Well got another baby coming :-) will have 2 under 1 half years both on car seat:-)
My brother in law gave me his 94 suburban leather with engine problems diesel swap!!! Im looking at a cummins 4bt VERY EXPENSIVE. I found an Isuzu 4bd turbo 140k ....shipping adapter plate and buying the engine is around 3000.
Soooo do I have any Mercedes diesel options that will pull a sub? Im in California so it has to be a 94 or newer engine.

Thanks my goal os mpg. The Isuzu will get 26 to 30

I had a 93 suburban with a 350. It was trouble free to 214,000 mi when it developed a rod knock. My preference would be to have a 12 valve Cummins in it. The 12V was made until mid 1998 & is akin to the MBZ 617 in reliability. The injection pumps (VP44) for the 24V are a $1,000 + $600 fuel system + $200 gauges pita.

A good fuel injected 350 would be the quick cheap way to go if you want to be running before the baby goes to college.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I thought about the cummins 12v but I would have to mod too much I wanted a Powerstroke also but me and the wife want mpg. I live an hr from town. People say the get 26 mpg with the 12v but find that hard to believe. What I want is a cumins 4bt with a p pump. They cost WAY TO MUCH. I found in 2500 not including shipping and needs a rebuild.
Mb have any larger diesel?
By the way the Isuzu and cummins is a 3.9l

26 mpg in a big full size truck with a cummins will never happen, except on cases with extreme modification. the 12v is probably the way to go, you'll have a tough time finding anything else that easy to make work, let alone with the performance. not sure when the cummins switched to EFI.

powerstroke is a great choice too, but it's got some electronics to deal with. i used to have a big stock E350 powered by a 7.3 that got 22.9 mpg once in the middle of winter, so it's capable.

remember these big diesels will not only be huge, but weigh close to a thousand pounds, and need some figuring to make fit.

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1981 300SD - 283,000 KM's at purchase, 360k+ now. Engine replaced at 311k. 16" CLK wheels, w126 gen II cosmetic upgrades, late w126 leather interior. RIP. Parted and gone due to fire

1987 300SDL - 243K miles and counting. In winter hibernation!

2001 Ford F250 Super Duty "Platinum Edition" Lariat 4x4 7.3L turbo diesel, 295k+ miles, various mods for reliability and performance.

only the modern CDI / blutech motors from MB would have the grunt to pull over 5Klbs... easily...at speeds usefull...
the plain 6.2 while gutless with heavy towing loads, is fine and dandy for a suburban daily driver... and it's a drop in motor. no changes needed to anything in the car/trans/etc... best to change the booster to the hydrostatic, as the modern 6.2/5 motors that would comply with the year of the vehicle have no vacuum pump...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

epowers, here's what needs to be done....hehe

1994 GMC Suburban With Mercedes Benz 300SD Engine - YouTube

Seriously though, I didnt notice if you mentioned the truck already had a 6.5L that needed to be swapped out, or going from gas to diesel. I have a 95 Burb, that had a 6.5L, but the crank broke. So, I used a 6.2L and used all the 6.5L turbo stuff on it. As far as the vacuum pump that John mentioned, he right that it doesnt use the old style vacuum pump in the distributor position. However, the later 6.5L's do still in fact use a vacuum pump, it's just serpentine driven. The only thing it's used for is the wastegate actuator though. I have a hydroboost setup complete with the master cylinder if you end up needing one. I agree with John, that's the way to go. Depending on whether it's included on the engine you get, you'll also need the hydroboost compatible PS pump. As far as power, it has almost the same as the 6.5L with boost do to the higher compression of the 6.2L NA engines. But you'd be better just installing a turbomaster spring type wastegate controller. Easier to dial the boost back. To be safe under all driving conditions, I'd limit it to around 5 PSI. You wont have as much power as the stock 6.5L that way, but no catastrophic failures either...hehe. I've got a few H1 6.2L's that were rotation pulls from the US Military. Supposedly, they have 40,000 miles on them before they were rotated. But that is 40,000 ARMY MILES in the Middle East. I would think PILES of idling, and sub-standard operating conditions (air filter?? Maybe not always..) But I've had good success with them. But I generally freshen them up a bit once I take a compression test. You'll also need to fit a 12V starter, and 12V IP solenoid...etc. All these engines are setup for 24V applications.

