What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

6.2 What's it good for? Just about everything.

campfire said:
1.) Depends on what you compare it to. My DD places its one exhaust manifold right in the front of the engine bay.

View attachment 217887

Super easy, completely unlike what the V8 trucks use. And the square-body frames are narrower than what most trucks have. So there are easier rigs to work on. But I do agree with you that the 6.2 isn't noticeably worse than other V8s. Inline engines FTW!

2.) If you've never broken an exhaust bolt, it's safe to say that your vehicle isn't native to salt country. Exhaust bolts rust thin enough to fail under their own tension forces, the thought of getting all of them out every time is not realistic for someone who has done very many salt-belt manifolds. Yes, PB blaster is your friend, but it can't restore metal that is missing. :deal:
Click to expand...


I wonder if zinc anodes would be helpful in these situations...I'm aware how corrosive salt is, but there has got to be something sacrificial to save the vehicle....?
 
Big Ray said:
I wonder if zinc anodes would be helpful in these situations...I'm aware how corrosive salt is, but there has got to be something sacrificial to save the vehicle....?
Click to expand...

2 words.


Stainless Steel.

delorean-will-restar-2_800x0w.jpg
 
They do sell some kind of computerized "anode" that is used on things like ships,bridges,and building girders that supposedly prevents corrosion and electrolosis ,J.C. Whitney used to sell them for cars & trucks..
One of my pickups actually had one of them mounted under the battery tray,and it must have helped,because that truck was one of the least rusted ones I owned..the "box" was not wired up when I got the truck,and I think it didn't work,when I tried hooking it back up,it didn't draw any power..


If I wasn't 58 years old,arthritic and out of shape,with a bad back and multiple other health issues,I could deal with the agony of working under a truck or hood a lot better,and probably wouldn't have such a crappy attitude towards the 6.2...but I still say they designed a lot of things on them stupidly,certainly not from a mechanic's point of view..

I grew up with SBC and BBC engines and straight sixes,and was "spoiled"..now practically anything else looks too complicated,cramped,and poorly designed for me to be fixing it myself..

I long for the days of simple,rugged easy to fix engines and vehicles,with plenty of room,no special tools like torx bits and metric fasteners,wrenches,and no computers...AND those old engines rarely needed repairs,only typical items like hoses,belts,gaskets,tune ups,gaskets,that was about all you had to replace on them..

You guys who do not live in the salt states dont know how lucky you are..

The ONLY tool that got my manifolds off was a cutting torch..not one bolt had anything resembling a head on it,and since they are located too close to the frame pointing down,you couldn't cheat and hammer on a 6 point socket,there just is no room for a ratchet or breaker bar...only a box end wrench can be used ,and you aren't taking a bolt off with a 12 point one,when it looks like a nail or rivet head..

I was lucky there was just enough room to snake the manifold off the "studs" after be-heading the bolts,and get it off,otherwise I would have had to at least lift the drivers side of the engine up off the mounts..at that point I'd have been tempted to pull it right out completely,and maybe never put it back in..



TrustyK5 is right on 2 counts--yeah,the valve covers would be an all day sucker to remove and replace on a 6.2--I'd probably scrap mine if the covers start leaking any worse....and you can likely count on at least one injector line breaking or being twisted up during the removal..while a SBC or BBC valve cover can be removed in like 5-10 minutes..
Piss poor engineering..


His second statement --PULL the engine out first,THEN fix it..

Yeah,thats the best way ,especially if your not in great condition..better yet--find a mechanic who'll fix it for you and pay whatever king's ransom they want,and hope they dont f*** up 30 other things in the process..

Most of the shops here shy away from diesels,and or charge outrageous high prices in hopes of scaring off customers..few know much about them,and the guys who do that service big rigs are usually not willing to repair "tiny" diesels..if you own a 6.2,Duramax,or Ford 6.0.you'll be shelling out a LOT of money to get one repaired FOR you around here...most garages shy away from "old" vehicles in general..no muffler shop like Midas or Meinekie will touch a job requiring manifold removal or busted studs around here--they send those customers to my friends shop !..

This is one reason I'm souring on owning one,as I age,my ability to do my own wrenching is waning rapidly--and my income has been reduced to below poverty levels..

My best friend who owns a auto repair shop flatly refuses to work on my truck knowing how rusty and rotted many things on it are,and he also sends potential customers away who own diesels--he has had bad luck working on them too many times..

I recall the day he tried replacing a fuel filter on a 6.2 in a 90's pickup,and ended up frying the starter trying to get it to fire up again..had I shown up there a half hour earlier,I could have helped him bleed the injectors,etc,he just has not had much experience with diesels and the few times like this one he tried repairing one ended up being a nightmare,so now he just sends customers away,rather than end up causing himself problems..

