Re: Engine Swaps

Posted by jdemaris on March 02, 2005 at 09:49:59 from (209.23.30.120):

In Reply to: Re: Engine Swaps posted by Mike M on March 01, 2005 at 10:47:31:

I've heard horror stories with all the diesels. I don't know what to make of them except for what I've actally seen myself. During the late 70s, first Dodge came out in 78 with the 243 cubic inch, 103 horse 6 cylinder diesel in their half-ton pickups (Jap I think). Also in 78, G.M. introduced their 5.7 liter, 350 cube diesel in light pickups. It was an absolute piece of crap. They built it from the 350 Oldsmobile gas engine, and there was no fixing it. I was a Deere mechanic at the time, but found myself doing all the diesel repairs for a nearby Chevy dealer since they were clueless on diesel engines. G.M. got a bad reputation along with a class-action lawsuit over that deal. So, G.M. then hired Detroit Diesel to design a new engine from the ground up, and the as a result, the 6.2 came out in 82. Great engine, not very powerful, but very reliable if used right. United States military has been using them for years in pickups and Hummers (along with the later 6.5s). Almost all the problems I've seen with them relate to overheating, ether use, bad glow plugs, etc. Using the wrong exhast system can cause the cylinder heads to overheat and crack when used hard. Ether will also crack the heads. I saw many engines get removed just because the glow plugs didn't work right. Today, if you go to NAPA and order mufflers, they will sell you the wrong ones and they will cause overheating. Now, the glowplugs will not burn out like the old ones did. The new AC-Delcos, are reboxed and actually made by Beru and have circuit limiters in them. They work great. The mechanical injected 6.5s were good engines also, but they are rare except in for military use. When the EPA got involved, and put new emmissions restrictions on diesels, trouble came. Chevy 6.5s used Stanadyne Co. to come up with electroncially controlled pumps and they had high failure rates. G.M. finally gave up, and started using Japanese V-8s made by Isuzu (the Powermax). U.S. military still has the mechanically injected setups - no EPA regs. on the battlefields.
I heard stories about the later Dodge diesels and Ford IH, but I think most are hype. The Dodge Cummins is the only medium-duty diesel on the pickup market - all the others are "light-duty." I drove a new Cummins powered Dodge when they first came out. Every time I stomped on the gas pedal (diesel pedal?), the doors sprung open. The cab twisted and couldn't take the torque. Dodge had transmissons breaking left and right on the early trucks, but no engine problems that I know off. Good engine and junk truck equals ?? I'm still driving my 69 W200 Power Wagon, been a piece of junk ever since I bought it in 1975. But, it's a real stump puller with the 4.88 gears.
I've got an 85 Ford 6.9 diesel F250, 83 diesel 6.2 Blazer, 85 diesel 6.2 Blazer, 86 diesel 6.2 Blazer, 87 diesel 6.2 Suburban, 90 diesel 6.2 Suburban, and an 82 diesel 6.2 1/2 ton pickup. Also have an 81 Chevette Isuzu powered diesel car, and two 91 Volkswagen diesel Jettas. I've never had a serious problems with any of the engines - but the worst of the bunch is that little Isuzu in the Chevette with the Diesel Kiki injection system. Now the rest? With the G.M. stuff, there's always something falling apart, but they drive nice and have been real work-horses.

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