Joking about the OM617 in the youtube video. Just thought it was funny since it was also a 1994 model. I'd love to drive it though.

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1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

I have an om603 out of my 86. would that work? That would give me alot of money for mods. what do you think the mpg would be?

Really, the OM engines just do not have the grunt to get a vehicle this size up to a useful speed. IF you installed one, you'd need like a 4.56 diff gear, and the engine would never reach 50mph...
keep in mind the tire size difference on the truck vs the car the OM came in... factor in the gear ratio, and imagine what you'd need to drive the truck...
603 engines came stock with 2.65 ratio gearing, the sub likely came with 3.42 or 3.73, and around 300 hp... 200 or so lbs torque... the ONLY engine I'd consider for this truck would be a TUNED 603 with a 5K reworked IP, and a monster turbo, or a 98plus 606 with a reworked IP from a 603 to get out of the electronic stuff...
then imagine all the stuff you'd need to do to get that to fit...
then think on the simplicity of just pulling the anchor from your current truck, and simply bolting in a 6.2 or 6.5
you do the math.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I average ~ 16mpg in my 00 Ram with a 24V and 4.10 rear end. You'd get near 20 with a 12V & 3.55 rear end. I haven't looked at what mods you would need to get the thing installed.

I liked my Burban but wanted a truck so sold it when the engine went out. My advice would be to simply replace what was there. Messing with something the wife needs to rely on is frequently problematic. Mess with your toys & make them a family DD when/if finished.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

X2

Keep it simple

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1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

If this is a light duty Suburban, I wouldn't go any more than a 4BT. A truck that size will hardly move with a passenger car diesel engine. I had a '77 Blazer that I repowered with a 5-cylinder Deutz engine, the power was adequate, and FE was exceptional. It would do 33 MPG at 55 MPH. If it's a 2500 HD series with the floater corporation axle, you have a lot more options. A 4-53 T Detroit two cycle would really be over the top, but very pricey. It can also be equipped with a true "jake" brake.

If this is already a diesel Suburban, your best bet would be a replacement 6.5 despite its shortcomings. If not, selling your present vehicle and finding a diesel Sub. would probably be the best option.

Here's is one of the projects I'm working on. I have a 1991 R Body 3500 Crew Cab. It had a 454, which was undriveable for me due to fuel costs and MPG. I was able to keep my torque converter since I was using a TH400 trans. On my 95 Burb, the 4L80E trans needed a different converter. Not sure about the 4L60 You will need to either replace the governor on the back of the trans if you have a 4L60, or buy the diesel weight kit. This will adjust your shift points for diesel vs. gas engines.

Anyway, if you have any questions about the swap, PM me if you need to.

Here's a vid with the 6.2L finally cranked up and running. I swapped over to the CS alternator for high amperage, and was testing with a multimeter.

The dually lives again as a diesel - YouTube

Take care.

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1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

One of the diesel truck mags (Diesel Power I think) has just what you want, a 5.9 12v Cummins into a 1991 suburban conversion going on. Using a 4L80 trans. Mods don't look tobe that bad.

If you go with a 4L80 trans, you'll also need to install a computer (TCM) for it.

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1987 300SDL #1, 1987 300SDL #2, 1980 240D, 1982 300SD, 1994 S350, 1990 350SDL, 1991 350SD, 1985 300D, 2005 E320CDI

Gone, but not forgotten: 1981 300SD, 1982 300SD, 1987 300SDL, 1983 300TD, 1980 300CD, 1981 300SD #2, 1987 300D, 1987 300TDT, 1980 300D

There is a mechanic in Ansley, NE that installs 5.9 Cummins all the time in Suburbans; ranch trucks get a lot of open miles, and everyone has a diesel tank on the farm. You can buy the adapter to mate to a GM transmission without too much problem. I can try to find the guys name and post the phone on here...