NissanDiesel Forums

Ok if you were to swap a diesel engine into an originally equiped gas vehicle, how do you go about re registering and titling the new vehicle? I keep hearing that its so easy, but I also hear that it isn't allowed.

What is the procedure?
If my state doesn't allow it what states do?
Can i register with a different state?

I know next to nothing about this, but I've read that as long as the engine you install (regardless of fuel) is the same year or newer, the process can be relatively easy to recertify. The engine must have the equivalent emissions equipment installed for the mfg year of either the engine or the chassis, I don't know which. But I have not done it, nor do I know anyone who has.

Most parts of the world will except an engine from the same family of vehicles if no extreame modifications are equired and the engine is complied with the standards of that country or a reconised equivilent.there are international conventions on vehicle standards.you use TYPE aproval to get through red tap.IE this vehicle is aprooved and mine is the same.

putting a CD20 in a 720 may require discusion with authorities before starting as it is a newer design for a smaller car.

puting a vw golf engine in is when it gets serious.you may have to proove that it works and that the safety standards are not compromised.trucks normally dont comply to safety standars as they are intended as comercial vehicles with limited life span.

new south walse[australia] has similar laws to united states.I did a diesel conversion on an unleaded skyline.the transport authority[RTA] advised me that i could not not increase capacity/power or modify the body[wieght or physical shape].

i chose a CD20 to replace the CA20E.same mounts gearbox etc etc.
CD20 is not sold in australia so it only has a european complience.not up to our standards..

the RTA refused to register the conversion as the engine is not complied,no date of build was present,and i had removed the catalist and fuel restrictor.the rules stated that emision equipment must be intact.

i contacted the EPA that found that the guidline had been missprinted.a blank page was found in the manual concerning diesel emision standard other than visable smoke[covered on other pages.its intention was to indicate that no modification was needed to comply.

they sent me to a aproved engineer that gave me a letter stating that the conversion did not require engineering complience except for the vacum pump for the brakes and the engine noise.

the RTA excepted this after demanding that diesel fuel labels are fitted to the fuel cap and dash cluster.

i removed the CD20 and fitted LD20T without question then a RD28.

I live in an area were you have to get an emission test before you can get your tag, well to make a long story short I had to get my d-21 inspected by the GA EPD before they would allow me to get a tag for it and get the engine on the title changed from gas to diesel, from start to finish it took about 2 1/2 months and a lot of Goody powders to cure the headaches that they gave me

I looked into this about a year ago, for California cars. According to many posts from Toyota and Land Rover folks, there is a general purpose "change of status" (don't recall exact wording) form which has on the back a one line item for changing "type of propulsion". The DMV accepts this after a look under the hood of the car and takes that vehicle off their smog list. At that time (and hopefully currently) that covers the whole thing in 10 minutes (once you reach the head of the line) and no other agencies get involved.

If you're in Ca you _don't_ want to talk to and/or involve any smog officials. There is a large can of worms surrounding "engine swaps" aimed at suped up gasser street cars and you truly don't want to go there - and there is no need to because in Ca at that/this time vintage diesels are not smogged. Get the OK from DMV direct and leave the dogs asleep.

Others states I know not of. If anybody has real trouble finding the right form I can dig through my bookmarks and see what I find; might take a week or so - the pile is up to about 6000 on 4 computers at the moment with another 2000 or so priceless saved files... Just so I have something do on rainy days.

Rufus

My truck is 100% legal. In NC, all that is required is to contact the DMV's License and Theft Bureau. Fill out their form saying what you did changing x engine to y with all correct vehicle's VIN numbers involved, and eventually (three weeks in my case), a DMV inspector will come to you full with badge and gun attached. They verify that the serial number of your new engine is from the vehicle that you said it was from and will change the information on your title so that your vehicle's VIN matches with the new engine serial number. That was it for me, I was concerned about my diesel engine being from an '82 truck and going into an '84 truck, but he said it didn't matter. I don' t think that would apply for OBD II vehicles.

blimey!!!

we can do what we like here...can put a 30 yr old 12litre v12 in a fiat 500 if we want...might be a problem with insurance,but as far as govt go you just fill in the log book and send it off...
same as i can go and make a car from scratch..would need to be inspected but thats it..

makes up for the cost of motoring here abit i guess...

As I experienced today, Washington State is non-problematic with registering a gasoline vehicle converted to diesel power. After reading all the posts, I can say it is the easiest state on earth. Though I had to pass the emission test. There are only 4 or 5 counties in Washington that require emission testing.
More reading in this post

Mine is an 85 Jeep Cherokee, originally a 4 banger gasser. Now has an SD22 diesel. I bought it in 2002 with the engine swap already done, but before I bought it, I checked to make sure it would pass the annual inspections due to the engine swap. The title still shows it as a gas engine, but the emissions tests have always been exempted because it is now a diesel.

I was expecting problems, but did not have any. I was careful not to ask too many questions, or kick over any rocks to look for problems. Next year the titled vehicle hits 25 years old, at which point it becomes exempt from emissions tests of all kinds (except for smoke) here (Texas).

One thing I can tell you, is if you dig long and hard enough, you will get more than one official government answer, that conflict with each other!