Diesel Power Options

[Edahall]

Originally Posted by special-K

I've run 6.2s and 6.5s for over a quarter century. I'm a cast in stone GM man. But,I'd take a Cummins engine in a Chevy or GMC any day. They have their popularity from being tried and true. The 6BT was in service before Dodge ever put one in their crap buckets. What's played out is all the diesel performance hype. All these young chumps with smoke stacks and attitudes. I went diesel for torque,economy,low maintenance,and longevity. What do you need over 500hp for in a truck for? A diesel truck is for towing your gas powered race car. I grew up with high performance gas motors and that still what I love. I can blow away a pumped up diesel on my 110hp Harley and I'll take "that" sound of two cylinders @7,000 rpm over the moan of a diesel pickup any day. I think a 4bt is a wise transplant to bring a classic truck into practical daily use. You'll never get 28 mpg out of a V8 diesel. And,you can add more hp w/o hurting it. I've had them all...stock 6.2s,stock 6.5TDs,6.2 w/Banks Sidewinder,and 6.5TD Peninsular Marine 18:1 intercooled 325hp. I still have one each of the first two listed and love them for being what their intended purposes were and still are. I have also taken a 6.2 and added a fresh air intake,enlarged air filter housing/filter,and 3" exhaust which really woke it up. I am happy with the stock 6.2 power. I think headers are a great idea and hope to get some for my '85 Jimmy...then a 3" exhaust system. I figure that's added power that also helps the health of the engine by allowing exhaust gases to escape faster keeping the head temps down.

You sum it up very well. The 6.2 was an excellent engine for it's intended purpose of providing excellent fuel economy in a light duty pickup. Keep in mind, when the 6.2 introduced in 1982, it had a power rating of 130 hp @ 3,600 rpm / 240 lb·ft @ 2,000 rpm. The red 82 block probably also had the strongest bottom end amongst all the GM production 6.2/6.5's due to it's high nickle content. Later on, power became a higher priority than fuel economy so GM increased the precombustion chambers size on the heads several times over the years and slapped on a turbo to give it more power. By the time the 6.5L ended production, power was up to 215 hp. However, both fuel economy and long time reliability plunged. Instead of strengthening the weak bottom end, they thinned it out in 1997 to install piston oil squirters. Unfortunately, bottom end cracks is what plagues this engine. However, keeping the power output down to where it was originally designed for and always keeping on a good harmonic balancer does help a lot to keep these engines alive.

That said, my 1982 6.2L Suburban still has the original motor and is pushing 500k miles. It has been such an excellent motor that it's going to outlast the Suburban.