Hi Everyone...as a lot of you know I live in South Africa and have a Cherokee Tomahawk 4H with weekender that I tow with my F250 DC (Which as a 4,2L mwm engine) The engine is getting on in years and milage and  the local Importers have been batteling to find a replacement diesel unit for my vehicle. A friend called me up this morning and said that he had mannaged to get a F150 Harley engine and 4spd trans complete at a reasonable price. Does any one of you know how this combo would pull my trailer...and how heavy on fuel is the 5,4L Supercharged V8....seems to have good power ratings...340 Hp and 425 Ft Lb @ 3250 rpm. 

What I am thinking of doing is replacing my diesel unit with the V8 Harley....

what do u guys think....

Cheers for now

Nick

Adapting a different engine to your truck, will involve many parts that may not be readily available. A super charged engine requires additional cooling, plumbing and a different computer than what you have now. Your present transmission, if it can be bolted to the new engine, will require completely different shift points, torque converter lock up ranges etc. It may not be able to be adapted. If you use the gas transmission, you will have to use the gas engine's computer as well. This will involve some serious computer skills to sort out. The super charged engine will also require high test gas. Is this readily available in your area?

I would think that an engine swap of this sort, would lead to an expensive and possibly non working solution. A super charged gas motor will be quite unlike your present motor. It will depend on higher RPMs to develop its torque. Because it is a high output, highly stressed power plant, it will not offer the long term reliability typically found with diesels.

I would consider a rebuild of your present engine or possibly a new/rebuilt short block exchange, before I invested a lot of time and money in a non compatable swap. I would also consider a truck replacement before attempting the engine exchange. If the swap were completed, what would happen to the truck's value? Do you have any emission testing that would invalidate the the licensing of your truck after the swap?

In the old days, I swaped out two different Olds diesel engines for gas engines. When the diesels died, which was often, the cars were dirt cheap. A standard 350 gas engine was a bolt in replacement. Carburetors ruled then, and the throttle linkages were easy to adapt. The headaches included the vacuum accessories modified for the diesels, that weren't present on the gas, power brakes, cruise control, heater controls, etc. The transmission and engine controls were vaccuum and not computer managed. Those exchanges were easy, compared with what you want to do.

Bottom line, I don't think the swap is a viable/economic option, even if you could make the gas engine physically fit. It is made for "hot roding", and not a towing vehicle. If you lived in Texas, the proposed 80 MPH speed limits might make this swap attractive. For mere mortals, I'll stick with the diesels for towing.

Hey thaks lads for the advice....our problem over here is that you just dont get trucks like you guys have over there. My F250 is the biggest available and they have even discontinued it now. all our trucks are very light duty..(max 3L) and could never tow my trailer. The 4,2L engine in my truck - although very economical has to work very hard to tow the trailer and is stupidly expensive to overhaul....thats why I am looking for a complete transplant. I didnt really think the Lightening engine was the right one, but is is always worth investigating. I will persist with our importers and try and get them to find me a complete powerstroke mill...although they say they are as scarse as henns teeth,,,, is that true.

I would want a engine and trans complete. As far as the value of the truck is concearned...not too worried about that cos I HAVE to hold on to what I have...its all that will tow the trailer...and I dont really want to go for a semi....

Thanks for your input...much appreciated.

Cheers for now

I would contact these people....  Maybe there's someone in your South Africa that has access to some rebuild parts....  http://www.nav-international.com.br/default.asp?su=1&idioma=2

Hi Guys

 would have looked at importing a whole vehicle but they do not allow left hand drive vehicles to be registered here any more. There is a company here that imports the Dodge Ram 250 and does a RHD conversion to them, but wow at a huge cost...they are over R1m here. That equates to about $155k and I just cant afford that.

My MWM mill is still running fine - I just would really like some extra power....

I will keep trying and hopefully some time soon we will be able to find a solution.

Thanks for your imput...have a great day.

Nick