrystler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 You know what, that reminds me. I was working at an auto parts place once when these guys came in with a Mazda B2200 pickup that had a 3-cylinder tractor engine in it. They said it got between 75-90 MPG, but it took about 5 minutes to get it up to 55. It may be "illegal" on the books, but people over here in Oregon pretty much do what they want with a vehicle. The DMV doesn't pop your hood to register it. Heck, if it's already registered and being driven, I dare say you could do the swap and drive it until it dies and nobody would ever know the difference. I suppose it depends on where you live. The main problem with putting in a diesel we never got here is that you can't buy parts locally for it. Ever waited 3 weeks for an overseas order for one oil filter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greyscale Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 AFAIK, if you convert a car/truck to diesel it is legal as long as you go to the DMV and have it re-registered as a diesel and it passes all emission requirements. People have done diesel swaps in CA and had all the paperwork signed off, so it is possible to do as long as you go through all the correct channels. However, it is much easier to get everything legalized if you use a domestic diesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow Ghost, did you strap that aluminum foil hat on to tight again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 The government is more apt to check you for dyed diesel than if you are running an OE diesel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Not quite. It's still illegal, whether your state passes you or not. (Ask the poor b***ards that imported R34 Skylines and registered them with their state only to have the EPA/Customs come crush them after the importation firm got audited.) The Feds aren't going to be running around to see if you've converted your car or not. If the Feds come to audit your taxes (which happens to me on a regular basis), or you come under scrutiny of a Federal agency for some reason, they're going to use the illegal diesel conversion as an excuse to bust you and add/or add additional charges. The penalty is the usual 10 year/$100,000 fine. I leave it to your discretion as to whether it's worth the risk. I imported R32 R33 RPS13 EG EJ FC FD and many many other JDM cars. I have a broker that gets me all of the legal information I need... I would like to know where you get your information. If its not from the EPA the Feds or the US customs agency, then it cant be as good as mine... I ddint pay my broker over 60k to go ask the locals if it is legal... He went to the source and got me all of the information I needed , and some. P.S. That must suck to get audited on a regular basis.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I imported R32 R33 RPS13 EG EJ FC FD and many many other JDM cars. I have a broker that gets me all of the legal information I need... I would like to know where you get your information. If its not from the EPA the Feds or the US customs agency, then it cant be as good as mine... I ddint pay my broker over 60k to go ask the locals if it is legal... He went to the source and got me all of the information I needed , and some. P.S. That must suck to get audited on a regular basis.... I got it direct from the EPA about two years ago. I called them to see what the legality was of converting my Jeep Grand Wagoneer to diesel. Long story short - the answer is "no" and there's a bunch of regs and laws that all say that. I do some contracting to government/defense contractors. Any time there's an irregularity in *their* bookkeeping, *I* get audited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I got it direct from the EPA about two years ago. I called them to see what the legality was of converting my Jeep Grand Wagoneer to diesel. Long story short - the answer is "no" and there's a bunch of regs and laws that all say that. I do some contracting to government/defense contractors. Any time there's an irregularity in *their* bookkeeping, *I* get audited. I see. At the start of 2007 they changed a few things. That is what made it possible for me to import whole cars (un-cut). With motor in same container but out of car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandShark Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 I got it direct from the EPA about two years ago. I called them to see what the legality was of converting my Jeep Grand Wagoneer to diesel. Long story short - the answer is "no" and there's a bunch of regs and laws that all say that. I'd like to know WHY this is illegal? Not disputing wether it is, or isn't. Just wondering why. People build custom things all the time. Doesn't make sense to me that you can't use a diesel engine in a car that was gas from the start. My father used to have an '83 chevy caprice with a diesel engine in it. Got it from my grandfather in Montana, and had it registered in oregon, and then registered again in Texas. Once again, not disputing yes or no, just trying to figure out why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostPath Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 (edited) The rationale when the law was written was that diesels were "more polluting" and converting a gas vehicle to diesel would result in more pollutants. The exception was that you could convert a gas vehicle that was offered as a diesel to that diesel powerplant as it would be an EPA certified configuration. That's *their* logic, not mine. And to clarify, I would *love* to have converted that Jeep, but I had (and still have) to stay legal. The 83 Caprice was available in a diesel from the factory (the ill fated Olds 350 Diesel), so your 83 could be original, or it could be converted to use the Olds 350D, legally. Edited March 6, 2008 by GhostPath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 Woah... Never realized the legalality of a swap... I was wanting to just to be unuiqe Plus the diesel tunning and sound i love... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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