Out of Country Diesel Trucks

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Go North

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SE Minnesota
Buy a Dodge Dakota and a 2500 Ram with a cummins, then swap the engines. Now that would be one heck of a Dakota with all that power under the hood. Sorry I couldn't really help you, but I will be watching this thread as I'm thinking something like a Dakota with that new diesel engine dodge is puting in that new van of theirs would be the ticket for me. I bet they are working on that combination for a future year.
 

DsrtJedi

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SoCal
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2012, Jetta SportsWagen, Candy White
I've thought about getting an old Power Wagon (1956) and dropping in a Cummins but I really don't need that big of an engine. The big attraction for a diesel is the mileage. My friends with the full size trucks are lucky to get 19 mpg. I'm hoping to find a smaller truck that gets closer to what I get with my Jetta TDI.
 

FowVay

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Georgia
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2009 Jetta returned to der Führer
If you don't anticipate any problems with the DOT or EPA then there are literally dozens of diesel powered Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan pickup trucks sold in Europe. Pay the freight charges for shipping and you'd have essentially a Tacoma sized diesel truck. OR, just buy a engine from there and ship it over in the crate.

I am surprised that they don't require U.S. DOT standards though.
 

DsrtJedi

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SoCal
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Since the only diesel trucks sold in the US are the full size versions, I am looking at bringing one in from another country. California DMV tells me that I would only need the Title or bill of sale plus get it weighed before registering it. Since it would be a diesel I wouldn't need any extra work done to it. (Like smog)Does Canada have Toyota or Isuzu diesel? I have found Isuzu dealers in Guatamala. That would be an interesting drive home! Is there anybody out there with experience or advice?
 

PackRat

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Las Cruces, NM
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1998 A3 Jetta TDI
Originally posted by FowVay:
If you don't anticipate any problems with the DOT or EPA then there are literally dozens of diesel powered Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan pickup trucks sold in Europe. Pay the freight charges for shipping and you'd have essentially a Tacoma sized diesel truck. OR, just buy a engine from there and ship it over in the crate.

I am surprised that they don't require U.S. DOT standards though.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Most foreign light trucks meet light truck DOT safety standards, or can be modified relatively easily. A diesel powered crew cab Isuzu or Mitsubishi would be nice.


As for EPA, California is exempt from the Clean Air Act, that's why CARB is in existance. I guess this is one case where Californias exemption is a plus.
 
Joined
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Kalkaska Mi.
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Jetta, 2006, Campanella White, Anthracite Int. DSG, Pkg. 1; New Beetle, 1998, Yellow, black leather Int., 2013 Passat TDI SEL Night blue, grey Int. given back to VW (well, not given... ;) ) 2018 Tiguan; first gasser in years
I've heard of the German military surplus, VW made, diesel powered "Iltis" being available in Canada but there was sme problem getting them into the States. I might just have been MY problem with the price but I'd still like one for Winter use.
 

samuel

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Jun 23, 2002
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California isn't exempt from the clean air act, but rather has the unique distinction of being able set emissions standards that are more stringent than the Federal standards. The other 49 states can elect to use California standards but may not create their own standards.

I'm not sure about the rules regarding importation of post 1973 vehicles, but I'd be very careful to thoroughly research the issue. At present, we don't have any smog check for diesels, but this does not mean that diesel vehicles aren't required to meet emissions standards. It just means that the state doesn't bother to check up on vehicles in service. Thus, even if you get a car imported and registered initially you can be in danger of future problems if the DMV ever decides that your paperwork doesn't show that the car meets standards.

This situation happened to a friend of mine with an '87 Citroen CX gasser. This was a grey market car (as were all CXs brought to the US), and had been in Calfornia for many years before my friend bought it. It had been legally registered and passed smog, etc., but then the owner put it in storage for awhile and didn't register it during that time. My friend had some hassle initially registering the car, but he had the old California registration paperwork and it passed smog, so he thought he had everything taken care of. For two years his wife happily drove it, until it was time for another smog check. Then the computer in Sacramento wouldn't recognize the car's VIN as being acceptable, so the smog shop couldn't check it.

