80's Chevy 6.2L Diesel - tow vehicle.

[bigshrimpin]

Are these old chevy 6.2L diesel trucks any good? I've never owned a diesel before and I have a chance to buy a clean 1980's military surplus truck for little money. I like my little jeep comanche now, but veggie diesel is cheap ($1.40/gallon) around here. I'm thinking about making the switch . . . any suggestions?

[Skools Out]

they aren't strong hp wise but torque wise good they will outlast the trucks. you can put an old banks turbo on them and make good HP. my neighbor has one currently and ithas 200,000 plus miles still going strong and he gets around 20 to 23 mpg and my 6.5 turbo has 220,000 plus and it get the same 21 city 23 hwy and 19.5 towing hwy. I say go get it and run it till she dies. I had an old 82 Diesel 6.2 dually and it ran like a top never any problems.

[msbhammer]

Damm, Skool is up early posting today. He even beat Reel in the early morning post. ;D

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by bigshrimpin

Are these old chevy 6.2L diesel trucks any good? I've never owned a diesel before and I have a chance to buy a clean 1980's military surplus truck for little money. I like my little jeep comanche now, but veggie diesel is cheap ($1.40/gallon) around here. I'm thinking about making the switch . . . any suggestions?

Big, you said , "making the switch"... if at all possible, get the diesel and drive it and tow w/ it B4 ya let go of the Jeep ... won't take long to decide if ya likey or not ;) ...

[garagenc]

As I said before in NC A unlocked chevy is atrash can waiting to be filled. :D :D

[76GMC1500]

The only good thing about the 6.2L's is that they get great gas milage, 18+ mpg in a 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban. *There are a few problems I hear about all of the time. *They don't make enough horsepower, only about 120. *They tend to crack pistons, this is a result of injectors dripping fuel on the piston crowns. *If you get the injectors rebuilt every 100k, the engine is usually good for 300k. *Finally, the injector pumps cost a fortune and do wear out. *I would not buy this engine unless it came with a Banks turbo kit. *The Banks kits upped the horsepower to about 190 which is equivalent of a 400 cubic inch gas engine fron the 70's or a late 80's to early 90's 350. *With the banks kits, the engines actually perform quite nicely and get even better milage, 20+mpg. *The final problem with the 6.2's is not the engine, but the transmission. *They come equipped with a 700R4 which is not particularly strong. *It's about the equivalent of the 4L60e found in current half ton trucks from GM. A military truck may have a Turbo 400 transmission which is one of the strongest transmissions ever put in a light truck

[Skools Out]

Originally Posted by 76GMC1500

The only good thing about the 6.2L's is that they get great gas milage, 18+ mpg in a 3/4 ton 4x4 Suburban. *There are a few problems I hear about all of the time. *They don't make enough horsepower, only about 120. *They tend to crack pistons, this is a result of injectors dripping fuel on the piston crowns. *If you get the injectors rebuilt every 100k, the engine is usually good for 300k. *Finally, the injector pumps cost a fortune and do wear out. *I would not buy this engine unless it came with a Banks turbo kit. *The Banks kits upped the horsepower to about 190 which is equivalent of a 400 cubic inch gas engine fron the 70's or a late 80's to early 90's 350. *With the banks kits, the engines actually perform quite nicely and get even better milage, 20+mpg. *The final problem with the 6.2's is not the engine, but the transmission. *They come equipped with a 700R4 which is not particularly strong. *It's about the equivalent of the 4L60e found in current half ton trucks from GM. *A military truck may have a Turbo 400 transmission which is one of the strongest transmissions ever put in a light truck

they came with 155 hp they have 4L80 transmissions and the pumps on the 6.2's will out last the motors. piston's don't crack, it's the heads that crack from heat just don't let them get to hot the 6.2 and 6.5 motors had the same head cracking issues and the 6.2 had the manual injection pumps that last forever not the crappy electronic pumps that the 1994 up 6.5 motors have. The trans on the mil spec trucks all had 4L80 trans which is GM's strongest trans ever that they built for light duty trucks.

[randlemanboater]

I got 10 bucks on Skools. Any takers?

[THEFERMANATOR]

4L80E's didn't come out until 91, it is a turbo 400 with an overdrive and electronic controls. Most of the military 6.2's had the turbo 400 for a tranny, and civilian ones got the 700R4. They also came with the DB2 STANADYNE injection pump that is a pretty good pump, but they have quite a few problems with the heads warping causing hard warm starts or no warm starts. They usually would last 150K+ miles if cared for. The first 6.2's were only around 140HP, but they were offered from 120-160HP depending on the year, GVW and usage. The 6.2 was also known for the 0-60 in 5, that is 5 minutes or 5 miles. They are a good long lasting engine that can be easily turbo'd with OEM parts from a scrapyard(92+ 6.5's, swap the manifolds and install the turbo and intake). If you have any real specific questions you can brush up over at www.dieselplace.com, or I can ask them over there for ya.

[Skools Out]

lol thanks
*you know if i ever find a wrecked 6.2 or pre 94 6.5 with manual pump and non turbo running motor truck i'm going to buy it and put that motor in an I/O boat that would be a super motor in a I/O i wish i has one of those now i'd put it in my 250 Sea Ray. Mercruiser makes the whole mariner kit for the 6.2 and 6.5, my 6.2 had 265,000 on the factory pump ran great. The mil spec motors had 155 hp all and they had the 4L80 before it was avail on the market for us to buy. If you're going to run veg oil it will make that pump last forever.
the other site that is good is www.dieseldoctor.com so is the one Fer listed.