73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks > Diesel Engine Discussion

First timer...'84 CUCV.....COME GET IT IF YOU WANT IT...

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frotosride:
So I'm fairly new to Automotive diesels and would love some help just to hear it run. A little background, I do a lot of commercial diesel work some for friends and lots for work but they are all substantially bigger than this like for instance a Fairbanks Morris 38 1/8 ND to a little smaller Cat C16 and even smaller Deutz diesels . So I'm not completely diesel stupid.

The what: 1983 1984 K5 CUCV Blazer, 6.2 Detroit, I believe it had a TH400 and NP208 but they are in a jeep now. 10bolts front and rear.

The person I got it from drove it around a good bit before taking the trans and transfercase out so I know it will, did run about a year ago. Some of the glow plugs are shot but he said it fired up without them so I'm not completely worried about replacing them especially since the temps here have been in the mid and upper 90's.

From a wiring stand point what do I need?
Starter 12 or 24VDC?
Is there a fuel shut off solenoid or what turns the engine off and where is it?
Are there filters I need to check and drain moisture from?
In-tank lift pump? Can I put a Jerry can on the cab and gravity feed?
Any "Definately don't do this" I should be mindful of?

Here's a link to the few pics I took last time at the parts field.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/juD2WakGwHWbnc13A

As always thanks for your time and input.

Mr Diesel:
-Starter system should be 24 volt, unless someone converted it (unlikely).
-There is a fuel shutoff solenoid. It is contained inside the fuel injection pump. There is a terminal on it. 12/24 volt power to the terminal activates the solenoid and allows fuel to flow into the pump. No electricity = no fuel and engine stops immediately. One positive wire to the injection pump is all the engine needs to stay running.
-I'm not real familiar with the minor differences in the CUCV, but being based on the civilian K5 I think you should have water drains built into the fuel tank for that year. Use a Google search and include the keyword "1983" at least to narrow down the search since later years removed the tank drain feature. Look for pictures that matches what you see on your vehicle. The 1983 pickups had a drain petcock located on the exterior frame rail back by each tank.
-The rectangular fuel filter on your firewall has a port for a water-in-fuel sensor. If everything is still hooked up and working right it should tell you when any water is detected at the bottom of that filter (via light on the dash).
-No in-tank lift pump, it should be a mechanical pump on the engine in the usual GM position (front passenger side of engine). Gravity feed will probably get the engine running because the injection pump has some limited ability to pull fuel, and you don't need much pressure at all to run this engine (at least at idle and low fuel demand conditions).
-Definitely do not use ether on this engine, unless you disconnect the glow plug relay or circuit. The glow plug circuit cycles on and off on a cold engine, so they do come back on intermittently after the initial warm up. I have used small amounts of ether to start them with the glow plug circuit disconnected. It makes it much easier to fire it up if the fuel system has been opened/air allowed in the fuel lines.

These are actually great engines, but you must learn to accept their power limitations. Like all engines it has some quirks and weaknesses, but overall is extremely simple with very little that can even go wrong with it. The engine has changed very little from its debut in 1982, and is still being manufactured as an improved version called the AM General Optimizer 6500 (6.5L).

bd:
I disagree with a couple of points.  The starter, alternator, fuel pump solenoid, and glow plug systems, etc. are all 12-volt appliances.  Air in the fuel is a major source of poor starting and running issues with any automotive diesel.  I agree that you should NEVER use starting fluid!  However, WD40 works well as a substitute for ether w/o imparting damage.

MIKE S:
Agree. 12 volts. 2 batteries in parallel. Never ever ever ever ever think about staring fluid in this engine. One of my employees back in the day used starting  fluid on his 83 diesel and it broke a wrist pin in half. I had to go in and replace one piston and rod. Not fun. The original design injector pump used to have fiber ring inside that would come apart and cause no start. Would have to send out pumps to be rebuilt and updated

bd:
The elastomer ring update wasn't a sure fix either.  The Stanadyne pumps continued to manifest ring disintegration, it just took a little longer.  Broken wrist pins, pistons, and less commonly, cylinders, occurred more frequently in the 6.2s than in gasoline powered engines.  And, blown head gaskets were very common.  But the biggest issues were from air bubbles in the fuel stream; it didn't take much to induce plaguing drivability problems.  Swollen glow plugs continued to be a problem inherited from 5.7 days, largely due to controller timing issues.  So the 6.2s definitely had idiosyncrasies.

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