My friend went to the DMV and got told that they had decided that the old information in their files about this paticular CX (and a lot of other grey market cars) didn't show that the car ever officially complied with California emissions standards, so the owner would have to get copies of all the original certification papers from the manufacturer. Since Citroen didn't ever certify the car for sale in the US or California, they obviously couldn't help. The company that had certified his car (and a lot of other CXs) was now out of business, so that was also a dead end. My friend finally managed to get a sympathetic person to agree to allow it to be tested once more based on the old registration papers, but he was told that the official DMV file coudn't be altered without all the certification papers, so he'd better not count on re-registering the car in two years. Once the car passed smog again and was licensed my friend drove it for awhile, but eventually sold it to a guy in another state.

Ironically, I know of other CX gasser owners who have never had a problem, but since the DMV's views of legality are based on the paperwork in their files and this varies according the the year of manufacture, year of importation, certifying entity, etc., it is hard to generalize. So long as we don't have to smog check diesels we are probably safe, but who knows how long this will last.
 

PhydeauX

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Eastern Pa.
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98 Jetta
GMC was selling diesel engines in their S-15 pickups in the 80's. Not a very common find, but I have seen a few floating around from time to time.

andy
 

PackRat

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Las Cruces, NM
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1998 A3 Jetta TDI
Originally posted by PhydeauX:
GMC was selling diesel engines in their S-15 pickups in the 80's. Not a very common find, but I have seen a few floating around from time to time.

andy
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Those were Isuzu engines, the same engine that Isuzu had in their pickups, 2.3 litre or something like that. Not especially powerful but probably the most reliable engine ever to reside under the hood of an S-series pickup!


Another rare find is the Ford Ranger Diesel, whiched used a Mitsubishi turbodiesel engine. Kind of odd since Ford sourced it's other 4 cyl diesel engines from Mazda. There's a guy that has one here in Jefferson.
 

mrGutWrench

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Carrboro, NC
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'03 Jetta Wagon, 5-speed, 563K Miles (July '23)
Originally posted by PackRat:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by FowVay:
If you don't anticipate any problems with the DOT or EPA then there are literally dozens of diesel powered Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan pickup trucks sold in Europe. Pay the freight charges for shipping and you'd have essentially a Tacoma sized diesel truck. OR, just buy a engine from there and ship it over in the crate.

I am surprised that they don't require U.S. DOT standards though.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Most foreign light trucks meet light truck DOT safety standards, or can be modified relatively easily.
As for EPA, California is exempt from the Clean Air Act, that's why CARB is in existance. I guess this is one case where Californias exemption is a plus.
</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">_._ You really don't want to mess with EPA and NHTSA (DOT) certification for non-complying vehicles. They don't want to use their limited resources for "one-time" imports (the time that they spend administering your one vehicle they could review a report from a manufacturer on 300,000 vehicles). Now Congress has told them that they must allow "non-certifieds" so they do -- they just make things time-consuming (read $$$ unless you're a grey-haired, broken down, old, retired guy who drives slow) and expensive. Then they can go back to Congress and say "we allow them, we just require good paperwork to show that they meet the standards". This is good "eyewash" and everyone is happy except the poor vehicle owner who is bleeding cash through the whole thing.
_._ This is the way that it is, but - of course - you know better and you're going to go ahead and try it anyway. But don't say that you weren't warned ....
Bruce Henderson, Wallace NC
 

PhydeauX

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Eastern Pa.
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98 Jetta
Speaking of diesels in s series trucks. My dad was talking to me today about the feasibility of transplanting a diesel into his 90 s-blazer. I'm not new to engine swaps, I've done a few. Since there is a chance that someone here migth have some info on whats involved in the swap so I can get back to him about the feasability of this. The truck is a 90 s-10 blazer with the 4.3 and 4wd. We'd prefer to keep the 4wd if possible.

andy

[ February 22, 2003, 21:08: Message edited by: PhydeauX ]
 
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