I am looking at adding an older diesel to the "fleet" and cannot determine what to choose. The trucks/ motors I am comparing are the IDIs, first gen Cummins, or maybe the Chevy diesel. I am looking for a truck that is very reliable and will last a long time, is easy to work on and cheap to maintain (I hate wires and the 6.0 has plenty!) so all mechanical, gets decent mileage (preferably upper teens or low 20s), and it would be nice if it didn't have a turbo. I realize the cummins doesn't have an option, but I like the sound of a N/A and I figure it's one more thing to fail. All suggestions and ideas are welcome! Thanks, Squad Cab

 

Well since you want reliable and long lasting you can ditch the Chevy diesel thought.
I'm partial to the 6.9-7.3 IDI myself, but the Cummins is a good engine too.

 

Well without the Chevy that makes things easier, as a ford guy I am leaning towards the IDI myself as well. Do either the IDIs or Cummins have any problems these years? I know the 7.3 IDI has cavitation issues. I would be using it as a back up vehicle, so keeping it running when it needs to is a must, is one more simple than the other?
Thank you,
Squad Cab

 

Trucks with the mechanical dt/a 360 or 466 is a great option too, i was actually gonna transplant one in my truck but thats alot of work, the 360 or 466 is capable of over 2000 hp work horses and million mile engines, wet sleave, all mechanical

 

The IDI's are notoriously durable and reliable, there really are not any engine problems that rare up on the engines, but a few items about the drive train and the truck itself. Here's an outline, but check out the New Owners FAQ for detailed info.

Cavitation is rare, it is not the problem it's rumored to be. Use the right coolant/SCAs and don't worry about it.

The ZF 5speed used in the '87-94's have a dual mass flywheel that is failure prone. Nice thing is the single mass conversion kit is cheaper than a replacement DMF.

The firewalls around the clutch master cylinder can crack, but it's easy to check and the repair isn't too expensive or hard.

If you're looking at an auto truck, the '83-'88s used the C6, durable as hell transmission, but has no overdrive.

The '89-'94 had the E4OD, also known as the E4DOA as it is a disaster of a transmission. But it does have OD and some are so determined to have OD they don't mind spending precious moments of life chasing electrical gremlins.

83-87 had the 6.9. 83-83 blocks can crack near the block heater. Easy solution is if you have an 83-84 don't use the block heater.

It's possible that turbo charging the 6.9 can lead to blown head gaskets, but there is a lot of back and forth on that discussion.

'88-94 had the 7.3, no real issues other than the cavitation concern which is overblown.

 

BTW, I'm not dissing the GM diesels because of brand bias, I drive and work on them all (brands). My daily run around town truck is an S-15.

GM was more concerned about economy then durability with the 6.2/6.5, they don't go far without repair and sometimes can brake expensive things, like a crankshaft.

Even though I think they are junk I'd still get one if the stars were lined up right since I like to tinker on new and different things. There was a GM dually with the 6.5 for sale recently here for $450, but I have too much junk as it is and it's the Pay My Dues time of year so funds need to go elsewhere.

 

n/a is nice but turbo is much better.they are a lot more enjoyable to drive and work.the n/a is ok but you have to work the things right to death up the hills.all diesels belong turbocharged...........and preferably intercooled.

 

I would agree, but I already have a pretty quick 6.0 so I am just looking for nuke proof reliability and cave man ease of service along with decent gas mileage. The boost does add excitement though!

 

trust me when i tell you,if your used to 6.oh no performance then you'd really hate to run a 130 hp n/a diesel.

turbo's don't add to complexity and maintenance.very simple little buggers.the exhaust spins a wheel,which spins another to drive forced air into the intake.requires no real extra maintenance.
don't, not buy an n/a idi truck if the price is right (by far,most idi trucks are n/a anyway of course) ......but don't skip over an idi truck because it's got a turbo on it either.that would be ludicrous.

 

Before my ford idi i had a suburban 4x4 with a 6.2...i liked it...i turbod it with 6.5 hardware and could boil the 33x12.50s off the back of it...the only thing i hated about it...and lead to it finding another home...was the junk assed 700r4 kept breaking attthe point the tcase bolts to it....very poor design...but hey...thats gm for ya...that was the 1st and last ****rolete i have owned

 

don't be afraid of a 7.3 with aftermarket turbo.
my 88 has a little over 494,000 miles on it, with the turbo installed at around 4000 miles. only problems with it have been 3 sets of glow plugs, 3 injector pumps, and 3 sets of injectors.
plus 6 sets of tires, 4 sets of brakes, about 20 gallons of gear oil in the rears, 165 oil filters, 83 fuel filters, 83 air filters, 2 CDR valves, and 659 gallons of oil poured into it.

not sure how much fuel i have used but it is probably around 31,000 gallons, using an average of 15 MPG.

these are very simple engines even with a turbo on them, and will run forever as long as they are taken care of.

 

I don't think NA is bad as all that, in all the years I drove my '84 and then the couple I got out of the '92 I never found myself wishing for a turbo. Both trucks were pretty snappy actually. And buried here in between the Trinity, Cascade, and Siskiyou mountains I have nothing but steep grades to contend with.

The '85s 6.9 was another story, but I think that engine was either out of tune or time or both.

 

my truck was no slouch when new, it just had a little trouble pulling grades with the 20,000 lb load out back. the turbo mad a big improvement.

 

Am I misinformed that replacing a turbo or it's parts are expensive? And in the event of a turbo breakdown would I be able to remove it and run the engine N/A until I fixed it, or are there other changes to the engine as well? And what about for the cummins?
Thank you,
Squad Cab

 

Actually not too bad...evil bay has the chra for the factory turbo for about 250 then the rebuild kit is under 100, and whala a rebuilt turbo for 350 no core charge...and they will go for about 150k average