"Sir,I replaced the fuel filter,but your started died--it's 250 bucks"..
"I'm NOT PAYING FOR THAT--YOU RUINED IT"!..cant say I blame him,its bad enough fixing later model gas powered vehicles..

I would NOT reccomend stainless steel bolts for exhaust either--one time I put stainless steel suds in a 350 exhaust manifold's pipe flange,and I put the long brass nuts on to hold the pipe on--"there;I'll never have to mess with these studs ever again"..yeah,right...

2 years later I had to take the pipe off ,and all 3 studs snapped off like glass,with little effort,before the brass nuts ever moved a millimeter..stainless is just too brittle..and un-drillable!--I had to bring the manifold to a machine shop and have the remains of the studs bored out with an end mill...my drills just turned orange and melted,whistled and screeched ..

After I got the manifold back on the engine I had to replace a glow plug that lost the "tab" for the wire connector,the torch either melted it or I busted it off while wresting the manifold in or off,and I also leaned on the rear brake line going into the master cylinder and it cracked,had to cut it back and re-flare it..

I also had a bad time with the oil dipstick tube,I had that thing get in the way and shoved around so many times it will be a miracle if the oil pan doesn't leak around where it enters it...another stupid design,having a spot welded triangle thing with a "socket" for the dipstick to poke into...which always ends up rusting and leaking..

I encourage anyone considering purchasing a truck with a 6.2 to buy a spare gas engine to put in it later on...or not buy it period..sooner or later you will probably dislike it enough not to want it any more..especially if your used to gas engines and you dont know much about diesels..they are kind of in a world of their own..
I dont consider myself a "hater" of them--but I'm not a huge fan either..my attitude is "MEH" when it comes to these engines..

GM should have stuffed their 3-71 or 4-71 Detroits in square bodies,then they would have had a durable,reliable engine capeable of handling heavy loads,and abuse,something most pickups see--and they already HAD them.I dont see why they spent millions making a diesel to get maybe 5 mpg better fuel mileage,that cant hold up to heavy useage...the Detroits also sound teets,the 6.2's sound like 6 out of 8 rods are about to exit the block,especially after a cold start on a winter morning..
 
diesel4me said:
I encourage anyone considering purchasing a truck with a 6.2 to buy a spare gas engine to put in it later on...or not buy it period..sooner or later you will probably dislike it enough not to want it any more..especially if your used to gas engines and you dont know much about diesels..they are kind of in a world of their own..
I dont consider myself a "hater" of them--but I'm not a huge fan either..my attitude is "MEH" when it comes to these engines..
Click to expand...

If years' worth of long ranting tirades is your "MEH" reaction, I'd hate to see how you react to an engine that you actually dislike! :eek1:

I'll repeat what I've said before, that truck has held up to incredible amounts of abuse and keeps on ticking even when you try to make it fail. Many a small block has failed under rosier conditions, you can't justify criticizing an engine that handles such a crummy maintenance schedule with so few problems.

IMO, you're comparing a 6.2 in 2016 with the SBC rigs that you owned 20 years ago. 20 years ago ALL of these trucks were 20 years younger. That's a really significant difference. If you could have that '72 back it would be a rusty hulk by now, not the rosy rig that you remember. That's just the way salt is. And there's no reason to think that a 40 year old truck would be more reliable than a 30 year old truck or especially a 15 year old truck. It's not 1995 anymore, all square bodies are well past the end of their intended lifespans. That fact must be accepted if you want to have warm fuzzy feelings toward your rig, you can't expect it to act like a new vehicle. It's not new anymore.

I would say all of these points regardless of engine type or drive train, pinning a pile of general age-related problems on one specific engine architecture doesn't seem honest to me. That G10 isn't in great condition either, age and sitting are brutal to vehicles across the spectrum.
 
My dislike of poor engineering from a mechanic's point of view isn't GM exclusive,ALL brands of vehicles have their weaknesses and I could fill another thread with the lists of the ones I've encountered..

Sometimes I swear they build them that way on purpose,so
mechanics will not want to repair them,forcing owners to either scrap them way too early,go buy a new vehicle..

I'm not stuck in the 50's,but I do not agree that the older designs were all that bad--I had no troubles getting anywhere I wanted to go in my old vehicles from the 50's thru the 80's,many had over 200,000 miles when I got them too...
The breakdown I had 2 weeks back was the first since the 80's,when my old '56 Chevy pickup had its fiber cam gear shed its teeth,my '75 K5 2wd did the same thing,but it was only 3 miles from home--I drove it 175 miles to NH and back the same day,almost made it home..the '56 had it happen about 45 miles away..but its 235 also had nearly 310,000 on it too..

