Anyone remember the 70's GM diesels for cars? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Carrameow · #1 11-29-2004, 01:02 PM

At lunch time today I think I was told a FISH TALE. I was told when GM built its diesels during the energy crises that they converted standard gasoline engine blocks and heads to diesel use.. how could this be possible, for one, how did they they do the Fuel Pump/Injector thing and two 180 psi and 400 psi are quite a ways between..Was this in fact a FISH TALE? I am searching Google right now..Also i was told their was a Chevette Diesel and a Ford Ranger Diesel and that Nissan even put them in pickups..is this also true?

#2 11-29-2004, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carrameow

..Also i was told their was a Chevette Diesel and a Ford Ranger Diesel and that Nissan even put them in pickups..is this also true?

This is true, i've seen an example of each, others here will know more about them than I...

rwthomas1 · #3 11-29-2004, 01:12 PM

Where have you been? This has been covered here quite a few times. Yes GM converted an Olds 350 gasser to diesel by beefing up the block but it had different heads, timing cover, etc. to accept the IP and other parts. The reason for this "conversion" was an attempt at a simple diesel option since the Olds V8 would bolt into any GM RWD chassis of the time with relative ease. The Olds 350/5.7 diesel had many problems. Blown headgaskets, IP issues, etc. It is often confused with the GM 6.2-6.5 diesel but the 6.2/6.5 is a completely different engine and shares no parts or history with the Olds. Yes Chevettes, Chevy LUV (isuzu), Rangers, Lincolns, Nissans, Mitsubishi and even International Harvestor's Scout have all offered diesel engines at one time or another. They are all pretty rare as US buyers have never seemed to care for diesels. Fuel has always been too cheap. Until now. RT

Pete Burton · #4 11-29-2004, 01:23 PM

All basically true except the GM 350 diesel was changed a bit. They put in roller cams and probably some minor mods to the block, but it was pretty down and dirty. The results were legendary. Hey, I remember chevette diesels, bet that's a rare car today!

rgp123 · #5 11-29-2004, 01:40 PM

The Chevette had the Isuzu supplied 4 cyl. diesel that was a pretty good little motor. The Ranger/Mazda pickups shared a Mazda-built 4 cyl. with the Escort, Tempo/Topaz, and even a 626. The Internationals (Scout, Traveler, etc.) used the Nissan-built 6 cyl. that was also found in Maximas. All pretty good motors but the only one I ever wanted was the Maxima diesel. Passed on one with a 5 spd. that should have come home with me years ago.

boneheaddoctor · #6 11-29-2004, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carrameow

At lunch time today I think I was told a FISH TALE. I was told when GM built its diesels during the energy crises that they converted standard gasoline engine blocks and heads to diesel use.. how could this be possible, for one, how did they they do the Fuel Pump/Injector thing and two 180 psi and 400 psi are quite a ways between..Was this in fact a FISH TALE? I am searching Google right now..Also i was told their was a Chevette Diesel and a Ford Ranger Diesel and that Nissan even put them in pickups..is this also true?

First off, they were not converted gas engines.....

the early ones had problems and they finally fixed them but the reputation was ruined.

The biggest problem was head bolts would stretch and blow gasket. People would continue to drive on them and warp the head....rendering it junch.

Brother ran 250,000 trouble free miles on his Olds 88 Royale.....before he popped a gasket due to using ether to start it not understanding glow plug issues.

boneheaddoctor · #7 11-29-2004, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete Burton

All basically true except the GM 350 diesel was changed a bit. They put in roller cams and probably some minor mods to the block, but it was pretty down and dirty. The results were legendary. Hey, I remember chevette diesels, bet that's a rare car today!

Pete , Buick, Olds and Chevy all had their own Unique 350 (5.7) motors....

Where the diesel block can be remachined to use gasser parts its not a gasser block....

anyway block and crank issues were not its weakness it was headbolts that weren't strong enough

pdxman · #8 11-29-2004, 02:18 PM

I had two brothers and several freinds running these diesels in late 70's early 80's. Cutless Supreme, Regal, and maybe Monte Carlo had diesels. I moved away and never knew of what their demise was. My brothers never spoke of them again and assume they had a bad experience.

Jim Anderson · #9 11-29-2004, 02:31 PM

Their intent was good, they tried to make a diesel run like a gasser. The problem was that there is a good reason diesels run like diesels, so they will stay together. They had also just gotten bit by the rotary engine, they had done a study and concluded it couldn't be built reliably, then Mazda came out with there's, seemingly proving them wrong.

I heard a story about the first attempt. The engineers took a 350 block, put a 455 (I think) crank in to get the compression up, and put a diesel fuel pump on it. The first attempt at starting it took place just before lunch. As soon as it fired it blew up and made a mess of the engine lab. They called their maintenance to clean it up and then went home for the day.

michael cole · #10 11-29-2004, 02:33 PM

despite their weaknesses these were some smooth running diesel cars.too bad relatively small issues like like headbolts could not be worked out.i guess the buying public could not be that patient

boneheaddoctor · #11 11-29-2004, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Anderson

Their intent was good, they tried to make a diesel run like a gasser. The problem was that there is a good reason diesels run like diesels, so they will stay together. They had also just gotten bit by the rotary engine, they had done a study and concluded it couldn't be built reliably, then Mazda came out with there's, seemingly proving them wrong.

I heard a story about the first attempt. The engineers took a 350 block, put a 455 (I think) crank in to get the compression up, and put a diesel fuel pump on it. The first attempt at starting it took place just before lunch. As soon as it fired it blew up and made a mess of the engine lab. They called their maintenance to clean it up and then went home for the day.

I'd like to know how a big block crank (455) fit in a small block engine. (350).........

boneheaddoctor · #12 11-29-2004, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michael cole

despite their weaknesses these were some smooth running diesel cars.too bad relatively small issues like like headbolts could not be worked out.i guess the buying public could not be that patient

they did, but it was too late by then.................they would stretch, not break.....but end result was the same.

by then they had the bad rep.

Carrameow · #13 11-29-2004, 02:50 PM

I am not that old!! Actually now that I know the story, it did make sense, and it wasnt bad engineering. Probably with a few more design and production iterations, the problems wouldve gone away and they would've achieved greatness, which is the way engineering works, sometimes in the 24th hour, it all comes together wonderfully, but hours 1 to 23 are filled with horrific mistakes, sometimes thats they way my project cars worked out...

boneheaddoctor · #14 11-29-2004, 02:53 PM

You can still get remanufactured motors for these, and they have all the issues sorted out.....but how many cars remain in good enoug condition for a transplant.....

lietuviai · #15 11-29-2004, 03:14 PM

Why would anyone go to the expense of trying to put one of those engines back in a car? I've seen many of those diesels get swapped to gassers and still see them on the road. It was way cheaper to drop a small block Chevy than rebuilding the diesels plus as it was mentioned earlier people were wary of the dependabilty of those diesels. I remember wanting to pick up a nice Cutlass with a blown diesel for cheap back in the 80's and dropping a 454 Chevy big block in one. The idea faded because I didn't have enough money or persistence to follow through.