When I was a kid we had a neighbor, old Jimmie - he was a old school trucker that worked for CF. Jimmie loved diesels and he absolutely loved picking up these GM diesels for pennies. This was mid 80s when they were a couple years old but people were dumping them for pennies on the dollar. He had a couple and he always laughed how cheap he got them and could do a couple basic things to them to make them run "great". I loved riding in them, and watching his dog when he was out of town driving and his wife was riding with him. RIP Jimmie, you taught me a lot. I'm not sure if you were right about early 80s GM Diesels but you sure loved the damn things.
My first Semi I drove had a 60 series gm in it. the bores were glazed up but you couldn't kill it with a stick. Looking back that That worn out Western Star was one of the best pieces of old shite I ever drove and it never gave me any trouble.
Fellow Iowan here. Since I live 20 miles from the University of Iowa, when I was a student from 1991-95, I made the daily commute in my 1980 Olds Delta 88 Royale diesel equipped almost identical to yours (no clock or rear defrost). August 1994 I took a road trip from Iowa to Michigan, 900+ miles, without incident. It rode like a yacht and was a great road trip car. The fuel economy was great. Parts were easy to find. The engine never failed me. The transmission and exhaust…those did.
The car is way to ugly to waste a 350 gas motor on it. If you couldn't fix the diesel, I would suggest an inline 6 like maybe the one out of the Burnt Turd. Such a 6 would probably still tow faster than the diesel. Plus I hear inline 6s are the smoothest, which goes well with luxury cars.
@@hendo337 The diesel works fine now, plus the smooth 250 inline 6 from the Burnt Turd would be both smoother and more efficient in that boxy non-performance car.
As a professional diesel mechanic who specializes in GM's and Detroit's I really enjoy when you get these as I can never find them near me. It's also vindicating when you have to call for advice with them since I often have trouble with carbs and have to refer to your videos. We are all good at different things! Sorry Angus but I want to see more diesels, Maybe a 1980's VW diesel soon? Those make the 5.7L Oldsmobile look like a powerhouse.
My buddy in highschool picked up a 83 vw golf diesel 5spd they had swapped out the head but couldn't get it running after putting it back together car was metallic brown and it had some rust on the bottom of the car but after cracking open the air lines and a few vw diesel tech suggestions he drove his $300 car two years in highschool until he found a 70 Ford f100 two tone light on top dark blue on the bottom 302 automatic he drove non stop after he got the truck
I still have a '79 Toronado diesel that has 160,000 miles on it, original block reringed at 120K. I'm surprised you made it that far with the pump going out! Back in the day my dad and I had a diesel repair shop and worked on lots of these. We always used the thicker head gasket whenever we replaced them to lower the compression a bit for durability but also to give more piston to head clearance as a common problem was carbon buildup that would do things like hammer the upper ring groove tight, knock out wrist pin bushings and even break cranks. This was usually an issue on city driven vehicles that didn't get up some highway speed and clean the carbon out once in awhile. A lot of times I'd do a service on one that wasn't running so great, take it out for a drive and pin it on the governor in second for a mile or so, the highway would dissapear in a cloud of soot behind me but eventually it would clean up, get back to the shop and it would be running like a million bucks. Couple suggestion I'd recommend is disabling the EGR valve so it isn't plugging up the intake with soot and run a fuel additive that lubricates the pump and injectors. I use both Diesel kleen and Lucas upper cylinder in mine. Great to see a few of these dinosaurs still alive!
My late stepfather was a huge fan of the 350 diesel. He had 3 Cadillacs and two Oldsmobiles with that engine. 2 of the Cadillacs and 1 Oldsmobile were mint low mile survivors. 1 of each was a daily driver. He put over 400,000 miles on one of the Cadillacs and on of the Oldsmobiles. He said as long as you added a aftermarket water separator to the cars and bought stronger aftermarket headbolts they will run forever. I know the water separator is crucial and have seen beefier aftermarket headbolts advertised. I wish I could have gotten one of the low mile survivors but they all went to an estate auction and sold for ridiculous prices.
Funny how nobody wanted them back in the day but you put a pristine example of a car where there aren't a lot of examples left, it doesn't matter if it was a shit car absolutely nobody remembers fondly (some just didn't hate it as much as others). Objectively, the Olds diesel was one of the worst engines ever produced by GM. It singlehandedly destroyed the diesel car market in the US. Because of how Americans of that era were even more ignorant than they are today, even though Mercedes and Volvo sold perfectly reliable diesel cars, even those fell by the wayside because Americans tend to think if we fail at building a diesel car then surely nobody can make a good diesel car, right? America is so nationalistic, we're on the verge of being the next Nazi Germany. Just a never ending back-patting party where we pretend we're better than everyone else. We literally only recognize the Wright brothers as the first to achieve powered flight because we conveniently ignore all the evidence that this is unlikely to be true, at least if the Wright Flyer is the standard for powered, controlled flight, lol. I consider Curtiss to have built the first usable airplane which matters way more than some half assed experimentation. Curtiss invented ailerons, without which, airplanes never could have been anything more than glorified kites putting along lazily at 40mph.
In 1980, my dad speculated that gas prices were going to soar, so he bought an Olds Cutlass Diesel and the car *never* ran right. Besides the craptacular engine, the AC condensate outlet plugged up easily and would drain into the passenger footwell. In 1984 I got it into a car accident and after it was assessed, my dad had a conversation like this: "I'm really torn. You didn't quite destroy it enough. I could choose to not get it repaired, take a credit hit and let the bank repossess it or I could get it fixed and we're stuck with it." He got it fixed. Wrong choice.
We had one, too. They kept making that turd until 1984. My dad kept heat lamps under the fuel tank in the winter to keep it from gelling. We stocked up on STP fuel treatment in the fall because truckers would take it all in the wintertime. With all the problems we had, it got 24 miles per gallon.
Happens when you use a gasoline engine design as a base for your diesel engine. Bad bore and stroke ratio for a diesel. No water separator and of course the head bolt issues. We had one as a loaner for a few months back in the 90s and it was such a pos. Dealership used them as service vehicles cause no one wanted them. The Olds 350 diesel probably single handedly killed the diesel engine for passenger vehicles in the US for a long time.
@@Wingnut353 Trucks weren't (and still legally aren't) classed as passenger vehicles in the 80s. You had single cab bench seating cause the point was the bed to do work, not be a pavement princess with a useless 6ft bed.
@@Amberlynn_Reid well I haven't been responsible for fixing a vehicle that actually goes out in combat. No, I haven't killed anybody, and if I did, why would that be important information when I was simply talking about a vehicle?
I should hope so! I towed a corvette on a car trailer from Montery, CA to LA over Tejon Summit in July behind a 1979 Cad Seville with an Oldsmobile diesel in it. Rules for this diesel were: 1. Replace head gaskets at about 60K, 2. Replace head gaskets and injector pump at 120K, 3. Change oil every 3K. Nothing else went wrong, except for belts and hoses. Drove that car for 300K miles. PS We owned *2 more* Cad Diesels during from 1988 through 2004. My mother drove an 81 Sedan De Ville and l also bought a 79 El Dorado. That one had an extra fuel tank in the trunk, so it could hold enough for a 1K Mile RT to LA/OC from the Monterey Peninsula: It ran at about 30 mog average at 65 mph.
That phone call to Wyatt and getting priceless information that gave you a roadside fix in 5 minutes to get you back on your way is a perfectly distilled example of what the car community is all about.
My uncle has a Cat 966 front end loader from the 1950's........and that turbo, indirect injection diesel engine was a major pain in the ass, because of head gasket leaks. He eventually came across the solution......he put anti-seize on the head bolt threads and did them up to spec.........which makes the bolts much tighter and the head gasket stopped leaking. Its been perfectly reliable ever since.
My old college buddy bought an Olds 88 diesel with over 150,000 miles on it and drove it from Iowa to Alaska. Then drove it three more years with no issues ever. I drove it several as l times & a 600 mile trip. Never a problem. Very comfortable road car
Some engines are just built different or they have someone like my grandpa who changes the fluids every 2 months and doing mostly highway miles. Tho he was a truck driver and always complained about other people breakthing their stuff, so maybe its not that bad after all.
Angus is not lying about specifically not towing with that engine. I bought a clean 1981 Chevrolet Scotsdale C1500 RCLB 5.7 Diesel to rob the body for my ugly, but reliable, 1985 K10. The engine puked fuel everywhere from a completely shot return system. The truck even came with it's owner's manuals including the 350 diesel pamphlet. I very plainly said DO NOT TOW with this vehicle and had some ridiculous limitation of how much weight you could put in the bed. The body was a lovely cream over metallic brown two-tone, however, and I got a kick out of everybody asking why my hood ornament said "Diesel" and the Scotsdale fender badges also said diesel.
IDK what GM was thinking.....a diesel truck that you can't tow with, and they made awesome Detroit diesel engines at the time for HD trucks and equipment. It's customer's were so disappointed no doubt.
@@MattsRageFitGarage yep, they were looking into fuel mileage , not HP and torque for towing things. This little beauty poppin out 30 MPGs was nice, and that 16 towing the boat was a nice surprise also.
I've read several big issues on these diesels when they came out... 1) Around 1980 there was a fuel shortage, and apparently it was much more common than average to end up with water in your diesel. There was a procedure for this on them, but you know, it left a bad impression when someone bought it and then ran into fuel problems. 2) I've read the dealerships often just didn't know what to do with them in terms of service and repair. (That's in addition to it being a bad engine -- it's a gas 350 converted to diesel. And slow as hell.)
"Around 1980 there was a fuel shortage" Yep, the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Gas got so expensive in Houston we had even/odd license plate days at the gas station rationing. The summer of '79 was endless lines and people fighting at gas pumps. Thieves would steal gas out of your tank at night so several neighbors got lockable gas caps.
