Dr. FrankenYota

Soooo my father in law about a year totaled his 2020 Ram 1500 eco diesel.. he now has it stored in his barn.

The 3.0 diesel engine that it uses is intact... it has 70,000 miles.

I recently purchased a 2003 Tacoma PreRunner with a 3.4L V6 that has 168,000 miles.

My plans are to keep the engine until 300,000+ miles. Then swap it out for an imported JDM 3.4L and a low milage transmission with transfer box. To make things short it will be a 2WD to 4x4 conversion.

But after a bit of research I've been inclined to doing a gas to diesel engine swap.

I've been interested in the Cummins R2.8 as it seems like a good small diesel engine with the same weight and dimensions as the 3.4L so it will fit. Not only that but availability for parts and also repair shops is plenty across the U.S. ....YES I thought of the diesel engines toyota makes but lack of immediate parts and service centers for repairs I can't do, got it off my project list.

With that being said here I am intrigued in buying this 2020 3.0 diesel engine and transmission. I've looked around many Toyota Tacoma forums to include 4runner forums, and landcruiser forums and I've not seen anyone do a thread or post anything about a ecodiesel 3.0 swap.

Compared to the 3.4 it seems like both are equal in size and both weigh the same 500 lbs. Yes there may be some mods I will have to do but thats fine most of the electrical parts I will be acquring from my father in law's 1500. Besides this will be a long term project I still need lots of research to do, and lots of miles to go on my engine.

What do you guys think? Does anyone here seen any post discuss about the 3.0

I think the 3.0 would be a nice engine to swap...260 HP massive 480 lb-ft torque, and 22 - 32 MPG

To put an such an engine on a 2003 Tacoma that weighs on average 3,475 lbs compared to the weight of a Ram 1500 4,775 to 5,374 lbs would yield some very interesting results.

OR should I just go with the Cummins R2.8 turbo diesel engine?

So there it is let's start an interesting discussion...

 

One thing I'm curious about is why the insurance company didn't take the Ram...?

 

You know that is a fiat engine......I dont know anybody who says anything good about fiat.....

Jeep/Dodge 3.0 EcoDiesel V6 Engine Specs, Problems, Reliability, oil, Ram 1500, Grand Cherokee (motorreviewer.com)

 

Salvaged title. It was used as a ranch truck never left the property. Incident happened within his property. So he was unable to add insurance to it.

 

Fix
It
Again
Tony

 

I was reading that but I guess after 2016 most issues were resolved and the later year model engines were reliable.

 

But it still got a salvage title even though he didn't file a claim? How does somebody put 70K miles on a vehicle if they never leave the property?

 

That engine is so bad.....they had to stop using it in 2020....


'Engine oil cooler and oil filter come in assembly with an adapter housing, which has the oil check valve built-in. This check valve is made of plastic and has small, unreliable springs. Relatively long runs with high oil temperatures will weaken these springs, and the check valve can fail. This is usually accompanied by a short blinking of the low oil pressure indicator on the dashboard. During these blinking times, the engine runs without oil, which will cause significant damage to all internal components in a short time.'

'camshaft gear slipping, connecting rod/main bearing failure on low mileage engines due to quality control issues on the assembly line. '

 

No the truck had a salvage title when he purchased it from an auction, he fixed it up drove it in his ranch. Truck was not public street legal. The ranch is huge his career revolves around cattles. Lots of terrain. But besides that, that's the milage it ended. I can't recall the milage it had when he bought it. Anyways this is going off topic

 

Ok that's good to know. Seems like the R2.8 turbo diesel Cummins is a better option for a diesel swap.

Didn't know that was the extent of issues with that engine.

 

I didnt know either til now......all I know is they stop selling fiats in US because their junk....

Soon..... people will see the jeeps are not jeeps anymore......they got hijacked.....by the Italian's.....
they're damn fiats.......


I will tell you this, if you buy a diesel titan or what ever.......Cummins in the way to go.....much much better towing / hauling high mileage machine...
Rock solid engines.....no bad reps on them.....

I'd take one of those older cummins titans over a new tundra any day of the week....
Boss has 4 yr old 5.7 tundra....pulls a tandem wheel trailer...about 30K a year......the gas is eating him alive.......~3400 gal/yr.....

 

Well, getting back on topic, I'd like to see the diesel engine transplanted into the Tacoma; I saw a gray market 1988 Toyota Prado Cruiser here in the Northeast that was originally sold new in Spain, and it had a VM Motori diesel...

 

Seems like others say the engine has alot of mechanical issues. I think I'm more inclined to the Cummins R2.8 they are crate engines shipped directly from the cummins factory.

 

Or you can get a JDM Toyota diesel engine from a foreign-market Hilux, as long as you don't live in a state like California with strict emissions testing...

 

I saw those although I saw a few YouTube videos about the 5.0 cummins that the titans have and they were not hearty as the 6.7 or 5.9 cummins alot of issues with those engines.

Besides that the 5.0 is way to big for a 2003 Tacoma and weighs about 900 lbs.

 

Yes I would love one...But my only issue is parts availability and service centers.

With the Cummins R2.8 parts are available, let's say it has a major issue I can take it to any cummins certified shop to have it fix.

Heck I can even take it to a truck stop and have my little Tacoma repaired alongside a Semi that is having its Cummins engine repaired lol.

But all seriousness availability was what swayed me away from JDM Toyota diesel engines.

 

Yeah 5.0 maybe even too heavy for 1st gen tundra....
......and yeah even toyota has bad days.....so you got to do your research.....


My interest is to see what new diesels are like in the soon to be new Colorado 3 cylinder diesels...to be assembled in Michigan...
Asian company supposed already making those engines for about 10yrs for outer US market....

 

Would worry about JDM diesels........weird banjo bolt from japan....$2.20......shipping $44.69.........

 

Interesting... Wondering if the consumer will have the option of buying just a crate engine I need to research this engine since this will be a long term project.

As for the R2.8. It is an updated version of cummins 4bt that has been on the market for 40 years.

 

If you buy anything not sold in US....gonna have probs scoring parts....

In RC world....they come out with a totally new model......than it takes 6 months before they stock and not have constant backorder on those new ass parts..

So would not touch that Colorado thing til its been out couple years at least....
they may be terribly under powered......like 2Rz / 3Rz.......