Oldsmobile Diesel Engine

Oldsmobile Diesel Engine

Oldsmobile developed three diesel engines for the 1980s: two V8s and a 263 CID (4.3 L) V6. It was based on the Olds 350 V8 with a 4.057 in (103.0 mm) bore and 3.385 in (86.0 mm) stroke.

The history of passenger-car diesel engines at General Motors has been checkered. In the 1970s, the company was unable to power its large cars and trucks with their emissions-strangled engines. Like many other companies, GM turned to diesel power, directing the Oldsmobile division to develop one V6 and two V8 to be shared with all divisions.

Oldsmobile's diesels, the 5.7 L LF9 and 4.3 L LF7 V8s and the 4.3 L V6, were notoriously unreliable. Oldsmobile engineers claimed that management forced them to hold to a time line that did not allow for sufficient testing. Although over one million were sold from 1978–1985, the failure rate of early GM diesel engines ruined the reputation of diesel engines in general in the United States market. Eventually, a class action lawsuit resulted in an arbitration system under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission where consumers could claim 80% of the original cost of the engine in the event of a failure.

The primary problem with GM's diesel engines of the 1970s was their design - weakness in the head design and head bolts, which were not able to withstand the higher cylinder pressures and temperatures of diesel use. This design weakness combined with poor diesel fuel quality in the 80's led to catastrophic failure of pistons, cylinder heads, and even cylinder walls. Reinforced truck diesel engines, from GM and other companies, did not have these problems. Today, GM uses diesel engines from DMAX (for trucks) and Isuzu (for non-US cars) but does not offer a diesel engine in any of their North American passenger cars.