8.2L Detroit diesel ?s

[Judd]

Would like to get some opinions on a truck I'm thinking about buying. It's a 1981 GMC C6000 with a 8.2L Detroit. It was a farm truck that has near 300K now, body and interior is rough but the drivetrain seems to be fairly well taken care of. I can get it for about 2000$.

I will be useing it to haul my K5 Blazer around or a couple of cars. I will attemt to haul the K5 on the bed of the truck once I figure out some ramps in order to get it up there, it weighs in at around 6000lbs. The cars would be towed on a two car trailer, weight on the trailer and cars would be around 8000-9000lbs.

I have absolutely no experience with these trucks or the 8.2L engine. I've heard bad things about the engine,,,, anyone with first hand knowledge?

Is it like another Detroit diesel that has a bad rep,,,, the 6.2L??? The 6.2L, while not a great truck diesel by any stretch,,,, will give good service as long as you don't ask it to do more than it was originally designed to do.

Is my idea of throwing my K5 on the back of the truck OK? Please keep in mind that the K5 is a 4X4 toy sitting on 40 inch tires. This would make for a rather tall combo. If this is just not workable,,, no biggie,,,, I would just throw it on the trailer.

Sorry for all the questions. I have to make up my mind pretty quickly on the truck and as I said,,, I know nothing about these trucks.

 

[T-Keith]

The 6.2 is a GM diesel not a Detriot Diesel. Detriot used to be a part of GM, but are now part of Chrysler believe it or not.

-T

 

[crashz]

This is a C6000, then it would be in the medium duty diesel range. The 8.2L and 6.2L have nothing in common at all. The 6.2L was a GM -Detroit Diesel venture designed for the light duty range trucks only (i'm a big fan of this engine, even with its shortcomings). The 8.2L Detroit is a medium duty engine. The old Detroits run forever, but there is some things to consider. They typically leak like a stuck pig, billow smoke, and if burning excess oil - will run away away on you. What happens is that oil is pulled through the rings when the engine is deccelerating and the motor starts burning engine oil. It has a catastrophic effect of revving past redline and blowing the engine. What you need is an emergency air shut off that chokes the air supply to the engine. This can happen on any diesel, but for some reason Detriots seem the worst. Oh - and Detroits are loud, like ear damaging loud. You'll do yourself a big favor by insulating the cab.

The good part is that the truck will be fairly fuel efficient, have some incredible power and will run a very long time. Parts are cheaper than other medium duty diesels, and easy to jerry-rig.

Be advised that this truck may have air brakes. Air brakes automatically require a CDL even if the GVW of the truck is under 26K lbs. And if the body is in poor shape, the cops will be all over you.

[ May 13, 2004, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: crashz ]