badtexasZ28

With out a biased answer, who can tell me who made the best and most reliable diesel engine in a 1-ton truck in the 80's and early 90's. I am looking for a truck to do some towing wth and i am stuck as far as a dependable diesel. I have heard horrow stories about the 6.2 and the 6.5TD gm made, but have also heard a few bad things mentioned about ford diesels....

PSM

iTrader: (3)

The GM 6.2 was a gas engine that got converted over to a diesel.. so it sucks.. the 6.5 is gutless and gobbles up fuel. Not sure about the fords, but I'm pretty sure dodge had the cummins in the early 90's. So all I can say is steer clear of GM diesels unless you wanna go real new to get the dmax

Breeze

iTrader: (16)

My brother had a 6.2 in a 3/4 ton van it went 282000k it ate alot of starters & batterys and got 20 mpg loaded up with tools it was still runnin strong when he sold it.

6gear

I had a 82 model 6.2 that was a pretty good engine, it was hard on glow plugs and starters and didn't have a lot of power but got good mileage. In 90 we bought a Ford quad cab dually with a 7.3 to pull our 40' enclosed drag bike trailer but it didn't pull like we wanted so we added a banks turbo and if was fine then and got good mileage with no problems, even though it was a ford and drove like hearding turtles it was a good engine.

BigBlockChev572

iTrader: (7)

The 6.2s aren't great because they are NA, a NA diesel is practically worthless IMO. The 6.5TD run good, besides a recent cylinder head crack issue (very minute crack in the head) they are really nice.
Philip S.

03NHSilvy

iTrader: (1)

The Ford diesels after 94 are supposed to be pretty good, I think thats the year that they went o the Powerstroke (7.2 or 7.3) which had proven to be a real strong engine

99Silver6.0

iTrader: (1)

The 7.3 isnt a bad motor. Neither is the non-turbo 7.3 or 6.9. That aside, those engines have pre-combustion chambers in the heads. Theres a small plate about the size of a quarter that covers the chamber. Because they are IDI, the fuel hits in the pre-chamber, initiates the burn there and spreads to the cylinder. Sometimes in high mile motors, those little plates crack and fall out of the head and drop in the culinder. Ive pulled a few heads off some old Navistar engines and almost every one of the plates were cracked except for one. Id have to give a nod to the old 12-valve Cummins.

I wouldnt touch one of them turd 6.2's or 6.5's with a 10 foot pole. Another thing about the 6.2, 6.5, 7.3, pretty much all of the V8 diesels is.............. Glow plugs. Im sure some of you guys have seen an old glow plug that has gotten too warm. The tip of it swells up and cracks. Problem comes when you try to pull the glow plug(s) to replace them. That little tip falls off. Alot of guys told me, eh its not big deal. Start it back up it will work its way out. The Cummins doesnt have spark plugs, its got intake heat. Thats one of the things I liked. Just my 2 cents.

mr2guru

iTrader: (16)

The best 80s diesel *bar none* is an 84 Izuzu p'up diesel
Pulls like a ****, all 50hp and 90ft/lbs

LS1BirdDRG

My parents had an 86 Ford with the International 6.9 they bought new in 1985. They later had a Banks turbo installed for alittle more power. Also had a 94 7.3 that was factory turbo. My uncle back in 84 installed a turbo on his F-250 6.9 and had many performance upgrades and that thing was awesome for a diesel back then.
Cummins was a close 2nd back then but in my opinion have passed the Fords and are the best now.

mzoomora

iTrader: (31)

You're nuts!! Everybody knows it is the Olds 350 diesel!