My new tow pig and noob questions.

[Modblacksmith]

Little story about this truck and I. This truck sat at a car lot close to my house for over a year before I called to ask about it, the salesman wasn't to polite but he agreed to wait for me to get off work so I could come check it out. When I got down there I was greeted by a little man with a big gun strapped to his hip and was informed that the salesman had left for the day. I made a couple more calls about it but they were never returned. Surprise surprise a few weeks later the car lot was vacant and the truck was gone.
Over a year later my roommate tells me about a crew cab sitting in a towing yard that the owner just wants to get rid of, so I went to check it out and $800 later they dropped it off at my house.

She's an 85 Silverado with the 6.2, granny low 4 speed, np205 and 4.10's in the housings. Unfortunately some previous owner had rolled cheep bed liner down both sides and missed the inside of the bed.

The towing guy told me it had starting problems and wouldn't start on its own but he had push started it. Well after finding that it only having one bolt in the starter and fixing a few loose connections she fired right up.

OK, question time, I'm a complete noob with diesel engines, everything I know about this 6.2 is from searching and reading forums.
1. It blows white smoke out the drivers side and not the passenger side. It has true duals all the way out.
2. The engine shakes like a paint mixer at idle, is that natural?
3. How do I find out if the fuel screw has already been messed with?
4. What are some things I should look for and/or replace because it been sitting for so long?

Here's what I've already purchased and/or replaced.
Ac delco 60g glow plugs
Air cleaner
Starter bracket...Need to make or find one.
Thermostat... heard they can cause problems
Square fuel filter that mounts to the firewall
New lift pump

Planning on swapping in NV4500 soon. Thanks to everyone who answered my questions about that.

The intake doses't have the egr thing in it, I think its the J one everyone talks about. It's the circle with the divider in the center.

I would like to get some more power out of it for towing but nothing to crazy, I'm on a budget and its going to be my dd here soon. I've been thinking about the 6.5 turbo swap since I can pull one off as soon as one comes into the scrap yard I work at.

 

[Big Ray]

You will need to modify your a/c housing for the 6.5 turbo...an S-10 unit will work & give you the clearance you need.

6.2's are not built for power, they were built for better mileage back in the day.

 

[Big Ray]

p.s. nice truck

 

[375 H&H]

make sure the harmonic balancer is in good shape. a bad balancer will break the crankshaft in no time.

for 6.2 tech the Diesel Place board http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-gm-diesel-engines/20-6-2l-diesel-engine/ is my go-to, but the this board rules for all else GM related.

there was a complete banks turbo kit for sale somewhere recently, maybe Ebay? can't remember, but used ones are out there.

 

[scottystills]

2. The engine shakes like a paint mixer at idle, is that natural?
3. How do I find out if the fuel screw has already been messed with?
4. What are some things I should look for and/or replace because it been sitting for so long?

Here's what I've already purchased and/or replaced.
Ac delco 60g glow plugs
Air cleaner
Starter bracket...Need to make or find one.
Thermostat... heard they can cause problems
Square fuel filter that mounts to the firewall
New lift pump

The intake doses't have the egr thing in it, I think its the J one everyone talks about. It's the circle with the divider in the center.

I would like to get some more power out of it for towing but nothing to crazy, I'm on a budget and its going to be my dd here soon. I've been thinking about the 6.5 turbo swap since I can pull one off as soon as one comes into the scrap yard I work at.

Yep as is said, check out Dieselplace 6.2 section. Saved my butt a few times.

But you're on the right track. As was said look for either the 6.5 or the Banks turbo kit. Makes a HUGE difference in power and mileage. With the J code you're already ahead of the game. Add the turbo and you won't be sorry. With my Banks on, even with my lift/1 tons/38s I can still make it about 750km (450mi) on a tank on the highway.

Get rid of the box fuel filter as you already had listed. Besides being a PITA I found when I swtiched to a higher flow spin on then engine ran a lot smoother; have to assume it wasn't giving enough fuel.

Not sure how cold it gets in ID, but look into putting a manual glow switch into your dash. These suckers do NOT like cold.

I assume you replaced the mech lift pump. Switch to an electric inline. Once you have a turbo on it, the exhaust crossover makes the mech basically impossible to change without pulling apart, and they're not reliable anyway. I switched to the elec from a 6.5 in my frame rail about midway up right in front of where the hard line ends. My local fitting place had fittings that go from the Chev fuel line compression fittings to 3/8" hose barb so that did the trick real quick. Throw a check valve in there for good measure.

