1982 diesel 3/4 silverado questions

[67TexasC-10]

My buddy has a 82 2500 diesel silverado. It is the 6.2 and the 5spd manual. The truck is in really good body condition and he says it ran fine before he parked it 2 years ago. The other day he clutch started it and it fired right up. I am not a diesel expert and was just wondering what I would need to do to freshen it up or what are some possible endeavors it could drag me upon.

Thanks in advance
Blake

[77Vandura4x4]

I've heard that the 6.2 blows head gaskets, but by replacing them with ones from the newer 6.5 should solve the problem.

[Srubydo1986]

as far as i know you cant kill a desiel but i like my fast rpms from my small
block

[N2TRUX]

Search this forum as well as the net. There is a big following of these motors. They had their issues from the factory, but diesel enthusiasts have overcome those obstacles and made huge improvements on their performance.

[Russell]

Number one thing to remember is that they are not a modern Duramax, Cummins or Powerstroke. They are light duty diesels designed to be used on the highway to get great mileage.

They are similar to a mid 80s 4.3L for acceleration power, but since it is a diesel, it makes a lot more torque. You can pull with them, but don't expect them to get you to 60 within 10 seconds like the modern diesels are capable of.

These diesels do have a history of blowing headgaskets, cracking between the valves in the heads, and along the main webbings, but typically that only happens if the diesel has been abused. Keep the rpms low, and the skinny pedal off the floor and it will last.

Also keep an eye on the harmonic balancer, they are totally crucial to keeping the engine's crank in one piece, letting it go will break the crank in very short order.

As far as power upgrades go, the most common is to advance the injection pump slightly, and to install a J code intake which does not have the EGR stuff in it. Free flowing exhaust is always a good thing on a diesel too. If you want to spend a couple bucks on it, and make it a fair bit more powerful (put it into 350 acceleration territory) you can install a turbo kit on it, install marine 6.5L injectors and a marine injection pump.

You need to make absolutely sure that the engine is in good shape before you turbocharge it, or put a bigger IP / injectors on. Otherwise it won't last long at all.

If you want to be approaching early duramax power levels, you must drop the compression ratio to approx 17.5:1 from 21:1, increase your boost from 7 PSI to close to 15 - 20 PSI, then install a main girder, head studs, bigger beefier rods, special pistons etc. It would probally cost less to install an actual duramax at that point though, lol

[Duro5341]

Originally Posted by Russell

Number one thing to remember is that they are not a modern Duramax, Cummins or Powerstroke. They are light duty diesels designed to be used on the highway to get great mileage.

They are similar to a mid 80s 4.3L for acceleration power, but since it is a diesel, it makes a lot more torque. You can pull with them, but don't expect them to get you to 60 within 10 seconds like the modern diesels are capable of.

These diesels do have a history of blowing headgaskets, cracking between the valves in the heads, and along the main webbings, but typically that only happens if the diesel has been abused. Keep the rpms low, and the skinny pedal off the floor and it will last.

Also keep an eye on the harmonic balancer, they are totally crucial to keeping the engine's crank in one piece, letting it go will break the crank in very short order.

As far as power upgrades go, the most common is to advance the injection pump slightly, and to install a J code intake which does not have the EGR stuff in it. Free flowing exhaust is always a good thing on a diesel too. If you want to spend a couple bucks on it, and make it a fair bit more powerful (put it into 350 acceleration territory) you can install a turbo kit on it, install marine 6.5L injectors and a marine injection pump.

You need to make absolutely sure that the engine is in good shape before you turbocharge it, or put a bigger IP / injectors on. Otherwise it won't last long at all.

If you want to be approaching early duramax power levels, you must drop the compression ratio to approx 17.5:1 from 21:1, increase your boost from 7 PSI to close to 15 - 20 PSI, then install a main girder, head studs, bigger beefier rods, special pistons etc. It would probally cost less to install an actual duramax at that point though, lol

Good to know, I always thaught that the older 6.2L were better than the 6.5L, and could pull anything....interesting

Duro

[Russell]

I'd personally say the 6.5L is the better engine entirely based on the fact that it has more power and gets slightly better economy. The reliability of both engines is similar, they both share similar problems with regards to cracking mains / heads etc, and both have similar weight capacities.

.3L isn't that much difference