MPG should be decent, better than 20 because of PWRatio. Found this from that guy in England. http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/t...ad.php?t=30201 I am trying to get ahold of him to see if he can send me some pointers but the post is from the end of last year. I am leaning to the the 6.2 still because of the low tech. Less gizmos means deeper water and easier repairs.

 

Keep in mind that there are 2 versions of the 6.2/6.5 diesel. There is the light duty that was used in half ton trucks and blazers and then there is the HD version used in the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. The HD version had a lot less problems so from a reliability standpoint that is what I would look for. With all the old Alyeska pickups running around Fairbanks tracking down a HD engine shouldn't be very difficult.

I don't mean to sound like a broken record but the 6.5 is a better engine than the 6.2 and is still a fully mechanical engine. They fixed the 6.2 problems when they brought out the 6.5. I swapped a 6.5 into my 85 GMC pickup in place of the 6.2 with no problem. Only thing I couldn't use from the 6.2 were the injector lines because the 6.5 heads had the injectors sitting at a slightly different angle.

As you may have guessed I have spent way too much time turning wrenches on the older GM diesels and I am hoping to steer others clear of the problems I had.

 

I agree that the 6.5 is better. But as I have found out, trying to get someone to cough up one that is not seized or messed up catastrophically is proving to be a hassle. As you know Fairbanks is out here. Unless I want to drive to Anchorage and pay twice what its worth, I am going to have to bide my time and look under some more rocks. But like I said, I have the time. I just have to find something that I can do when its 50 below and i need to escape the wife.

 

Ah, 50 below. Brings back memories. Glad I don't have to deal the that kind of weather anymore. Check with the junk yards around there. The one off Badger Road (if it's still there) usually had a good stock of engines. I think GM started using the 6.5 in like 93 so a wrecked truck shouldn't be too tough to track down. There are plenty of totaled trucks from moose encounters up there.

 

Hello, first posting here.

What I am gathering is that the 6.2 is too much for the R380 transmission... is that assumption correct?

The reason I ask is that I am looking at one closeby... thinking about it versus the 2.8L HS.

I have a '97 Disco 5 speed.

Cheers

 

6.2L diesel is pretty much a gutless wonder (which is why I push the 6.5 so much) so it shouldn't be any problem for your transmission.

Where are you that you found a 97 with a 5 speed? Manual transmission Discos stopped coming to the states in 96 I believe.

 

Hi AK Rover,

I am in beautiful British Columbia, Vancouver is my home

Close, '97 was the last year. There were over 14,000 in the US, and only 711 in Canada

I also own a Series III 88" Santana (built in Spain) with a 2.25 L diesel and Santana Overdirve