Posted by Paul in NY [108.162.242.58] on Friday, November 07, 2025 at 09:22:22 :
In Reply to: Re: 4BT posted by Terry D [172.70.207.141] on Thursday, November 06, 2025 at 23:22:26 :
Good Morning Terry
I understand you have a burning desire to install a Diesel in your PW. Thats good, I commend you for it. But right now this is going sideways, let me help you to get the conversion going verticle. Right now STOP, do not buy anything yet. There is so much you need to understand before your ready to start dropping money, BIG MONEY and then find things you bought won't play together.
Right now you are where I was back in the late 70's early 80's. I had this burning desire to have a computer. I did not know what I needed. Close to where I lived was P&D Surplus. You name it in electronics or mechanical and they had surplus. It was a huge place and when the owner got to know you, you got free access to wander and buy. The Ham Radio people flocked there, i am KS2K. In my wanderings I found computer boards and keyboards, Dec Inc. surplus both for somewhere around $50 bucks. Ha !!!, what could go wrong, Dec Inc is a huge company. So I bought the computer board and keyboard. I was on my way to having a computer.......WRONG ! Later, through a friend , I find that the computer board was a special board for some piece of equipment Dec made and the keyboard was not ASCII but rather Bardot. It was all junk to my needs. This is where you are right now, and why I say STOP don't buy anything. By the way the $50 I lost on the computer stuff was big bucks back then, but no way, no way near the big bucks your about to send for the Diesel Installation.
You have a Cummins B3.9, thats good. But a Backhoe engine could have thousands of hard work hours, is it warranted ? Has the dowel pin modification been done. It better be or you might hear a terrible noise when the .375" dwell pin creeps out and falls into the engine gear train. You need to decide on exactly what transmission you want to use. Is it a Dodge NV-4500 ( what I used on all my builds) Has the 5th gear nut retention modification been made. Probably if you buy a rebuilt and warranted. Is your choice a DODGE or GM NV-4500 ? They are NOT the same. Bolt mount up is different and then the gm NV-4500 is available in different gear ratios. Or is it a FORD ZF Tranny, also good. But hold the phone, what transfer case are you going to use. It all depends on what transmission you are going to use for a married application. Have you decided is the Transfer case going to me married or divorced, you MUST know before you start buying parts.
I suggest that you have to do discovery on what you want to accomplish and then what is needed to make that happen. Only then start buying. OK, so how is the best way to do this discovery. You need info from guys who are doing 4BT swaps on anything you can imagine. I suggest you join www.4btswaps.com This forum is broken into sections depending on what
your doing with Cummins B 3.9 and B5.9 engines. Its a friendly forum with lots of people wanting to help each other. Nuff Said
Good Luck
Paul