The Oldsmobile diesel was typical GM of the '70s and '80s: they released a flawed product, and as soon as they fixed all of the problems and got it right, they discontinued it.
That was due to the customers' being burned out over the bevy of problems associated with the earlier examples (the 1978-80 D block models), and also the lower price of gas vs. diesel fuel in the years after Oldsmobile released its "perfected" DX block version in 1981.
I recently finished my '83 Buick Century 4.3 V6 rebuild. It is possible to do, parts are hard to find, but possible, even for someone like me here in europe. don't give up👍
Awesome acquisition! That is a staggering amount of miles for such an unusual car, and the interior looks amazingly well kept. Glad you found a daily that suits you so well; excited to see more of it!
My parent's had a 1981 Eldorado diesel (350ci). Averaged 30+mpg on the highway, always started in winter, was quick and comfy, but that car was problematic. Fuel delivery issues, starter would stay engaged once running and even after turning it off. I recall my dad frantically trying to disconnect BOTH batteries when we parked because that starter was spinning to death. Various other small gremlins (turn signal stalk broke off, high beams would engage at night and stay on, even with lights off, some black puffs through exhaust). But it was a classy looking car.
I love these types of cars. I too am a fan of what most others call "junk" or they just dislike them. But not me. I did have a 1983 Buick Century with the 4.3 Diesel way back in 1989 or so. Sold it to my nephew who needed a cheap car and he drove the wheels off it. But my absolute dream is to find a really nice and clean C-body with this diesel. I'd prefer a DeVille, but would take any of them. My garage currently houses a 1986 Seville and a 1988 Cimarron.
My friend has an 82 Toronado diesel (5.7) with over 500,000 miles on it. He has the heads off for a gasket replacement and the cylinders are still standard size and look almost brand new. He's going to be swapping to the early pencil injector head, intake, and fuel setup as those heads do not crack. The DX heads were known for cracking because of how little metal was between the valves, right in front of the prechamber outlet. The early heads are far superior, as is the early fuel system. On the other hand the early blocks have a lot of problems. So the best combo by far is DX block, with early top end and fuel system.
@@CarysGarage It's a good setup and quite easy to do as the early engines are cheap. So are the injection pumps they go with. They are only $250-500 for rebuilt vs 750-1000 for a DX pump. There are literally less than 6 DX heads at junkyards in the US that are not cracked, or at least as far as we know. But no point in doing it that way as it costs the same and they will just crack again. Plus the pencil heads will hold up to a turbo. I did a build of one for an old boat with copper head gaskets, dry sump, oil squirters in the pan, the works. And it has held up for 5 years or thereabouts at this point. Even naturally aspirated with stock IP fuel settings, they make more power than either the early or late engines, due to the larger roller cam on the DX block. An entire D engine costs less than a single pair of heads for a DX. They have thicker prechambers as well. Plus the injectors are fully adjustable with no shims. Just adjustment screws. With a pop tester you can change both the pop pressure and duration of injection/max fuel capacity by changing the lower hollow setscrew for pop pressure, and the upper one for max pintle lift. The 1980 truck injectors flow the most of any of them, but all flow more than the stock injection pump. Naturally aspirated with 1.7 Ford SBF roller rockers, headers, and dual exhaust with X-pipe they will make around 150-175rwhp with minimal extra smoke. They can also rev a bit higher than stock, the early 1978 pumps are set to around 3850 RPM vs 3600 RPM for the later ones. Given that it is a stroke nearly as short as a 327 Chevy, 4000 RPM is what I would say is safe on a stock late rotating assembly with no other modifications. The boat one I built is internal balance with splayed bolt main caps, and it can go beyond 5000, which the injector pump had to be sent to be modified for. Optimum injector settings I have found for a naturally aspirated one are 2500psi injector pop pressure, and pintle lift set slightly up from where the injector chatters on a pop tester. But yes, that setup has become commonplace with the unavailability of DX heads and is the engine that GM should have built all along. The only reason for switching injectors was to meet new emissions rules, and GM struggled to get any power out of them with having to swap the injector and glow plug position. It messed up the swirl in the prechamber. So they tried enlarging the valves and putting in a longer duration cam, but still didn't get the power of the original and made the heads prone to cracking by only having like 1mm of space between the valve seats vs the 1/2 inch of the pencil heads. Goodwrench made replacement engines for the pickup trucks that were factory DX/Pencil head engines from the factory. I have seen a few in cars that came that way as a warranty replacement or something as well. Possibly a dealership put the truck engine in the car.
