engine swap opinion

[Wolfen]

Should be easy I havent done one myself, but the 6.2 were considered the 350 diesel. Any problems I am sure that there are many people on here that will help you out.

Don't get the 350 Diesel! They are Junk!

 

[mrcucv]

i know they are. Thats what ruined the smaller diesel market for th US back in the day. I had one at the dealership I worked at and it was always broken down.

 

[Ronbo]

I'm pretty sure I'll switch to a gas engine. looking at some other peoples post , I see Glow plugs burned out , cracked blocks, injection pumps burned up, yada yada yada.. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[jdemaris]

i know they are. Thats what ruined the smaller diesel market for th US back in the day. I had one at the dealership I worked at and it was always broken down.

The first run of Olds-GM 350 diesels certainly were bad but. After GM got sued and came out with the new DX replacement engines 1981, they were much better. Near the quality of the 6.2s, but smaller and in an Oldsmobile bolt pattern that wasn't very useful.

Those Olds 350 diesels are now sought after to build race engines. They get converted back to gas and get stroked to over 400 cubic inches.

I don't think they had much with ruining the "diesel market" in the US. We never had one. There were many reliable diesels sold in the USA from the 1960S and none sold well. Mercedes, Jeeps with Perkins diesels, International Harvester with Nissan diesels, Checker cars with Perkins diesels, Dodge 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks in 1978 with Mitsubishi diesels, GM Chevettes, LUVs, and S10s with Isuzu diesels, Ford Escorts, Ranger trucks, Broncos with Mazda-Perkins diesels, Volkswagen diesels, BMW diesels, Dodge mini-trucks with Mitsubishi diesels, Isuzu Imarks, mini-trucks, and Trooper diesels, etc.

 

[Miah]

Don't forget the Toyota pickups/corollas, Renault powered Cherokees, & VW's early diesels

IIRC the issue is many of those were only offered for a short period of time & repair parts were difficult/expensive to source from the getgo and to top it off many were undersized engines...usually w/o turbo/intercoolers.

They were wound tight & so the end user often didn't see much power or realize the full fuel economy gain.

Mercedes would be one of the few that had reliability, parts availability, & overall line lifespan, but since they were considered luxury vehicles that still meant the prices were too expensive for the everyman.

Sorry to go off-topic.

 

[Recovry4x4]

I think the fuel mileage difference is more then "slight."

I've got a 79 Blazer with a 400 SB gasser, T400 trans and a Chalet camper body. Best fuel mileage ever was 10.2 MPG, but 9 MPG is more common.

I've also got an 86 Blazer diesel with a 79 Chalet camper body. Weighs the same as the other. 6.2 diesel with Banks turbo and 4l60 trans. Gets 16 MPG consistently.

Right now here in central NY - pump diesel is $4.10 per gallon. Farm/off-road diesel is $3.40 per gallon and reg gas is $3.70 per gallon.

Crap, you have 2 Chalets? Thats just cool!

 

[jdemaris]

Don't forget the Toyota pickups/corollas, Renault powered Cherokees, & VW's early diesels

IIRC the issue is many of those were only offered for a short period of time & repair parts were difficult/expensive to source from the getgo and to top it off many were undersized engines...usually w/o turbo/intercoolers.

I don't agree at all. The Volkswagen diesels for example had a very long run. From the 70s to the 90s with one basic engine design. Diesel Rabbit was a fantasic little car. Parts were and still are cheap and Amish farmers are still using them to power horse-drawn, self-powered farm equipment. My wife and I still drive a pair of 1991 Jetta diesels. Plenty of power, cheap parts and 48-50 MPG. highway, consistently. No turbos. Besides great highway mileage, my wife drives up and down steep dirt mountain roads to work and gets 38 MPG. That is incredible mileage for that kind of driving.

I've also got a 1.6 Volkswagen diesel in a 95 Geo 4WD Tracker. Great little rig that gets great fuel mileage.

I also still have an 81 Chevette diesel and a 85 Isuzu PUP 4WD diesel pickup. Both powered by isuzu diesels and both fine to drive and reliable -and NO turbos. I've heard stories about how powerless the Chevette diesels were and wonder where those BS stories came from. I had two 1.4 gas Chevettes back around 76 or 77. My 1.8 diesel Chevtte has more power and more torque and gets 45 MPG instead of 28 MPG.

Mercedes were never particluarly good on fuel. I had a 300 with a 3 liter turbo 5 banger and it only got around 24 MPG best. Not very impressive.
Also had an older 190D with a 2.2 liter that only got around 30 MPG at best. No Mercedes cars, gas or diesel, ever had great repair records. But I guess the people who have the money to buy them don't care.


And yes, many older diesels had short runs. But many used time-proven industrial diesels like Perkins, that had - and still have - great parts support. Some Jeeps and Checkers used farm-tractor Perkins. Some Internationals use the same Nissan diesels used in forklifts and industrial machines.

The reality is - gas has always been relatively cheap in the USA and the public has always been collectively ignorant with diesels. Thus diesels never sold well to the general public. Now? The emphasis is to make diesels start, sound, and run like gas engines - with fuel that usually cost quite a bit more.

I remember when my friend's father bought a new 1982 Chevy 6.2 diesel K10 4WD pickup when they first came out. This guy had his own heavy equipment business so he wasn't clueless. Well, he traded in his 1979 Chevy truck that had a 350 gasser. Drove his new 82 truck home with the 378 c.i. diesel (6.2) and complained constantly how "dead" it was. Brought it back to the Chevy dealer, over and over. Nobody could convince him that a 378 diesel is supposed to have less power then a 350 c.i. gas engine. Within a few months, he got rid of it and went back to gas. That sort of thing was common with new diesel owners in the USA.

 

[spicergear]

The 'DX' olds engine may have addressed certain block issues but still had a cast crank. I've pulled several apart with broken cranks looking that DX cast into the side of the block. Some engine builders back when were taking those connecting rods and modifying them to fit SBC's. I thought that was sort of a waste with all the effort...but budget 6" in rod had certain draws. I think you could get 6.125 if the pin was offset. Still...

I had friends back when the diesel Rabbits and chevettes we around that ran them and the rabbits would just go and go and go no matter what the owners tried to do to them. One guy had to replace a water pump when the block froze up and he ran it not knowing. Another guy had an odd problem with his were the oil light kept flickering so he added oil until the light went out. Next oil change he realized he had like 7 or 8 quarts in it so he pulled the pan and found the pick up tube had come off...yeah, he had the oil level to the bottom of the pump. Another guy, young guy...would turn he radio up so he couldn't hear the engine screaming when he was on the highway running 'extra-legal' speeds. All those engines stayed together.

Another friend had a chevette diesel with a 5 speed and the funniest thing of all was he had to retake his driver's test from speeding tickets. It got exceptional milage and when the car had enough northeast body rot, it became a field car and raced on a field track I had in my one large field at the farm. What a pounding that thing took and just ran and ran. We actually, literally, had a wheel break off of the car as the 4 lug nuts were still on and tight with metal around them and the center tore out. Field cars...