Some friends and I are looking to upgrade a 123w turbo diesel. What should we look into upgrading first? Is there someone who sells after market injection pumps or will we need to have one custom made. Has anyone had luck with some after market turbos? It my under standing that the lower end of the 617's can take a lot more than 124 hp is this true? I would really like to see some of these dodge trucks sucking up some German engineering smoke. Also, whats a good after market diesel motor that fits in a 123w and or 126w?

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

You'll find a performance subforum here. As for something which will bolt in in place of the 617 turbo, no, really there is nothing that is easily found in the states which will. I believe there are some small Japanese diesels which will fit found in other markets though.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

There are some things you can do to make a 617 somewhat faster. Also, 603 and 606 engines have been installed with some difficulty. However, if you are looking to go fast for cheap, you have the wrong platform. I will suggest Kawasaki ZX-6R and ZX-10R as ways to go very fast for not much money.

See below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inc9cGasgsA

This guy spent way less money on his bike to run a 7:10 at the 'ring than it would take anyone (Vettel included) to run ten minutes in a W123.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

We plan on making custom intake and exhaust manifolds

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84 300sd 2.47 dif 360k
26 mpg needs lots of love
given to me in pitty

89 civic hatchback auto 140k
33mpgs soon to be low to mid 40's
been in the family since mile 1

85 300d with unknown knock. driven over 30k with knock and still going. sold for $800

www.superturbodiesel.com/std/

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

you will have to have a pump made with larger elements for large increases in power. The stock ip can do 20-30hp more. You will want to think about pre chamber hole enlargement too, some nice gains there.

An 85 should have a 2.88 rear, might want to change to 3.07, depending on what you want for cruising speed.

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1977 240D turbo

money you spend making your Harley the fastest in town, any medium sized Jap bike will still outrun you.

Same applies to the OM617 diesel vs. almost any gasser. Be happy and cruise.

there is an excellent "newbies start here" thread at STD. of course, step 0 is to get the engine running very well.

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'77 240D, 504H, OM617.952, etc.

I'm installing an OM617 in a S-10 pickup for Land Speed Racing. The engine was relatively cheap and available, and had the right displacement for the class I wanted to run. I have a lot of Diesel experience but not much with this engine so I've been on a steep learning curve. Here's what I've learned so far:

- The bottom end is near indestructible. It will hold mare power that you can afford to make unless you have WAY more money than I have.

- A combination of a turbo upgrade (I went with Tim's Turbos in Virginia) and injector/pump mods could yield in the neighborhood of 300 HP - with good tuning.

- Folks claim that 600 HP is possible. I haven't met a 600 HP version of an OM617! Besides, I'm after durability as well as maximum power so I don't expect to head in that direction.

- A Dodge/Cummins (5.9l Cummins) will easily make 1,000 HP or more reliably. I have raced my Dodge in LSR events and gone 117.8 MPH with nothing but a tuner (I'm probably making 275 HP or so but it hasn't been on the dyno). My Dodge is essentially stock. You aren't going to beat a Cummins with a small Diesel - the physics are not on your side.



You can have a ton of fun messing with the OM617. It's so tough that you can try modifications to see how they'll help with little fear of blowing the thing up. And if you do, a trip to PnP will get you a replacement for not a lot of money.

I haven't found anyone offering a turnkey modified pump for this engine. I'm starting with big injectors then later I'll go with a modified pump (it's a matter of budget).

Have fun!

Dan

A much easier engine to mod for performance gains is the Cummins 4BT --- shoot me a PM if you want to buy one. Here's my build thread where I swapped a Cummins 4BT into my 2000 Dodge Dakota, 4x4, Crew Cab: 4BT into a 00 Dakota 4wd

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more

As Daw said, the 4BT is a brute. The down sides are weight and overall package size - it's a pretty big engine for it's displacement. Depending on what you put it in it can be an excellent choice. So far, I'm having fun with the OM617.

Dan

I think a 4BT would be to tall to fit in a 123?

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1977 240D turbo

Not if you don't mind putting a 14" tall hood bulge, and maybe extending the chassis a foot or so in front to accommodate the length, and tripling all the framing and such.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Two questions: How much are you willing to spend? How fast do you want to go?

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I didn't mean to mislead anyone --- there's no way I'd ever attempt to swap a 4BT into a w123.

Like I said --- wrong platform.

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daw_two
Germantown, TN

Links:
Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
Cluster Needles Paint
New Old Stock (NOS) parts

Past:
3/2008 1986 300SDL "Coda"
04/2010 1965 190D(c) "Ben"
& many more