I owned a navy blue one for a short period, sold it to a 4.3 collector in Ontario who still owns it and knew of another burgundy one that was repainted with the updated ‘87/88 front fascia with a last know whereabouts of North Conway NH.
I just came across this. Love this... I have the 1988 Sedan Deville, it is the exact color as this one. Mine has 22K miles on it. I inherited it from my grandmother. I had no idea it came with the 4.3 diesel. If memory serves those were pretty good engines that GM put in some other things as well.
An excellent presentation for such an unusual Cadillac. Mid 80's American luxury cars are notorious gas hogs but a more fuel efficient diesel engine was the right direction. It's to bad it never took off so to speak in mass production.
I actually like that diesel sound. Reminds me of when I was a kid. Fair amount of people had diesels. My uncle had a caddie diesel. Seemed like a fancy special sound that only fancy cars made to my young mind. 😀
Cary, if you look in the door jamb, your car was built in 1984 because all GM diesel production was canceled by Jan 1985, also Cadillac made 1088 diesels for the 1985 model year but the 1088 also includes the V8 diesel offered in the Brougham, Eldorado & Seville.
I did know they combined all diesel production into one number. As far as I can find out they made 92 V6 FWD deville diesels. And my car was actually produced 06/85.
@CarysGarage no I am in Wisconsin. Bouhhtbit off original owner motor was rebuilt had 90k on it.... let a friend drive it for a while he overheated it bad.... long stor short motor is trash
Finally comes a six-digit production sequence number starting with 000001 for Detroit built cars 400001 for Janesville 600001 for Linden (E-body) 800001 for Linden (K-body)
@@CarysGarage Janesville Assembly Plant was a former automobile factory owned by General Motors located in Janesville, Wisconsin. Opened in 1919, it was the oldest operating GM plant when it was largely idled in December 2008, and ceased all remaining production on April 23, 2009. The demolition of the plant was completed in 2019.
The Oldsmobile diesel was typical GM of the '70s and '80s: they released a flawed product, and as soon as they fixed all of the problems and got it right, they discontinued it.
That was due to the customers' being burned out over the bevy of problems associated with the earlier examples (the 1978-80 D block models), and also the lower price of gas vs. diesel fuel in the years after Oldsmobile released its "perfected" DX block version in 1981.
I was a GM Cadillac mechanic in 88 and wasn’t even aware they offered the 4.3 diesel in the Deville!!
Oh wild
Dude that crazy 😧
I recently finished my '83 Buick Century 4.3 V6 rebuild. It is possible to do, parts are hard to find, but possible, even for someone like me here in europe.
don't give up👍
Parts are a huge pain to find, but its worth it to keep them going
Awesome acquisition! That is a staggering amount of miles for such an unusual car, and the interior looks amazingly well kept. Glad you found a daily that suits you so well; excited to see more of it!
Thank you!!! I really adore it and its just perfect for me.
Yeah - I don’t know how anyone could give you crap about that engine when it’s got that many miles and is still going strong! Excellent daily!
True
My parent's had a 1981 Eldorado diesel (350ci). Averaged 30+mpg on the highway, always started in winter, was quick and comfy, but that car was problematic. Fuel delivery issues, starter would stay engaged once running and even after turning it off. I recall my dad frantically trying to disconnect BOTH batteries when we parked because that starter was spinning to death. Various other small gremlins (turn signal stalk broke off, high beams would engage at night and stay on, even with lights off, some black puffs through exhaust). But it was a classy looking car.
