Early 80s 6.2
 

Still in th hunt for my new old truck. How reliable are these early 80s 6.2 diesels?
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Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

That's a hard question to answer because reliability can be terrible or it can be very good. A lot of it depends on maintenance. These 6.2's can be very long lived but at the same time they also don't take well to abuse. They need regular oil changes and general maintenance such as changing out the defective glow plugs and changing out the harmonic balancers on a regular basis. Harmonic balancers get old and are no longer are effective which eventually leads to engine damage. Another thing people will do is slap on a big honkin turbo so they can keep up with the big boys. What ends up usually happening is catastrophic engine failure. These engines were never meant to put that kind of power. They were meant to get very good fuel economy in a light duty truck. Another thing people will do is leave out the starter brace. The starter is heavy enough that without the brace, the block could break. I could list some other things but you get the picture.

Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

X2 on the starter brace. I was lucky and was able to back the broken starter bolt out with a left handed tap.

Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

Since you're looking for reliable, try looking for a 6.2 with a manual transmission. The early 700R4's were a very weak link behind the 6.2.

Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

I have a duranax and Alison outta of my buddies wrecked 2010. I might buy that off him. Buy a cheep 6 cylinder and throw that it. A
Diffuclty level?
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Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

Dat wud bee uh Projectbadass.

Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

Yeah it sure would
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Re: Early 80s 6.2
 

If there's a bubba turbo setup walk away. The Banks turbo kits, when properly installed, can improve mileage and give power a very small bump. Mileage in the low to mid twenties are possible with the 2wd 82 "Red block" 6.2 & 700R4.

The 700R4 transmission can be rebuilt to make it a reliable unit.

A 6.2L Fluidamper will fix the harmonic balancer permanently.

Updating to the 90's glowplug unit relay and AC-60G Positive Temperature Coefficient glow plugs will permanently put the swelled glowplugs to bed on civilian trucks. Very easy high reliablity update. If you have any swelled plugs pull the injector and remove the damaged tip pieces through the injector hole with a shop-vac.