augh, your right the first gm diesel was a modified 5.7. i stand corrected. I knew the later 6.2's were a different animal.

 

LOL, It still doesnt mean they were a GOOD engine, at least in the beginning.

I have to say, I beat my 86 6.2 like a red headed stepchild though, and it never let me down.

82-85 models though, I saw a bunck of broken cranks, cracked heads and head gaskets changed......

 

There is nothing wrong with the body, and even most of the undercarriage components on a Dodge. I've replaced ball joints and brake parts, but at 330k, it's expected. There are rust issues on the underside of 2nd gen doors. The F-series had rust issues in many places.

 

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Early 6.2's were exactly that, 6.2's. GM made 5.7 liter diesels, which were converted gas engines. Detroit designed the 6.2 from the ground up. The displacement was increased to 6.5 in the NON TURBO trucks for a couple years, then they added the turbo. Then the 'electronic-mechanical' piece of crap pump came into play, and caused nothing but problems. The 5.7 was offered in the late 70's in cars, the 6.2 was offered starting in 82 in the pickup/suv's. A simple google search can get you all the info I just typed, or a little reading in different mags will do the same.

I've owned 1st gen Dodges, some older IDI non-turbo Fords. They are all nice trucks, cheap to fix in comparison to the new motors, and get excellent fuel economy. One thing to remember is that the old IDI Fords had more HP than the 1st gen Cummins, but have always fell behind on the torque.

 

Under $12k? Diesel? Manual trans? 97-98 Dodge 12v. End of discussion.

 

No way Dodge is perfect Hey, they all have their problems(the big 3, I mean).

I just bought a 99 last week. Let me tell you, between Ebay, craigslist, autotrader etc...I probably checked out 300-400 CTD's It was work, but it payed off. There are some really nice high milaege CTD's out there in your price range, but there is also a lot of junk.

After a month of looking, I picked up a "super clean" RUST FREE one owner 99 QC 3500 4x4 5spd. for 11k. Came with a new VP too! Now I just have to get it transported from CA to PA

Tom

 

I know, I know, i corrected myself
in another post.

 

Check out some Government auctions, see if you can find a decent CUCV M1009, the militarized, version of the early 80s Chevy 1 ton pickup. They are getting hard to find, and are usually pretty well picked over, and scavenged for parts by the time they hit the auctions, but if you can find one they are pretty tough old trucks. The military rated them at 1 1/4 ton, the have a 6.2 diesel, th400 tranny (auto), Dana 60 in the front and a 14 bolt rear with a Detroit Locker. We had one as a plow truck for years, 8 foot blade on the front and a drop in spreader in the bed, it was always overloaded. Other then glow plugs it gave us very little trouble. The 6.2 is in no way a powerhouse motor, but the M1009 had 4.56 gears, so it could get just about any load moving, of course without overdrive top speed is about 65-70 mph.

 

actually, i think the corp 14 bolt came with a gov-loc diff, not a detriot locker. not that you cant put a detriot locker in.........

 

no the m1009 came w/ 4.56 gears and a rear detriot locker, yes standard chevys had gov-loc and open diff, but you cant put a detriot locker in a govlock it has a different casing you can only use an open diff to put in the detriot

 

If you are looking for an "Experimental Diesel" nothing will take a beating like a 94-98 12v cummins. with that injection pump you can run anything you want through it. I have heard of guys who fill the tank with used motor oil, staright vegetable oil, kerosene and anything else you can think of with no ill effects. I am told the old IDI fords (pre-powerstroke) are also very durable but do not have a lot of power. The 7.3L powerstrokes are great engines but parts are just too expensive to do anything too "experimental" with them (look at the price of injectors).

bottom line for 12k you should be able to find a 94-98 dodge 12v with the stick. (note most desirable are 96-98 manuals = 215hp pump)

 

Oh God, please don't tell me that GM is still trying to use the 350 as a diesel? I bought a 1980 Oldsmobile diesel (350) in 1979. I spent more than the car cost in repairs in one year primarily because the rest of the car (including transmission) could not cope with the torque. That being said, the diesel itself was absolutely fragile. They installed sleeves in the cylinders, but didn't strengthen the pistons, crank, flywheel, etc. You get the picture. My crank split into two pieces. The flywheel shattered. The injector pump was replaced twice (as were the injectors). The tranny behind the diesel blew twice in 60K miles. I was about to go on television on a program called "Lemon on Wheels" when GM sent me a check for everything I had ever paid for service (including oil changes). Hmmm!


Besides, the Cummins is far more noisy than the GM or Ford and I like to annoy my neighbor .

IF IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A DIESEL, IT ISN'T ONE!!!

 

DING! ......

 

And you have an '84 Volvo 240 Diesel----my sister has a manual transmission '83 wagon 4-speed with O/d they would like to get running. They are in North Carolina, and her husband's family are the original owers of the car. If you know of sourcing for fuel injection parts, etc, please let me know. It has around 290k on it, hasen't run for about two years. Thanks for any help!

 

I don't know how far you would want to travel but I saw this one on the for sale lot on the Air Force Base here the other day. It is in Fort Walton Beach Florida in the panhandle.



It is an 89 D-350 one ton single rear wheel, it said it had a Cummins remanufactered engine installed and the transmission rebuilt about 70,000 miles ago. It is a plain jane truck with the plain interior but is rust free with only a small spot of paint peel on the passenger door. It was used to tow a fifth wheel trailer and had an extra fuel tank in the bed. It is a 5 speed with air conditioning. The tires were in great shape. He is asking $4100.00 for it. Just thought I would let you know in case you were interested. It is about 25 miles from me and I can go check it out if you need me to.