I love these types of cars. I too am a fan of what most others call "junk" or they just dislike them. But not me. I did have a 1983 Buick Century with the 4.3 Diesel way back in 1989 or so. Sold it to my nephew who needed a cheap car and he drove the wheels off it. But my absolute dream is to find a really nice and clean C-body with this diesel. I'd prefer a DeVille, but would take any of them. My garage currently houses a 1986 Seville and a 1988 Cimarron.
Ohhhh very nice!!!! Id love to find a Cimarron
@@CarysGarage there's fewer and fewer of them out there, but they do exist. In fact, much more readily available than anything with the 4.3 L diesel.
My friend has an 82 Toronado diesel (5.7) with over 500,000 miles on it. He has the heads off for a gasket replacement and the cylinders are still standard size and look almost brand new. He's going to be swapping to the early pencil injector head, intake, and fuel setup as those heads do not crack. The DX heads were known for cracking because of how little metal was between the valves, right in front of the prechamber outlet. The early heads are far superior, as is the early fuel system. On the other hand the early blocks have a lot of problems. So the best combo by far is DX block, with early top end and fuel system.
I have that exact setup sitting on a pallet currently.
@@CarysGarage It's a good setup and quite easy to do as the early engines are cheap. So are the injection pumps they go with. They are only $250-500 for rebuilt vs 750-1000 for a DX pump. There are literally less than 6 DX heads at junkyards in the US that are not cracked, or at least as far as we know. But no point in doing it that way as it costs the same and they will just crack again. Plus the pencil heads will hold up to a turbo. I did a build of one for an old boat with copper head gaskets, dry sump, oil squirters in the pan, the works. And it has held up for 5 years or thereabouts at this point. Even naturally aspirated with stock IP fuel settings, they make more power than either the early or late engines, due to the larger roller cam on the DX block. An entire D engine costs less than a single pair of heads for a DX. They have thicker prechambers as well. Plus the injectors are fully adjustable with no shims. Just adjustment screws. With a pop tester you can change both the pop pressure and duration of injection/max fuel capacity by changing the lower hollow setscrew for pop pressure, and the upper one for max pintle lift. The 1980 truck injectors flow the most of any of them, but all flow more than the stock injection pump. Naturally aspirated with 1.7 Ford SBF roller rockers, headers, and dual exhaust with X-pipe they will make around 150-175rwhp with minimal extra smoke. They can also rev a bit higher than stock, the early 1978 pumps are set to around 3850 RPM vs 3600 RPM for the later ones. Given that it is a stroke nearly as short as a 327 Chevy, 4000 RPM is what I would say is safe on a stock late rotating assembly with no other modifications. The boat one I built is internal balance with splayed bolt main caps, and it can go beyond 5000, which the injector pump had to be sent to be modified for. Optimum injector settings I have found for a naturally aspirated one are 2500psi injector pop pressure, and pintle lift set slightly up from where the injector chatters on a pop tester. But yes, that setup has become commonplace with the unavailability of DX heads and is the engine that GM should have built all along. The only reason for switching injectors was to meet new emissions rules, and GM struggled to get any power out of them with having to swap the injector and glow plug position. It messed up the swirl in the prechamber. So they tried enlarging the valves and putting in a longer duration cam, but still didn't get the power of the original and made the heads prone to cracking by only having like 1mm of space between the valve seats vs the 1/2 inch of the pencil heads. Goodwrench made replacement engines for the pickup trucks that were factory DX/Pencil head engines from the factory. I have seen a few in cars that came that way as a warranty replacement or something as well. Possibly a dealership put the truck engine in the car.
I had a 79 delta 88… I had a do motor replacement (installed by Oldsmobile) with the pencil heads.@@theodorgiosan2570
I owned a navy blue one for a short period, sold it to a 4.3 collector in Ontario who still owns it and knew of another burgundy one that was repainted with the updated ‘87/88 front fascia with a last know whereabouts of North Conway NH.
That is amazing. Thank you for letting me know
I just came across this. Love this... I have the 1988 Sedan Deville, it is the exact color as this one. Mine has 22K miles on it. I inherited it from my grandmother. I had no idea it came with the 4.3 diesel. If memory serves those were pretty good engines that GM put in some other things as well.
