I am just about finished with the initial build which started in June of 2014. Thought I might share it here. First of all, I am not a mechanic. This is a hobby for me and creative outlet. Many people have attempted this project. There is plenty of information out there. What I have not seen is accurate MPG and performance data regarding the 4runner swaps. That is something I intend to address in this thread. I also plan to use my truck as a test bed for some of the performance modifications that will work on any of the om617 motors.

The project started with an 83 300cd. The car ran and drove, was purchased in Oct of 2013. I drove it through the winter and spring of 2014. It had under 200k miles and ran pretty well. Had to shut it off manually and trans was a bit choppy. I purchased a Gen 1 Toyota 4runner for misc parts and the 5spd w56 trans and gear driven t-case. Stripped the Gen 1 and sold the motor and some misc parts, scrapped the rest. The Gen1 was pretty rough and nowhere near road worthy. I pulled the motor and related parts from the 300cd in may 2014. I found a collector who wanted to restore it, being a coupe. He bought the body, I was happy to see it go to an enthusiast. This started my MBZ schooling. Now I had to decide on a 4runner to put the motor into. I found a 94 Gen 2 in Wisconsin w/in my set price range. It was advertised as having a bad clutch but possibly driveable. I bought it a week after the coupe was gone. Keep in mind, I am working out of a 2 car garage and mostly in the driveway. So, space is limited.

The Gen 2 4runner actually ran and drove well. It had 161k miles on it and nothing wrong with the clutch. I put 2500 miles on it to make sure it was in good working condition. I was fabricating the plates for motor mounts and ordering parts and prepping the om617 for the gen2, while waiting to pull the gas v6. Once I had a buyer for the v6 I pulled it and was w/o a daily driver. I had to weld new fenders on the gen 2 and clean it up. I herculined the bed and lower sheet metal. The body was clean for a 20 year old truck in the Midwest.

 

Got the truck roadworthy and insured today. Put about 30 miles on it. Adjusted the alda 2 full turns. Helped throttle response a little bit. Truck is running real nice at 180-200* Doesn't go over 210* I am not currently running a fan. Toyota v6 radiator is fully exposed to airflow. I am running a T3/T4 turbo. It does kick in late. I plan to install a new turbo in the spring. It was nice to finally be able to drive it outside my neighborhood. I used an EP35 flasher relay for the led strip turn signals. It worked real nice. Normal flasher delay. I also filled the 31gl tank with diesel. Had to make a new filler neck so I can fill up at any station. Gas filler is 13/16" dia. Diesel is 15/16". It won't be long before I have some real MPG numbers.

 

So the numbers are in, looks like 22-25 MPG for local. Not sure yet for highway. Started to hear bearing noise in the trans on a 150 mile sustained run. Had to stay in 4th gear as much as possible. I was pleasantly surprised, no overheating issues. OM617 stayed between 80-100c the whole trip. This was w/o a fan. I hit 68 MPH in 5th gear no problem. Acceleration still leaves a bit to be desired. T3/T4 is only hitting 5psi. This is probably due to the waste gate I have on it. I will be putting the w115 intake on soon. This will hopefully give some improved low end response until the turbo kicks in. Just waiting for my silicone elbow to show up. Then I can re-clock the turbo and pull the intake and exhaust manifolds. Need to install my probe for the pyro. The motor purrs when it has warmed up. Not a whole lot of vibration. I used Toyota motor mounts. Brakes are great, I pulled the abs out. Heat is plentiful, keeping the sunroof open in 40-50 degrees. I may put a longer clutch rod in for user convenience, hydraulic Toyota clutch. Shifts smooth when the clutch pedal is against the floor. Probably due to adapter plate and spacing in bell housing.
Time to find another w56 trans to swap in so I can rebuild the existing 1. I will probably rebuild the drive shafts for good measure and replace the ball joints,tie-rods and wheel bearings just for long trip reliability. New turbo and inter cooler are slotted for next spring.

 

Bought a complete running 88 pick up. Harvested all the good parts and scrapped the Swiss cheese body. Swapped trans and sold the motor and excess. Truck is running well again. 480 miles on the odometer and more than a 1/4 tank left. Unfortunately, enough 4th gear driving to throw off my mileage. My welder lost a diode when I was working on the tube bumpers. It ended up being an expensive month. Bought a new welder and the pick up. Traded my old welder for another MBZ to Toyota trans adapter plate. Started filtering a few hundred gallons of wmo. Got my heater in the garage. Now just focusing on getting the floor open in the garage so I can install the w115 intake and finish the front bumper. I will rebuild my original trans in December.

 

I envy you...installed 617 in 1974 toyota chinook. It fired right up the first time have not been able to get fuel to come out of injector pump since. Disconnected all injector lines at pump...still no fuel releasing..pump is fully primed, but I may have screwed up yhe linkage settings since first fire up. Have you run to this situation? I have used stock mb auto transmission. Any linkage diagrams or info appreciated. Newbie

 

I used the Toyota throttle cable and removed all of the linkage. Check to make sure you don't have vacuum in your shut off port on the top rear of the injector pump. If you do that will shut off the fuel at the inj pump. Go to the diesel performance section and look at some of the info on the injector pumps. That should give you a good idea on where to start. I would suggest switching to a manual trans. Its more work but that auto trans may be real slow. Try the auto 1st, if its really slow start looking for a 5spd.

 

I'm sorry i didn't make myself clear. It's any of the injection pump linkage that is necessary for engine to start. I know that there were springs and rods that were on the side of the injection pump that I may have placed in the wrong position. The linkage for the throttle and cruise control will be discarded. I need to keep the auto due to knee injury. I'll check out the information you mentioned. I appreciate your taking the time to assist me. If you have any close-up photos of your injection pump linkage they would be greatly appreciated.

 

I took some pictures not having any luck getting them to load. Pm your email address and I can send them that way. Just tried again, no luck. I am not good w/computers. It doesn't bother me though.

 

Intake is installed and have the fuel/alda at 4 1/2 turns ccw. What a difference! Truck is fast now and building better boost, 7psi. Today it wouldn't start so I checked glow plugs. Sure enough time to replace and ream the chambers. Does anyone know if a Phillips head screw driver can be safely used to ream? Mercedes source is still out of stock on glow plugs. I found some Bosch at one of my local parts stores. Should be picking up a Dakota digital dsl-1d to get Gasser tach working this week. Need to finish bumpers and put sidesteps on. Starting trans rebuild soon too. I would like to drive this truck down to Florida in Jan. So the truck is running grabbed glow plugs out of my other motor. Happy Holidays!

 

Picked up some Bosch glow plugs yesterday at auto zone. I also picked up a $3.00 reaming bit. I will press it into one of my bad glow plug housings. ForcedInduction, how critical is it to get all of the carbon out? I was thinking shop vac after reaming. A lot will come out on the reamer, I don't want a chunk to get trapped between piston and cylinder right?