Thread: Accidentally bought a GM V8 Diesel

G'Day all,

Well, after three years of driving an Isuzu rangie and collecting bits for the upgrade, I accidentally bought an 88 rangie with a GM V8 diesel in it.

Now I know a lot of people out there think the GM diesel is a POS but it hauls **** and anyway it's too late so wish me luck. If it craps out on me I'll be sure to let the forum know so you can remind me how well all the isuzus out there are still running.

Anyway to cut a long story short my 82 rangie with the NA isuzu and the 93 Vogue SE that I bought to transfer the drive train over to now need a new Isuzu Landy enthusiast to take over the project! (complementary earplugs included)

The aulro markets section seems to be having some issues at the moment but I'll post up an ad as soon as it's calmed down.

PM me if you'd like a bit more info (I'm in Melbourne).

Cheers,

Will

Originally Posted by dobbo

Why are these engines supposedly a POS?

Not a pos exactly, but some of them have a few problems. I hope John (Bush65 doesn't mind me quoting him from another forum:

Originally Posted by Bush65

All but the last of the 6.2 are prone to cracking the centre 3 main bearing webs from the outer bolt holes for the main bearing caps. The castings were beefed up when manufacture of the 6.5 started. This block (casting no 10149599) was used by both 6.2 and 6.5 in 1992-93 (6.2 was not produced after 1993).

Piston oil spray cooling was introduced in 1996, and the 1996-99 were prone to cracking the webs due to machining for the spray nozzles. This was solved by better metallurgy in later engines produced by AM General for Hummers.

They crack heads, but can be fixed by reaming water passage and fitting a sleeve (doesn't repair crack, but stops the leak). Caused by pockets of steam forming in the rear of the heads. This was eventually cured by fitting a high volume water pump (which could flush out the steam). These pumps can not practically be retrofitted to earlier engines because the rotate in the opposite direction (serpentine belt).

The vee belts have a reputation for short like - only Gates belts are recommended.

They tend to break the starter housing, if the extra support bracket is missing.

Their firing order causes impulsive torque loads which cause problems with the harmonic dampener. If the crankshaft bolt is not torqued properly, they flog out the keyway in the crankshaft. When the rubber element (of the dampener) degrades (replace dampener if the rubber shows signs of bulging out), they are prone to breaking the crankshaft.

The torque impulses would show up weakness of lightweight gearboxes (like LT77).

The best of the injection pumps was the non-electrical controlled DB2-4911 fitted to the 6.5 in 1993. The later electic controlled pumps (DB4) have a reputation for poor life. this pump with Lucas/Delphi injectors for the 6.5 will give worthwhile performance improvements when fitted to a 6.2 engine.

There were so-called, heavy and light duty engines. This does not relate to robustness, but instead to power and torque. The light duty engine has smaller valves and EGR for emmissions in some US States. Avoid the light duty engines.

They don't have a vacuum pump, so you will need to find an alternator with a vacuum pump.

I was set to buy a 6.5 NA engine for my bushie (hence name Bush65) but saw the light just in time and bought a 3.9 litre Isuzu (4BD1-T) which is a lot more reliable, with better power and torque than the 6.5 NA chevy.

Will - hope yours is trouble free!

If you get 11 I will be amazed. I got 12.4/100 from my 4BD1T the other weekend. 600k trip, but it had some sand driving ane low range work, and I was driving it HARD to test the turbo conversion.