83 gmc jimmy 6.2, mild restoration

[Clark0943]

Clark0943 submitted a new Build:

83 gmc jimmy 6.2, mild restoration

so I just picked up this new to me diesel jimmy a few weeks ago, she wasn't running and I ended up paying 700 bucks for it because I was afraid a separate buyer was going to steal it before I got to it. So I ended up getting it running in about an hour, I had done a lot of research before buying and figured it had to be a bad fuel shut off solenoid, I ended up pulling off the cover to the ip and found a spring that had slipped off the governor linkage and was blocking the movement, once I pulled out the spring and put the cover on she started no problem. Now come to find out the original owner had to replace the small spring that sits in front of the long governor spring. ( idle spring ?) because it randomly disappeared, he put a longer weaker spring in and made it work. Come to find out the little spring I found was the original. I lost it and upon realizing what it was I made my way to a junkyard and pulled one off of an old 7.3 with the db2 ip. Now when I first started it with the makeshift spring the idle was terrible it acted like it had a stall converter, so I pulled it out, I had to tighten the governor spring to give me enough space to slip it off and install the original, then I loosened the spring to what I though was the original gap, the idle is a little better but seems to low, when I give it a little gas it evens out, I'm trying to find out what the stock adjustment is but I'm not having any luck, also my truck won't start unless I use the glow plugs, even though it's almost 90 out most days, my truck has manual glow plug switch and starter switch. I also changed all the glow plugs to the ac Delco 60g, It had the stock wellman plugs in it, I should also mention the truck only has 54k on it and I live in upstate ny in the Adirondack mountains

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[diesel4me]

Most 6.2's need some glow plug action no matter how hot the outside temperatures are --mine wont fire up without activating them for at least 5-10 seconds from an overnight "sit" even on hot summer days..

As for the injector pump,I've been fortunate to never have to mess with either of mine,so I have zero experience there..some others here on the diesel forum will likely be able to help you though...

You truck looks good,but its a dark photo--54K is nothing for a diesel--my '82 K2500 in my avatar showed only 34K on it when I got it back in 2003,now it has about 42K showing--whether that is "original miles" I cant say,the dash might have been changed,or the oddometer rolled back perhaps,but it did have a blown motor and sat a long time before I got it,so who knows ?..the engine in it now was a salvage yard one with about 80K on it,supposedly,but I doubt it's true..

 

[campfire]

Welcome to CK5! You're off to a great start if you're already tearing into the IP.

Don't be surprised if the engine always requires glow plugs to start, even at 90 degrees.

Post up your questions, and we'll get them answered.

Have you worked on 6.2D or 6.5TD engines before?

 

[Clark0943]

Hey campfire to answer your question no I haven't had any experience with diesels before, everything I know at this point is through research Haha. Lots of long nights scouring forums, I finally decided on joining ck5 today and I'm pretty happy about it, any words of wisdom on how to put the governor spring back to its correct length? I've found next to no info on the db2 and how to just bring it to base line

 

[Clark0943]

I found that adjusting the spring has something to do with idle, and my truck needs to be a little higher , it's not quite on the edge of stalling when it runs but it's not far away, when I first started it with the makeshift spring still in there it was terrible, it was surging very bad, not high to low idle, but almost stalling, now that I have the correct spring on there and I adjusted it by eyeball to what it looked like on the 7.3 db2 it runs better, but not where it should be

 

[campfire]

Hey campfire to answer your question no I haven't had any experience with diesels before, everything I know at this point is through research Haha. Lots of long nights scouring forums, I finally decided on joining ck5 today and I'm pretty happy about it, any words of wisdom on how to put the governor spring back to its correct length? I've found next to no info on the db2 and how to just bring it to base line

I've done a bunch of things with these engines, but I haven't personally opened up an IP yet. So my info is hearsay. @AgDieseler should be able to answer your question.

The military bought a bunch of diesel blazers (M1009) and pickups (M1008 and others) from 1984-1986. Their service manuals are a really good resource when maintaining these trucks. Look up tm9-2320-289-20 and tm9-2320-289-34 when you have some time. There are other manuals out there, but these cover a lot of what's required to keep these trucks on the road (2000 illustrated pages).

