'82 Cadillac Diesel

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Who woulda thunk something with a 350 diesel under the hood would fetch $10,000+ on eBay Nice car though



eBay Motors: Cadillac : Fleetwood (item 150332115548 end time Mar-22-09 19:00:00 PDT)

 

[The patriot]

My guess it it's because it's the last one in existence. :-laf

 

[hammersley]

Did you read the

advertisement????? Wow - 300,000 on the improved 5. 7 Diesel that GM fixed all the problems with AND to think at $10,000 the RESERVE still hasn't been meet. Now if ELVIS was in the TRUNK maybe.....

 

[SuperSteeler]

5. 7 liter GM Diesel? Isn't that the engine that set back diesel technology 20 years?

 

[Skydiver]

5. 7 liter GM Diesel? Isn't that the engine that set back diesel technology 20 years?

That Oldsmobile engine is why many older people to this date will not touch a diesel. I bought a new 1979 Chevy c-10 diesel.

18000 miles head bolt broke.

22000 injector pump rebuilt

35000 head gasket blown

48000 miles leaking a quart of oil every 23 miles. GM did replace my long block after I had invested in a 350 gas burner to replace the bad engine. After a letter to GM and three days before I was to install a rebuilt gas engine I got a letter from GM. I agreed to let them replace the engine with a "target-master" diesel engine. They rebuilt the injector pump again. I sold the new diesel for $950 and installed the 350 gas burner.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

That was the most amazing thing, GM putting the 350 in half ton pickups. I remember around 1980 my dad was looking at pickups and we asked how long we could expect it to last. . . the salesman said 150,000 miles, then we said how about if we tow. . . well that voids the warranty LOL

Our neighbor had a '83 LeSabre diesel though and it was all right (other than being terribly gutless). In 148,000 miles he only had to replace one starter, no engine problems at all, but they had the DX block by then. He usually got 28-30 MPG running low 60s on the freeway, did get 33 once going easy on the throttle.

Vaughn

 

[Skydiver]

That was the most amazing thing, GM putting the 350 in half ton pickups. I remember around 1980 my dad was looking at pickups and we asked how long we could expect it to last. . . the salesman said 150,000 miles, then we said how about if we tow. . . well that voids the warranty LOL



Our neighbor had a '83 LeSabre diesel though and it was all right (other than being terribly gutless). In 148,000 miles he only had to replace one starter, no engine problems at all, but they had the DX block by then. He usually got 28-30 MPG running low 60s on the freeway, did get 33 once going easy on the throttle.



Vaughn

I do remember that in 1983 there were improvements made to the 350 Diesel. I'm lucky that I had purchased an extended warranty. The fuel was empty when the gauge read 1/8th tank causing me to ruin a starter. The hydro boost brakes leaked fluid as well.

I was 19 y/o and remember Mom told me that I could get a silverado with A/C, but no, I had to have a diesel. The wiesels had no A/C. I remember at the lot there were 3 identicle Diesel c-10's. One of the new units had a bad ticking when running.

Truck had a good alternator and 400 transmission. That's about it.

 

[bmoeller]

Sharp looking old car.

Anyone remember the 4. 3L V6 diesel GM used in some of the cars? Chevy Celebrity and Pontiac 6000 for sure had them as an option. I had the unfortunate job of having to replace head gaskets in a Celebrity diesel. NO ONE could pay enough to want to do that again. All I did the whole time was #@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%! What a PITA!

One problem they all had, was cracking the heads. Didn't matter if it was a cast or aluminum, head. They all cracked between the valves. The stamped rocker arms were a joke as well.

 

[AHarris]

What a beautiful old car!! Oo.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Yes the 4. 3 V6s were notorious for head cracks,had to make sure the coolant never got low. I thought the 4. 3s in rear-drive cars with cast heads did better. Supposedly the 4. 3s did better with head gaskets since they had 6 head bolts per cylinder, instead of the 4 for the 350 diesels.

 

[Wingate]

ya know... even before I was out of high school, I made TONS of money off of those engines. I swapped out one for a guy in a GMC pickup and installed a "wrecking yard" 400c. i. olds engine. Then that guy told another person, and they told someone else... etc...

It got so bad, I ran out of available 350,400, and 455 engines to install. Actually had to get some people to just go buy an old beater Oldsmobile with a good engine just to get the engine from it.

 

[cojhl2]

Remembering the 350 and 6. 2 both. . The sounded like someone left a wrench in the pan for the crankshaft to bounce around.



What a joke, produced by a company that built the Jimmys. Did they not use some of that knowledge??

 

[steved]

The 6. 2L was a detroit, albeit naturally aspirated; but it was a detroit. An employer of mine had an older Jimmy with a 6. 2L... 250k and one head later it was still turning 25mpg on the highway. It was gutless, but it seemed reliable enough. The glow plugs and black box (the glow plug controller) seemed to be their biggest weak link... that and they were slow as snot.

I've actually contemplated repowering my M37 with a 6. 2L because they are cheap to acquire and find transmission pieces for...

 

[JUeckert]

the 5. 7 chevy my dad had in 81 was to be our first diesel powered truck. it ran pretty good for a 1/2 ton, and got really great mileage. we didnt use this one for towing much, had a 1 ton with a 454 doing that. when the diesel got to the 70k mile mark the pump went south, shortly after the rear main started leaking pretty bad. the truck never gave us any issues other then the pump and leak,[didnt like cold weather either] and we sold it to a mechanic who ran it to about the 150 mark before if swarmed. we replaced that truck with a 3/4 ton with a 6. 2, and never looked back. we have had[still do] good luck with 6. 2 powered trucks.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Here's someone setting up a 5. 7 with a turbo LOL
YouTube - gm 5. 7 diesel 350 turbo vid. 4 of 4

 

[Skydiver]

Here is the vid just under yours Vaughn. 2-stroke marine on a stand. It gets scary around the 25 second mark.



YouTube - Detroit Diesel 2-stroke V8 start and run (idle)

 

[HPetrat]

I really hate to admit it but the first diesel truck I drove regularly (I was 18 at the time) was an 84 Chev Silverado 3/4T with the 6. 2, 4X2.



It was the first truck I towed a fifth wheel (22' single axle about 3400lbs) with and the first trip was to the Merritt Mountain Music fest. Yes it was slow in the mountains but after 2 1/2 years I traded it with 264,000 miles (425,000Kms) on the clock and I never did anything more than fluid and filter changes. The entire truck was completely stock with no engine bombs what so ever, and apart from the lack of power with realatively light loads, it was one of the nicest driving vehicles I've owned.



A few years later I did have a company vehicle (Oldsmobile, I think, station-wagon with a diesel) which was assigned to me for 6 months and again no issues and was actually a very nice ride (although not cool :-laf).



HP

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

There's a guy somewhere on the 'web who knows how to build Olds diesels and built his with a HX35 turbo. Lowered the compression to 17:1 and runs up to 20psi boost. Dynoed at 313hp/435tq and has held together for 30K miles.

 

[Cummins Thunder]

Why!!!??



I am one to speak having installed a HY-35 on my 7. 3 IDI