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Nearly buttoned up. Waiting on my one piece Tom Woods drive shaft then ill do a road test. I had to get creative with the downpipe, could only manage 2.25" and even then I dont like how close it is to the slave cylinder. I think a body lift would help but not doing that now. I have it wrapped with fiberglass insulation and it doesnt seem to get hot to the touch.
Very pleased with my VDO gauges and Dakota Digital fan controller - lots of options and easy to setup.
Went for a drive today! So far so good. Still have to modify the oil pan so i can make tighter turns. Power is excellent, you do have to wait for the turbo to spool a bit, might mess with the ALDA 1/2 turn or so. The turbo sounds nice with the straight pipe but the exhaust is quite loud I have a Dynaflo muffler to install I prefer quieter exhaust.
Not seeming to get any braking assist at all, have enough vacuum that the engine shuts off right away and reservoir seems to hold vacuum ok guess I gotta break out the gauge. Anyone else had to do anything other than connect brake booster straight to vacuum pump suction side? I did leave the toyota check valve inline...maybe thats an issue. My engine does have the strange dual-diaphragm pump out of the earlier 300SD.
Also my Toyota stock battery has quite a bit of trouble starting the engine, with glow plugs it will start ok but turns over slowly. Deciding between a Redtop 34/78 in the current location, or moving the battery elsewhere and going dual battery setup or a larger battery like the stock 300D would have...any thoughts? I go playing in the backcountry in the winter for skiing so I'd like to have excess capacity for cold temps.
Whelp my vacuum pump is only putting out -5 mmHg at idle. It should be around 17 I believe. Sucks it is the dual diaphragm model only from 1978 and 1979 engines, can't find the diaphragms anywhere...
Well, put 25 miles or so on the truck today. Got the exhaust built up, my welder is starting to pay itself off. Nice and quiet with 2.5" pipe all the way back and a Dynaflow Muffler. I've started to notice the engine doesn't start as quick as my 300SD...It almost seems to take 2 - 3 seconds even when fully warm. I'm really hoping I didn't make a mistake using the Toyota starter instead of Mercedes. Otherwise, the truck is a blast to drive and will hold 50 mph with barely a touch on the pedal. Hope everyone else' swap are going well.
Well guys figured I'd post an update. I've put around 1500 miles on the conversion.
Overall, I'm quite pleased. I've since moved and towed a 3,000 lb boat and trailer 600 miles with the truck. No problem maintaining interstate speeds, most hills did not even require a downshift. Noteworthy here is I have stock tires allowing the engine to run at proper RPM - 3,100 rpm @ 70 mph. I seem to get around 24 mpg pulling the boat, 27 - 28 mpg with the truck unloaded depending how I drive. This long drive heavily loaded I think helped clean the engine out...it runs much quieter and smoother now.
The single biggest improvement I've made is replacing the cone filter with the stock Mercedes air cleaner. It reduced engine noise very significantly and now draws in cold air with a scoop.
Vibrations at idle are still a big issue. I'm considering reworking the motor mounts, again...
Hey guys! Realized I never updated this thread. About a year after my last post, the om617 motor developed a oil leak at the rear main seal. I also never found a good solution to the idle vibrations. I considered selling the truck to someone who perhaps wasn't as bothered, but then down the street found a wrecked 4Runner and transplanted the 5VZ. The 5Vz sits in the stock location, has a Taurus fan and shroud for engine cooling, with BMW temp switch and Volvo relay. I also installed a pusher fan on the AC condenser, wired to cut in with the compressor clutch.
Joe,
Spent a while looking around your website! Looks real sharp and looks like you thought of everything! The wiring adapter has a relay inside for the glow plugs or uses the Mercedes relay?
Sure wish you were in business when I did my conversion - looks much more turnkey than what was available a few years ago!
Thank you! The wiring utilizes 2 different types of relays to control the Mercedes glow plug controller, as well as shut the engine down. It's basically just hooking your Toyota key up to the Mercedes process.
Yup I was able to pass most of the items on to a fella who was gonna do a swap into his old Land Cruiser. Wish I still had his contact info to see how it went (that was 2 phones ago unfortunately!)
05-07-2015, 12:42 PM
