Diesel to E85 conversion

[DanStokes]

I don't hate them , don't mind others having them , I just don't want one . If I were to want to go diesel , it have to be one without all the electronics. As far as any car I fool with , no computer is the way I plan to roll .

That's why I love the Dodge. Minimal electronics - just enough to make it run well. Pretty basic ol' truck.

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

That's why I love the Dodge. Minimal electronics - just enough to make it run well. Pretty basic ol' truck.

Dan

6.2 requires one wire to run. 6.5 got electronics, but if you had to; you could eliminate them with an earlier 6.2 pump

[Thumpin455]

You can go higher than 13:1 on E85, thats just the point where you get better mileage than gasoline, 16:1 isn't that hard to do, the probem with my engines is getting it that high. Really what you want to do is run it on E98, that can go well over 20:1 compression easily, its not held back by the craptastic gasoline and its limited octane.

The pre chamber poses a problem, as thats where the spark plug will end up and flame travel will suck, if the 6.2 has one of those I don't know. EFI makes it easy, either port fuel or one of the TBI systems like I have. A crank trigger is all you need for DIS ignition with a coil for every plug, something should retrofit to it like the 460 Ford crank trigger I will end up using on one of my 455s.

Otherwise yeah its not hard to run a diesel on ethanol if you can light the fire and get the fuel into it, need to remove the stock injector pump because it will seize on you, but otherwise thats really all you need. Been looking into doing the Olds 350 diesel for a while now. I know where there are some, but I have other projects taking up my time.

[Dan Barlow]

I really appreciate you as our resident ethanal expert weighing in on this . I'm a little disappointed that the glow plug being in the wrong spot to use as a spark plug hole . In my quest to find a suburban or a C or K 30 flat bed , I have ran across several 6.5s with supposedly bad injector pumps . So far a suburban that is a diesel down in simsonville S.C. is at the top of my list even though I haven't seen any pics of it yet . Most importantly I want a good body so I may end up with a diesel even though I don't want one . So if I do end up with a bad diesel at some point if its bad or ever goes bad it'll either get a LS , SBC , BBC .

[SuperBuickGuy]

I really appreciate you as our resident ethanal expert weighing in on this . I'm a little disappointed that the glow plug being in the wrong spot to use as a spark plug hole . In my quest to find a suburban or a C or K 30 flat bed , I have ran across several 6.5s with supposedly bad injector pumps . So far a suburban that is a diesel down in simsonville S.C. is at the top of my list even though I haven't seen any pics of it yet . Most importantly I want a good body so I may end up with a diesel even though I don't want one . So if I do end up with a bad diesel at some point if its bad or ever goes bad it'll either get a LS , SBC , BBC .

6.2 injector pumps are about $400 and are easy to replace. The biggest deal I've found is of the dozens of these I've bought - it's usually they don't know how to bleed the system. That can lead to bad starters/batteries, etc (though often you get all new because they think that's the issue). They last at least 100,000 miles.

6.5 injector pumps are about the same price (a bit more) but there is also PMD issues (google it). and lift pump issues (they're electric and GM (stupidly) used a too-small pump but it is easy to replace as well. 6.5s usually have major mechanical issues rather then just pumps like the 6.2. I would never be afraid to buy or fix a GM/Detroit diesel..... but keep in mind, 6.5s (because with boost - there is more stress), head gaskets, cracked blocks, and broken cranks are common. With that said, I'm still not sure why they pulled the original motor apart....

In any case, a 454 bolts right in if that's your desire as does a 350....

[AndyB]

If you're looking for that lazy torque, a 454 can be stroked up a little more too. A turbo hanging off it would help even more...

(Hooray for the enablist support group!)

[Thumpin455]

I traded some work for a late 80s C30 with a 20' tilt flat bed, ex wrecker, that has the diesel and 4 speed behind it. So I have been looking into putting them on my fuel a little, still need to get the truck home and the weather isn't letting that happen now. Don't even know if it runs, but they said it does. Bad steering column, so I need to scrounge one of those just to move it. I'd rather not put one of my 454s in it, because I need to do so much to them to get any power and the mileage will still suck, but its an option if the diesel is FUBAR. A stroker crank with some domes in a 454 block with oval ports would work, crank up the squeeze and run it on E85 for my trips between here and Nebraska and to the strip in Wisconsin, so that would pick up power and mileage. A simple EFI with a 2 bar MAP would let me pout a small hair dryer on it with 11:1 or so, for pulling up the hills and I could use lots of stock parts. Right now, fuel prices are low, so I get a reprieve from being forced to make fuel for a while at least and a diesel would work pretty good for what I want it to do.

So I'm in a similar position, but really, I am thinking about fixing the truck and selling it now, parking space at my house is a problem. But I can haul bobcats and excavators on it rather than renting a heavy enough trailer, so that plays in as well. My car trailers can't haul an 8000lb bobcat safely. This truck would make my 2500 redundant to some extent. So its do I pursue it, and maybe swap it later? Or keep going with trailers and hope the beater trucks don't crap out entirely.