Its been a long time since I posted on here but I wondered if anyone could shine some light on an engine i'm working on.
In the UK long ago there were quite a lot of VM 2.5TD Jeep XJ's around. Now its a dinosaur and there are not many of us left.
For those who don't know it its basically like an agricultural pushrod 2.5 litre Diesel Engine with a small turbo charger, gear timed, hydraulic injectors, very heavy and obsolete. Produces about 118hp and 300nm torque at 2000rpm, brilliant for crawling and doesn't like really really high speeds.







My XJ came from the factory with a 425 ohv vm engine as stock and It has about 130,000 miles on the clock. I have done quite a bit of work on mine to improve power and reliability, namely a slightly larger turbo, intercooler, aluminium intercooler piping, a one piece cast down pipe and open exhaust, along with replacing the cooling system with new pipes, radiator ect. Adding a boost gauge and EGT gauge has also helped me see the benefits of the changes i've made.
The engine in my Jeep is a Mk2 with an electronic fuel pump so it relies on the ECU and three sensors to work correctly.

My questions though relates to the MK1 version of the engine below with the Mechanical Fuel Pump on it.






Its extremely hard to find information on these engines and there are several variations of them. The one in the images above is a Mk1 and you can that instead of a electronic fuel pump it has a manual one that's operated by a wire to the foot pedal.It still uses a variety of sensors like a MAF sensor, a sensor on the 1st injector for timing, coolant temperature, crank position sensor and an oil pressure sensor.

Sorry for the long intro but I don't know how common these are in the USA so I thought I would answer some questions before asking mine. I want to run this MK1 without an ECU and juts with some basic electronics like the solenoid that shuts off the fuel pump using a switch on the dash. The fuel pump has a couple of connectors on it but given that the whole system is purely mechanical and its a diesel so it runs on compression it should run without any extra electronics?
I am no expert on any of this and maybe someone out there is, thanks for reading.
Mike

 

I was lucky enough back in 1984 to purchase a XJ when the model first came on the market. I was offered a 4cyl gas (2.5) or a 6cyl gas (GM V6) as engine choices. I went with the 2.5cyl gas.
Since then I have had a 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, and a 1999 XJ. I don't recall the XJ's over here being offered the 2.5 diesel. I may be wrong, but I think the 2.5 TD was a export only model and besides Europe, Australia also saw them.
Seems our environmental decisions led by the infamous EPA decided most small diesels were too dirty for us. Of course I went on to own a Ford 7.3 TD and most recently a Chevy 3.0 Duramax.

But enough of my chatter, hope one of the guys/girls can give you some help!

 

The 2.5 td VM was not offered in the North American market. You might ask your
question on the Aussie forum where there are still a number of VM owners.
https://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/vbindex.php

For the record, my 98 XJ came with a 2.5 td VM. I bought it used here in Africa in 2002.
It did not get the care that yours did. The motor was junked in 2007 and I replaced it with
a simple mechanical injection Toyota 2.4L diesel from a junked 80s pickup that does
not need an ECM. The original ECM and all the engine wiring harness have been torn
out. This has served me very well since the conversion was done in 2009.

 

in Croatia you have a lot of this engines. I have 2 door 2.1 TD (85 hp). try on ebay for parts (germany...)

 

Imaš li koga ,treba mi savjet u svezi 2.5td,vm,xj. Kad je vruć pritisak ulja jako nizak,nema ga,pali lampicu. Na minimumu.Vozi normalno,pali normalno, temperature normalno,od izmjene do izmjene ulja (10tkm) potroši cca 1/2lit,i to nakon 8500km.hvala