Hi,
I bought a couple of months ago a '82 custom cruiser which has the DX diesel engine in it. I did some research to see what kind of improvements I can easally do in order to get that engine reliable. Ok I can't change to a 6.2 : off budget here ...france (or if some of you have a good 6.2 and is willing to send it over...:rolleyes:).
Anyway , for know I've added a water-fuel separator which I put between the fuel tank and the low pressure pump, a 160°C thermostat, glow plug and new controler (plus a manual switch to get easy starts when the car isn't warm or cold enough, no more than 5sec !!) and external engine oil cooler.
The next step will be to have my injectors checked, by the way where can I get all the gaskets related to that ? where can I source injectors , headgaskets, pumps and other parts for that engine ? is a 6.2l pump the same ?
thanks for helping

A place called oliver diesel had some new 5.7 parts when Ilooked at their site a while back. They also had parts for the 4.3 diesel also.
If you use ac g60 glow plugs you don't need to worry about burning them out. They are self regulating. Bosch duratherms are the same way.
Not shure about a 6.2 injection pump working on a 5.7. I believe they both used the stanadyne db2 pumps. Not shure if mounting is the same.

Pumps are different. DX is pretty bulletproof by itself. Only real weakness is head bolts. I had one in a 78 chevy pickup and worked it pretty good. Only problem i had was it broke the head off a head bolt and blew the gasket. Put new gaskets and head bolts on and ran perfect. It had sat for 12 years when I first got it and it fired right up. I didn't check anything, just changed oil and trans fluid.

Pumps are different. DX is pretty bulletproof by itself. Only real weakness is head bolts. I had one in a 78 chevy pickup and worked it pretty good. Only problem i had was it broke the head off a head bolt and blew the gasket. Put new gaskets and head bolts on and ran perfect. It had sat for 12 years when I first got it and it fired right up. I didn't check anything, just changed oil and trans fluid. I wonder if that was the place that had complete rebuild long block 5.7, 2.8 and 4.3 diesels? I would have loved to drop a 4.3 or even a 2.8ltr when the motor blew on the 98 buick, they had some FWD Oldsmobile diesels as well sadly I couldn't find it then (about 4yrs ago)

Any ideas? My father always wanted a 350 diesel to drop in his 350 gasser suburban, underpowered but probably OK mileage.

Pumps are different. DX is pretty bulletproof by itself. Only real weakness is head bolts. I had one in a 78 chevy pickup and worked it pretty good. Only problem i had was it broke the head off a head bolt and blew the gasket. Put new gaskets and head bolts on and ran perfect. It had sat for 12 years when I first got it and it fired right up. I didn't check anything, just changed oil and trans fluid.


is it possible to change the head bolts, one at the time with say ARP bolts or studs ?. I don't want to remove the heads (only if I need to).

People change the head bolts one at a time with ARP studs on other engines with success. Removing one bolt at a time, in reverse of the torque sequence would be the best, and only way to do it in my opinion.

Removing one bolt at a time, in reverse of the torque sequence would be the best, and only way to do it in my opinion.


do you mean untorquing all the bolts say to 80, then removing only one, retorquing it to 80, then when all is done , torquing all the bolts back to the correct torque ?

I'm pretty sure you only loosen one at a time. Keep the rest at factory torque.

Not exactly, I mean remove bolt #1 and replace with head stud, then torque the stud down. Then remove bolt #2 and replace with head stud, then torque down. Do this for all the bolts, in the proper order.

The idea is to keep maximum clamping pressure on the heads, while not warping them. This is why you are taking out one bolt at a time, and also why you are reversing the torque pattern.

Personal Preference would be to have the 6.2 to put in a burban. My mom had a 79 olds with a 350 diesel in it. Great fuel mileage when loaded, otherwise ok. Only issues were bad pumps (had the rousa master) when water got in the fuel. GM put a water in fuel sensor on it after the first one went out.

The heads are known to crack between the valves (that is what we were told after a long block install). Also the 350's had an injector that was completely different by design. They did change the design at some point, but I think it was the retainer not the injector that changed.

Oh yeah, the return lines are junk. After you installed them, they could not be reused.

I have some 5.7L diesel parts: pumps, injectors, overhaul sets, head gaskets; many, many parts. Also have several complete 350DX long blocks pulled from vehicles, not opened up, still very diesel dirty. (Aaaah yes, that diesel stain never comes out of your clothing...)
Also have one Olds 350D (not DX) block, tanked and decked, with various rods, lifters, timing set, etc. for it.
At one time I was running three Olds 98 diesel cars. Still have two of them, a 1980 Chevy SW and a 1981 Olds 98; many new running gear parts on these and still with engines intact and head gaskets seeping but not blown. They will go to the wrecking yard as soon as the scrap steel price gets back to ~$200/ton, but would sell either one or both for $400 each.
Best to send me email direct at johnfreeland@bluemarble.net because I don't log on to dieselplace.com very often.
As to replacing a head bolt: Speaking as a professional engineer licensed in Indiana, USA, I would reverse the torque sequence 20 pounds each round on all bolts, until you are down to about 30 pounds for all. (Do not completely loosen them!) Then completely remove the bad bolt, bring it up to 30 pounds, then go through the standard tightening sequence by factory-recommended stages to full torque. DO NOT COMPLETELY REPLACE ONE BOLT WHILE LEAVING ALL OTHERS AT FULL TORQUE, FROM WHAT I HAVE READ THIS WILL CRACK THE HEAD!
--DieselJohnny
Tel. (812) 825-2818

It's nice to have some spare parts whenever possible especially injection pumps and injectors.Injection pumps are not hard to find for these engines,but the injectors are VERY hard to track down but are out there.