DIY Honda diesel. Discuss.

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

stmotorsports

stmotorsports

Senior Member
Over the past few years I've had a dream (obsession?) of owning a diesel Honda, specifically either a UKDM 2.2CTDi Accord (equivalent to USDM TSX) or a 2.2CTDi driveline swapped into a USDM TSX. There are several reasons behind this and alot of thought has gone into it. If I lived in a different country where you can actually drive these on the road, I would already own one. Unfortunately any of the research I've done on the matter so far leads me to believe that is is simply no way to pull it off without spending mad loot (read hundreds of thousands of $$ for crash & EPA testing, etc). Is there anything anyone can come up with that would make it doable?

what about using a tsx floorpan to rebuild an eg civic or dc teg and titling the car as that?

or titling the car as a hotrod?
 
does your state have emissions? a diesel motor will not pass in a gas car. and why diesel? its more expensive then gas
 
t3t4delsol said:
and why diesel? its more expensive then gas
Click to expand...


You know, some honda dealership asked me that. You know what I did? I didn't buy from them.

Diesel has 15% more energy than gasoline.
Diesel engines now are Common Rail Direct Injection.
Diesel has torque.



You can't get a diesel engine easily. Trust me on this one, mmmkay?

Just wait until 2010 when Honda expects to have the diesel TSX approved by the EPA. If you feel like you have more resources than Honda to get it approved before them, go right ahead. They'll thank you later.


Why do you want a UKDM accord? You going for that JDMSTUNNAH look? A UKDM car will never pass the inspection. You're looking for a lot of work.


You can't 'title' a car as another car. Have you seen how many places the VIN is on the new cars? Lol. What you could do, is build a tube chassis, and place the body panels on it. That is, if you could legally get a CDTi driveline. But then, even after all that, you'd still have a car that wouldn't be road-legal.


Rebuild a teg or civic into a TSX? Dude. Do you know what you're asking? Seriously. Stop now. Just wait until the TSX is diesel in the US and A like everyone else. It won't be much longer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/a...0acura-tsx.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/automobiles/autosreviews/20acura-tsx.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin said:
What will fit is Honda’s new 2.2-liter i-DTEC 4-cylinder diesel, on sale after June as an option on the Euro Accord. The 2010 TSX is likely to be the first Honda product to offer the i-DTEC in the United States.
Click to expand...


Then there's the crash-tests. All four of them. But, if you want to sink about 20 grand into bringing a car into the US and A, go right ahead. I'm not going to stop you.
 
Modern diesels are actually more efficient. :) They're just "dirty".
 
well I suppose I should give some background to this idea, the main goal was to do a WVO (waste vegetable oil) conversion and run the car as a daily driver, hence the need for a diesel engine. I have a few friends who run restaurants and would gladly give me their waste oil for free so for anyone who may have dozed off already, = free fuel 4L4TMFW.

The original plan was to find an older diesel car or truck to do it in, but I really wanted to do it with one of the newer cleaner diesels, and something with style. And obviously ideally a Honda of some sort. Not to mention I just cant see myself in anything like a Jetta just to say I did it. I've always loved the current TSX and when I found out the same car is available in a diesel version in other world markets, it just seemed like the perfect solution. Of course just like everything else, Uncle Fucker is nothing but in my way as usual.

I just figured soo many peeps do swaps of differing years, makes, models, displacement, technology, etc into vehicles that were never meant with such configurations but emissions-wise noone seems to care- as long as it passes inspection you're good. Following that logic it doesnt really seem to make any sense why you can't drop a diesel into an originally gas car.

I know certain states have no safety or emissions inspection programs, I'm wondering if I could just kinda do it & keep quiet about it
 
stmotorsports said:
well I suppose I should give some background to this idea, the main goal was to do a WVO (waste vegetable oil) conversion and run the car as a daily driver, hence the need for a diesel engine. I have a few friends who run restaurants and would gladly give me their waste oil for free so for anyone who may have dozed off already, = free fuel 4L4TMFW.

The original plan was to find an older diesel car or truck to do it in, but I really wanted to do it with one of the newer cleaner diesels, and something with style. And obviously ideally a Honda of some sort. Not to mention I just cant see myself in anything like a Jetta just to say I did it. I've always loved the current TSX and when I found out the same car is available in a diesel version in other world markets, it just seemed like the perfect solution. Of course just like everything else, Uncle Fucker is nothing but in my way as usual.
Click to expand...

That's a great idea, until you read the fine print about Honda's High-Performance Diesel engine. It won't run on BioDiesel.


I just figured soo many peeps do swaps of differing years, makes, models, displacement, technology, etc into vehicles that were never meant with such configurations but emissions-wise noone seems to care- as long as it passes inspection you're good. Following that logic it doesnt really seem to make any sense why you can't drop a diesel into an originally gas car.

I know certain states have no safety or emissions inspection programs, I'm wondering if I could just kinda do it & keep quiet about it
Click to expand...

There's no 'slipping it by' customs.




All of this leads me back to the original idea: Wait another year, and purchase one for less than MSRP, and not have to worry about anything.
 
Waiting for the new approved model then going out and buying one is not going to happen, here's why:

1. I've seen the new TSXs and I think they're ugly as shit compared to the 1st model. If I were going to buy a car that doesn't do it for me just for the sake of having the diesel, I would get a Jetta or something.

2. I have no desire to spend that kind of $$ on a brand new car. As far as I'm concerned my finances are where they should be- invested.

Like I said, the original idea was to obtain a few year old TSX and ideally swap in the diesel driveline. I think at this point my main question is if and when the Honda diesel is finally approved in the US, will it be retroactive to when Honda originally began manufacturing this engine? Because then I COULD just wait another year till it gets approval, then having a swap imported in and dropping it into the US spec TSX. I should think all I would have to do then is get it emissions recertified

furthermore, there are always ways of slipping things past customs, you just have to know the loopholes. Like cutting a car in half or substantially dismantling it to the point where it cannot be considered as complete and only a collection of parts. All you have to do then is reassemble the vehicle. If you think this sounds insane then you have obviously never seen major collision work performed. Personally I've done this kind of work so I'm not really concerned about that end of things, only the emissions legality
 
Last edited:
right, unless there is a loophole in the NHTSA restriction lists which there most likely wouldn't be in this case. Although I have heard that certain vehicles are allegedly able to be imported if they meet certain standards but not others, you just have to perform the necessary modifications to meet the additional US standards like DOT-approved headlamps, tires, etc. Or rebuild the car using US parts and a US vin. Or hotrod/custom titling- people build hotrods and kit cars from the ground up with all custom parts but they can still legally put the car on the road without having to build multiple identical samples of the same vehicle for crash testing/emissions certification/etc

and anyways, there are peeps who have imported non USDM vehicles and been able to register them here in the states like RHD Hondas, right? Being RHD alone makes the vehicle not identical to any US-spec vehicle, so how is this possible?

I'm definitely not saying there aren't complications, but it has to be doable somehow. I started this thread hoping to get input from those who might know how to pull it off or at least where to start
 
Buy a jetta or a golf, aren't they still available diesel?
 
Ok, since you know better, do it.


Some of us have lived overseas, and looked into bringing cars back with us, but found it too dificult to be worth it, if not impossible.

Good Luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top