2.4 to 2.8 swap, results and pictures

[Kiwisurfing]

Hello all, its finally time to do a nice wee write-up on how I got on with my engine upgrade, so without further delay here she is..............


Step #1: remove engine...

Remove the bonnet then proceed to remove all the pipe work on top of the engine and anything else attached that could possible get in the way during removal of the engine.

Unplug electrics and remove hoses (diesel lines ect) that you can and remember to label EVERYTHING or it can get confusing later on

[Kiwisurfing]

Usless info but kinda intersting the difference in the 2.4 and 2.8

[Kiwisurfing]

Once you have removed everything that is attached or could get in the way its time to remove the engine mounts and bell housing bolts
Remembering to prop the gearbox up (a small hydraulic jack is best) as you need to be able to adjust the height of the gearbox when the splines dont want to line up easily

Once you think that you have removed all the bolts (theres one sneaky one hiding behind the exhaust pipe on the drivers side) its time to attach it to somthing strong enough to lift it and give it enough lift to just get it off the engine mounts as now you need to pull it fowards to de-couple it from the gearbox, this is where (like me) you will find any belhousing bolts that you may have missed like the exhaust one

Once it has pulled free from the gearbox (this may take a fair bit of heaving to free it) you can start looking at lifting it out from the engine bay,,, BUT making sure to take it slow and keep checking that you havent got anything still attached or plugged in, I missed an earth strap on the rear of the head and nearly snapped mine

ALWAYS REMEMBER when working under the truck ie. removing the bellhousing bolts to have both the gearbox and engine supported as you only get to drop these once

[Kiwisurfing]

About here is when you also find out how stuffed your rear crankshaft seal really is.

Note im also lazy and using a forklift (anybody figured out what forklift company I work for yet)

[Kiwisurfing]

Now the fun begins of swapping over all the parts you plan on keeping like alternator, power steering pump ect....

Take your time here as quite a few bolts will be stubborn and wont come out easily, I cheated again and used my impact wrench, if they dont come out with that they never will. I normally end up snapping bolts in half with that thing as it generates 860nm of bolt snapping power

When you remove the oil cooler be prepared with somthing to catch the mess as despite all the oil and water being drained there is still quite a bit in here and it will make a good mess like I very smartly did

[Kiwisurfing]

Now this is where I planned on using my old 2.4 head on the 2.8 upgrade but on close inspection I found a very small crack. Now this crack could have gone for years without letting go or it could have never eventuated at all but I was not going to take the risk after spending a fair chunk of money on my nice new 2.8 block.

I also upgraded to a 2.8 cam (makes sence as the rest is all 2.8 parts now) as my head shop expert says that the 2.8 cam has a little more lift

If anyone ever takes their head off I can highly reccomend getting it crack tested as its a lot better to know now while its apart then one day driving down the motorway

In the end I payed up and bought a new head that only ended up costing a little more than having the old head reconed and shims adjusted anyway so it wasnt a big loss

[Kiwisurfing]

When it comes to removal and refitting of the pulleys I highly recommend that you borrow an impact wrench if you dont have one as it makes life so much easier especially on the flywheel as you do not have to try and stop it spinning while you loosen/tighten the bolts.
Also a clutch alignment tool is handy but I did not bother as you can line it up fairly well when the engines out, its harder when still in place like when you change a clutch normally.


Now this is where I will differ from the rest of you, as at the time I was waiting for my new head to arrive and be set up by the shop (ps: im happy to do engine work but when it comes to heads im lazy and pay a specialist to do it for me) so I finished attaching what I was keeping and dropped the engine back in without the head attached

[Kiwisurfing]

This is about where my writeup ends Im afraid as I did not take my camera on the head assembly day im sorry but heres the rest of the pics I have anyway

Take your time re installing everything as despite being a mechanical pumped diesel there is still a fair few connections that if are not in place correctly can make running a little off.

After you have re installed the radiator and all coolant hoses (good idea to get the radiator cleaned while its out as mine was full of all sorts of crud) and have all the electrics plugged and ready its time to give it a boot

I like to turn them over by hand with a socket and bar on the crank for one last time just to make sure the timing is set correctly as you will destroy your head and pistons if the valves and pistons decide to become friends

You want to take extra care during the first run in as this is where you will find anything that you might have missed like radiator and heator hoses may be loose and leak every where once heated and under pressure.

[Kiwisurfing]

Hope this may be of use to someone and I am happy to say that the 2.8 turbo is great, I never thought that I could smoke up 33's when you boot it

[tweak'e]

what cam did you use? the 2.8 or 2.4 one?

[Kiwisurfing]

ah knew ild forget somthing, I used a 2.8 cam as there is a small difference in the cams, the 2.8 seems to get a little bit more lift in its cam.

Your profile says you did a 2.8 conversion too, hows yours go?

[tweak'e]

2.8 cam is the better one. it has a lot more duration and is more suited to higher rpm. so its a good match with low gearing.

my conversion went ok. not as extensive as yours tho.
tho i stuffed up the clutch. need to pack out the pivot point at some stage as the clutch is right on the floor.
mine went from 2lte to 3l so ecu is tossed and got rid of the butterfly system.
i havn't wound up the fuel a whole lot as i still have 2.8 IP (no boost comp).
egt's are still mild so plenty room left, but will look at intercooling first.

[Kiwisurfing]

I will have to let you know how it goes when I have fully completed mine, future plans are an intercooler as well, I have still got my boost comp as my 2.4 was non-efi but untill the blocks settled and the rings have bedded properly I am keeping it set to the old 2.4 settings and will wind it up when intercoolers on and turbos rebuilt to handle higher boost levels.

I wouldnt worry too much about you not having the boost comp as I ran mine without it for the first week to keep power low during bedding in and it didnt really make much difference to the power output once I enabled it again. Might keep smoke levels down a bit but shes a dirty diesel so who cares

I must do a egt gauge too, I dont want to blow it after spending so much time and money, mabey give it a bigger exhaust too.

Its a never ending project isnt it

[tweak'e]

yeah never ending it sure is.

big exhaust is a must. 2.8 through that piddly little exhaust will be choking the hell out of it. reminds me i must get around to making a dump pipe.

you should not be having any smoke. if you have smoke then you have problems.

egt gauge is an absolute must. better if you get one with programmable alarm.