It's a furukawa fl310. It current has an Isuzu 4bd1 4 cylinder turbo engine in it. I'm wondering could I fit in an Isuzu 6 cylinder 6bd1 engine instead. I could push the rad back a few inchs. I'm wondering though will it bolt in at the front or not,
I would not do that on a bet, but I know the 4bd1T well and it is a fantastic engine and worth rebuilding or whatever to keep it.
If you're in the salt belt, those trucks rust out before the engines wear out, so there are plenty of used engines if you can find them.
They are a gem of an engine that is in the same class as a 4BT cummins, but they bring less money on the used market.
I agree; really nice quiet/smooth engines. We owned two in the past: Hitachi zx135 and a zx120. The 120 in particular really sipped fuel! Also great cold weather starters.
Yes I agree with everyone that it's a great engine and sips fuel but I would just like some more power. When up a silage clamp it is just lacking 10 or 20hp I feel. What horsepower is a 4bd1t engine? I thought a 6 cylinder Isuzu might just have that big more go
I normally wouldn't advocate this, but there are ways to turn that engine up. Whether or not it's going to overheat on you is the next question.
Just a point here the original poster is listed as being in Ireland. Availability could be very different from what is available in North America. That said I would be trying to find parts break downs on both engines and see if there are parts used on both models in the area where pumps or other things mount that are the same. Like is the same flywheel housing used for both engines? Maybe same flywheel or other common parts? Then again one needs to keep in mind everything attached to the original engine was designed for the power of the original engine so those components might not hold up to the increase power.
It is very good to stay cool at the moment anyway as it has a very big rad in it. Is it also running very clean. Almost no black smoke under load
Yes the same flywheel and bolt pattern as far as I know
I'm guessing they were rated 130-150 in trucks in their latest version. BUT it would be common to be 2/3 of that or even less in heavy equipment, so there's plenty of room for more power. I wouldn't hesitate at all to raise the HP close to the truck version. Going up and back down a silage pile is not as likely to melt engines as a more continuous load, or one that could be lugged more easily, I'm assuming this has a torque converter that will prevent lugging to some degree if the operator is paying attention anyway.
That's kind of what I figured @Delmer that there's quite a bit of headroom there. @kshansen I would think it would be safer to turn up the 4 cylinder then to put a six on there. Lots more torque from the get-go at lower RPM with the 6.
Where it's lacking is when it gets very steep it is like the machine dies back a fraction and slow to move. I don't have the rev guage working but let's say at full throttle it's revving to 2200rpm but when under pressure might die back to 1900rpm or so. Could I increase the revs to around 2500 rpm?
Yes, that's exactly what I'm expecting, the speed slows just enough that the torque converter starts slipping aggravating the slower speed. I don't know if I'd turn it up to 2,500, or try to give it full rack all the way to 2250 and see how that goes. Mostly because I'm not sure how much the torque converter and transmission can take. I thought they revved over 3K in trucks, with a 5.3 rear end and 16" tires, not a quiet cruising truck, smooth, but not quiet.
These Isuzu engines are virtually unbreakable and they're built like the proverbial brick outhouse. You could easily crank out another 20HP and more revs out of the engine. Adding a turbo will give you more torque, but you need to reduce the compression ratio, which may be achievable with a thicker head gasket, or it could require new turbo pistons. The injection pump will then need to be screwed up to increase the amount of fuel delivered. If you fit a 6 cyl Isuzu, you'll break something in the transmission, driveline or axles.