 

[campfire]

I found that adjusting the spring has something to do with idle, and my truck needs to be a little higher , it's not quite on the edge of stalling when it runs but it's not far away, when I first started it with the makeshift spring still in there it was terrible, it was surging very bad, not high to low idle, but almost stalling, now that I have the correct spring on there and I adjusted it by eyeball to what it looked like on the 7.3 db2 it runs better, but not where it should be

When the IP is correctly configured, idle is set using the setscrew on the outside of the pump. Can you take some pictures of what you're doing, so I can visualize which spring is being adjusted? Like I said before, I haven't done this yet, it's all theoretical on my end.

 

[campfire]

Basic things to know about the 6.2/6.5 family of engines.

The starter motors have a small bracket anchoring the front of the motor to the block. This is important as without such the motors tend to break starter bolts and sometimes blocks.

Bleeding air out of the fuel lines can be a slightly painful.

If you crank up the fuel supply and beat on them they tend to overheat.

Harmonic balancers fail over time. When this happens, they amplify torsional forces instead of damping them, and snapped crankshafts can result.

Glow plugs are important, new ones can do a better job than the original 9G plugs (looks like you already figured this one out).

Your '83 will have a secondary fuel filter buried underneath the intake manifold. I mention this because I once spent a stupid amount of time trying to figure out why fuel wasn't arriving at the IP before I found out that I even had a secondary filter. Only '82-'83 models have the dual spin-on filter setup, later models had single box-style filters.

The 6.5 engines are based on the 6.2 design. More displacement, lower CR, and a turbocharger was added. But the engines are very, very similar otherwise. There are lots of improvements that happened throughout the production run, so if you wind up deciding you want more power from your 6.2 (or just feel like upgrading to a modern serpentine belt setup), there are some upgrades from the 6.5s that fit very nicely on 6.2 engines.

 

[Clark0943]

When the IP is correctly configured, idle is set using the setscrew on the outside of the pump. Can you take some pictures of what you're doing, so I can visualize which spring is being adjusted? Like I said before, I haven't done this yet, it's all theoretical on my end.

. The small spring on the end is what I changed, this is the ip to the 7.3 I don't have any pics of my pump on my phone

 

[AgDieseler]

Welcome. You've got a great truck.

I've only dissected the top of an IP for fuel tuning - never gone deeper and reassembled; just for curiosity. Find your local Stanadyne dealer and talk over the problem. They can source small parts like your missing spring or an idle adjustment screw.

I lost an idle screw one time somewhere in NM and my dealer had a spare on the shelf. These DB2s are still well supported by the manufacturer.

David

 

[campfire]

Welcome. You've got a great truck.

I've only dissected the top of an IP for fuel tuning - never gone deeper and reassembled; just for curiosity. Find your local Stanadyne dealer and talk over the problem. They can source small parts like your missing spring or an idle adjustment screw.

I lost an idle screw one time somewhere in NM and my dealer had a spare on the shelf. These DB2s are still well supported by the manufacturer.

David

Argh. I thought you had gone through your IP when you had it rebuilt.

@Clark0943, the idle adjustment is the rusty screw at the bottom left of the picture.

And I would have sworn that my IP is mirror-image of that one, the throttle cable comes in on the driver side and the TPS is over on the passenger side.

 

[Clark0943]

@AgDieseler I'm not missing the spring I took it off of the ip in the picture, all my parts are there, I'm just wondering if you know how many turns that spring needs to be out, like what's the gap supposed to be between the little spring and the square plate at the end? Also @campfire the reason the picture might differ from that of your 6.2 is that this is a picture of a db2 on a 7.3 from what I've seen in my researching all the ford db2 pumps have the throttle cable on the opposite side and some other stuff

 

[AgDieseler]

I'm just wondering if you know how many turns that spring needs to be out, like what's the gap supposed to be between the little spring and the square plate at the end?

I do not. That's not even really covered in the Helms manual. I've always relied on my local Stanadyne dealer for guidance internal to the pump.

Took a stab at your location (near Adirondack State Park), and figured this might be a nearby dealer:
BURLINGTON DIESEL FUEL PUMP SERVICE
559 Industrial Avenue
Williston, VT 05495
Phone: 802-660-9694
Email: [email protected]

Argh. I thought you had gone through your IP when you had it rebuilt.

I pulled the pump and did a pressure check, and observed while the M&D tech tore it down.

David

 

[campfire]

I do not. That's not even really covered in the Helms manual. I've always relied on my local Stanadyne dealer for guidance internal to the pump.

