Diesel Station Wagons of the '70s-'80s?

How many of you folks still own a diesel-powered station wagon from the 1970s or 1980s (and here in the U.S.)?

The years 1978-85 were infamous for this market since the Oldsmobile 5.7L diesel (and its slightly more reliable 4.3L V6 cousin) put a huge bruise in the diesel car market, wiping out diesel cars by all manufacturers from the face of the U.S. ... all that is, except for two German manufacturers: Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

My dream diesel wagon: a 1979 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser "B" in Light Blue Metallic, with faux woodgrain paneling (similar to the 1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Country Squire wagon I'd brought up when I initially joined this forum).

HISTORY OF GM DIESEL WAGONS, 1978-85

Buick LeSabre, Electra Estate (1980-85)
Buick Regal (1982-83)
Buick Century (1984-85)

Chevrolet Caprice Classic and Impala (1980-85)
Chevrolet Malibu (Classic) (1982-83)
Chevrolet Celebrity (1984-85)

Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser (1978-85)
Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser (rear drive) (1979-83)
Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser (front drive) (1984-85)

Pontiac Bonneville Safari (B-body) and Catalina Safari (1980-81)
Pontiac Bonneville Safari (G-body) (1982-83)
Pontiac 6000 Safari (1984-85)
Pontiac Parisienne Safari (1983-85 U.S., 1980-85 Canada)

Chevrolet and GMC Suburban (1978-81 1/2 ton 10 series only; for 1982 GM would replace the 5.7 in their light trucks with the more reliable 6.2 diesel V8, made available on all their 10-30 series trucks)

The 5.7L diesel block was reworked into the "DX" block, and released in January 1981. The DX version probably didn't make it into that year's Pontiac Bonneville/Safari since those two models had a truncated model year.

Oldsmobile discontinued its diesel program December 4, 1984... so this infamous period finally came to a close January 1, 1985.

Ford's only diesel wagons of the 1980s was in the 1984-87 Escort (and Mercury Lynx), equipped with the Mazda "RF" 2.0L four-banger. These were available between September 1983 and December 1986.

~Ben

 

Don't forget the 84-85 Chevrolet Celebrity. The diesel was on the options list but I'm not sure how many were made. I have seen one in my lifetime, a silver 2-seat wagon for sale on a car lot in Cincinnati in 1998 for $995, and it had rusty doors and rockers so I passed (I should have bought it and swapped out the doors and patched up the rest, I drove it, it drove nice and strong!)

My solution for the 5.7L Diesel GM cars of the era? Drop in the 6.2L truck diesel, ensure the water separator is working, use 15W40 HD oil, and don't rev it past 3000rpm. Should run forever like that. The 200-4R can be built to handle the torque just fine and doesn't have the short first gear ratio of the 700R4. My dream diesel would be a 1980-1981 Custom Cruiser, upgraded to the 6.2L and 200-4R, with a tall highway gear out back, XL load 235/70R15 tires, and a small square tach in the dash where the clock used to be.

I would probably cut up a VW Rabbit tach and use that with white speedo needle paint and a new face with lettering/numbering to match the other gauges (because you know I'd use the full gauge cluster with volts/temp/oil). Redline is 3600rpm on the 6.2L. Peak torque is 2000rpm. So I'd start yellow lines at 2800rpm and red lines at 3300rpm I guess.

 

The GM Diesel is probably the most misunderstood and maligned engine it automotive history. It is a good engine if you know what you are doing and how to work on it. My first car was a '81 Olds Cutlass with the 350 Diesel. These days I would love to own a G-Body wagon with a Diesel.

If you keep your eyes open there are GM Diesel wagons that come up for sale from time to time. I know there is/was a full-size Pontiac on ebay.

I don't know if the 350 Diesel message board is still up and running or not, but there is a wealth of information there.

Good luck with your search.

 

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/3556460103.html

You mean like this one? I know its been converted, hopefully it was'nt hacked to put the gas motor in.

Chuck

 

It's true. Most if not all of these diesel Oldsmobiles (and other GM makes' cars when originally equipped with these engines) had been replaced by a gasoline V8 (think the Olds 5.0L or the Chevy 5.7L) later in their lives. Then a new problem arises: the diesel badges become irrelevant (for example, from the link you submitted, as you can see in one of the scans, the "Diesel" badge on the tailgate was removed, however the "Diesel" hood ornament is still intact).

For the V6 diesel (front-drive) cars, the gasoline engines to go for were the Chevy 2.8L, the Buick 3.8L or the Oldsmobile 3.0L or 3.8L.

~Ben

 

In 1996 for a few weeks I owned a 1980 Electra Limited sedan that was originally a diesel. It had a nice red 2-barrel Buick 350 in it from a Skylark, and a truck air cleaner (the big tall L-code one from mid-80s 3/4 tons with 350 engines). The starter got stuck in a Big Lots parking lot and burned up the battery cables pretty bad. The note lot towed it back and fixed it but I couldn't afford the $350 to repair (starter, both cables, a fusible link, and the ignition switch...I financed $400 down/$50 a week for 26 weeks on the car, hadn't had it long enough to refinance a repair). So they kept the car and resold it to some other sucker. But the Buick engine made that car feel right. I think the choices in 1980 were the 4.1 V6 (Federal), the Olds 350 gas (std Calif), and the Olds 350 diesel (nationwide)

 

There was a MASSIVE difference in the 2 generations of the G.M. 350 Olds diesel. The first generation were really as bad as their reputation. They were SLOW, and not very fuel efficient, either. My gas 350 Buick Electra used less fuel than my music teacher's diesel Olds 98 Regency. He also had to have 2 replacement engines in under 125,000 miles. Not too impressive in my books. The second generation were way better. Better performance, lower fuel consumption, and they would actually stay in one piece! I would not say no to a car with the second gen engine, but if I got one with a 1st gen, out it would come, and I would drop in a nice Buick 350 gas engine.

 

Hi everyone!
very interesting post, the reliability of the Oldsmobile 5.7L Diesel engine
I bought a 1979 Cutlass Cruiser in February 2021 from its first owner (in fact he was dead and the family was liquidating everything he had)
The car had always been scrupulously maintained at the GM agency and had only 89'600 km (about 56'000 miles). It was always parked under cover and in perfect condition. Until a few months ago, I didn't know that the Americans had made v8 diesels... It's by reading on the net that I learned the extent of the disaster. The deal was done and since I didn't pay much for the car, I thought I would be lucky. Well yes, I was lucky for 3000 km (1800 miles) before the engine broke down
Curiously, the cause of the failure is not a known failure of these engines, I have a bronze ring of connecting rod which crumbled...
But let's get some pictures of my beauty!

 

it seems that the 350 diesel engines fascinate the members of the forum! in fact I must be one of the few people to be interested in these misunderstood mechanical phenomena. So yes, I read everything that was said about these engines, the real information but also the false ones, yes my engine broke but as I am persevering and curious, I wanted to understand. So I decided to rebuild my engine completely by taking advantage of the information available on the net.
The biggest work was to find the parts! pistons, head gaskets, hydraulic lifters, rings etc
then all the reassembly with ARP parts on the connecting rods, the cylinder head bolts, the crankshaft bearings etc. I must say that it took me a lot of time. The engine is now finished but as I'm careful, I'm going to run it on the bench for a while before putting it back in the car

 

Very cool! The later Goodwrench engines had all the improvements and between those, ARP head studs, and a GOOD fuel and water separator, there's no reason the Olds diesel can't live a long productive life. I could rant and go on and on about GM's short-sightedness, but that's another day.