Love this video! I have had 6 of these diesels over the years. The only reason the head gasket leaks is when the head bolts break. GM went weak on the bolts. Replace with ARP Stud kit for that engine and you will not have any issues. I have done 3 engines that were running good. Replace the head bolts with head studs one at a time in the torque sequence. You don't have to take the engine apart or even drain the coolant. Once studs are in you are good to go. I drove one 10 years over 110K miles with not loosing a drop of coolant after stud install. DX block is upgraded with roller lifters and stronger materials.
if the head bolts don't break, eventually they start pulling the lugs right out of the block. Nothing in that engine was as strong as it should have been. And you really should not only do the head bolts but should also be installing helicoils because no matter how strong the replacement bolts/studs are, they are still threaded into a block material that is too weak to properly bear the threads. The bolts would be 2-3 sizes too thin for the application and that means insufficient thread bearing area for the load being contained. You need a much higher torque spec on diesel engine heads and 350 head bolts are way to thin to even handle the proper torque. The heads were really just a couple of slide hammers, pulling the head bolts right out of the block the hard way. Just because you didn't experience it, a lot of people ended up with warped decks that caused head gasket blowout when the bolts failed to break and the holes would pucker out. Literally stretching the whole block with each detonation. Also, 'make a few modifications and it will last longer' can be said about almost any motor. But nothing could ever totally compensate for an abomination of an engine that really shouldn't have existed in the first place. Olds singlehandedly destroyed the diesel car market in the US for every manufacturer, both foreign and domestic.
@@Lurch-Bot I think I would place the blame on corporate GM for rushing the whole thing. The Olds 350 traditionally is a great engine and I don't think Olds was against making a better piece of equipment as much as GM rushed the whole process and just assumed the otherwise super reliable engine could be converted over, have some block strengthing and call it day. Corporate GM has a way of ruining its divisions. Look at what's left of Buick now, we dont even sell a car🤦
I love these episodes with the Olds Diesel. So rare now and a flashback to a time GM would like to forget. Keep em coming, someone has to keep these old engine alive.
@@wallacegrommet9343 Since the correct fix was a whole engine block, I'm not sure that many people back in the day would have chosen it, given the expense.
Mannn i started watching when you first started the page “less the 1.5k followers” when you were starting up old junk cars with buddy and i havent watched you in about 2 years and to click on this video and see how far youve come completely amazes me, you deserve it and keep up the hard work guys so many people look up to yall for keeping a good legacy going 👌🏻
Idk how my grandfather did it. But he had one of these that when he passed away it had 430,000 documented miles( he did every single service at the dealer from new) never replaced the engine. Did head gaskets at 235,000 miles.
@@tedbell4416 he had to he traveled for work. That’s why he got the diesel. I took on that trait from him I’ve owned 4 vehicles that have made it past 400k miles so far current truck is at 501k last one was 543k
@@LeroyBigBoyAngus seems like a really good guy, and while your comment makes sense as far as notoriety is concerned, but I dont think that Angus wants to be "someone" as far as TH-cam or the internet is concerned. I also don't think that Kevin would do anything to disrespect Angus or make him feel like he's not a friend. They joke and mess with each other, as that's exactly how my friends and I joke, but if Angus is ever unhappy or doesn't want to be part of the channel I have no doubt that he'd just bow out.
Actually, a GREAT engine that the cheap ass bean counters at GM ruined simply by lack of proper head bolts an no water separator. Get a little water injected, and there goes the head gasket. I drove a couple of these well over 200k miles just by installing ARP racing head studs, and a water separator
I still kind of miss my 1980 cutlass brougham 4 door. I had new front springs installed every year for that car. The car was sold because I did not want so many cars in the yard AND I was tired of the tacky interior. It had 240,000 km on it and was running fine. Did a few trips in it to Florida (from New Brunswick) and even towed a Jag, 2+2 E-type from Toronto to Moncton on a tow dolly. That trip was in the heights of summer heat and I boiled it dry in Quebec after a couple of hours at 90 mph. We had a picnic on the side of the highway and I walked to find water, returning after the block was quite cool. She ran fine after refilling but I dialed her back to 75 for the rest of the trip. I rate this car above some much more expensive ones that I have owned
I've owned 5 of these, and worked on many more as a GM dealership tech in 1981 for numerous years. 25 years ago I had a 1983 Delta that I drove round trip 900 miles from southern Minnesota to Lemmon South Dakota and pulled back a 1967 F-100 4X4 on a car dolly. Turbo 350 lockup and still averaged 16.2 mpg. I did have a Flowmaster muffler which helped on power, because as you know, the diesel is just a big air pump, so more flow helps! Many stories!
I’m super happy to see this car run my Unkle was the 2nd owner and was going to change it to a gasser but he died and we had to sell it thanks for the video
57:00 Same in Australia, a caravan smaller then 18 feet was usually towed by a Falcon, Holden kingswood or a Valiant. I think the 90’s saw 4WD’s doing Work, family and holiday stuff. I was born ‘72 (yep, I’m old-ish) my family holidayed in the 80’s and early 90’s in a 16 foot caravan towed by a 289 XR Falcon wagon, then in ‘85 dad bought 60 series Cruiser. I still tow our 16 foot Millard with an AU falcon wagon. 🇦🇺🤙🏼
My first car was a Ford Falcon 500 XR Wagon, huge powerful 200 Superpursuit 6 and BW35 auto :) I think we are all wishing it was late 1980s to 1999 again. (I’m a 69 model)
Shame ford stopped production on the falcons. And gm shutting down holden entirely. Even though ive lived in the U.S. my whole life, i cant help but have a soft spot for those. Besides the cadillac ct5v blackwing, there arent really any rwd v8 sedans like that anymore
@@tonierbuckle0202 Yeah, well when they did, it was twenty years since GM/Ford produced things people were actually buying down here. Ironically, if we'd had falcon/holden diesel wagons/sedans it might have saved them but US GM/Ford never twigged to that. The Barra probably should have been a diesel.
A little known fact about the beloved olds diesel... in 1984, GM started casting a higher nickel content block that had the 350DX cast into the side. Although no more horse power, these were the engines that were used to replace the earlier ones that were prone to failure. The DX block solved many of the issues the earlier diesels encountered.
I had a '79 Cutlass with the 260 V8 diesel--that engine was shot at 60K miles. GM replaced it for just the labor costs with one of the '84 Mr Goodwrench 350 diesels. It was going strong at 120K miles when I sold the car. My next door neighbor had a '83 Buick Riviera with the 350 diesel. A traveling salesman, he put over 200K on that car with no engine issues, and would get 30 mpg on the highway at the then 55 mph speed limit. Many gas engine cars couldn't get half that fuel economy and diesel fuel was about 20%-40% cheaper than unleaded gasoline at that time.
Hi Kevin.... I discovered a cool trick with head gaskets. After cleaning... both sealing surfaces.. Put the head on without a gasket, and use a .001 feeler gauge to see where your gaps are. If you have a few thousanths.. then tape some 100 grit sandpaper to the block surface, or the head surface. Use the head as a sanding stone. (Think egyptians) Use short 1/4 inch strokes... and after about 10 minutes of vigourous sanding... The gaps will be gone. Of course, you will need to pop the alignment pins out...to do this. I've done a few motors this way...and as long as you close the gaps down to about .002 The gasket will take care of it...and use about 10 percent of a can of Blue Devil head gasket sealer...and you'll probably be able to get another 100K. All for now... Your friend, Bud
Angus is absolutely fantastic. He's brilliant, hilarious and incredibly talented. Bringing him on full time was a huge W. Love this for you and your channel.
Funny thing with the towing: here in Europe, especially in Germany, most of the towing happens by regular cars. Sure, there are Vans, Rangers and some Rams towing stuff but the vast majority happens by regular cars. Maybe because many people only have that one car as a daily grocery getter for the family and don´t have the fortune of having a yard full of alternatives ;)
More like because in America most of these cars are not rated for towing. In Europe there's a whole host of additional rules, insurance, and license requirements to tow anything. Depends on the country. In the US, anything rated to tow HAS to be able to do it at legal highway speed, which is 80 MPH at the highest. In the UK, for instance, you are not allowed to go over 60. That makes a huge difference.
I swapped a 94 caprice wagon with a gov rebuilt 6.2 turbo diesel. It got 37 mpg with just me and my dog. It got 28 mpg towing a 18 foot camper, had 4 people, 2 dogs and the back loaded down with camping gear and 2 loaded coolers. Air bags are definitely a good investment. You lose mpg when the car sags like that. I'd suggest a 4L80 with a 4.10 gearing. When you don't have a lot of torque. The lower gearing helps get you off the line. The overdrive helps compensate for cruise speed. In my experience. The older diesels run more efficiently between 1900-2100 rpms. They like a little heat in them.
4L80, 4.10 gearing and a 31 inch tire. Gave me 66 mph @ 2200 rpms. Even with an aerodynamic big bodied b!tch of a station wagon with a 1 inch body lift and a 2.5 inch suspension lift it was getting very good mpg. Granted it took a half hour to get up to highway speed. It had no problem staying and cruising at 66 mph and sipping black diesel like it was death wish coffee.
@@bladenrexroth2555 sounds good but wouldn't a (built for towing package) 700R4 bolt right in and work with that pigtail for the lockup converter? I mean, it came into service within a couple years of this car being built, and you can put them in earlier G and F bodies with no issues.
@@taxirob2248 I had a 4L80 from a previous project that I had already put money into. The 700R4 went to the scrap bin. It had too many issues that I didn't want to invest in.
I remember those loud obnoxious cars driving around back in the day lol I loved the ones you would see getting on the highway sometimes with a huge black cloud of exhaust coming from it to get up to highway speed 🤣🤣
Not gonna lie, that 350 diesel does actually sound good. You've got a decent (admittedly hated) engine, good transmission, frame is good, body is good, interior is very nice, I think you can get some good videos out of this car. Show it some love. Bullet-proof the engine to the extent it can be, give it a mild turbo, add power windows, probably window tint, make it a daily driver with a few update segments, then put out a "I spent 1 year with an Olds Diesel. You're not going to believe this!" video, where we get yours (and Mook's and Angus' thoughts) on it. Had I a big enough garage, I'd buy one just because the 350 diesel is so hated. You've definitely got something that doesn't have much coverage on YT.
@@HateMerchant diesels work by doing the exact opposite of what a gas engine wants: ignition via compression, otherwise known in a gas engine as pinging, or detonation. Essentially, diesels squeeze air hard enough to superheat it, then inject their fuel into that mass of compressed, superheated air, and from there they attempt as best they can to control, or direct, the combustion process as needed. Older diesels, especially naturally aspirated ones, simply used compression ratio to acquire this heat. Newer diesels also use turbochargers to cram additional air in, requiring less compression to achieve the same heat while also making more power. Anyway, higher compression typically results in a more rattly sound, it’s simply a more violent way to achieve what they need to do. Squeeze the air really, really tight.
my coworker has the 6.2 in his pickup and that thing sounds like marbles in a garbage can...he said yep that's the normal sound..i was like dude you got a rod hanging out of the block yet?..he said nope it just a gm thing
The classic car collection is: 81 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, 83 Olds 98 Regency 2 dr., 83 Eldorado, 84 Seville, very rare 85 Fleetwood d'Elegance w/half year computer controlled injection pump/engine. All 5.7 diesels. Recently sold a very original low mile 80 C-10 pickup 5.7 diesel. The Eldorado has pretty good off the line acceleration but none have the power to safely pass on a two lane road. They were a band aid solution for a huge problem of the day. Wife's favorite car was her 81 Bonneville sedan, drove it for 10 years, never let her down but one time relay stuck on the glow plugs. History has shown that the public is incapable of dealing w/challenges and most have little mechanical aptitude.
That startup made me belly laugh. As well as leaving the shed. The best engine jack is that mitsubishi forklift you have in the workshop. "Angry batch of bull frogs", that's a new one f9r describing how a diesel sounds. I love it.😂
Gotta finish up the new PBG video then I gotta come back over and watch this. All I know is it involves Angus's favorite engine ever😂....I will say that car was pretty damn mint for its age
A buddy of mine was a tech when these things came out. He helped write the manuals for Haynes. He always tells of one that he worked on in backasswoods Oklahoma that came it with a huge knock. He took it to his rack after driving it around the block, started to strip it down and found one of the pistons and part of its rod in the pan. It drove in. These things suck but ultimately they can be hard to kill.
You guys have really hit your stride (again) with these past few "taking a shit car on a roadtrip" videos. You and Angus seem to be having a riot and it really translates into the show. It's fantastic! Keep it up! PS: You're to blame for me buying two barn find MG TFs this week so I hope youre happy with yourselves.
Listen to that diesel knock 😂. It does sound like a d9. Gotta love that sound! That thing is MINT man. And angus, it’s a diesel, it’s suppose to knock 😂.
They redesigned the fuel pump to get rid of that ring that fails way back in the 80's if I remember correctly. I was a GM tech in the 80's and worked on several of the 5.7's, head gaskets and fuel pump were the main problems.
I just went throught the same issue on a late 60s diesel tractor. The governor ring in the roosa master pump is made with a material somewhere between plastic and rubber which degrades over time. At least for the roosa master pumps they make a metal ring as a replacement
Had a ‘83 Buick with that engine. I had the transmission fail 3 times. The final rebuild was done using motorhome trans kit and it finally worked. That Standyne injection pump was a piece of crap and a constant source of problems and adjustments. The head gasket finally let go at about 87 thousand miles.
Years ago my pipe organ teacher had a 78 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham diesel. At 120,000 miles it was on engine number 3, the newest and last generation of the engine. This was in 86. My car was a 78 Buick Electra Limited with the Buick 350. As close a comparison as possible. Same year, same displacement, same GM platform. The Buick used significantly less fuel, as well having enough performance to get out of its own way. The 3 speed automatic in the diesel is a dreadfully weak Turbo 250. If this has been upgraded, be thankful. I also had an 84 Delta 88 Royale 2 door. The trailer towing package came with heavy duty springs and shocks, the Turbo 350 instead of the 200R4. Without the towing package, you were limited to a 2,000 pound trailer. My 84 also had the "Gage Paxkage" set into that recess where you have the rear defrost switch. Cars did used to have significant towing ratings. My one of one 89 Grand Marquis had a factory 351W and Trailer Towing Package that gave a 6,000 pound towing package. My 76 Thunderbird also had a 6,000 pound rating. 71-76 full sized GM sedans could be rated with a 7,000 pound rating.
They are significant tow ratings. As a comparison, in Australia from the 70's right up to 2010 our 2 full size Aussie built cars were the Ford Falcon and the Holden Commodore. The Falcon had a tow rating of 2300kgs (5000 pound) and the Commodore had a bit less at 2100kg.
I had to go through the same return fitting glass check ball thing when restoring a big inline six military diesel generator, except it didn't run correctly like that so had to obtain a new one and it was fine. Some said punching the ball out worked for those, but not for me.
My dad had a regal with t tops fully loaded with the olds diesel. The original sticker price was like 27k. It blew a headgasket not long after he got it, my dad was resourceful, the block had puckered around all the headbolts and he (probably could) couldn't afford taking it to the machine shop. So he bought good flat files and filed the deck flat, he said he pretty well had to go back and buy every file the store had, but he managed. He done this in the dirt driveway over a weekend I believe. I was little when he done this but I do remember him working on it. Then it spit out rods, so he bought another car with the same 5.7 diesel and swapped it in.... I was just a kid when they sold the car but I remember loving that thing
Sorry, nobody paid $27k for a diesel Regal. The base price for the '79 Regal was around $5k. By 1985, the price had ballooned to double that. But still nowhere near $27k. There were no diesel Regals after 1985. I also suspect they were practically giving away any remaining diesels by that point. Decking a block with a file isn't easy to do and it is highly likely that in doing so he increased the compression ratio a bit which could be enough to start throwing rods. Those motors were running within an inch of their life anyway because they were gasoline engines that someone ludicrously decided to turn into diesels, while retaining a high degree of parts interchangeability with the parent engine. If the head bolts didn't break first, they would gradually stretch, not only the bolts, but the metal they were threaded into. Then, you blow a head gasket. Then you file down the deck and run it some more with even higher compression and you start throwing rods. I once ground a rod for an 0.010 bearing by hand and that took me a couple of days but that car is still running 14 years later. So I can't imagine the results were great from decking a V8 block with files in a weekend. The biggest problem with the Olds Diesel was that almost nobody knew how to take care of them. They had to be well maintained and couldn't be neglected or abused because the motor had an almost nonexistent margin for error. Completely overstressed motor, all the way around. People were used to gas powered V8s which could be neglected and abused and keep on going.
Kevin please, please, PLEASE turbocharge, put a front mount intercooler, aftermarket injectors, fuel pump, and make a 350 diesel Olds a towing monster.
@@JunkyardDigsmodern head gaskets and head studs and a water separator usually take care of these engines pretty good these engines were actually pretty reliable if gone through but not Factory though
So it already cant handle its stock level n you wanna level it up😂 mad man! Would be fun to see but not 2 be😂 😂 the maf man in me can see the vision bit with a supercharger not a turdnogo like a 1980s sounding super charger the new like dodge ones kinda sound terrible when held up to that iconic whine makes me think of mad max shpuld rewatch
I know absolute 0 about cars, don’t work on em or nothing but I LOVE watching your videos! My family owned an old 55 Chevy in fire engine red that we had in car shows for years, so the love is there. The Junkyard Digs group is hilarious and fun to watch. Thank you for sharing the knowledge and keep it up!
Hey Kevin, if you’re looking for more information on these engines and how to make them live, there are quite a few 5.7 diesel groups on Facebook. Also I second adding some fuel conditioner when you fill it up, or at least a couple splashes of two-stroke oil in the tank. The pumps don’t like the new ultra low sulphur diesel. Something a lot of people don’t know about the idi diesel, when you fire them up cold if it’s above 32°F you hold the go pedal halfway and if it’s below 32 you hold it all the way to the floor. Obviously let off when it kicks over. I don’t know if the 5.7 has it, but I know the 6.2 diesel trucks have a sticker on the driver side sunvisor explaining this, it’s also written in the owners manual.
Can they run on biodiesel? He's doing some hobby farming, could make his own from soybeans for a bit of fun. Biodiesel is a much better lubricant than petrodiesel.
I owned a 5.7 litre Oldsmobile diesel. With the injector pump in the valley between the heads, it heats up the injector pump and cooks the gaskets inside the pump. The aluminum rocker studs wear out at about 50K miles, so I had to rebuild the injector pump and rocker posts about every 50K miles. It's a turtle in city traffic, but loves the open highway. I got about 35 MPG on long trips. Good luck.
Pretty sure diesels still run the injection pump there today, also the rockers are stamped steal, just like all the other motors. Definitely problem prone though!
Awesome! You guys have grown a ton. Love the content, especially the square bodies. I've wanted one since I was a little boy. Too bad everyone has jacked the prices up through the roof! Thanks for the laughs and knowledge.
My Grandmother had one of those nightmare diesels. She got duped by the salesman and bought it. After 2 years and 10 times in the dealer to be fixed. My cousin Ernie pulled it out and put in a gasoline 350 Chevy. Swapped the fuel tank as well. The car ran forever after that.
Kevin, if you haven’t already consider it, please consider scanning that manual and uploading the file to where like the Internet Archive. That way it would be way more accessible to the regular Joe Schmoe than in the middle of a TH-cam video.
LOL...that engine! My father had a Cadillac Fleetwood in the early eighties with that engine. Our cottage has a rather steep driveway. That POS could only get the car half way up. It would just stop with thye pedal pressed down to the floor...that car was gone the next week.
My parents bought a '79 Delta 88 Diesel from my father's uncle. He had meticulous service records for this vehicle and and my dad kept up on the maintenance. It died at 79,000 miles in 1987. When we pulled the engine we found out that the crankshaft had broken in half and one of the main bearings pierced the oil pan.
I had a 1979 Cadillac Seville with a Olds diesel engine and I absolutely HATED it . I gave up at around 62,000 miles and took out the diesel engine and put in a 350 gas engine in it. Drove great from then on. Basically a beautiful car. An old neighbor man really loved the Cadillac so I sold it to him for nothing. He drove it for 6-5 years until a quick oil change place messed up the engine. ( rhymes with jiffy ) . Thanks
My first and only engine rebuild was a 6.2 gm diesel. That’s also the engine I grew up with in my parents suburban. I’m not sure how similar or different they were from the 350 diesel, but a lot of that looked and definitely sounded the same. I’ll always love them
The 6.2l detroit had nothing to do with the gm 350 gas engine. It was a diesel engine built from the ground up to be a diesel engine, and as such was very sturdy. The 5.7 detroit only had problems because it was a lame attempt to redo the 350 gas engine into a diesel. If there is any similarity to the 6.2, it's incidental.
I love it when you guys venture out into something more unusual compared to the normal stuff you revive. Also the videos are even more entertaining with angus around
OK, as a kid in the UK during the 70's my Dad used to haul a folding caravan (Like a trailer tent but all plywood) with a 850cc Mini van....Yeah, that's right, an Austin Mini commercial wit a 850cc , four cylinder, Austin model A engine. Loved that car.
I worked for Olds dealers from ‘79 to ‘82 and experienced my share of these diesels. Parents even had a Toronado diesel. They made improvements in later years, but I gotta say this video brought back some nice memories.😎🍺
Those big olds are great cars! I had several of them with the 307 and loved them. Always wanted one with the 5.7 diesel Could never find one I had a 1979 c10 with the 5.7 diesel and was a great truck and did amazing fuel mileage I love them old gm diesel I still daily drive my 1994 c15 diesel 6.5 non turbo Love it! ❤
I can't believe you even found one of those Olds Diesels. I thought they had all been scrapped by now. I was a mechanic at an Olds dealership in those days. Most customers opted to swap in a gasoline engine after the diesel engines broke 5 or 6 times in a row.
My dad almost bought my '78 Pontiac Parisienne with this engine. Thank god he changed his mind and got the chevy 350 in it! Made the 454 swap easy. Fun vid. In coil air bags are cheap and work very well on these cars for hauling.
They made 440 stroker gas motors using a crank rods and pistons from a 425 olds big block and the deasel blocks back in the day but its hard to find the parts to do it now joe mondello racing used to sell kits .
I noticed in your manual, thankfully, the 1981 has an upgraded trans. due to the issues in 1980. Here is what internet told me about our 1980, and is spot on. "Yes, the 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Diesel did have a TH200C transmission1. The TH200C was a type of automatic transmission produced by General Motors. However, it’s worth noting that the TH200 “Metric” was considered one of the least robust rear-wheel-drive (RWD) automatic transmissions GM had designed. It was barely adequate behind a late 70’s/early 80’s V6, let alone any V8 of the era"
I owned a 1980 Cutlass Supreme Diesel 350, my parents gave to me. The later engines came factory with upgraded studs, and pretty much solved the blown gasket issues. Studs were bigger diameter. Weak link is the TH200C trans. My dad was part of a class-action against GM. Really weak parts inside. Mine broke leaving a drive-thru window, parked it, car was really nice, so a car-buying place on Autotrader back then gave me $350 cash. This was 1988. When dad had it, the oil embargo was on big time, Japanese cars were just getting a foothold. Dad got well over 30 MPG driving the 325 miles to Mammoth to ski. Week in, and week out.
I have 3 of these great engines. One in my -79 El Camino, one under construction and one in my 5.7 Diesel Boss Hoss motorcycle project. I love the sound, smell and attitude of these engines.
Have fun when they throw a rod through your leg on that Boss Hoss. These are not diesel engines; they are gasoline engines someone decided to pump diesel fuel into. Like 99% of the tooling and components were used directly from the 350 with zero modification. This is why they blew head gaskets all the time. If the head bolts managed to hold up to the excessive strain for any length of time, they would deform the block by stretching out the holes, which were too small. They either needed to use Titanium bolts (would have made it double the cost at that time) or to redesign the block and cast it from high tensile steel instead of iron. They needed head bolts a couple of sizes thicker and a few more of them. They also needed a better gasket than the standard OEM one for the 350 (or parent engine of whatever other variant.
I had a 1981 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon with the dreaded 350 diesel. Beautiful car but what a piece of crap engine. It wouldn't start when hot, you'd have to wait for it to cool down. Every time. Sometimes it wouldn't start at all. And smoke? Yep. I finally swapped it out with a 350 Olds gas engine.
Did you find the vacuum pump ? Clean out the head bolt holes in the block with a bottoming tap because there is a lot of sand in the head bolt holes. If you don't the head gasket will blow again.
So what I heard from the Sunday Ad was "Do you wanna have less time to work on your car and more time mowing your grass then we have the product for you!!!" Bahahaha
Get your limited time I HATE HEADGASKETS shirt here!!
www.junkyarddigs.com/shop/p/oldsmobile-diesel
HEYYY NEW VID!
hello gasket
Which model/ year is the olds? I can’t find the first video. I wanted to see how it wasn’t recommended for towing like angus said LOL
@@pezgoon1- it’s an ‘81, unsure of model, my guess is Eighty Eight 🤷♂️
According to your explanation, you put the wrong head gasket on the shirt!!!! Love it tho
When I was a kid we had a neighbor, old Jimmie - he was a old school trucker that worked for CF. Jimmie loved diesels and he absolutely loved picking up these GM diesels for pennies. This was mid 80s when they were a couple years old but people were dumping them for pennies on the dollar. He had a couple and he always laughed how cheap he got them and could do a couple basic things to them to make them run "great". I loved riding in them, and watching his dog when he was out of town driving and his wife was riding with him.
RIP Jimmie, you taught me a lot. I'm not sure if you were right about early 80s GM Diesels but you sure loved the damn things.
With a name like Jimmie, he shoulda' been playing around with 2t Detroits.
He sounds like a great dude!!
Rest in peace Jimmie
He sounded like a nice guy
Worked for CF huh? Probably drove Freightliner cabovers with 8V71 Detroits at one point.
Sounds like a real honest fella. God rest his soul.
That car literally sounded like a 379 Peterbilt coming out of that shed! 😂😂
My first Semi I drove had a 60 series gm in it. the bores were glazed up but you couldn't kill it with a stick. Looking back that That worn out Western Star was one of the best pieces of old shite I ever drove and it never gave me any trouble.
@@peterpenberthy2918 worked on a 2000 freightliner FL series with a dodge magnum engine. never thought id see that
🤣😂🤣😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
peterbilt is a tad bit quieter.
Fellow Iowan here. Since I live 20 miles from the University of Iowa, when I was a student from 1991-95, I made the daily commute in my 1980 Olds Delta 88 Royale diesel equipped almost identical to yours (no clock or rear defrost). August 1994 I took a road trip from Iowa to Michigan, 900+ miles, without incident. It rode like a yacht and was a great road trip car.
The fuel economy was great. Parts were easy to find. The engine never failed me. The transmission and exhaust…those did.
THANK YOU for not gas-swapping the engine and spending the time to fix it up instead. Much more interesting and you did a great job showing your work!
👍👍👍👍👍👍
My thoughts exactly. I love the fact they saved that engine even though it's awful lol.
The car is way to ugly to waste a 350 gas motor on it. If you couldn't fix the diesel, I would suggest an inline 6 like maybe the one out of the Burnt Turd. Such a 6 would probably still tow faster than the diesel. Plus I hear inline 6s are the smoothest, which goes well with luxury cars.
A gas swap would be really nice in that car...330, 350, 403, 425, 455...or a Chevy maybe
@@hendo337 The diesel works fine now, plus the smooth 250 inline 6 from the Burnt Turd would be both smoother and more efficient in that boxy non-performance car.
As a professional diesel mechanic who specializes in GM's and Detroit's I really enjoy when you get these as I can never find them near me. It's also vindicating when you have to call for advice with them since I often have trouble with carbs and have to refer to your videos. We are all good at different things! Sorry Angus but I want to see more diesels, Maybe a 1980's VW diesel soon? Those make the 5.7L Oldsmobile look like a powerhouse.
My dad had an 80's diesel rabbit that was fun to drive. I bet all the 80's VW's are rusted to the ground in that part of the country.
Om617 please
My buddy in highschool picked up a 83 vw golf diesel 5spd they had swapped out the head but couldn't get it running after putting it back together car was metallic brown and it had some rust on the bottom of the car but after cracking open the air lines and a few vw diesel tech suggestions he drove his $300 car two years in highschool until he found a 70 Ford f100 two tone light on top dark blue on the bottom 302 automatic he drove non stop after he got the truck
A Mercedes OM612 diesel would be awesome. Revive a 300D with a 4 speed manual and road trip it, those are such well built cars
OM 606 with a billet pump and big injectors.
I still have a '79 Toronado diesel that has 160,000 miles on it, original block reringed at 120K. I'm surprised you made it that far with the pump going out! Back in the day my dad and I had a diesel repair shop and worked on lots of these. We always used the thicker head gasket whenever we replaced them to lower the compression a bit for durability but also to give more piston to head clearance as a common problem was carbon buildup that would do things like hammer the upper ring groove tight, knock out wrist pin bushings and even break cranks. This was usually an issue on city driven vehicles that didn't get up some highway speed and clean the carbon out once in awhile. A lot of times I'd do a service on one that wasn't running so great, take it out for a drive and pin it on the governor in second for a mile or so, the highway would dissapear in a cloud of soot behind me but eventually it would clean up, get back to the shop and it would be running like a million bucks. Couple suggestion I'd recommend is disabling the EGR valve so it isn't plugging up the intake with soot and run a fuel additive that lubricates the pump and injectors. I use both Diesel kleen and Lucas upper cylinder in mine.
Great to see a few of these dinosaurs still alive!
Egr is the last thing you need on something like this
Disabling the EGR valve? I can just hear the screams of outrage from the environmental militants and the Consumers Reports demographic !
How much you want for it?
My ex wife bought a olds98 in 80, it was okay. Very plush for the time.
I am glad these 1h+ long videos do well, they are some of favorite content on youtube.
Best after a long ahh day at work relaxation content ngl
👍👍👍👍
It became 1h+ because the car was so slow :D
Kevin=optimism
Angus=realism
Dalton = fatalism.
mook = nihilist
Both = Autism
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Good working combinations !. I worked with someone an opposite outlook to me, it always worked out well…..great times.
My late stepfather was a huge fan of the 350 diesel. He had 3 Cadillacs and two Oldsmobiles with that engine. 2 of the Cadillacs and 1 Oldsmobile were mint low mile survivors. 1 of each was a daily driver. He put over 400,000 miles on one of the Cadillacs and on of the Oldsmobiles. He said as long as you added a aftermarket water separator to the cars and bought stronger aftermarket headbolts they will run forever. I know the water separator is crucial and have seen beefier aftermarket headbolts advertised. I wish I could have gotten one of the low mile survivors but they all went to an estate auction and sold for ridiculous prices.
Funny how nobody wanted them back in the day but you put a pristine example of a car where there aren't a lot of examples left, it doesn't matter if it was a shit car absolutely nobody remembers fondly (some just didn't hate it as much as others). Objectively, the Olds diesel was one of the worst engines ever produced by GM. It singlehandedly destroyed the diesel car market in the US. Because of how Americans of that era were even more ignorant than they are today, even though Mercedes and Volvo sold perfectly reliable diesel cars, even those fell by the wayside because Americans tend to think if we fail at building a diesel car then surely nobody can make a good diesel car, right? America is so nationalistic, we're on the verge of being the next Nazi Germany. Just a never ending back-patting party where we pretend we're better than everyone else. We literally only recognize the Wright brothers as the first to achieve powered flight because we conveniently ignore all the evidence that this is unlikely to be true, at least if the Wright Flyer is the standard for powered, controlled flight, lol. I consider Curtiss to have built the first usable airplane which matters way more than some half assed experimentation. Curtiss invented ailerons, without which, airplanes never could have been anything more than glorified kites putting along lazily at 40mph.
In 1980, my dad speculated that gas prices were going to soar, so he bought an Olds Cutlass Diesel and the car *never* ran right. Besides the craptacular engine, the AC condensate outlet plugged up easily and would drain into the passenger footwell. In 1984 I got it into a car accident and after it was assessed, my dad had a conversation like this: "I'm really torn. You didn't quite destroy it enough. I could choose to not get it repaired, take a credit hit and let the bank repossess it or I could get it fixed and we're stuck with it." He got it fixed. Wrong choice.
We had one, too. They kept making that turd until 1984. My dad kept heat lamps under the fuel tank in the winter to keep it from gelling. We stocked up on STP fuel treatment in the fall because truckers would take it all in the wintertime. With all the problems we had, it got 24 miles per gallon.
Happens when you use a gasoline engine design as a base for your diesel engine. Bad bore and stroke ratio for a diesel. No water separator and of course the head bolt issues. We had one as a loaner for a few months back in the 90s and it was such a pos. Dealership used them as service vehicles cause no one wanted them. The Olds 350 diesel probably single handedly killed the diesel engine for passenger vehicles in the US for a long time.
I had one. What a piece of total trash
@@Cragifiedwell except in trucks there were a ton of trucks with the perfectly reliable 6.2...
@@Wingnut353 Trucks weren't (and still legally aren't) classed as passenger vehicles in the 80s. You had single cab bench seating cause the point was the bed to do work, not be a pavement princess with a useless 6ft bed.
I'm a mechanic in the military, and let me tell you, that startup after the head gasket repair sounded almost identical to a Humvee
Virtually the same injection system so they would sound the same.
@@Amberlynn_ReidGrow up child, mechanics aren’t on the front lines
@@Amberlynn_Reid well I haven't been responsible for fixing a vehicle that actually goes out in combat. No, I haven't killed anybody, and if I did, why would that be important information when I was simply talking about a vehicle?
@@noshsreqd ah, that makes sense.
@@joeldowell5059 ✈ 🏢 🏢💥
I should hope so! I towed a corvette on a car trailer from Montery, CA to LA over Tejon Summit in July behind a 1979 Cad Seville with an Oldsmobile diesel in it.
Rules for this diesel were:
1. Replace head gaskets at about 60K,
2. Replace head gaskets and injector pump at 120K,
3. Change oil every 3K.
Nothing else went wrong, except for belts and hoses.
Drove that car for 300K miles.
PS We owned *2 more* Cad Diesels during from 1988 through 2004. My mother drove an 81 Sedan De Ville and l also bought a 79 El Dorado. That one had an extra fuel tank in the trunk, so it could hold enough for a 1K Mile RT to LA/OC from the Monterey Peninsula: It ran at about 30 mog average at 65 mph.
That phone call to Wyatt and getting priceless information that gave you a roadside fix in 5 minutes to get you back on your way is a perfectly distilled example of what the car community is all about.
Lol Angus' casual suggestion of towing the boat home with the skid loader.
380 miles of backroads would be quite the video
My uncle has a Cat 966 front end loader from the 1950's........and that turbo, indirect injection diesel engine was a major pain in the ass, because of head gasket leaks. He eventually came across the solution......he put anti-seize on the head bolt threads and did them up to spec.........which makes the bolts much tighter and the head gasket stopped leaking. Its been perfectly reliable ever since.
My old college buddy bought an Olds 88 diesel with over 150,000 miles on it and drove it from Iowa to Alaska. Then drove it three more years with no issues ever. I drove it several as l times & a 600 mile trip. Never a problem. Very comfortable road car
❤❤❤❤❤❤
Holy hell
Some engines are just built different or they have someone like my grandpa who changes the fluids every 2 months and doing mostly highway miles. Tho he was a truck driver and always complained about other people breakthing their stuff, so maybe its not that bad after all.
Angus is not lying about specifically not towing with that engine. I bought a clean 1981 Chevrolet Scotsdale C1500 RCLB 5.7 Diesel to rob the body for my ugly, but reliable, 1985 K10. The engine puked fuel everywhere from a completely shot return system. The truck even came with it's owner's manuals including the 350 diesel pamphlet. I very plainly said DO NOT TOW with this vehicle and had some ridiculous limitation of how much weight you could put in the bed. The body was a lovely cream over metallic brown two-tone, however, and I got a kick out of everybody asking why my hood ornament said "Diesel" and the Scotsdale fender badges also said diesel.
IDK what GM was thinking.....a diesel truck that you can't tow with, and they made awesome Detroit diesel engines at the time for HD trucks and equipment. It's customer's were so disappointed no doubt.
It's like GM invented the cream puff truck 35 years in the past!
They should pull a camper to the races this year with this thing!
@@richardbaumgart2454 Most diesel engines back then in cars and trucks were just alternative fuel engines meant for fuel economy and not performance.
@@MattsRageFitGarage yep, they were looking into fuel mileage , not HP and torque for towing things. This little beauty poppin out 30 MPGs was nice, and that 16 towing the boat was a nice surprise also.
I've read several big issues on these diesels when they came out...
1) Around 1980 there was a fuel shortage, and apparently it was much more common than average to end up with water in your diesel. There was a procedure for this on them, but you know, it left a bad impression when someone bought it and then ran into fuel problems.
2) I've read the dealerships often just didn't know what to do with them in terms of service and repair.
(That's in addition to it being a bad engine -- it's a gas 350 converted to diesel. And slow as hell.)
"Around 1980 there was a fuel shortage" Yep, the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Gas got so expensive in Houston we had even/odd license plate days at the gas station rationing. The summer of '79 was endless lines and people fighting at gas pumps. Thieves would steal gas out of your tank at night so several neighbors got lockable gas caps.
Love this video! I have had 6 of these diesels over the years. The only reason the head gasket leaks is when the head bolts break. GM went weak on the bolts. Replace with ARP Stud kit for that engine and you will not have any issues. I have done 3 engines that were running good. Replace the head bolts with head studs one at a time in the torque sequence. You don't have to take the engine apart or even drain the coolant. Once studs are in you are good to go. I drove one 10 years over 110K miles with not loosing a drop of coolant after stud install. DX block is upgraded with roller lifters and stronger materials.
Thicker main webs in the DX to after the Olds blocks took a hit in durability in 77 I believe it was with the windowed mains.
if the head bolts don't break, eventually they start pulling the lugs right out of the block. Nothing in that engine was as strong as it should have been. And you really should not only do the head bolts but should also be installing helicoils because no matter how strong the replacement bolts/studs are, they are still threaded into a block material that is too weak to properly bear the threads. The bolts would be 2-3 sizes too thin for the application and that means insufficient thread bearing area for the load being contained. You need a much higher torque spec on diesel engine heads and 350 head bolts are way to thin to even handle the proper torque. The heads were really just a couple of slide hammers, pulling the head bolts right out of the block the hard way.
Just because you didn't experience it, a lot of people ended up with warped decks that caused head gasket blowout when the bolts failed to break and the holes would pucker out. Literally stretching the whole block with each detonation.
Also, 'make a few modifications and it will last longer' can be said about almost any motor. But nothing could ever totally compensate for an abomination of an engine that really shouldn't have existed in the first place. Olds singlehandedly destroyed the diesel car market in the US for every manufacturer, both foreign and domestic.
@@Lurch-Bot I think I would place the blame on corporate GM for rushing the whole thing. The Olds 350 traditionally is a great engine and I don't think Olds was against making a better piece of equipment as much as GM rushed the whole process and just assumed the otherwise super reliable engine could be converted over, have some block strengthing and call it day. Corporate GM has a way of ruining its divisions. Look at what's left of Buick now, we dont even sell a car🤦
Definitely would be a good engine if you replaced the bad parts and she will go good
Angus is so perfect on this channel. He's exactly what we needed. The content has been top notch
👍👍👍👍
15:46 it's my understanding that the head bolts were the biggest problem, and upgraded bolts were available from GM
Now that you've swapped the head bolts, and with a rebuilt pump, you can probably sell it at an actual profit.
Anybody can get an old GM gas engine running. Only mad men would run an olds diesel. And for that, I thank you.
I love these episodes with the Olds Diesel. So rare now and a flashback to a time GM would like to forget. Keep em coming, someone has to keep these old engine alive.
It’s too late for that engine. If someone 40 years ago did all of the correct mods and fixes back then, I would agree.
We have to keep them alive, even if the engines themselves really don't want to 🤣🤣
@@wallacegrommet9343 Since the correct fix was a whole engine block, I'm not sure that many people back in the day would have chosen it, given the expense.
Needs a turbo or supercharger.
There is no way the heads would stay on that poor motor if it was boosted
Mannn i started watching when you first started the page “less the 1.5k followers” when you were starting up old junk cars with buddy and i havent watched you in about 2 years and to click on this video and see how far youve come completely amazes me, you deserve it and keep up the hard work guys so many people look up to yall for keeping a good legacy going 👌🏻
Idk how my grandfather did it. But he had one of these that when he passed away it had 430,000 documented miles( he did every single service at the dealer from new) never replaced the engine. Did head gaskets at 235,000 miles.
God bless granddad he took care of his stuff
Dam!!
@@tedbell4416 he had to he traveled for work. That’s why he got the diesel. I took on that trait from him I’ve owned 4 vehicles that have made it past 400k miles so far current truck is at 501k last one was 543k
He was one of the lucky ones.
I believe Angus is looking for a new job. Seems the boss likes to pick on him in these last few episodes. Lol. Loving the content!
@@LeroyBigBoyAngus seems like a really good guy, and while your comment makes sense as far as notoriety is concerned, but I dont think that Angus wants to be "someone" as far as TH-cam or the internet is concerned. I also don't think that Kevin would do anything to disrespect Angus or make him feel like he's not a friend. They joke and mess with each other, as that's exactly how my friends and I joke, but if Angus is ever unhappy or doesn't want to be part of the channel I have no doubt that he'd just bow out.
@@LeroyBigBoy Comments in good fun dude, chill.
its anus,you spelled it wrong!!!lol
@@Brock_Landers name is anus!!!
Angus actually appears to be a very good actor and seems to take stuff in stride.
The way that Angus hated it in the beginning,then was absolutely loving it when they got the engine back in it. 😂
Angus being full time is awesome. The dynamic between the 2 of you makes me laugh multiple times every episode!
Actually, a GREAT engine that the cheap ass bean counters at GM ruined simply by lack of proper head bolts an no water separator. Get a little water injected, and there goes the head gasket. I drove a couple of these well over 200k miles just by installing ARP racing head studs, and a water separator
Exactly what these need. Then you can add a turbo. 👍🏼
@@kbschulzemmmmmmm Turbo.! 😉
I still kind of miss my 1980 cutlass brougham 4 door. I had new front springs installed every year for that car. The car was sold because I did not want so many cars in the yard AND I was tired of the tacky interior. It had 240,000 km on it and was running fine. Did a few trips in it to Florida (from New Brunswick) and even towed a Jag, 2+2 E-type from Toronto to Moncton on a tow dolly. That trip was in the heights of summer heat and I boiled it dry in Quebec after a couple of hours at 90 mph. We had a picnic on the side of the highway and I walked to find water, returning after the block was quite cool. She ran fine after refilling but I dialed her back to 75 for the rest of the trip.
I rate this car above some much more expensive ones that I have owned
I've owned 5 of these, and worked on many more as a GM dealership tech in 1981 for numerous years. 25 years ago I had a 1983 Delta that I drove round trip 900 miles from southern Minnesota to Lemmon South Dakota and pulled back a 1967 F-100 4X4 on a car dolly. Turbo 350 lockup and still averaged 16.2 mpg. I did have a Flowmaster muffler which helped on power, because as you know, the diesel is just a big air pump, so more flow helps! Many stories!
is there a fix for them?
I bet that made this car sound bad ass.. a nice 3.5 inch eaxust with a turbo😊
1:09:39 “The Angry Batch Of Bullfrogs under our hood has pulled it off… Le shop” Best JYD quote I’ve ever heard.
I’m super happy to see this car run my Unkle was the 2nd owner and was going to change it to a gasser but he died and we had to sell it thanks for the video
57:00 Same in Australia, a caravan smaller then 18 feet was usually towed by a Falcon, Holden kingswood or a Valiant. I think the 90’s saw 4WD’s doing Work, family and holiday stuff. I was born ‘72 (yep, I’m old-ish) my family holidayed in the 80’s and early 90’s in a 16 foot caravan towed by a 289 XR Falcon wagon, then in ‘85 dad bought 60 series Cruiser. I still tow our 16 foot Millard with an AU falcon wagon. 🇦🇺🤙🏼
My first car was a Ford Falcon 500 XR Wagon, huge powerful 200 Superpursuit 6 and BW35 auto :)
I think we are all wishing it was late 1980s to 1999 again. (I’m a 69 model)
Shame ford stopped production on the falcons. And gm shutting down holden entirely. Even though ive lived in the U.S. my whole life, i cant help but have a soft spot for those. Besides the cadillac ct5v blackwing, there arent really any rwd v8 sedans like that anymore
@@tonierbuckle0202 Yeah, well when they did, it was twenty years since GM/Ford produced things people were actually buying down here. Ironically, if we'd had falcon/holden diesel wagons/sedans it might have saved them but US GM/Ford never twigged to that. The Barra probably should have been a diesel.
A little known fact about the beloved olds diesel... in 1984, GM started casting a higher nickel content block that had the 350DX cast into the side. Although no more horse power, these were the engines that were used to replace the earlier ones that were prone to failure. The DX block solved many of the issues the earlier diesels encountered.
I think I saw a "350DX" on the side of the block in this video :-)
Tragic that GM didn't do it right the first time. It wasn't due to lack of expert advice
I had a '79 Cutlass with the 260 V8 diesel--that engine was shot at 60K miles. GM replaced it for just the labor costs with one of the '84 Mr Goodwrench 350 diesels. It was going strong at 120K miles when I sold the car. My next door neighbor had a '83 Buick Riviera with the 350 diesel. A traveling salesman, he put over 200K on that car with no engine issues, and would get 30 mpg on the highway at the then 55 mph speed limit. Many gas engine cars couldn't get half that fuel economy and diesel fuel was about 20%-40% cheaper than unleaded gasoline at that time.
Right. The DX block solved the "righty-tighty-OOPS!-righty-loosey" problem with the head bolt threads.
Those DX diesel blocks were a popular base for building Olds race engines back in the day
Hi Kevin.... I discovered a cool trick with head gaskets. After cleaning... both sealing surfaces.. Put the head on without a gasket, and use a .001 feeler gauge to see where your gaps are. If you have a few thousanths.. then tape some 100 grit sandpaper to the block surface, or the head surface. Use the head as a sanding stone. (Think egyptians) Use short 1/4 inch strokes... and after about 10 minutes of vigourous sanding... The gaps will be gone. Of course, you will need to pop the alignment pins out...to do this. I've done a few motors this way...and as long as you close the gaps down to about .002 The gasket will take care of it...and use about 10 percent of a can of Blue Devil head gasket sealer...and you'll probably be able to get another 100K. All for now... Your friend, Bud
Angus is absolutely fantastic. He's brilliant, hilarious and incredibly talented. Bringing him on full time was a huge W. Love this for you and your channel.
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Glad to see Angus was prepared for the worst. He wore his safety glasses with the side shields for the whole trip!
Funny thing with the towing: here in Europe, especially in Germany, most of the towing happens by regular cars. Sure, there are Vans, Rangers and some Rams towing stuff but the vast majority happens by regular cars. Maybe because many people only have that one car as a daily grocery getter for the family and don´t have the fortune of having a yard full of alternatives ;)
What about the romanian guys pulling 4 cars at once with a washed up Mercedes ML? Those convoys are quite common.
More like because in America most of these cars are not rated for towing. In Europe there's a whole host of additional rules, insurance, and license requirements to tow anything. Depends on the country. In the US, anything rated to tow HAS to be able to do it at legal highway speed, which is 80 MPH at the highest. In the UK, for instance, you are not allowed to go over 60. That makes a huge difference.
I could never live there!
@@Nick-ue7iwOn the UK you would be off the island if you drove 60 mph for a couple hours.
This was great, I love when people fix weird things instead of ditching them, perfect example of the spirit of the diy guy
I swapped a 94 caprice wagon with a gov rebuilt 6.2 turbo diesel. It got 37 mpg with just me and my dog. It got 28 mpg towing a 18 foot camper, had 4 people, 2 dogs and the back loaded down with camping gear and 2 loaded coolers. Air bags are definitely a good investment. You lose mpg when the car sags like that.
I'd suggest a 4L80 with a 4.10 gearing. When you don't have a lot of torque. The lower gearing helps get you off the line. The overdrive helps compensate for cruise speed. In my experience. The older diesels run more efficiently between 1900-2100 rpms. They like a little heat in them.
4L80, 4.10 gearing and a 31 inch tire. Gave me 66 mph @ 2200 rpms. Even with an aerodynamic big bodied b!tch of a station wagon with a 1 inch body lift and a 2.5 inch suspension lift it was getting very good mpg.
Granted it took a half hour to get up to highway speed. It had no problem staying and cruising at 66 mph and sipping black diesel like it was death wish coffee.
@@bladenrexroth2555 sounds good but wouldn't a (built for towing package) 700R4 bolt right in and work with that pigtail for the lockup converter? I mean, it came into service within a couple years of this car being built, and you can put them in earlier G and F bodies with no issues.
@@taxirob2248 I had a 4L80 from a previous project that I had already put money into. The 700R4 went to the scrap bin. It had too many issues that I didn't want to invest in.
@@bladenrexroth2555 that’s where a 700R4 belongs…..
Yeah I swapped out my girl friends Dido out with a gov 6.2 got good results.
I remember those loud obnoxious cars driving around back in the day lol I loved the ones you would see getting on the highway sometimes with a huge black cloud of exhaust coming from it to get up to highway speed 🤣🤣
Angus had me laughing before the first 10 minutes. Thank you after this week I really needed it.
gotta love love Angus.....
Not gonna lie, that 350 diesel does actually sound good. You've got a decent (admittedly hated) engine, good transmission, frame is good, body is good, interior is very nice, I think you can get some good videos out of this car. Show it some love. Bullet-proof the engine to the extent it can be, give it a mild turbo, add power windows, probably window tint, make it a daily driver with a few update segments, then put out a "I spent 1 year with an Olds Diesel. You're not going to believe this!" video, where we get yours (and Mook's and Angus' thoughts) on it.
Had I a big enough garage, I'd buy one just because the 350 diesel is so hated. You've definitely got something that doesn't have much coverage on YT.
thats the rattliest sounding diesel I've ever heard
Sound like it’s going to dies when sitting lol
@@HateMerchant22.5 compression will do that
@@zf9903 why does that make it more rattly?
@@HateMerchant diesels work by doing the exact opposite of what a gas engine wants: ignition via compression, otherwise known in a gas engine as pinging, or detonation. Essentially, diesels squeeze air hard enough to superheat it, then inject their fuel into that mass of compressed, superheated air, and from there they attempt as best they can to control, or direct, the combustion process as needed. Older diesels, especially naturally aspirated ones, simply used compression ratio to acquire this heat. Newer diesels also use turbochargers to cram additional air in, requiring less compression to achieve the same heat while also making more power.
Anyway, higher compression typically results in a more rattly sound, it’s simply a more violent way to achieve what they need to do. Squeeze the air really, really tight.
32:33 Thank you Angus, now I have this specific part of this song in my head🤣
Having Angus in every one of these videos makes them 10x better to watch!
Possibly, but a dash of Mook would be better!
Angus seems like a great bloke 👍🏻
I remember watching an old retired mechanic who did his time on these diesels had his running mint. Got to love the clatter of an old GM diesel
my coworker has the 6.2 in his pickup and that thing sounds like marbles in a garbage can...he said yep that's the normal sound..i was like dude you got a rod hanging out of the block yet?..he said nope it just a gm thing
The classic car collection is: 81 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, 83 Olds 98 Regency 2 dr., 83 Eldorado, 84 Seville, very rare 85 Fleetwood d'Elegance w/half year computer controlled injection pump/engine. All 5.7 diesels. Recently sold a very original low mile 80 C-10 pickup 5.7 diesel. The Eldorado has pretty good off the line acceleration but none have the power to safely pass on a two lane road. They were a band aid solution for a huge problem of the day. Wife's favorite car was her 81 Bonneville sedan, drove it for 10 years, never let her down but one time relay stuck on the glow plugs.
History has shown that the public is incapable of dealing w/challenges and most have little mechanical aptitude.
Passing a basic mechanical test should be a prerequisite for getting a lisence.
Would you sell the 85 Fleetwood diesel?
That startup made me belly laugh.
As well as leaving the shed.
The best engine jack is that mitsubishi forklift you have in the workshop.
"Angry batch of bull frogs", that's a new one f9r describing how a diesel sounds.
I love it.😂
Gotta finish up the new PBG video then I gotta come back over and watch this. All I know is it involves Angus's favorite engine ever😂....I will say that car was pretty damn mint for its age
A buddy of mine was a tech when these things came out. He helped write the manuals for Haynes.
He always tells of one that he worked on in backasswoods Oklahoma that came it with a huge knock.
He took it to his rack after driving it around the block, started to strip it down and found one of the pistons and part of its rod in the pan.
It drove in.
These things suck but ultimately they can be hard to kill.
9:42 Oooh, Kev pulled out the protective mats, that MUST be a clean body 🤣
👍👍👍👍👍👍
You guys have really hit your stride (again) with these past few "taking a shit car on a roadtrip" videos. You and Angus seem to be having a riot and it really translates into the show.
It's fantastic! Keep it up!
PS: You're to blame for me buying two barn find MG TFs this week so I hope youre happy with yourselves.
Imagine you and grandma are going to Sunday church and she pulls out the garage in that rumbling bag of hammers in an industrial fan
When Angus raised his hands in the air all I could think of is young Frankenstein. It's alive! Then you both yelled it. Lol
Listen to that diesel knock 😂. It does sound like a d9. Gotta love that sound! That thing is MINT man. And angus, it’s a diesel, it’s suppose to knock 😂.
If it aint knocking, it aint rocking
They redesigned the fuel pump to get rid of that ring that fails way back in the 80's if I remember correctly. I was a GM tech in the 80's and worked on several of the 5.7's, head gaskets and fuel pump were the main problems.
I just went throught the same issue on a late 60s diesel tractor. The governor ring in the roosa master pump is made with a material somewhere between plastic and rubber which degrades over time. At least for the roosa master pumps they make a metal ring as a replacement
Had a ‘83 Buick with that engine. I had the transmission fail 3 times. The final rebuild was done using motorhome trans kit and it finally worked. That Standyne injection pump was a piece of crap and a constant source of problems and adjustments. The head gasket finally let go at about 87 thousand miles.
Years ago my pipe organ teacher had a 78 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham diesel. At 120,000 miles it was on engine number 3, the newest and last generation of the engine. This was in 86. My car was a 78 Buick Electra Limited with the Buick 350. As close a comparison as possible. Same year, same displacement, same GM platform. The Buick used significantly less fuel, as well having enough performance to get out of its own way. The 3 speed automatic in the diesel is a dreadfully weak Turbo 250. If this has been upgraded, be thankful.
I also had an 84 Delta 88 Royale 2 door. The trailer towing package came with heavy duty springs and shocks, the Turbo 350 instead of the 200R4. Without the towing package, you were limited to a 2,000 pound trailer. My 84 also had the "Gage Paxkage" set into that recess where you have the rear defrost switch.
Cars did used to have significant towing ratings. My one of one 89 Grand Marquis had a factory 351W and Trailer Towing Package that gave a 6,000 pound towing package. My 76 Thunderbird also had a 6,000 pound rating. 71-76 full sized GM sedans could be rated with a 7,000 pound rating.
They are significant tow ratings.
As a comparison, in Australia from the 70's right up to 2010 our 2 full size Aussie built cars were the Ford Falcon and the Holden Commodore. The Falcon had a tow rating of 2300kgs (5000 pound) and the Commodore had a bit less at 2100kg.
"Having enough performance to get out of its own way". That's a real rarity for a Malaise Era drivetrain !
I had to go through the same return fitting glass check ball thing when restoring a big inline six military diesel generator, except it didn't run correctly like that so had to obtain a new one and it was fine. Some said punching the ball out worked for those, but not for me.
My dad had a regal with t tops fully loaded with the olds diesel. The original sticker price was like 27k. It blew a headgasket not long after he got it, my dad was resourceful, the block had puckered around all the headbolts and he (probably could) couldn't afford taking it to the machine shop. So he bought good flat files and filed the deck flat, he said he pretty well had to go back and buy every file the store had, but he managed. He done this in the dirt driveway over a weekend I believe. I was little when he done this but I do remember him working on it. Then it spit out rods, so he bought another car with the same 5.7 diesel and swapped it in.... I was just a kid when they sold the car but I remember loving that thing
Sorry, nobody paid $27k for a diesel Regal. The base price for the '79 Regal was around $5k. By 1985, the price had ballooned to double that. But still nowhere near $27k. There were no diesel Regals after 1985. I also suspect they were practically giving away any remaining diesels by that point. Decking a block with a file isn't easy to do and it is highly likely that in doing so he increased the compression ratio a bit which could be enough to start throwing rods. Those motors were running within an inch of their life anyway because they were gasoline engines that someone ludicrously decided to turn into diesels, while retaining a high degree of parts interchangeability with the parent engine. If the head bolts didn't break first, they would gradually stretch, not only the bolts, but the metal they were threaded into. Then, you blow a head gasket. Then you file down the deck and run it some more with even higher compression and you start throwing rods.
I once ground a rod for an 0.010 bearing by hand and that took me a couple of days but that car is still running 14 years later. So I can't imagine the results were great from decking a V8 block with files in a weekend.
The biggest problem with the Olds Diesel was that almost nobody knew how to take care of them. They had to be well maintained and couldn't be neglected or abused because the motor had an almost nonexistent margin for error. Completely overstressed motor, all the way around. People were used to gas powered V8s which could be neglected and abused and keep on going.
Kevin please, please, PLEASE turbocharge, put a front mount intercooler, aftermarket injectors, fuel pump, and make a 350 diesel Olds a towing monster.
Absolutely not an option for this 4 head bolt motor😂
It would explode or sum shit
If as much touch that car with a turbo the head gaskets would probably spontaneously explode
@@JunkyardDigsmodern head gaskets and head studs and a water separator usually take care of these engines pretty good these engines were actually pretty reliable if gone through but not Factory though
So it already cant handle its stock level n you wanna level it up😂 mad man! Would be fun to see but not 2 be😂 😂 the maf man in me can see the vision bit with a supercharger not a turdnogo like a 1980s sounding super charger the new like dodge ones kinda sound terrible when held up to that iconic whine makes me think of mad max shpuld rewatch
I always copper rtv spray my head gaskets before installing to ensure good seal all around
I know absolute 0 about cars, don’t work on em or nothing but I LOVE watching your videos! My family owned an old 55 Chevy in fire engine red that we had in car shows for years, so the love is there. The Junkyard Digs group is hilarious and fun to watch. Thank you for sharing the knowledge and keep it up!
Thank you!!
Hey Kevin, if you’re looking for more information on these engines and how to make them live, there are quite a few 5.7 diesel groups on Facebook.
Also I second adding some fuel conditioner when you fill it up, or at least a couple splashes of two-stroke oil in the tank. The pumps don’t like the new ultra low sulphur diesel.
Something a lot of people don’t know about the idi diesel, when you fire them up cold if it’s above 32°F you hold the go pedal halfway and if it’s below 32 you hold it all the way to the floor. Obviously let off when it kicks over. I don’t know if the 5.7 has it, but I know the 6.2 diesel trucks have a sticker on the driver side sunvisor explaining this, it’s also written in the owners manual.
My dad has a blazer with the 6.2. I didn't know this.. thanks.
Can they run on biodiesel? He's doing some hobby farming, could make his own from soybeans for a bit of fun. Biodiesel is a much better lubricant than petrodiesel.
That sound! All the luxury of a military spec Humvee!
I owned a 5.7 litre Oldsmobile diesel. With the injector pump in the valley between the heads, it heats up the injector pump and cooks the gaskets inside the pump. The aluminum rocker studs wear out at about 50K miles, so I had to rebuild the injector pump and rocker posts about every 50K miles. It's a turtle in city traffic, but loves the open highway. I got about 35 MPG on long trips. Good luck.
Pretty sure diesels still run the injection pump there today, also the rockers are stamped steal, just like all the other motors. Definitely problem prone though!
Awesome! You guys have grown a ton. Love the content, especially the square bodies. I've wanted one since I was a little boy. Too bad everyone has jacked the prices up through the roof! Thanks for the laughs and knowledge.
38:40 "it's a book, kevin." Loved it. Thanks for the content Angus
Angus moving to be closer to Kevin, poor Moog just third-wheeling the bromance 😂
I'll bet you that she's pregnant and thats why they hired Angus
My Grandmother had one of those nightmare diesels. She got duped by the salesman and bought it. After 2 years and 10 times in the dealer to be fixed. My cousin Ernie pulled it out and put in a gasoline 350 Chevy. Swapped the fuel tank as well. The car ran forever after that.
"A 88 delta, that shyt can't even get you to the shelter!" -8 Mile freestyle
Kevin, if you haven’t already consider it, please consider scanning that manual and uploading the file to where like the Internet Archive. That way it would be way more accessible to the regular Joe Schmoe than in the middle of a TH-cam video.
LOL...that engine! My father had a Cadillac Fleetwood in the early eighties with that engine. Our cottage has a rather steep driveway. That POS could only get the car half way up. It would just stop with thye pedal pressed down to the floor...that car was gone the next week.
My parents bought a '79 Delta 88 Diesel from my father's uncle. He had meticulous service records for this vehicle and and my dad kept up on the maintenance. It died at 79,000 miles in 1987. When we pulled the engine we found out that the crankshaft had broken in half and one of the main bearings pierced the oil pan.
I had a 1979 Cadillac Seville with the Olds diesel, and I absolutely loved it!
I had a 1979 Cadillac Seville with a Olds diesel engine and I absolutely HATED it . I gave up at around 62,000 miles and took out the diesel engine and put in a 350 gas engine in it. Drove great from then on. Basically a beautiful car. An old neighbor man really loved the Cadillac so I sold it to him for nothing. He drove it for 6-5 years until a quick oil change place messed up the engine. ( rhymes with jiffy ) . Thanks
My first and only engine rebuild was a 6.2 gm diesel. That’s also the engine I grew up with in my parents suburban. I’m not sure how similar or different they were from the 350 diesel, but a lot of that looked and definitely sounded the same. I’ll always love them
The 6.2l detroit had nothing to do with the gm 350 gas engine. It was a diesel engine built from the ground up to be a diesel engine, and as such was very sturdy.
The 5.7 detroit only had problems because it was a lame attempt to redo the 350 gas engine into a diesel. If there is any similarity to the 6.2, it's incidental.
@@vhfgamerI have an 82 GMC pickup with a 6.2L diesel. Fuel systems are identical.
I love it when you guys venture out into something more unusual compared to the normal stuff you revive. Also the videos are even more entertaining with angus around
OK, as a kid in the UK during the 70's my Dad used to haul a folding caravan (Like a trailer tent but all plywood) with a 850cc Mini van....Yeah, that's right, an Austin Mini commercial wit a 850cc , four cylinder, Austin model A engine. Loved that car.
By far one of your best glad u saved the olds 350 diesel
I worked for Olds dealers from ‘79 to ‘82 and experienced my share of these diesels. Parents even had a Toronado diesel. They made improvements in later years, but I gotta say this video brought back some nice memories.😎🍺
Those big olds are great cars! I had several of them with the 307 and loved them. Always wanted one with the 5.7 diesel
Could never find one
I had a 1979 c10 with the 5.7 diesel and was a great truck and did amazing fuel mileage
I love them old gm diesel
I still daily drive my 1994 c15 diesel 6.5 non turbo
Love it! ❤
I haven't heard the sound of the Olds 5.7 diesel in awhile. That sound took me back to 1982 when we had one. I like the rally wheels on that Olds.
I can't believe you even found one of those Olds Diesels. I thought they had all been scrapped by now. I was a mechanic at an Olds dealership in those days. Most customers opted to swap in a gasoline engine after the diesel engines broke 5 or 6 times in a row.
Yeah, cash for clunkers killed.Most of these big beautiful boats
Put a Cummins in it 😭🔧 Poor Angus suffering @1:40 in lol.
Well dang 27 mpg with 3 people is actually pretty impressive..
My dad almost bought my '78 Pontiac Parisienne with this engine. Thank god he changed his mind and got the chevy 350 in it! Made the 454 swap easy. Fun vid. In coil air bags are cheap and work very well on these cars for hauling.
They made 440 stroker gas motors using a crank rods and pistons from a 425 olds big block and the deasel blocks back in the day but its hard to find the parts to do it now joe mondello racing used to sell kits .
"diesel", sir 😉
Okay, you're not supposed to make me fall in love with a 350 diesel olds! Damn it now I want one
2 happinesses: once you get one and other when you get rid of it.
Been in love with mine for 15 years.
I've never touched the head gaskets on my 5.7 diesel, and I drive it daily.
@@mattlf9120
Always An Exception
I noticed in your manual, thankfully, the 1981 has an upgraded trans. due to the issues in 1980. Here is what internet told me about our 1980, and is spot on.
"Yes, the 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Diesel did have a TH200C transmission1. The TH200C was a type of automatic transmission produced by General Motors. However, it’s worth noting that the TH200 “Metric” was considered one of the least robust rear-wheel-drive (RWD) automatic transmissions GM had designed. It was barely adequate behind a late 70’s/early 80’s V6, let alone any V8 of the era"
Sounds like a box of frogs on steroids. Love it
Always get my Florida man itching when you whip out the boats!
I owned a 1980 Cutlass Supreme Diesel 350, my parents gave to me. The later engines came factory with upgraded studs, and pretty much solved the blown gasket issues. Studs were bigger diameter. Weak link is the TH200C trans. My dad was part of a class-action against GM. Really weak parts inside. Mine broke leaving a drive-thru window, parked it, car was really nice, so a car-buying place on Autotrader back then gave me $350 cash. This was 1988. When dad had it, the oil embargo was on big time, Japanese cars were just getting a foothold. Dad got well over 30 MPG driving the 325 miles to Mammoth to ski. Week in, and week out.
Your best intro yet soon as you open the door and then Angus said damnit I laughed so hard😂😂😂
I have 3 of these great engines. One in my -79 El Camino, one under construction and one in my 5.7 Diesel Boss Hoss motorcycle project. I love the sound, smell and attitude of these engines.
Have fun when they throw a rod through your leg on that Boss Hoss. These are not diesel engines; they are gasoline engines someone decided to pump diesel fuel into. Like 99% of the tooling and components were used directly from the 350 with zero modification. This is why they blew head gaskets all the time. If the head bolts managed to hold up to the excessive strain for any length of time, they would deform the block by stretching out the holes, which were too small. They either needed to use Titanium bolts (would have made it double the cost at that time) or to redesign the block and cast it from high tensile steel instead of iron. They needed head bolts a couple of sizes thicker and a few more of them. They also needed a better gasket than the standard OEM one for the 350 (or parent engine of whatever other variant.
I had a 1981 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon with the dreaded 350 diesel. Beautiful car but what a piece of crap engine. It wouldn't start when hot, you'd have to wait for it to cool down. Every time. Sometimes it wouldn't start at all. And smoke? Yep. I finally swapped it out with a 350 Olds gas engine.
The audio to visual dichotomy is striking as that thing pulls out of the shed, holy cow
I love the 350 diesel content. They are honestly cool engines, except for the minimal head-bolt count, but maybe those ARP studs will be enough!
Did you find the vacuum pump ? Clean out the head bolt holes in the block with a bottoming tap because there is a lot of sand in the head bolt holes. If you don't the head gasket will blow again.
So what I heard from the Sunday Ad was "Do you wanna have less time to work on your car and more time mowing your grass then we have the product for you!!!" Bahahaha