[Tedstriker]

Hello,

I just recieved this vehicle from my Father in-law. It's pretty rough, with a 6.2L diesel engine. I don't really know where to start here, but I hope you might have some advice for me. Is the 6.2 a decent engine, or have people swapped better engine in? Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks.

 

[Crawdaddy]

from what I have heard, the diesel is an excellent towing motor for the suburban. While I haven't seen much talk about the diesel motor here, it's also not too horribly common. Most Suburbans of the mid 80s bodystyle had 350s in them. Where to start, well, that all depends on what's wrong with it? Give it a tune-up, clean the interior, then start finding the quirks and problems and start determining your course of action. And remember, if you have a problem, we're a bunch of nuts who may have the answer..

 

[unplugged]

Welcome

Welcome to the site. Diesels are great engines for high mileage use, they run forever, and with plenty of torque to pull most anything. If this is your first diesel then you've got a lot to learn. With diesels, it seems that the fuel filters need more attention than with gas engines. You won't find folks at GMTC bashing any particular powertrain. We are more about maintaining, improving and having fun with our trucks. If you want specific info on your diesel check out dieselplace.com
Lately I've toyed with the idea of getting a diesel and converting it to use with bio-fuel. If you are interested in running your diesel with vegetable oil check out goodgrease.com

 

[Tedstriker]

Thanks for the info. The engine was replaced a while ago, and only has 50,000km's on it. I think I'll clean it up and use it for haulin' stuff around. anyone else with a 6.2 out there?

 

[tbplus10]

The 6.2 is a great tow engine, with a few additions it gets much better. This engine wasnt a popular choice because they ran smokey and clattered loud.
Propane injection will clear up the smoke, gain about 40hp, and return much better mpg.
Water injection lowers EGT's (Exhaust Gas Temperature) and returns another slight HP gain, mileage boost, and engine longevity.
For the real adventurous NOS injection can boost HP upto 100hp more, but engine longevity is greatly decreased.
As mentioned filters are important to keep up on, oil changes also since you have a longer span between changes.
If you operate it in cold weather it wants a longer warm-up time, a block heater is a good idea for Diesels, on really cold days when your getting in and out of the truck making short trips she's much happier to be left idling rather than shut-off and restarted.
I had an 82 Diesel Dually with Propane and water injection. Without a rebuild she ran 328K miles before she died. Most of the miles were with a 40ft goose neck trailer on her back. The farmer I bought her from used it to tow his tractor and farm trailers around.

 

[Tedstriker]

I'm wondering if it would be worth looking for a used GM turbo diesel drive train and swap it in. Have other people done this before? I'm thinking the 6.6 duramax engine + tranny. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

 

[tbplus10]

I'm wondering if it would be worth looking for a used GM turbo diesel drive train and swap it in. Have other people done this before? I'm thinking the 6.6 duramax engine + tranny. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

What are your plans for the truck?
A Duramax combo would be expensive. An aquaintance of mine is 90% complete putting a Duramax/Allison combo in his tow truck, he's already got close to $6k invested, he owns a mechanic shop so this isnt counting labor.
Gale Banks engineering has a great turbo kit for the 6.2 that wakes the truck up. With the mods I posted earlier you could pull a lot more hp from this engine. I'd look at working with what you have, that engine has a lot of potential, you just need to take the time to work it out.
A simple adjustment of the fuel control can draw out close to 20 hp, just be careful you dont run the egt's to high.

 

[Tedstriker]

Any idea how to check/add tranny fluid to this truck?

 

[wildmans92]

There should be a dipstick on the pass. side up next to the firewall. Also there are many cheap mods you can do to get that baby snortin but not suckin fuel.if you're interested i can post a list of what ive done to one i used to have.