Diesel SWB!?

[DriverDown]

Well, I think I may be better off staying away then... mainly because I really don't know enough about diesels to make an educated decision. My truck has a 305 in it and I've been planning for a 350, but when you're at 11 mpg the fuel mileage of a diesel is hard to resist! I had hoped this would be a better potential tow rig and reliable, more economical daily driver, but if, as Russell noted, they aren't necessarily good for towing or city driving (I DO have a long commute), it may just not be appropriate...

Also, as little as I've read about diesels, I have already read numerous times to stay away from the Olds 5.7 - it is the original 6.2...

By the way, beautiful truck boatpuller!

[rcbildr]

IMHO...for the mileage a diesel gets, it's well worth learing about the engine. I also have a long commute and I usually drive my 4x4 Burb. There's a lot of info out there and they are pretty easy to work on. When my 2wd 82 suburban was running it was getting easliy 22 mpg, and my 4x4 burb gets 18 mpg. The reason my 2wd Burb is not is use is because my friend and I are using that engine to get his 84 shortbed 4x4 going. The few issues I've had to deal with on my rigs are old glow plugs, bad vacuum pumps, and noisey injectors. The Haynes manual for diesel engines has a lot of good info and there are several websites out there too.

[kevinr1970]

My only experience with any diesel was a 1986 1/2 ton Silverado 4x4.
It had starting issues which were really a lot of smoke on start-up. If you could deal with that then it actually ran really good.
You just had to be able to deal with smelling like deisel for the rest of the day after you started it. Or take a shower?!?
This problem isn't typical of these deisels (so I'm told) but this one had ignition issues so the PO used starting fluid to start it for about a year. I spent a bunch of money replacing things to make it work correctly, but it only took about 3 months for them to fail again. And it was real easy to just shoot a squirt of liquid fire through the grill into the flex duct to cold start it. When it was warm it pretty much just started.
Starting fluid is a big no-no with the deisels.

I got ~19mpg empty and about 18mpg with a full load in the back moving from one side of the city to the other.
Even with the 3.08 gears and 31" tires it jumped off the line. But it was a dog at higher speeds. For around town I didn't think it was too bad. I've heard that with something like a Banks turbo kit they are a respectable driver.

I would think that in a swb 2wd (*edit-I guess you never said whether its a 2wd?) it would be a decent truck to drive around. Not racy by any means, but decent enough. If it can be had for a decent enough price it would probably be worth it. If the deisel doesn't suit you after a while you can always convert it. If the engine is a good runner it would be worth something to someone?
But either way I would have someone that is knowledgeable with those deisels inspect it first.

[kenm78]

From my opinion from working on HMMWV or Hummers in the Marines stay away for the 6.2 I can't remember how many heads and head gaskets I had to replace, but I replaced enough to know the naturally asperated 6.2 isn't worth 2 cents and is a severe dissapointment on the performance side. But that is my experiance on the mater of early GM Diesals.

"Opinions are like A-Holes everyone has one and they all stink"

[DriverDown]

Well, I'm thinking $3500 is about as low as I could get it for... and, to me, that seems pretty decent for a rust free 2wd (it is 2wd!) SWB in running condition. Current owner is the second owner, and he has had it since 1985 and taken good care of it...

Again, it's not perfect, but pretty decent...

[7387chevys]

Originally Posted by DriverDown

Well, I think I may be better off staying away then... mainly because I really don't know enough about diesels to make an educated decision. My truck has a 305 in it and I've been planning for a 350, but when you're at 11 mpg the fuel mileage of a diesel is hard to resist! I had hoped this would be a better potential tow rig and reliable, more economical daily driver, but if, as Russell noted, they aren't necessarily good for towing or city driving (I DO have a long commute), it may just not be appropriate...

Also, as little as I've read about diesels, I have already read numerous times to stay away from the Olds 5.7 - it is the original 6.2...

By the way, beautiful truck boatpuller!

mileage is real good on these diesels.....6.2/6.5s are detroit diesels and in no way shape or form realated to the 5.7................get the haynes diesel repair manual...I have read it and it gives you a real good understanding ...I have a 6.5 na that I have been thinking about putting in a 2wd with an od stick shift for economy ......of corse the hotrodder came out in me and I did a rough design for a twin turbo intercooled design......hairdryers help

thedieselpage.com is an excelent(message board) resource for info on these 6.2/6.5s

Shane