1992 Dodge Dakota 4x4 Turbo Diesel

So what do you do with a solid Dodge Dakota when the 318 / 5.2L Magnum has 4 Dead Cylinders and 4 with compression between 50 and 72psi (by the way, it still ran and drove!) Ok it needs new paint, but it has a solid body and solid frame.



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This conversion "Supposedly" required a Body Lift, Solid Axle Swap and a Suspension Lift to work... That's a load of crap, you don't need any of that to fit a Merc 5-Banger in a Dakota (though some people insist you do)


Yank the engine out and give it to your dad, who needs a crankshaft for his 5.2L Magnum Ram 1500. :) Well, that takes care of one problem, what to do with the mostly dead engine. What do I do about getting the truck moving again? What's that? A Turbo Diesel Engine, with Transmission and Accessories for less than the cost of a junkyard 318?


Sold my A518 Overdrive Automatic Transmission (rebuilt shortly before I bought the truck, came with receipts) for $500, which was what I paid for the whole truck in 2010 :) I'm already ahead of the game here, in terms of finances either the Diesel was free or the truck was free at this point.


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Yes, this is a 2nd Gen D50 Instrument Cluster (from my '87 D50), Yes they have factory Diesel Indicator Lights in them! That I tore out to install in my Dakota Instrument Cluster

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hahaha !!!! I love it !!!!
especially the "you can't do that,without this, guru clap trap !!!
& evidence to the contrary.
Subscribed !!!
??What trans ???
Thx.

It's an Automatic Overdrive at the moment, I believe it's the 722.x transmission. After I gather up the cash for an Adapter Kit I'm going to install an NV3500 5-speed in it.

^^
The fleet I work on had a couple of Sprinters with that
Same eng/trans combo... Trans failure was the biggest issue
(usually about 80k miles!).
Engines usually went 200k or so... but then those miles are
UPS miles ... lol, so double that & add a 100% abuse factor.
NV3500 will be a good upgrade, as yokes, u joints, & drivelines
are plentiful. might even be a 'drop in' driveline around.
Again cudos I love these 'push the corner of the envelope Budget minded builds'