Nice! Yeah the 4.3 diesel is extremely rare. I believe they only made 92 of them
An excellent presentation for such an unusual Cadillac. Mid 80's American luxury cars are notorious gas hogs but a more fuel efficient diesel engine was the right direction. It's to bad it never took off so to speak in mass production.
Thanks!
I actually like that diesel sound. Reminds me of when I was a kid. Fair amount of people had diesels. My uncle had a caddie diesel. Seemed like a fancy special sound that only fancy cars made to my young mind. 😀
Awesome car, thanks for sharing!
VIN digit #8 is the engine code;
“P” = L4-121 TBI
“W” = V6-173 FI
“8” = V8-249 DFI
“T” = V6-262 diesel
“N” = V8-350 diesel
T - V6 diesel
Extremely rare
we have the same tastes we both love quirky cars!!!
They are my favorite!
Nice Car! Interesting era, right after the malaise Boat Car era but before Cadillac went all out with the “Plastic” Body Kit style cars of today!
Cary, if you look in the door jamb, your car was built in 1984 because all GM diesel production was canceled by Jan 1985, also Cadillac made 1088 diesels for the 1985 model year but the 1088 also includes the V8 diesel offered in the Brougham, Eldorado & Seville.
I did know they combined all diesel production into one number. As far as I can find out they made 92 V6 FWD deville diesels. And my car was actually produced 06/85.
@@CarysGarage ok so then it must have been that the V8 diesel ceased production in Jan 1985 and the V6 continued for a few months more
Cary, you may have one of maybe a few diesel GMs left!
Yeah, and I have two of these 4.3 diesel. haha
i own many Olds 5.7 V-8 cars. I've never seen one of these 4.3 V-6 in person. Wonder about production figures?
Extremely low.
I love that model ❤❤❤
They are lovely
@@CarysGarage
I've had several Cadillacs..
My last one was a 2000 4 door
Another was a 74 Coupe..
Hi Gary How are you?
What’s it like to daily drive something like this ?
It was amazing while I was. I had some issues that made me stop until I get it fixed.
Cary, where was your car built? VIN digit #11 is a code for assembly plant:
“9” = Detroit
“E” = Linden, NJ
“J” = Janesville, WI.
Had a burgundy one was a good rig
Really? Thats awesome!! Was it in Arizona by any chance. I saw one awhile back come up for sale down there that was Burgundy.
@CarysGarage no I am in Wisconsin. Bouhhtbit off original owner motor was rebuilt had 90k on it.... let a friend drive it for a while he overheated it bad.... long stor short motor is trash
Oh in Wisconsin. I think I know the car. A young guy up there has one.
And that's a real shame!!! Such rare cars. Less than 10 known to exist.
VIN Digits six and seven indicate body type:
“47” = 2-dr. coupe
“69” = 4-dr. sedan
“23” = eight passenger limousine
“33” = formal limousine
“57” = Eldorado coupe
“67” = Eldorado convertible
69 - 4 door sedan
Is this 4.3 the same as the celebrity?
basically. there is some small differences. but pretty much the same
Cary, look at your VIN #, the 11th digit tells you where the car was made;
“9” = Detroit
“E” = Linden, NJ
“J” = Janesville, WI.
It's a 4
Finally comes a six-digit production sequence number
starting with 000001 for Detroit built cars
400001 for Janesville
600001 for Linden (E-body)
800001 for Linden (K-body)
@@johnh.2412 so my car was built in Janesville than
@@CarysGarage Janesville Assembly Plant was a former automobile factory owned by General Motors located in Janesville, Wisconsin. Opened in 1919, it was the oldest operating GM plant when it was largely idled in December 2008, and ceased all remaining production on April 23, 2009. The demolition of the plant was completed in 2019.
very few other cars ride as well as these caddies over bumpy pockmarked segmented pavement.
Jealous. This is a rare piece of history. The 4.3s were pretty durable.
Nice!!!!!!
Thanks
Sell it to me please 😂