So jump in and go with it. I do enjoy solving problems on my truck and bike but you're right to do an engine swap I'll need a second vehicle and besides that right now I am bit short on tools and space. I was hoping the I could find an engine that with an adapter would bolt into the existing tranny and have some engine mounts built by some fabrication company. The electric I could play with until I figure it out or just take all of it out go with a complete after market systems. To be honest I don't really need the anti-deterrent system where I live and find it quite annoying.

Thinking of which engine to go with I realized I can't use any engines from front drives as the mounts are usually at the top and front and back of the engine as opposed to on the bottom sides.

Maybe I'll tackle in the spring.

 

No one makes an adapter from any diesel engine to our transmissions and motor mounts have to be fabricated in the truck once the engine is sitting in place.
Even things that you would think are simple are not. Finding / having custom made a clutch that fits the input splines of the trans and also fits the flywheel of the diesel. Modifying the oil pan and oil pickup tube and in my case reloacting the dip stick and still have it read correctly.

The wiring is a nightmare.
Almost every system in our trucks is tied together and Vin coded.
Changing one thing will effect the rest of the systems.
Once the gas engine is gone things like air bags and ABS wont work. Speedo and tack, for that matter the whole dash wont work.
Power windows and even radio are tied into the front control module which needs a proper signal from the engine ECM in order to send the correct signal to the ABS and air bags and without the gas engine you cant get the proper signal. I'm still working on that part.

This can be a fun and cool project but its expensive and very time consuming.
Its WAY cheaper to just buy a Ram with a diesel.

BFN
Randy

 

This is the engine I used in my Cherokee. http://stonediesel.en.alibaba.com/vi...NE_4JB1_TC.jpg
Its out of a 3 ton truck but very cheap on fuel. The Cherokee gets a bit over 40mpg and I dont think our trucks weigh any / much more than the Jeep.
The Jeep also uses the same AX15 trans as our trucks did (gen11?) so it should fit nicely.
It wont have the power of the V8 but sure have the fuel economy.

 

I did some research and it appears to me that the AX15 is manual transmission and the my truck is automatic. Is there difference or will the engine work with both?

 

It just adds another layer of complexity.
Now you need to retain the computer control of the automatic without the gas engine. On the positive side it might be easier to adapter a torque converter mount to the diesel that the whole clutch setup.
Getting it to shift at the correct point would then be the problem as the diesel will not rev as high as the gas engine so shift points will need to be modified.
My Cummins tops out at 2500RPM, half of what the 4.7 did.

 

Look around for a wrecked RAM with a diesel and use that as the donor for most of the parts/systems you'll need. This way you'll have most of the drive train compatibility already looked after (except for things like drive shafts, mounts, and other "fitment" mods) and the electrical system should be a lot simpler to customize to fit the Dakota. The simplest, and most likely the cheapest would be, as EVguy mentions, to find a diesel RAM that you like and buy that (especially since you need to get a second vehicle anyway to do the diesel mod to the Dakota).

 

EVguy...How did you make out with the ECM and getting the factory electronics to work? I am very interested in doing an ISB swap and have been researching it for a while.

 

It worked out good in the end but not a simple task.
Everything works but you really have to have an aptitude for this. Its not the sort of thing you can fumble through on newer computerized vehicles.

On another note. I have started a website for diesel conversions but mostly focused on the VW TDI which is a very nice engine in vehicles under 3500lbs.
We put one in a Ranger and one in a Cherokee both work VERY well and get good fuel economy.
http://gastodiesel.tdconversions.com/

 

Were you able to complete the wiring and have all factory electronics work with no lights or codes on the factory ecm?