Joshua
Dork
3/24/14 10:13 a.m.
It's been a little while since I've posted on here but it's good to be back.
My wife was talking the other day about possibly getting rid of her Subaru in the future because she misses truckish suspension. She mentioned the Wrangler and I was immediately interested... She then mentioned a diesel one and I immediately remember why I married her. 
So GRM, what do you know about diesel Jeeps?
What are possible motors?
What would the MPG be with that motor?
How reliable would this thing be?
Could it be manual or auto?
What would be a good cost estimate?
Are there current examples of this?
Would the drivetrain be an even weaker achilles heal with more torque??
Which Wrangler?
Cummins 4BT(A) has been done several times and documented in CJs, Cherokees, & Wranglers. There's a guy with a B3.3 in a relatively stock YJ that documented his build fairly well too, focus of his build was MPGs.
There's a guy on Pirate4x4 with a sweet 4BT powered CJ10 he built a bed for and made a sweet little truck with a face only a mother could love.
Search 4BTswaps.com and Pirate4x4.com.
There's a company that makes reasonably priced adapters for Mercedes OM617 Jeep swaps as well.
Later Jeep transmissions are similar enough to some of the Toyota transmissions, that the Acme TDI adapters can be made to work in Jeeps too.
I've seen hack-ish 4BT swapped TJs sell for $8K-ish, and well executed TJs with other off-road mods sell for low to mid teens.
Four Wheeler has a few articles regarding diesel Wranglers. The 4bt is the most popular swap. Or you could wait until 2016 and see if the 3.0L diesel makes it into the redesigned Wranger
Older Four Wheeler article
http://www.bruiserconversions.com/jeep-wrangler-diesel-conversion/
http://forum.aev-conversions.com/showthread.php?t=836
Nice, I've found some good information so far. Possible motors seem to be the 4BT, TDI motors, and Mercedes motors.
Cost estimates seem to be pretty high... 
In reply to Joshua:
Take a gander at that Cummins B3.3T, it was never available in an automotive application, it's a "power unit." But it's returned some very intriguing figures for the guy I mentioned earlier. With intercooler and a little tuning, he's claiming 28+ MPG in a mostly stock YJ, with a "calculated" 340 lb-ft of torque.
Here's the thread: http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/showthread.php?t=112807
Also the 4BD2T found in Isuzu NPR trucks. Here's a fun well documented read.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/jeep-hardcore-tech/644588-build-up-jeep-yj-w-isuzu-diesel.html