Took a stab at your location (near Adirondack State Park), and figured this might be a nearby dealer:
BURLINGTON DIESEL FUEL PUMP SERVICE
559 Industrial Avenue
Williston, VT 05495
Phone: 802-660-9694
Email: [email protected]


I pulled the pump and did a pressure check, and observed while the M&D tech tore it down.

David

I checked both CUCV manuals and my Haynes Diesel Engine Repair Manual. Neither show detailed inner workings of the IP. Stanadyne is a good place to look for info.

 

[Clark0943]

@campfire @AgDieseler I think I got everything tuned ok today, idle seems to be at a good spot now, I turned up the idle with the idle screw, had to go 3 turns in to get it good, no white or black smoke, even pressure from both tailpipes, those army technical manuals you told me about campfire were really helpful for ip info, I found out what everything does. I took a video to show you guys what it sounds like, Went for a quick test ride as well, when I was going down the road I didn't have any black smoke, it was whiteish, not sure if that's normal for a diesel, it wasn't blowing clouds of white while I accelerated, needed a normal amount, thought it was supposed to be black... But I'm new to diesels, Also I pulled my oil fill cap while it was at idle and there was quite a bit of white smoke, also not sure if this is normal

 

[Clark0943]

 

[campfire]

The idle sounds good (at least, as much as a camera recording can represent). The color of what came out of the oil cap doesn't bother me, though the quantity may point to a failed CDR valve. Greyish smoke out the back is common, black happens only under heavy load (depends on pump settings, airflow, and injector condition). If you get large amounts of white "smoke" that is probably leaking coolant from a bad head gasket. But so far I think things look good. Give it some miles and see how well it does.

I'm glad you found the CUCV manuals helpful. I scanned through both of them and didn't find an IP section, I must have missed it somewhere.

 

[Clark0943]

@campfire what's the best oil to use for my rig, I'm hoping to have it on the road by winter, and it gets as cold as -35 with windchill, so is there a certain oil and coolant I need to run, also if you could post part numbers for the primary and secondary fuel filters as well as oil filter, most of the places I've tried don't carry anything

 

[campfire]

@campfire what's the best oil to use for my rig, I'm hoping to have it on the road by winter, and it gets as cold as -35 with windchill, so is there a certain oil and coolant I need to run, also if you could post part numbers for the primary and secondary fuel filters as well as oil filter, most of the places I've tried don't carry anything

Where are you located? Windchill doesn't count when talking about a truck sitting overnight, it's going to become the temperature of the air around it. Windchill is only going to make a difference when the truck is successfully generating heat or cooling off (when you generally don't care).

I live in Northern Wisconsin, winter temps often go below zero degrees F. and we'll hit -20*F a few times in an average winter. A few years ago I lived in a colder yet region, but in both regions I run 10W40 Mobil Delvac oil. I buy a 5 gallon bucket to save overall costs. Running a specified diesel oil is recommended because it is more resistant to burning when it gets left behind in the cylinder (some is bound to slip past the rings, particularly on an aged engine). It's likely that you'll have at least one oil leak in an engine of this age (rocker arm covers and rear main seal are common leakage points). Running Lucas Oil Stabilizer can slow down the rate of leakage (may or may not be more cost effective than simply adding oil when needed). My '83 has a tag on the driver-side sun visor detailing which oil grades to use in different temperature ranges.

Coolant is like any other vehicle of this era, normal ethylene glycol mixed to the proper ratio for your area. Test with a coolant tester to be sure that you're ready for winter (which you should be doing anyway).

6.2 engines use a common #5 oil filter, any decent parts store should both carry this oil filter and be able to tell you what your truck needs.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wix-51061/overview/year/1983/make/chevrolet/model/k5-blazer

Fuel filter may not be in stock, but any decent place should at least be able to identify it.

You want the two round filters from this page. The large one is primary, the small one is secondary. They do also list the box-style filter, but that's just for 84+ trucks.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...y/chevy-diesel/year/1983/make/gmc/model/jimmy

 

[Clark0943]

Awesome, I appreciate the info, it's probably around the same temperature wise here in Plattsburgh ny, it's basically Canada haha, winter is the longest season around here. I'll up load some pics of my truck so you guys can see the botched body work the poor guy who owned this before me paid for, the wiring is a nightmare as well