Newb on gas to diesel engine swap

Hi all... my apologies if I am bringing up a repetative topic, however, I know nothing about engines so I need a little help and advice.

My 2002 Ford Ranger gasoline has 119K miles on it, but the engine is leaking oil into the sparkplugs and the tranny is starting to slip.

Since both the engine and the trans are on the fritz I was wondering what's involved with converting to diesel? (If I have to pay to fix it, I might as well do it right... right?)

Sadly, I wouldn't know where to begin. I know absolutely nothing about cars, so obviously I wouldn't do the conversion myself, so to find a place would be a start. Then I'd have to know what engine would work, what all would have to be swapped, how much the whole thing might cost?

I've tried to Google the topic, but have had very little luck in understanding anything or finding a place that may be able to provide me some simplistic answers. I was hoping that a forum would have enough patience with me to try and give me a little boost of help. :)

I'll keep noseying around in the forums and perhaps come across something that may help... but hopefully I'll have some nice people who attempt a response to my utter lack of knowledge. Thanks!!

Welcome to the board!

I suppose the best place to begin, when considering a diesel conversion, is to decide what (other than the vehicle) you're expecting in terms of performance/drivability and what sort of budget you're considering.

For a Ford Ranger, many might suggest the Cummins 4BT, which is a 4-cylinder industrial type engine. It can be built/accessorized to produce considerable power for a 4-cyl, but I wonder about driveability due to the narrow RPM range and somewhat low governor setting. Vehicle gearing would have to be chosen to meet your highway/driving expectations.

A custom shop may be able do all the work, including providing the engine, but the cost would be lower if you could source all the parts and do a lot of the work yourself. To research the 4BT Cummins, www.4btswaps.com might be a good place to start gathering info.

For the technical types, a Jeep, VW, Mercedes, or BMW diesel engine might provide a better driving experience, but the electronic/tech aspect keeps some people from attempting a conversion using these engines.

Jim