About that starter removal on a 6.2.
I put a small bottle jack between the spring or axle and the frame and jack it up to open the gap under the starter.
WARNING - WARNING!
The following is for people who
love their 6.2L diesel engines.
All others can stop reading here.
You've been warned.
and there's lots of big words too.
For a while I worked exclusively on the GM 4.3, 5.7 and 6.2 diesels and found that they had a few engineering quirks that for the most part could be fixed or re-engineered if you will.
I'll concentrate of the 6.2s here.
In the spread of California and Federal and Canadian specs and designs, if you have an Oak Leaf on the driver's door pillar - then you've got a superior engine that already has more horsepower than either the CONUS or especially the CalEPA certified versions.
For reasons that escape my ideas of doing it right, the California models have a severely retarded camshaft and the injectors are smaller and pop off at lower pressures.
The injection pump has a stop inside the advance piston to keep total advance small.
The camshaft was retarded a full 10-12 degrees after TDC which made the 0 degree timing for injection actually much later. The mantissa marks on the injection pump mounting flange was supposed to be set on the mark with the injection pump adapter that went into the top of the timing gear hump.
That was to get the injection pump to at least get fuel into the combustion chamber soon enough to actually make it burn, but it was late and created a lot of heat at the exhaust valve pocket and this is usually where the stock head bolts and/or OE (I think they were McCord cheapie) head gaskets failed.
The compression ratio, albeit the ADVERTISED 12.75:1 compression ratio is actually lower than stated for another arcane reason. It's prolly to burn that CalDiesel which had the paraffin taken out of it and then a good dose of ethanol put into it - which resulted in huge lawsuits that had an expiration date a long - long - lo-ong time ago.
Historical Note: California bit the big one and paid $$$ for all the diesel pumps and injectors they ruined for that mistake.
Compression tests that I personally performed on these California engines indicated the CR was more like 11.5:1 or so.
Enter the 6.2D CONUS - or more correctly called the FEDERAL version that had a more advanced camshaft - but it was still retarded about 6 or 8 degrees after TDC.
The injectors had more realistic pop off pressure but the nozzles were still pretty small.
This engine made a little more power but was also a loser in the horsepower ratings - having instead a lot more torque about which it boasted.
The tested CR was around 13:1 or so - but still too low for any power or performance in my opinion.
Now the true Canadian engines - with the identifying Oak Leaf on the door pillar to make it more recognizable - had the camshaft set at ZERO and the injectors had seriously more pop off pressure and bigger nozzles. The compression was a full point-and-a-half higher - although rumors had it that the Oak Leaf versions at a full 22.5:1 - which would be radical at least!
So - where am I going here?
If one has an Oak Leaf 6.2D and they want to stay with diesel - these can really be made to run some serious torque and horsepower with a few updates and no added turbocharger.
First - the Roosa-Master/Stanadyne pump need to be built by someone who knows and is certified as a true Roosa-Master/Stanadyne builder - not some guy building them on a benchtop in his garden shed. Tell the certified shop that you want it to RUN HARD and max out the advance piston by machining the piston stop button and turn up the cranking fuel delivery.
Then get a really good surface on the head to cut it down about 0.080" for some real compression.
NOTICE - SIDEBAR HERE: Do NOT cut the California or (possibly too) the FEDERAL heads as they are lighter for weight of the engine package concerns like the Ford/IHC 6.9-7.2 which Ford cut about 225 lbs out of the engine to help the front end hold it up.
The cam is unfortunately not a big ticket performance item and therefor it has never and prolly is not being custom ground by but a few cam grinders. These are real roller cams and they can be pretty radical in duration to make them pop some more power.
Replace the head bolts with shouldered Grade 12 studs - course threads only, and use new Sched.80 Vascomax washers.
Liberally coat all the threads that go into the block anywhere with Permatex #303 Aviation type sealer.
Use FelPro gaskets throughout. Try to find the
PURPLE Perma-Print gaskets.
The oil pump is more than capable for anything you can ask the engine to do so don't sweat it.
Put a smaller diameter convertor on the transmission - if automatic - to raise the stall speed and make sure it has 6 convertor bolts or studs. No less.
Remover the EGR system - even though I know it works - but it kills the engine after a while. Sorry 'bout that!
Do not use Champion glow plugs.You'll be sorry if you do.
Lube oil by Rotella or Delo is fine as you have a roller engine here that even cow urine could lubricate well.
If you have a manual transmission, then use a diaphragm type clutch since it will hold just fine and yet you can almost push the pedal down with your hand. It's lots easier on the drivetrain and the clutch linkage - and driver fatigue too.
This diaphragm type clutch seems wrong on many fronts - but after taking care of a fleet of tow trucks with both gas and diesel engines in GMC/Chevy 2500, 3500 and 4500 series bodies with all the tow truck cr@p on them - they lasted a lot longer than the B-W or B&B clutches.
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