Tdi motor in a Tacoma

Everyone is quick to claim that the TDI's can make it into the 250k+ range, but from experience seeing a ton of cars come in and out of our shop at work, I can't recall a 250k+ TDI in the last 4 years. I can think of a few barely running about to turn 200k.

I do however see a lot of 250k+ mile Tacomas and 4runners of all varieties, and have even ran into more than and handful of 300, 400 and even a couple half million mile ones.

Swapping out a motor that's only downfall is a slight lack of power (compared to their predecessors) is kind of silly in my opinion. Especially with the aftermarket support they have for adding a little extra power.

 

do you work at a german diesel specific shop?

also what engine can you put into a tacoma that can rival the power of the 3.4 (stock vs slightly modified, and yes slightly) yet still double original MPG

 

I remember watching an episode of Xtreme 4x4 when they did a Samurai crawler build. They swapped in a VW 1.6 turbo diesel.
https://www.powernationtv.com/episode/XT2008-03/green-samurai-part-iii-finale

 

you can buy bolt in kits for the 1.6 to a samurai, go with a 1.9 though for any swap

 

No I work at a tire shop where we see anything and everything come through.

Merely doubling the MPG equates to almost nothing. That's if it even happens. I'd guess that you'd get maybe somewhere around 25MPG if you were lucky in a modified taco.

I've never seen an engine swap cost any less than 5,000$ to complete, they usually cost more. You'd also be spending hundreds of hours between buying an engine, sourcing all the parts, disassembly, refreshing the new engine, installation, wiring, and then working out all the kinks that come with a swap. That's assuming you're ever able to make it work 100%.

If you slack any part of the swap, reliability goes out of the window, and you also have to factor in parts costs. I'm not super familiar with VW diesel parts costs, but I'm willing to bet they're significantly more expensive than our parts which are dirt cheap.

In the end for me at least,
You'd have to get it to a point where it was very reliable and then drive it for a very, very long time for it to anywhere near even itself out from the immense amount of money and time put in for a measly 10-20MPG gain.

The real best way to get better MPG is to go buy a used beater car that gets 40+ to begin with for 2-3000$ and call it a day.

 

you're trying to be rational, the OP wants engine swap.. nothing rational about that.

My swap is put on hold due to me having to move. I bought a car for 1000 sold transmission for 900 a week later, among other small things I've sold I have nothing in a running engine! plus taking the car off for scrap I'm positive on an engine by a fair amount. You're right I've got time in it, but everyone has to have a hobby. Also yes I drove this car down the road and through my pasture over terraces before parting it. I've got 3 ALH TDi engines in my basement now

again, OP no one here is gonna support you much as you're not swapping in the boat anchor toyota diesel.

 

Yup, the best mod for your truck is a daily driver.

While I agree with an engine swap being impractical it’s not always about practicality.

Also OP why a VW TDI?
Have you considered a 1KZ or similar?

 

told you OP lol

 

I've never seen anyone on this site advocate hard for using any of the Toyota Diesel engines in a Tacoma. By far the most popular swap is the 4BT, which is the only swap I've seen in person, and it wasn't clean nor was it as easy as it should of been given how rudimentary the setup is on that engine. The only people I see talking much about Toyota Diesel engine swaps are the few shops that do it for a living, and they only push it because somehow they get it to pass emissions for the given model year.

If I remember quickly the shop/person who was working on that swap kit was counting on two things: One that VW would figure out an easy way without adding anything on to the VW engines to pass emissions again and, two, that there would be a huge surplus of cheap engines available from VW buyouts. VW never did find an easy way to get their engines to pass emissions after the scandal in Canada so they simply pulled them from the market and the vehicles VW did buy back were mostly slagged for scrap and parts with the engines melted down. After that outcome the noise locally about the TDI kits died off pretty quick.

 

Do not swap in anything that isn't sold here in the U.S. VW or Toyota, there are several parts available for VW which is why they're popular, huge aftermarket in the states as well.

Swapping an engine into a first gen tacoma probably, i don't live in a state that tests, would be exempt in smog due to age. Also from my understanding as long as engine is not older than vehicle you're good correct?

I've driven an FJ80 with a 4bt in it and that changed my mind on that engine forever, it's expensive, it's heavy, it's loud, and it's a rattle can because it's an industrial engine and not very balanced.

I had my Common Rail TDi bought back and let me say, i never thought I'd have a car that appreciated so much since I bought used and made huge profits.

 

Just to interject on vw TDI and mpg, when HPA built their first Jeep to test the swap parts they were getting 25mpg on 35" tires. I get 14 on 33's. I would love 25 mpg.

 

There’s a huge aftermarket on the TDI because there is a huge market on the Jetta and some of the other VWs, particularly the wagons from days past. It’s a crazy enthusiast group that rivals or beats the Toyota Off-road crowd. I know lots of guys that run with that crowd, they keep there mid 80s VWs minty and fast.

I can only speak for Canada but when you switch fuel types on the registration all bets are off on the legality of the vehicle. I guess if it’s never reported that might work but if you wreck and your fuel type doesn’t match your registration insurance might be a bitch to get to pay out. As for smog, it wouldn’t pass anywhere technically where they smog vehicles since you need to have original or certified compliant emissions equipment for that specific vehicle model. Then again we all know some mechanics will pass anything if they can be convinced they’re actually testing a different setup, either through monetary means or otherwise.

I completely agree on the 4BT. Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it a smart option. It’s simplicity is what draws guys in but everything you said is true. It’s an engine built for third world light duty box trucks and it performs like one lol.

Yeah. I remember a particular VW crazy who got into a heated argument with me claiming he’d never surrender his TDI Jetta because they couldn’t make him. How wrong he was lol. At least they paid him well.

 

I would’ve kept the 2.0TDI jetta my wife drove if we hadn’t moved to where AWD/4WD is a huge benefit. Nothing like getting 55mpg on the highway at cruising at 80mph.

 

damn, that sucks.

 

please hand calculate your fuel mileage, if your car got 55mpgs doing 65 mph then you had a 1 in a million.. 55mpgs is impossible with a Common Rail TDI, except for those who hypermile.

 

It was hand calculated and logged in my fuelly, 616 miles on 10.45 gallons of fuel all on the highway. Average for the 40k miles we owned it was 43.2mpg of mostly my wife driving to work.

 

I used to drive my dad's 2005 Jetta TDI and routinely saw 50-55mpg hand calculated with cruise set. Not sure I'd want one of these engines in a truck, they are pretty gutless at low rpm and rely on boost to keep things moving at speed which would suck for crawling

 

I got 52 mpg in my '12 golf TDI on the 5.5 hour trip to my parents place.

 

Hi, sorry to bump an older page but I've been looking around for a while now at doing this myself ... In the process of buying a wrecked tdi so I have everything needed to run the engine ... Plan on custom mounts and bellhousing adapter to get this running ... Was thinking of 3.0 but later decided on going with a 2.0 since with just an ecu tune you can make 300+ lbs ft and fuel economy should be bitchin!!

Has anyone heard of this project coming into fruition?? I'd love to meet some swappers!!

 

My wife had a 2010 TDI that got back. We got almost all the way to san francisco from Portland on one tank. If you stick under 65mph you can get some really good mileage though.