New engine for the family truckster!

[SuperNovaSS]

Well done Steve! I have been watching from the shadows and am always impressed by ingenuity and determination.


Jason

[David Billingsley]

Most impressive, looks like the mother of all engine swaps, enjoyed your post Steve, job well done.

[njsteve]

Thank you! This was quite the process. I have always been intimidated by modern stuff so this was something of a leap of faith, hoping it would work when the process was completed. and this engine is really heavy - I'd compare it to a fully dressed iron 426 Hemi in weight. And the fact that most mechanics have long forgotten how to work on and tune the 6.5 diesels - that was incentive to learn it all myself - combined with the unimaginable $$$$ cost of 9 days of labor doing the swap if I had a truck garage do it.

In the end, I don't know what I was so concerned about given that all the computerized stuff just runs itself once it is plugged back in. That was one of the reasons I tried to retain as much of the known running components on the new engine - old injection pump, injectors, wiring etc. I didn't want too many variables throwing a wrench in the process. I did end up replacing the Fuel separator/filter, starter, and radiator, with AC/Delco parts. I also replaced the engine mounts (the GM ones are no longer available) - though the diesel guys warned me that all the mount manufacturers superceded the mount part numbers to one unit that fits smallblocks, big blocks and the diesel - when the diesel had a special much heavier duty rubber used. As luck would have it I found one NOS GM diesel mount on ebay...one day after setting the motor back in the truck. So we will see how long the NAPA mounts last. AT least I have a spare in case one fails.

Now the truck is ready for cruising again!

[The Boss]

Necessity is the mother of invention!

Nice job as usual Steve.

[njsteve]

Thanks!

I was just out in the driveway on the creeper, checking the underside - still all dry - even the oil filter adapter!

I then spent two hours picking up all my tools and cleaning the garage.

I was able to get the old engine onto the engine stand and turned over so all the antifreeze could pour out all at once into the catch pans. I'll pull the oil pan in the next day or so to start inspecting it.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Very cool!!

Nice truckster.

Ryan

[RPOLS3]

Impressive - nice write up as usual.

[daverd]

Did you move the injector power control unit form indeed the intake manifold?
With a new cool plate?

[njsteve]

The PMD (Pump Mounted Driver) is the little computer box that was originally mounted to the side of the injection pump under the intake. The designers thought it would be a great idea to have the super-hot running circuitry inside it get cooled by the diesel fuel running through the pump when the engine was running...only they didn't think about what happens when you shut the engine off and the heatsink effect fries the PMD.

I relocated it to behind the front bumper about ten years ago and never had a problem since. The truck went through three injection pumps when new. I bought it new in Florida and the first PMD fried five miles from the dealership the day I bought the truck! Back then GM refused to acknowledge the design defect and would replace the entire thousand dollar injection pump (with PMD attached) instead of just swapping out the PMD. GM eventually admitted the problem and extended the warranty on the pumps to 10 years or 100,000 miles. But they still would replace the entire pump instead of the PMD.

Here's a photo of the original PMD still on my injection pump. I bypassed it with an aftermarket four-foot long harness extension that reaches to the back of the front bumper behind the license plate brackets. It is mounted on a large heat sink in the protected airflow of the oil cooler duct holes in the bumper. I finally removed this old PMD from the pump last week and am keeping it as a spare - you always carry a couple spares in the tool box when you have a 6.5 diesel.

Kind of like the Mopar guys always carry a couple extra ballast resistors in the glove box for the old Mopar ignition systems.

[Xplantdad]

Steve, One of my jobs while working at Hardin Olds/Honda/DeLorean was to drive the numerous diesel injection pumps to the rebuilder on a daily basis from Anaheim to Ports of Call, Long Beach area...I put over 100,000 miles on a new Delta 88 in one year...taking them back and forth. I think this was 1979, maybe 1980.


That's what they get for converting a gas 350 to diesel...and not putting a water separator under the hood


Great job!