 

[kennyw]

The white smoke on one side is a sign you need new head gaskets. I would pick up a Harbor Freight diesel compression test guage set.

 

[Modblacksmith]

Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming.

Where should I look to find a screw on filter bace? Would one off a semi truck work?

 

[scottystills]

Thanks for the info guys, keep it coming.

Where should I look to find a screw on filter bace? Would one off a semi truck work?

Just about any screw in diesel filter will work, obviously look for a fuel/water separator style.

I used this guy from Napa with some 90 and barb fittings:







Cleaned up the lines a bit since that pic was taken...

 

[Modblacksmith]

Wow, thanks man, pics with part numbers. Thanks for the info about the electric fuel pump too, I'm assuming you just make a block off plate for the lift pump location?
I think the PO has messed with it a little, it has the glow pug switch in the dash.

 

[scottystills]

I just bought the SBC block off plate which works fine. Needed some modification with the Banks because the turbo oil drain goes to the fuel pump mount plate. Nothing a couple drilled holes and some RTV can't cure though.

 

[kennyw]

I just bought the SBC block off plate which works fine. Needed some modification with the Banks because the turbo oil drain goes to the fuel pump mount plate. Nothing a couple drilled holes and some RTV can't cure though.

Tapped holes with pipe thread work best for the oil return.

RTV is to seal the block off plate to the block.

 

[scottystills]

Tapped holes with pipe thread work best for the oil return.

RTV is to seal the block off plate to the block.

Ya, I just drilled a couple holes in the block off plate and put the original plate over the block off plate. Not the best but hasn't leaked a drop thankfully hehe

 

[Big Ray]

+1 on the electric pump. My mechanical went bad Saturday, gotta crawl my big ol bee-hind under it to swap out.

As far as filters, I'm liking this setup...

filter base

 

[Modblacksmith]

Thanks again guys for your impute so far, I will be sending parts back and ordering new ones here shortly. I'm going to also try and make it out to the company pick and pull yard to see what I can find for a turbo set up.

My neighbor used to be a VW mechanic and he has a diesel compression tester I can barrow and he said the same thing about the head gasket, yeah I was bummed.

Still haven't found anything about how to tell if the fuel screw in the injection pump has been messed with or not?

 

[kennyw]

Worry about fixing the bigger issue first (head gaskets). I would upgrade to head studs while you have things apart in preparation for the turbo.

Then, once it is back together you will be able to see if it is short on fuel.

 

[scottystills]

I'd actually be curious to find out how to set the fuel properly myself. I've never been quite sure if I'm getting enough. The only time I see back smoke is usually in some deep mud in low and really into the throttle. Don't think I've ever seen any on the road (not that black smoke is the sign of a healthy engine haha)

Side note: Over the weekend finally got tired of my glow controller and removed it altogether. Ran the outputs from it going to the GPs together with some 8ga to the starter solenoid I've wired on the wheel well (removing the fusible links). Voltmeter drops a full 2.5V when I hit the glows now, but it sure starts quick!

 

[Modblacksmith]

I get a little bit out of the passenger side when I romp on it, I'm to chicken to go full throttle with the other side blowing white smoke. Can't aford to replace it if I blow it up at this point. Haha.
Leads my to think the PO did mess with it though.

 

[84CUCV]

thats a steal. nice truck.

 

[Modblacksmith]

thats a steal. nice truck.

Thanks. I need to get a new pic up, I repainted the black area and took the ladder rack out.

 

[Modblacksmith]

R.i.p 6.2

Sadly the old 6.2 decided she had enough of my lead foot on Saturday night and let the rear main seal go, puking oil down my street and all over my driveway. So its coming out but my roommate wants to rebuild it and continue on with with the turbo project, so hopefully it won't turn into scrap metal.

Last week I was talking to the manager of the pick and pull yard that the company I work for owns about turbo's and he said "well there's a second gen Dodge out there with a turbo on it". I took a vacation day and headed out of town on Friday with a good buddy of mine to pull a motor only knowing that it was a Cummins and nothing else.
Just my luck its a 99, 24 valve, 53 block nightmare. For those that don't know the 53 blocks are prone to cracking and the 98.5-02 had the crappy VP44 injection pump.
For the price beggars can't be choosers though, so it looks like I'm going to be building a P-Pumped 24v with ARP everything and a stud girdle.

Oh, and the stacks I installed for the fun of it a couple weeks ago.