My father has 2 on his farm, one red and one green, both are 4 cylinder diesel trucks, I believe they are both 4-speed.  The bodies are kind of shot and they have been sitting for years.  I have never seen or heard of another one, my grandpa liked em' for some reason though.  They both say diesel power on the tailgates.  If anyone has any info or wants to buy em I can ask, if not they will sit there for another 20 years.

Military dodges had a perkins 4 cyl as a retro fit. I did a few. The "kit" came in a large air tight case made for shipping and storing jet engines.

There was a turbo diesel option in the D50, The owner of the local auto parts store has one.
-Steve C.

These are full size trucks1/2 or 3/4 can't remember, I thought they were 4 bangers, but, it was a cou[ple of years ago that I looked at the motors.  I will check em' out closer next time I am out there. I imagine that the engines could be salvaged, bodies are nasty though, thats why they were parked. Are these things super rare? is it worth putting them in dry storage so they don't deteriorate any more?  Is it just a regular A-833 four speed or were these beefed up for torque. These are not Military trucks, civilian FS as stated above.  Thanks for your help!

I wouldn't say they are Super rare, but they are slowly becoming rare. Few knew about this earlier diesel option. In fact I didn't know these engines were available in a 4x4 until last year because they were so low powered. I don't believe that the trannys were modded for more torque because these engines didn't make more torque than a typical 360 of that era.

I would take the engines and build them, add a turbo and have some fun with them.

Ed

The engine wouldn't be a Nissan, unless someone later dropped one in and the valve cover wouldn't have Dodge anywhere on it. You were much more likely to find a Scout with the Nissan diesel in it, but then again anything is possible, but from the factory? No, Dodge didn't put the Nissan diesel into the Ram trucks.

As I mentioned before in this post, in 78 & 79 Dodge offered a Mitsubishi diesel. Remember, Dodge was selling trucks built by Mitsubishi under the Dodge moniker, the D50 and Dodge Raider were Mitsubishi trucks. At the time Mitsubishi was also building diesels. Dodge tried selling these diesel engines in their fullsize trucks but the option didn't sell very well and was discontinued shortly after.

Yes take a pic, next time you see them

Ed

Now that I think about it is may have been Chysler and Nissan on the valve cover and not dodge. I'll go take another look and get a pic to post....  

Well Mitsu did have a diesel option for the D50, but not in 78-79.

Ed

What years did the diesels run in the D50's??

Olly

The Ram 50, first got the 2.3L turbodiesel in 1982.

Ed

Thankx for the info!  I would like to find one someday.  Just don't want a rot box!  lol

Olly

I found a six cylinder Mitsu diesel engine for sale,but there is no tranny.The guy is telling me the same tranny for a Dodge V-8 will bolt on.Is he telling me the truth,or pulling my leg so I buy it.Anyone have any ideas?

Try a search on www.car-part.com for the transmission.

Olly

That nissan-chrysler diesel 6 is the one used in IH scouts, they came NA and turboed.

Seems strange a Nissan-Chrysler Diesel!  lol

Olly

I found some more info on the 78-79 Dodge / Mitsubishi diesel engines as well as the Chrysler-Nissan diesels.

Apparently before the Fuso series, Mitsubishi once marketed  trucks under the Jupiter series, which was not sold in America at the time. In 1970 they introduced the new 6DR5 243 cid / 4.0L n/a diesel in the 3.5-ton T44 Jupiter cab-over truck. This is the engine later used by Dodge.
The introduction of the Mitsubishi diesel in the 78/79 Dodge trucks occured partly from the partnership Dodge and Mitsubishi had during the 70s fuel crisis years. The Mitsu-diesel was intended as a fuel economy engine, but at 103hp it really lacked in power, then again it was probably far worse in the 3.5 ton T44 Jupiter.

As for the Chrysler-Nissan diesel, apparently they did exist. Chrysler marine was marketing Nissan diesels which found their way into International's Scout. That engine was known as the Nissan SD33 diesel, the turbo version was the SD33T. They were an I-6 design, displacing 198cid with a HP rating of 98hp n/a and 101hp for the turbo engines.

Ed

Hey thanks for the info and the pic,Txs.I wish I had one of those to experiement with.

I remember (in the pre-cummins days) Chrysler talking about converting the 225 slant six to diesel.  As far as I know, that never happened, at least for production

-Dave

Did the 78-79 Diesels have any sort of a diesel badge on them?

Olly

The Mitsu diesels were available in the 1/2 ton trucks. As far as modifying one, you'll be on your own. There really isn't a market for these little engines (At least in America) But it should respond well to mods as any diesel should.

The two areas which will make any diesel perform is fuel delivery and air supply. I don't know what kind of fuel delivery pump the engine uses or if it could be turned up or otherwise modded to increase volume, but if theres a way to turn it up, that should help out alot.

Next is injectors. You might be able to use bigger injectors from another engine. That will require alot of cross referencing or it might be possible to regrind the tips to increase volume. You might want to look at all the fuel lines, a larger diameter might help in getting more fuel to the injectors.

The biggest improvement is adding a turbo. You might want to stick to a smaller unit, but if you like living on the edge, you can go with something that puts out alot of psi, but it won't help much if you don't have enough fuel.

Ed

I don't recall seeing badges on the trucks.

Ed

I recently bought a 78 Mitsubishi powered Dodge 150. It's not
a show truck but is in very nice shape.

Mine has a sticker type badge on the tailgate and I have 2 spares
that were originally on the front side fenders I believe.

Email me at robertcrone2002ATyahoo.com if you'd like a few pics.

With just 100 horsepower and a 3 speed automatic this thing is not
fast and the cab noise level is quite high.  It originally had sound deadener under the hood and on the firewall but this has long since disappeared.

The PO said he'd pulled about 1,000 pounds on a trailer occasionally but the owners manual recommends no towing.

I drove it home over 900 miles of mostly Interstate at 60 mph and it got 20 mpg. It's a decent old machine.

As for how rare it is, the previous owner said from his research he thought only about 1,500 of them had been sold.

I'd be especially interested in hearing from anyone who has one
to compare notes.

Rob

I recently picked up a 2wd '86 Ramcharger with Nissan SD33 diesel (originally from Canada and I just returned it up there last night for my son to drive after he fixes it) with 727 and another with a 318 that is 4x4. (fixing that myself)

Check ebay cos they show up there every once in a while!

Olly

Check the classified section, or ebay for a manual.  Dodgeboys has a FSM section in the classifieds.