Isuzu turbo diesel in a Dodge motorhome?

This one piqued my interest on the local CL. http://southcoast.craigslist.org/rvs/4702168509.html

I tried emailing the seller with questions. He never got back to me, but did revise the ad to answer most of my questions. I finally got a hold of him on the phone today, and asked a few more questions. The main one being "did he or someone else swap in the diesel?" His answer was that the factory Winnebago engine in it was a Mitsubishi diesel, and that the original owners swapped in the Isuzu turbo diesel. Not sure I believe there was a Mitsubishi diesel in a Dodge in 1979, but I could be wrong. He contacted Winnebago, and they claimed there were a handful of these motorhomes made with the diesel option. They were surprised to hear that any survived according to the seller. I can't find any info online saying that there was a Mitsubishi diesel option in 79, but maybe my Google-fu is broken.

Seller claims 25MPG, but I have my doubts. Says it needs an elbow on the exhaust from the turbo. Seems like it is a bit pricey for the age, but the diesel intrigues me. Any reason aside from it being a 70's Dodge motorhome in New England that I should run away?

Dodge had a 4.0L diesel available from '78-80. I think it was Mitsu sourced. They weren't terribly popular, and IIRC not terribly powerful.

"will trade for diesel generator, excursion diesel, Volkswagen diesel, Mercedes diesel, ford, gm, dodge diesel pickup, landcruiser, or corvette"

Corvette? Seems to be the odd man out on that list.

Diesel che-vette?

So we have determined that there could have been a Mitsubishi diesel in this beast from the factory. What can I expect to see from an Isuzu diesel in this thing? Is it some Japanese version of a Perkins? No idea the vintage, but my guess is it is a bit more modern than the Mitsu diesel that was allegedly in the van chassis.

Isuzu Diesels are fairly common in box trucks and in industrial use, so it has that going for it. It would be helpful if the guy gave more specifics about the engine.

My experience with them is pretty limited, because I'm not a diesel guy, but I haven't heard any horror stories about them.

There was an 80's F Series truck with an Isuzu Diesel swapped in. Made the rounds at our local car shows and magazines like Four Wheeler.

I'll look it up and see if he's got any power info on it.

Join tdiclub.com and post this question in the "other diesels" forum. While the site is obviously VW-focused, there are a lot of diesel nuts and one of them may be able to help. A lot of those guys have been driving diesels for decades.

Didn't the Early Trooper II have a Diesel option?

Is this the engine?

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-hardcore-tech/644588-build-up-jeep-yj-w-isuzu-diesel-2.html

I don't know. Hopefully I will have a look at it tonight. The seller says it is a 6 cylinder turbo diesel. The link you provided looks to be comparing two 4 cylinder diesels. One a Cummins and the other an Isuzu.

Chris

4BD1T/2T is an super easy swap into a GM truck.

http://dieseladapters.com/TRANSMISSION_ADAPTERS.html

Rob_Mopar wrote: Dodge had a 4.0L diesel available from '78-80. I think it was Mitsu sourced. They weren't terribly popular, and IIRC not terribly powerful.

http://www.allpar.com/mopar/mitsubishi-diesel.html

Huh. To the best of my knowledge Isuzu did 4 banger diesels pretty much exclusively here in the States. Of course, I rarely, if ever, got involved with the commercial vehicle side. Not to knock the 4 banger in the NPR, it was and is a tough piece of engineering. It would be more than capable of moving that motorhome around.

Isuzu does build 6 cylinder diesels, but AFAIK they were not common on these shores and I have never seen a 6 cylinder NPR. That does not mean they don't exist; I've been wrong before and will be again!

Wiki list of engines: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Isuzu_engines#Diesel_4 I'm guessing these were industrial/stationary powerplants.

It seems there was a 6 cylinder Duramax that was available in GM trucks '07-ish that is the Isuzu 6H. I've never seen one of those either, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isuzu_6H_Engine

If you find out what engine it has, I'd be interested in knowing the model number.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Not to mention the duramax v8 is also an Isuzu design....

Yep, the Duramax V8 is Isuzu from the oil pan up. I was not aware there was also a 6 banger option. A little more digging shows it was offered from 2003-2009 as a medium truck engine, 7.8 liters and weighs about 1400 pounds. http://www.duramaxdieselspecs.com/lg4.html Probably not a cheap or easy swap in a motorhome!

Perkins still builds the 6.354 engine which is a popular replacement for gas V8's in fishing boats, meaning swap stuff is easy to come by. John Deere used to build a smaller 6 cylinder, don't know the model, at about the same time that motorhome was built. Wonder if it's actually one of those?