Curt, The first year of production for the 5.7L diesel was the 1979 model year and the last year of production was the 1985 model year. Of course, you could have picked up one in 78 as an early adopter or bought one new in 86 as a closeout. The trucks, both Chevrolet and GMC, were available from 1979 to 1981 in the 5.7L and in 1982 GM switched to the Detroit Diesel 6.2L.
The 4.3L V6 was available from 1982-1985 in mid-sized GM cars in both RWD and FWD configurations with both iron and alimumnn heads. It was similar to the 5.7L block being shortened by 2 cylinders but GM increased the number of head bolts and oddly 2 different sizes. The larger head bolts are 14mm and the smaller are 10mm and unfortunately there is no aftermarket source of the larger head bolts. The truck that I had was an 1980 model with an Mr. Goodwrench Reman engine in from 1982 and it ran pretty well. It wasn't quick but I could get close to 25mpg at around 55mph. if I had known how much money that I would end up spending on my Ford F-150 Cummins 4BT repower then I would have kept the Chevy truck and could have done a frame-off restore. Todd -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Curt Raymond Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 18:09 To: Diesel List Subject: Re: [MBZ] GM diesels (was: Re: mixing diesel and gasoline) They supposedly had worked out the worst of the issues by '84 by using improved head bolts and longer main bearing bolts. Also the techs knew by then not to ever reuse head bolts. A water-separator would also be a must. I'd like to have an '86 (last year of production) Chevy or GMC pickup with the 5.7l diesel. 125hp is no screamer but 225lb/ft of torque at 1800rpm is pretty nice. Should do 20+mpg if driven gently. It'd be a nice back country machine or wood/snowmobile hauler that could go more than a day or two on a tank of fuel. Of course I've said a similar era (up until '87) machine with a 6.2l diesel wouldn't be a bad machine either. -Curt Confidentiality Note: The information contained in this message may be privileged and confidential. If this e-mail contains protected health information, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited,except as permitted by law. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by replying to this message and deleting it from your computer. Thank you. _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
