Petrol or diesel
 

Hello everyone
I have a Mitsubishi express van 4wd currently its petrol 4g64 2.4lt na
I have the chance to put a 4d56t(2.5 turbo diesel manual injection pump no computers) in it, this is a brand new engine from the factory in japan not common rail and 4d56t engines are 30 years old same age as the 4g64 petrol engine

I am taking 3-5 years to go through Asia and Europe and the Americas, so I'm wanting to hear peoples thoughts on what would be a smarter choice, I understand the differences from petrol to diesel things like petrol has more serviceable items and more things that can go wrong but cheap and easier to fix, diesel better fuel economy fewer things to go wrong but if they do much more expensive to fix, as its an old diesel high sulphur diesel shouldn't be a problem
both engines are old 25years old the diesel is brand new from the factory and the petrol engine will be completely reconditioned, petro engine is an electronic distributor and had very few sensors, it was the first efi 4g64 Mitsubishi built, so its basic and very reliable, not may electronic items
diesel basically just needs fuel and air and it will run under water haha, of course, fitting water separators to both the main tank and aux tank and high-quality fuel filters will be a requirement


so as far as being able to get fuel and general thoughts on what could be a better choice overall, not interested in power or speed just want reliability, fuel cost is not a concern either, it costs what it costs and if that's what I want to do these are the costs associated with my travel

Don't you need to consider the anti-diesel sentiment of a lot of governments? How long will you be alllowed into certain countrees befere diesels are banned altogether?

As felixw notes - you're going to run into access limitations in some places with a diesel.

You're interested in reliability primarily, and diesels are usually better, however some turbodiesels can present problems if the turbo blows up - I have no idea whether this particular turbodiesel has experienced problems.

Both engines are old, so spares availability may be a concern for either.

Based on our experience diesel may be in short supply from time to time in some places whereas petrol/gasoline has always been available (except in Argentina, where we've found a lack of both on occasion.

I don’t really believe that with diesel you will have access problems at some countries, not at least for the next 20 or 30 years. Anywhere on the world, first they will void the sale of brand-new diesel vehicles, then maybe some zone restrictions for old ones, but can’t really believe that could be places in the next future where they will impose to diesel vehicle owners to don’t use their old ones, if they pass at least with the minimum at a technical inspection like the Tuff in Germany, Mot in the UK, itv in Spain, or VTV or RTO here in Argentina.

Normally these inspections and rules doesn’t apply for international tourist, as per reciprocities agreements most countries will allow to get in as for temporal Import if at your own country your vehicle is allowed to be driven at normal roads. Of course, could be some exceptions, like with righthand-drive cars at some countries, or Carnets.

Mitsubishi express van I guess is what here is call L300? Unfortunately, here aren’t 4WD versions… if not will be my perfect car. I own now a Mitsubishi Montero (Pajero) with the 4M40 2.8 engine, also own an old Jeep (1964) that many years ago swapped the original petrol engine for the 4d56 turbo engine. It’s a great engine for your van, many had come here with it from factory. Many vehicles used the same engine too as Monteros/Pajeros 2.5 G2, L200 pick-ups, Hyundai Gallopers, Hyundai H1 van and H100 trucks, others brands as KIA have same engine on 2.5 small trucks. The diesel 4d56t engine is very popular here, not as the petrol 4g64, that is very rare to see.

If you will fit a brand-new engine, and you service regularly will not be any problem, it’s very reliable and you will find mostly any spare part anywhere. Can cruise all day at 100/110 Km/H (+/- 3000RPMs). If you ask me, try to fit an intercooler as well, will give you +/-10/15 + HPs at the right time. Add a 90/100 liters tank and will run a really good autonomy, then with petrol you will not. Run with normal diesel, and you will find it anywhere.

I seriously doubt you will get access problems with a diesel anywhere in the world. But, not having the correct registration paperwork (car+engine) might give you some problems.

All other things equal, going RTW, I would go with a diesel - except if I was to travel to the coldest places on the planet. Your fuel costs will likely be lower. Your service costs and repairs will likely be lower (reliability and longevity). The probability of catastrafical overheating is likely lower (diesel runs cooler). Your range per tank will likely be longer.

Your car might not be as peppy and fast, and might make more noise, and pollute more...

I was obviously not clear - I mean that in some parts of the world there are occasionally (even often) shortages of diesel. Petrol/gasoline shortages also occur of course, however I've heard of more situations in which travellers have been stuck for a day or several when looking for diesel than looking for petrol/gasoline.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u5Bj6eM2m...w%2Bsulfur.gif

You can see both, traveller who are using gasoline and diesel on the road.

Diesel did have an issue for newer Cars because of the international available fuel quality. What is today nearly solved, if we watch how the fuel quality did change in the last 10 years, depending of your travel targets.

I did wrote an article about this topic recently, at 2021:

https://vanlife.4x4tripping.com/2021...worldtrip.html

The possible "range" speaks pretty clear for a diesel. Also if some capitals have zones you can`t enter with an old diesel - for us overlanders those capitals in europe often arent the real travel targets on our journeys, because of the parking situation, safety, costs.

Surfy

Thanks for a useful post. One thought - some of us who don't live in Europe and plan to travel there do want to visit the cities, so being prohibited is somewhat inconvenient - yes I know that one can "park&ride" or take the train/metro, however we also need to get our vehicles serviced, and may have to enter a city with a ban on diesel to do this.

We chose our current petrol/gasoline vehicle with this in mind, although it was not the main factor.

https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/sites...orderungen.jpg

In Germany too your gasoline car has to fulfill some requirements AND has to get a vignette too, to be able to enter those zones legal.

It depends a lot on the spec of the diesel vehicle. Starting from Emissionstandard Euro4 upwards you can enter most zones in europe. But yes, sometimes you need to optain a vignette /register your car.

Looking at this, it is more the age of the vehicle, who counts, not if gasoline or diesel. As Overlander you has to watch the reqirements per country and city, but that is not too new.

At 2010 in Laos you was able to use left or right roadside for parking, depending on the weekday, written in their language - nothing what is easy to understand as a foreigner - so nothing really new on international journeys.

We did had to choose too at the end of 2021, for our new family capable vehicle for the following internatioal journeys - and did opted for an diesel. The Euro6temp Emission Standard, will let us visit citys at least for the next 12 years, we did hope. I love the Hubb - i`m shure that we will look back and discuss about at 2033 :thumbup1:

Surfy