Hey guys, I was thumbing through a brochure (I collect them) for the 1982 Chevrolet wagons (Cavalier/Malibu/Impala/Caprice) and it appears that the fullsize wagons were ONLY available in California with the diesel engine. The 5.0L V8 states "not availabe in California" on the brochure and was the only other engine offering in the brochure. So my question is...were the 1982 Caprice/Impala wagons sold in California ONLY equipped with the diesel? Interestingly enough, one of my other brochures (Oldsmobile, I think) from 1985 states that the diesel was NOT available in California. My question is purely for academic pursuit. I have a need to be full of (amongst other things, according to the wife) useless knowledge.
I think the full range of engines was available in every state but California, were the diesel was not sold; though I could be wrong. I suspect it had something to do with emissions regulations. The V8 diesel was a dreadful engine, by the way. I heard someone describe it as having a crankshaft made of cheese, which speaks volumes about its reliability.
You're right. The diesel was available/not available, depending on emissions regulations. There were some problems with those diesels, but there are also a lot of misconceptions about them. There is a website that I frequent every now and again that is dedicated toward the GM 5.7L diesel (and also includes info on the 4.3L V8 and 4.3L V6 diesels). There are quite a few people who keep them running for over 200K miles...they are just treated a little differently. A lot of care and maintenance, I suppose. Here is the website, in case anyone's interested: http://a350diesel.tripod.com/index-17.html
Friend of mine had the Caddy Deville Diesel, an 84 model. At the time he was a big time mechanic in our town (hes way older than me) but he and some other people were telling me about the way he had his diesel tuned. They said he could kill just about any car in town off the line, but dont ask me what he did to it, i dont have a clue! just thougth id add that little bit of useless knowledge to the thread :biggringift:
The diesels were pretty ok from design, although they had more or less a weakspot bestween the cilinders. Blocks are now wanted as they were made out of other casting material (stronger) making them suitable for racing applications. What I heard was that there was something wrong with the headgaskets in the beginning and the procedure for the headbolts. Lot of the image of this diesel is based on misconception, in my opinion, although it was not a incredibly powerfull engine or very economic. This is all just my opinion though.
My guess is that the brochure could be a missprint. From what I remember, GM had trouble certifying the diesels in California. I would think that the brochure should have stated that the diesels were unavailable in Calif.
That's probably it. As I said before, some other brochures were saying that the diesel engine was NOT available in California. And I was finding it hard to believe that those in California would have to pay a $700-$900 premium for a diesel engine just to be able to get the Caprice/Impala wagon in their state. (Although those who brought a diesel from another state probably had to pay that much in Environmental Impact Fees )
