Im going to do a 82 300D turbo into an 86 jeep cherokee swap, it shouldnt be to bad the only thing Im think I may have trouble with is the speedometer, I dont know what rear end ratio the car that the motor and trans came out of, the junk yard still has the car so if there are any ID tags or anything like that I could use to find out exactly that would be good to know, I havent picked up the jeep yet that will come next weekend so I dotn know what ratio it has either has anyone ever done anything like this before or have any sugestoins on how to make things work I looked at some pictures of the cable and it looks just aboue like any other cable so it shouldnt be to hard to make fit the jeep speedometer head, also the junk yard cut the speedometer cable off the trans wich didnt make me any to happy but if anyone has a used cable I would greatly apreciate it
thank you much

The M/B had a 3.07 ratio. Cannot comment on the Jeep.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing with a 603 engine, interested in how it goes.

I'd imagine that you're taking into account the different revs/mile of the larger Jeep tires.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

once I get the jeep Ill be able to figure out things a little more, does anyone know how many revolutions per mile a mercedes speedo cable does? I dont know what the jeeps is either but that would probably be a more acurate way of finding out if there guna be at all compatable I suppose if worst comes to worst I could go with an electronic speedo then I could use a digital ratio adapter thanks for everyones input, I will let you know how it goes I plan on only making it a 2wd jeep I dont want to go threw all the work of figuring out how to hang a transfercase on the back of a benz transmisson but it should be a fun project to add to my collectoin of odd ball diesels I have an 85 diesel s-10 and now Ill have an 86 diesel jeep cherokee

Could you post a pic of the S-10 diesel engine. That must be a canadian model. You also need a chevette diesel.

What were the rear end ratios of various years of 123 chassis vehicles? Wasn't he 85 the highest?

__________________
Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

W123
----------
230,240D RATIO 1:3.69

280E RATIO 1:3.58

300D RATIO 1:3.46

300DT 85 RATIO 1:2.88

300DT TO 84 RATIO 1:3.07

Might be cheaper and more accurate to just mount one of those new GPS things that tell you what speed you are going ... Randy uses his like that sometimes...

the S10 was orgnally and american modle they only made it 2 years its an isuzu 2.2L non turbo diesel its slow as dirt but good on fuel Ill get some pictures of it posted up here when I get a chance, I didnt know if its possible to recalibrate the jeep speedometer to the same setings as the mercedes speedo Ive never had experiance with setting speedometer's so I dont even know if its possible I also thought about making the mercedes speedo fit in the jeep cluster one way or another Im sure there's some way to make it all work thanks for all your inputs

What you'll probably need is a ratio adapter. I've used SW ratio adapters when re-ratioing diffs, usually mount right on the transmission output and the cable plugs into it. You'll need to do the math to figure out what the ratio must be, easiest way is to compare the speedo/odometer reading to a GPS or known gauge and divide out the ratio/error.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

I dont think it will be all that bad there are lots of companies that make ratio adapters, and there are lots of speedo companies out there that are willing to recalibrate so one way or another Ill have a working acurate speedometer now all I need to do if fix the damage the junk yard caused pulling the motor and figure out how to wedge it in the jeep anyone have any experiance transplanting a mercedes engine into a different vehical Ive done a few engine swaps but never from different types of cars Ive put a 98 FI dodge mortor in an 86 dodge, the my diesel s10 didnt start life as a diesel orginally had a 2.0 Gas and I plan on stuffing a GM 4.3 gas into my 66 Corvair so I dont think this one is guna be all that complicated at least from the wiring aspect

The ratio adapter is usually the best way to go because it moves both the speedo and the oddo.

__________________
Ron Schroeder
'85 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
'83 300 Turbo Diesel 2 tank WVO
Some former WVO vehicles since ~1980:
'83 Mercedes 240D
'80 Audi 4000D
'83 ISUZU Pup
'70 SAAB 99 with Kubota diesel
'76 Honda Civic with Kubota diesel
'86 Golf
Several diesel generators
All with 2 tank WVO conversion
LI NY

DeWhite,
I transplanted an eng. from an 83 300d turbo into a 84 Nissan 4x4 ex-cab. Had alot of fun doing it, a few challenges, but I wouldnt trade the truck for anything. It is the perfect work/toy truck, a very good 4wd (you almost dont need 4wd low anymore) and it runs on bio. I did alot of calculations before I even started and the eng has plenty of power for this size truck, as it would for a cherokee. The only drawback is the gear ratio. Both of my diffs have a 3.889, and I think the car it came out of had a 3.07. I compensated a little with larger tires, but it is still running a little fast at highway speed. I will probably use a set of planetary gears out of an at to make an overdrive, and mount the box inbetween the mb tranny and the nissan transfer case - I want 75mph at 2000 rpm or close to that, other than that, it is the perfect truck.
I had the same problem with the speedo, so I just put the MB instrument cluster in the nissan dash. Had to make motor mounts, and a drive shaft, but once it started going in, it was like the eng was made for the frame.
I have learned ALOT of info from reading this forum so I thought this would be my oppourtunity to help a little. Let me know if I can help in any way, I can take pics of any part you want to see and post them. Good luck

thanks for the info, from what Ive read chances are the Jeep has a 3.55 gear set in it they had an optional 3.07 so I may see if I can find a set of gears, how in the word did you hook the transfer case to the mercedes transmisson? I had just planed on leaving the front drive shaft out but if there is a way to make it 4wd again that would be even better it shoud be a fun project once I get into it

I made a drive shaft with one universal and one slip joint. I used the MB drive shaft and a MB u-joint and an old mazda axle. Welded it up and trued it up in a lathe and it worked pretty good. My Nissan has a seperate tcase and tranny. I'm not sure if the cherokee has 2 seperate boxes or not, if it dosent, I would consider making an adaptor to join the back of the MB tranny to the old cherokee tcase. If you need one, it is possible that I could cast you one out of aluminum, or you could cut one out of .25" steel and true it up in a lathe.
This sounds like a cool project, I have tried to talk a buddy into putting a MB turbodiesel in a cherokee because it is almost a perfect match fitwise and powerwise. If you are gonna do this, you owe it to yourself to make it a 4wd. These engines are awesome off road.
I had to add about 8" to the front of my frame cause it is set up for a 4cyl, but I doubt you will, I bet yours will fit right in with no trouble. I thought I was gonna have a little trouble because the MB is a front sump engine, so the hump in the oil pan is in the front, but it went right in front of the front diff like it was made for it. You might want to chect that fit real well before you start, but you can always move the eng for and aft a little to compensate.