I felt much more confident in the older vehicles, knowing I could make pretty much any repair on the side of the road,or McGiver some quick crude fix to get me out of a jam..IF they broke down,but for the most part they never did..the few times they did fail,I was able to limp them home ,not get towed..

Sure,todays vehicles are a lot more "reliable" maybe--but when they start failing,the average joe cant diagnose or fix one,and when your my age,nearing 60,and feel "helpless" when a vehicle dies and you open the hood and cant even see the engine,or identify half the components,I'll say this--its not a good feeling at all..feels like all you ever learned about vehicles was now "obsolete" and your forced to have someone else repair them..if your able to afford too..

My old G-10 might not be 100% rust free,but I could put it back on the road and get some more years out of it..and parts up to 1995 are the same,so its not as hard to find good donors ,not like square bodies,which are now becoming "rarer" around here..
I've been under it recently and its in a lot better shape than I'd thought it'd be after being parked over 10 years,and not on asphalt the whole time..cant say that for the Suburban,that thing has really rotted fast..
 
I am an average Joe , so are most of the guys here and most of us can diagnose a new vehicle just fine .

It You refuse to learn then that's on you.

Letting your truck become a huge ball of rust and not mainting the very basic fuel systems is also on you.

I am 37 , I have arthritis in my hands , a reconstructed knee , hearing damage , torn rotator cuff , and asthma but I still work 2000+ hrs a year AND maintain my vehicles and home .

Stop with the excuse for your situation only you can change it.
 
yellowK20 said:
I am an average Joe , so are most of the guys here and most of us can diagnose a new vehicle just fine .

It You refuse to learn then that's on you.

Letting your truck become a huge ball of rust and not mainting the very basic fuel systems is also on you.

I am 37 , I have arthritis in my hands , a reconstructed knee , hearing damage , torn rotator cuff , and asthma but I still work 2000+ hrs a year AND maintain my vehicles and home .

Stop with the excuse for your situation only you can change it.
Click to expand...

Plus he is short!!!!!
 
diesel4me said:
I do not agree that the older designs were all that bad
Click to expand...

I didn't even say that they were bad at all. There's a good argument to be made there. New vehicles often make well over 200,000 miles with no major repairs, that simply wasn't common in 1956.

But my statement was that all the old trucks are old. Surely you can't deny that. As they age, they get further and further past their expiration date. Anyone owning an ancient relic will either accept this fact or be stuck fighting against it constantly. You can't expect an 80s truck to be young anymore, they just aren't. They were great for their time, they can still be great if you want to put in the required maintenance. But you can't cheat the maintenance schedule without paying for it, one way or the other.
 
campfire said:
I've posted a few recordings of mine running.

Play these when you're falling asleep at night. Guaranteed to induce mechanical dreams or your money back! :crazy:

6.2 diesels idling


flywheel


Grendel startup

Click to expand...


Haha I just watched these, love the pair idling together!
I drove Ethel today and made it home and to work just fine on a 8th of s tank.. just poking along at 60 listening to Waylon Jennings..
 
So who be driving theirs?

Did 260 miles last weekend

Planning on closer to 400 this next week.

Also I go the speed limit so much of this trip will be at 80 mph
 
I have been commuting the Blue turbo burb for the last 3-weeks now . 20 mpg running 70 , and the guys I carpool with love it . Pop a slednecks video in the DVD player and let her eat for the hour drive.
 
Well aren't you a fancy pants with OD, I think I'll put close to 400 this week on mine should the weather stay decent. It's hard sweating in slacks and nice shirt if I don't really have to..
 
blazinzuk said:
So who be driving theirs?

Did 260 miles last weekend

Planning on closer to 400 this next week.

Also I go the speed limit so much of this trip will be at 80 mph
Click to expand...

Mine is on backup DD / farm truck duty. Not a huge number of miles, but it does get used weekly. Right now it has a load of scrap piled well higher than the cab. I'll be turning that into money soon, and then it'll be hauling lumber and then I have a landfill run coming up soon. ~20MPG putzing around town, 21-24 on the road, depending on driving style.
 
Bla bla bla over this and that.. yes I am green with envy. Ethel is happy right around 63.. I also need less throttle spring. Boy it's stiff..
 
sreidmx said:
Well aren't you a fancy pants with OD, I think I'll put close to 400 this week on mine should the weather stay decent. It's hard sweating in slacks and nice shirt if I don't really have to..
Click to expand...

What are your temperatures like these days? We're at 38* and expecting a hard freeze tonight. The thought of sweating just seems silly.
 
sreidmx said:
I also need less throttle spring. Boy it's stiff..
Click to expand...

This is my biggest complaint with all 3 of my rigs. I shouldn't need a pet gorilla to help get the throttle down. Especially since this truck spends more time at WOT than a typical 300HP modern rig.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom