Good read. Especially the comments.

My dad had one, company car, it self destructed on him coming home from work one day.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2019/01/16/oldsmobile-killed-detroits-diesel-dream

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

A friend had an Olds diesel. It would just stop running, say on the expressway. He carried extra filters, changed them on the spot, and it would run again.

I remember the complete embarrassment of trying to get on a freeway onramp with black smoke billowing out behind me from my Olds diesel. Also the frustration of slowing to 45 mph on the long hills between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Flat out on the level sections at 80mph on the same trip.
If you took it to a dealership they knew nothing about it and had probably never seen one before. What finally did it in was a blown injector pump which was deemed too expensive to fix even though it was only 3 years old.
Biggest problem was, for some unknown reason, was that it was a non turbo???
All that being said it drove like a dream with that heavy engine up front and was one of my favorite, all time cars.

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My dad, always the thoughtful one, said GM hated losing all those sales to MB and deliberately built these diesels to be crap so people would never buy another diesel.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I was talking with a guy who had what I thought was Chevy Malibu diesel. I heard that distinct "clatter putt putt" and asked him if the car was diesel. Sure enough, it was.

He adored the car and was very happy with his purchase. Now , I don't think it was a chevy malibu but it was definitely an American car with a diesel engine.

Maybe the tide has changed for diesel sedans!

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

New? The Cruze was sold as a diesel.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Yeah that was it.

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

We had a 78 old caprice wagon 350 diesel, and an 81... the 81 was WAAAAY more peppy and reliable than the 78. Loved both cars, tried to get the 4.8L diesel option in my 87 astro but couldn't get one.
Now ALLLLL my vehicles are diesel. Including 7 GM diesels.
I have 2 diesel suburbans, and 5 diesel trucks, all extended cabs. 3 4wd models...

As a mechanic growing up I never really worried about the oddities of the GM diesels.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

A lot of drag racers used the Oldsmobile diesel block to build gasoline drag engines. Very stout block. The rest not so good.

In the shop were I worked we worked on them. Head Bolts pulled out of the Block. On higher mileage ones the Cranks broke and or one of more main bearings Bolts stripped out.

On the Fuel Injection Pumps the Governor Weight Carrier 2 pieces were held together by a sort of nylon band with holes in it that fit on studs on the carrier pieces. For some reason on that engine the band deteriorated in like 25,000 miles despite the use of the same band on other types of equipment. I suspect the fact that the Fuel Injection Pump sat between the V of the Engine and under the Air Filter did not allow cooling are to get to it.

When the band disintegrated it blocked of the outlet valve and your engine stopped because that cut the fuel off.
Staydyne (who made the fuel injection pumps) tried changing what the band was made of x2 with very limited success. Finally they started doing what private shops like ours had been doing and using a one piece governor weight carrier that was from some other application.

The Styadyne pencil type Injectors also did not hold up well and were often stuck in the bore when you tried to remove the usually resulting in the Injector getting destroyed.

The then expensive $125 glow plug controllers failed. It was cheaper to replace them with a Button Switch and a ford type solenoid.

Carbon from the EGR built up and restricted the intake also the gritty carbon went down into the Engine as it was unfiltered.

The Glow Plugs frequently failed and were often stuck in a manner similar to the 606 engines.

Before the solid governor weight carrier the Dealerships tried to train people to take apart the Fuel Injection Pump and change the band. That did not work.

That is what I can remember right off the top of my head.

The good news for our shop was that the Car Owners paid Cash while our commercial accounts paid later and sometimes difficult to recover money from.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

I forgot I also remember them breaking Connecting Rods and main and rod bearings going out.

Head Gasket issues also.

I remember removing the Cylinder Head on one and I pushed down on a piston and it went down 3 inches before it thunked on something inside.


The Car Dealerships were overwhelmed and had few Diesel Mechanics. Customers were willing to pay for work that normally would have been under warranty because they did not want to wait a month or more to get their Vehicles back.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Thought of another one. The stamped Rocker Arms cut into the Aluminum Rocker Arm Brackets and cause them to wear out fast and of course shot the valve clearances.

Broken valve springs and burned valves. Cracked Cylinder Heads.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

But other than those trifling problems...

Interstate Nineteen used to be littered with those diesels. People would slide over to Mexico to get the cheap diesel ($0.19 - $0.28 per gallon), fill up their tanks and make it back about 60 miles before the lack of a water separator in the fuel system brought them to an abrupt halt. Tow truck drivers loved them!

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

Well, knowing fuels and diesels... my dad installed a glass bowl sep filter as soon as he got the car.
I've never seen one of them running without a decent racore installed...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

Ive always heard that - wonder how many are even left these days

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth