Can we Drive the WORST Diesel Engine 600+ MILES and TOW A BOAT!? 

Get your limited time I HATE HEADGASKETS shirt here!! www.junkyarddigs.com/shop/p/oldsmobile-diesel

That car literally sounded like a 379 Peterbilt coming out of that shed! 😂😂

THANK YOU for not gas-swapping the engine and spending the time to fix it up instead. Much more interesting and you did a great job showing your work!

I'm a mechanic in the military, and let me tell you, that startup after the head gasket repair sounded almost identical to a Humvee

In 1980, my dad speculated that gas prices were going to soar, so he bought an Olds Cutlass Diesel and the car *never* ran right. Besides the craptacular engine, the AC condensate outlet plugged up easily and would drain into the passenger footwell. In 1984 I got it into a car accident and after it was assessed, my dad had a conversation like this: "I'm really torn. You didn't quite destroy it enough. I could choose to not get it repaired, take a credit hit and let the bank repossess it or I could get it fixed and we're stuck with it." He got it fixed. Wrong choice.

Kevin=optimism Angus=realism

When I was a kid we had a neighbor, old Jimmie - he was a old school trucker that worked for CF. Jimmie loved diesels and he absolutely loved picking up these GM diesels for pennies. This was mid 80s when they were a couple years old but people were dumping them for pennies on the dollar. He had a couple and he always laughed how cheap he got them and could do a couple basic things to them to make them run "great". I loved riding in them, and watching his dog when he was out of town driving and his wife was riding with him. RIP Jimmie, you taught me a lot. I'm not sure if you were right about early 80s GM Diesels but you sure loved the damn things.

I still have a '79 Toronado diesel that has 160,000 miles on it, original block reringed at 120K. I'm surprised you made it that far with the pump going out! Back in the day my dad and I had a diesel repair shop and worked on lots of these. We always used the thicker head gasket whenever we replaced them to lower the compression a bit for durability but also to give more piston to head clearance as a common problem was carbon buildup that would do things like hammer the upper ring groove tight, knock out wrist pin bushings and even break cranks. This was usually an issue on city driven vehicles that didn't get up some highway speed and clean the carbon out once in awhile. A lot of times I'd do a service on one that wasn't running so great, take it out for a drive and pin it on the governor in second for a mile or so, the highway would dissapear in a cloud of soot behind me but eventually it would clean up, get back to the shop and it would be running like a million bucks. Couple suggestion I'd recommend is disabling the EGR valve so it isn't plugging up the intake with soot and run a fuel additive that lubricates the pump and injectors. I use both Diesel kleen and Lucas upper cylinder in mine. Great to see a few of these dinosaurs still alive!

My dad had a regal with t tops fully loaded with the olds diesel. The original sticker price was like 27k. It blew a headgasket not long after he got it, my dad was resourceful, the block had puckered around all the headbolts and he (probably could) couldn't afford taking it to the machine shop. So he bought good flat files and filed the deck flat, he said he pretty well had to go back and buy every file the store had, but he managed. He done this in the dirt driveway over a weekend I believe. I was little when he done this but I do remember him working on it. Then it spit out rods, so he bought another car with the same 5.7 diesel and swapped it in.... I was just a kid when they sold the car but I remember loving that thing

I am glad these 1h+ long videos do well, they are some of favorite content on youtube.

That phone call to Wyatt and getting priceless information that gave you a roadside fix in 5 minutes to get you back on your way is a perfectly distilled example of what the car community is all about.

Years ago my pipe organ teacher had a 78 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight Regency Brougham diesel. At 120,000 miles it was on engine number 3, the newest and last generation of the engine. This was in 86. My car was a 78 Buick Electra Limited with the Buick 350. As close a comparison as possible. Same year, same displacement, same GM platform. The Buick used significantly less fuel, as well having enough performance to get out of its own way. The 3 speed automatic in the diesel is a dreadfully weak Turbo 250. If this has been upgraded, be thankful. I also had an 84 Delta 88 Royale 2 door. The trailer towing package came with heavy duty springs and shocks, the Turbo 350 instead of the 200R4. Without the towing package, you were limited to a 2,000 pound trailer. My 84 also had the "Gage Paxkage" set into that recess where you have the rear defrost switch. Cars did used to have significant towing ratings. My one of one 89 Grand Marquis had a factory 351W and Trailer Towing Package that gave a 6,000 pound towing package. My 76 Thunderbird also had a 6,000 pound rating. 71-76 full sized GM sedans could be rated with a 7,000 pound rating.

Glad to see Angus was prepared for the worst. He wore his safety glasses with the side shields for the whole trip!

As a professional diesel mechanic who specializes in GM's and Detroit's I really enjoy when you get these as I can never find them near me. It's also vindicating when you have to call for advice with them since I often have trouble with carbs and have to refer to your videos. We are all good at different things! Sorry Angus but I want to see more diesels, Maybe a 1980's VW diesel soon? Those make the 5.7L Oldsmobile look like a powerhouse.

Anybody can get an old GM gas engine running. Only mad men would run an olds diesel. And for that, I thank you.

I've read several big issues on these diesels when they came out... 1) Around 1980 there was a fuel shortage, and apparently it was much more common than average to end up with water in your diesel. There was a procedure for this on them, but you know, it left a bad impression when someone bought it and then ran into fuel problems. 2) I've read the dealerships often just didn't know what to do with them in terms of service and repair. (That's in addition to it being a bad engine -- it's a gas 350 converted to diesel. And slow as hell.)

I should hope so! I towed a corvette on a car trailer from Montery, CA to LA over Tejon Summit in July behind a 1979 Cad Seville with an Oldsmobile diesel in it. Rules for this diesel were: 1. Replace head gaskets at about 60K, 2. Replace head gaskets and injector pump at 120K, 3. Change oil every 3K. Nothing else went wrong, except for belts and hoses. Drove that car for 300K miles. PS We owned *2 more* Cad Diesels during from 1988 through 2004. My mother drove an 81 Sedan De Ville and l also bought a 79 El Dorado. That one had an extra fuel tank in the trunk, so it could hold enough for a 1K Mile RT to LA/OC from the Monterey Peninsula: It ran at about 30 mog average at 65 mph.

Lol Angus' casual suggestion of towing the boat home with the skid loader. 380 miles of backroads would be quite the video

I love these episodes with the Olds Diesel. So rare now and a flashback to a time GM would like to forget. Keep em coming, someone has to keep these old engine alive.

I have 3 of these great engines. One in my -79 El Camino, one under construction and one in my 5.7 Diesel Boss Hoss motorcycle project. I love the sound, smell and attitude of these engines.

Funny thing with the towing: here in Europe, especially in Germany, most of the towing happens by regular cars. Sure, there are Vans, Rangers and some Rams towing stuff but the vast majority happens by regular cars. Maybe because many people only have that one car as a daily grocery getter for the family and don´t have the fortune of having a yard full of alternatives ;)

Angus is not lying about specifically not towing with that engine. I bought a clean 1981 Chevrolet Scotsdale C1500 RCLB 5.7 Diesel to rob the body for my ugly, but reliable, 1985 K10. The engine puked fuel everywhere from a completely shot return system. The truck even came with it's owner's manuals including the 350 diesel pamphlet. I very plainly said DO NOT TOW with this vehicle and had some ridiculous limitation of how much weight you could put in the bed. The body was a lovely cream over metallic brown two-tone, however, and I got a kick out of everybody asking why my hood ornament said "Diesel" and the Scotsdale fender badges also said diesel.

Angus is so perfect on this channel. He's exactly what we needed. The content has been top notch

Mannn i started watching when you first started the page “less the 1.5k followers” when you were starting up old junk cars with buddy and i havent watched you in about 2 years and to click on this video and see how far youve come completely amazes me, you deserve it and keep up the hard work guys so many people look up to yall for keeping a good legacy going 👌🏻

My dad almost bought my '78 Pontiac Parisienne with this engine. Thank god he changed his mind and got the chevy 350 in it! Made the 454 swap easy. Fun vid. In coil air bags are cheap and work very well on these cars for hauling.

I believe Angus is looking for a new job. Seems the boss likes to pick on him in these last few episodes. Lol. Loving the content!

Angus being full time is awesome. The dynamic between the 2 of you makes me laugh multiple times every episode!

Owned two of these back in the day that I bought for peanuts. Both with Goodwrench replacement engines and racor water separators. This video brought back some memories.

I worked with a guy whose son had a job converting these back to gas in the 80s. Let's just say he was quite wealthy.

Idk how my grandfather did it. But he had one of these that when he passed away it had 430,000 documented miles( he did every single service at the dealer from new) never replaced the engine. Did head gaskets at 235,000 miles.

1:09:39 “The Angry Batch Of Bullfrogs under our hood has pulled it off… Le shop” Best JYD quote I’ve ever heard.

I owned a 1980 Cutlass Supreme Diesel 350, my parents gave to me. The later engines came factory with upgraded studs, and pretty much solved the blown gasket issues. Studs were bigger diameter. Weak link is the TH200C trans. My dad was part of a class-action against GM. Really weak parts inside. Mine broke leaving a drive-thru window, parked it, car was really nice, so a car-buying place on Autotrader back then gave me $350 cash. This was 1988. When dad had it, the oil embargo was on big time, Japanese cars were just getting a foothold. Dad got well over 30 MPG driving the 325 miles to Mammoth to ski. Week in, and week out.

The classic car collection is: 81 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, 83 Olds 98 Regency 2 dr., 83 Eldorado, 84 Seville, very rare 85 Fleetwood d'Elegance w/half year computer controlled injection pump/engine. All 5.7 diesels. Recently sold a very original low mile 80 C-10 pickup 5.7 diesel. The Eldorado has pretty good off the line acceleration but none have the power to safely pass on a two lane road. They were a band aid solution for a huge problem of the day. Wife's favorite car was her 81 Bonneville sedan, drove it for 10 years, never let her down but one time relay stuck on the glow plugs. History has shown that the public is incapable of dealing w/challenges and most have little mechanical aptitude.

My old college buddy bought an Olds 88 diesel with over 150,000 miles on it and drove it from Iowa to Alaska. Then drove it three more years with no issues ever. I drove it several as l times & a 600 mile trip. Never a problem. Very comfortable road car

Actually, a GREAT engine that the cheap ass bean counters at GM ruined simply by lack of proper head bolts an no water separator. Get a little water injected, and there goes the head gasket. I drove a couple of these well over 200k miles just by installing ARP racing head studs, and a water separator

I noticed in your manual, thankfully, the 1981 has an upgraded trans. due to the issues in 1980. Here is what internet told me about our 1980, and is spot on. "Yes, the 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass Diesel did have a TH200C transmission1. The TH200C was a type of automatic transmission produced by General Motors. However, it’s worth noting that the TH200 “Metric” was considered one of the least robust rear-wheel-drive (RWD) automatic transmissions GM had designed. It was barely adequate behind a late 70’s/early 80’s V6, let alone any V8 of the era"

Love this video! I have had 6 of these diesels over the years. The only reason the head gasket leaks is when the head bolts break. GM went weak on the bolts. Replace with ARP Stud kit for that engine and you will not have any issues. I have done 3 engines that were running good. Replace the head bolts with head studs one at a time in the torque sequence. You don't have to take the engine apart or even drain the coolant. Once studs are in you are good to go. I drove one 10 years over 110K miles with not loosing a drop of coolant after stud install. DX block is upgraded with roller lifters and stronger materials.

I had a GMC Pickup with one of these engines. I pulled a Uhaul trailer from Nashville to Tacoma WA in 1982. I put a fresh set of headgaskets on it before we left Nashville. Blew a headgasket in Central Oregon. Put some Block Seal in it and drove it the rest of the way to Tacoma. After I got moved in in Tacoma, I started looking at the wrecking yards for a 455. It was a bolt in conversion. Was a great truck after that.

My first and only engine rebuild was a 6.2 gm diesel. That’s also the engine I grew up with in my parents suburban. I’m not sure how similar or different they were from the 350 diesel, but a lot of that looked and definitely sounded the same. I’ll always love them

Gotta finish up the new PBG video then I gotta come back over and watch this. All I know is it involves Angus's favorite engine ever😂....I will say that car was pretty damn mint for its age

A little known fact about the beloved olds diesel... in 1984, GM started casting a higher nickel content block that had the 350DX cast into the side. Although no more horse power, these were the engines that were used to replace the earlier ones that were prone to failure. The DX block solved many of the issues the earlier diesels encountered.

My uncle has a Cat 966 front end loader from the 1950's........and that turbo, indirect injection diesel engine was a major pain in the ass, because of head gasket leaks. He eventually came across the solution......he put anti-seize on the head bolt threads and did them up to spec.........which makes the bolts much tighter and the head gasket stopped leaking. Its been perfectly reliable ever since.

47:38 He is 100% correct, people who needed bigger, safer cars, or just WANTED a larger car, and get well over 30 MPG, is why my parents got one. I lived that era, and inherited the car, this guy is spot-on.

I've owned 5 of these, and worked on many more as a GM dealership tech in 1981 for numerous years. 25 years ago I had a 1983 Delta that I drove round trip 900 miles from southern Minnesota to Lemmon South Dakota and pulled back a 1967 F-100 4X4 on a car dolly. Turbo 350 lockup and still averaged 16.2 mpg. I did have a Flowmaster muffler which helped on power, because as you know, the diesel is just a big air pump, so more flow helps! Many stories!

Angus had me laughing before the first 10 minutes. Thank you after this week I really needed it.

Kevin, I like the way you and Angus play off each other - so hilarious. This was a fun and informative episode with a little of Mook thrown in to make it perfectly classy.

Diesel cars and trucks had really huge fuel tanks back in the day because diesel was a lot harder to come by. Gas stations only ever had gasoline, you had to find truck stops or industrial fuelling stations that had diesel. The larger tanks made it a lot easier to make it station to station especially when roadtripping. My dad said he specifically ordered twin tanks plus had a under-toolbox tank in his old Ford F350 6.9 specifically for that reason. He kept over 70gal of diesel in that truck at all times.

Not gonna lie, that 350 diesel does actually sound good. You've got a decent (admittedly hated) engine, good transmission, frame is good, body is good, interior is very nice, I think you can get some good videos out of this car. Show it some love. Bullet-proof the engine to the extent it can be, give it a mild turbo, add power windows, probably window tint, make it a daily driver with a few update segments, then put out a "I spent 1 year with an Olds Diesel. You're not going to believe this!" video, where we get yours (and Mook's and Angus' thoughts) on it. Had I a big enough garage, I'd buy one just because the 350 diesel is so hated. You've definitely got something that doesn't have much coverage on YT.

Having Angus in every one of these videos makes them 10x better to watch!

Video proves you don't need a pickuptruck to haul stuff. Also interesting to hear that it used to be normal for people to tow with cars in the US. We don't know anything else in Europe, we tow everything with cars. I just bought a 2019 Ford Focus hatchback that can haul 3750lbs, trading in by 20 year old Citroën that is allowed to tow 3551. Also awesome video, great shenanigans, you've earned yourself a subscriber!

Thanks again for your time and work on the 88 Diesel and it is a great driver restoration.

Kevin please, please, PLEASE turbocharge, put a front mount intercooler, aftermarket injectors, fuel pump, and make a 350 diesel Olds a towing monster.

This was great, I love when people fix weird things instead of ditching them, perfect example of the spirit of the diy guy

My late stepfather was a huge fan of the 350 diesel. He had 3 Cadillacs and two Oldsmobiles with that engine. 2 of the Cadillacs and 1 Oldsmobile were mint low mile survivors. 1 of each was a daily driver. He put over 400,000 miles on one of the Cadillacs and on of the Oldsmobiles. He said as long as you added a aftermarket water separator to the cars and bought stronger aftermarket headbolts they will run forever. I know the water separator is crucial and have seen beefier aftermarket headbolts advertised. I wish I could have gotten one of the low mile survivors but they all went to an estate auction and sold for ridiculous prices.

We had one of these when i was a kid. It was a 79/80 model year olds delta 88 with the dreaded 350 diesel engine. It came unwound on my mother one night on her way home from work. It sat in our garage for a couple of years before a different motor was dropped into it and it saw the light of day once again.

Angus is absolutely fantastic. He's brilliant, hilarious and incredibly talented. Bringing him on full time was a huge W. Love this for you and your channel.

57:00 Same in Australia, a caravan smaller then 18 feet was usually towed by a Falcon, Holden kingswood or a Valiant. I think the 90’s saw 4WD’s doing Work, family and holiday stuff. I was born ‘72 (yep, I’m old-ish) my family holidayed in the 80’s and early 90’s in a 16 foot caravan towed by a 289 XR Falcon wagon, then in ‘85 dad bought 60 series Cruiser. I still tow our 16 foot Millard with an AU falcon wagon. 🇦🇺🤙🏼

I had a 1983 LeSabre with the 5.7 diesel... The final year, and the year GM finally got the bugs worked out. Picked it up with 75k miles for an economical commuter whip. Finally sold it at 255k miles due to a persistent charging issue, but it ran great. I wish I had kept it and fixed it up.

There's supposed to be a vacuum modulation variable valve on your throttle that hooks up to the pump and it makes full vacuum when you let off the pedal partial vacuum when you got about half pedal and when you push down 3/4 of the way on the pedal just before the kickdown engages it will have no vacuum causing the car to shift at its highest points when you let off the pedal it adds vacuum to the modulator and dumps it out of gear into the high gears off, it works along with the governor.

9:42 Oooh, Kev pulled out the protective mats, that MUST be a clean body 🤣

"A 88 delta, that shyt can't even get you to the shelter!" -8 Mile freestyle

She's a sweet looking car conditionwise. They're wonderful to drive. I had an '80 with a 350 rocket in it. Looked just like that....until I painted it circle orange. She was what she was but I loved ripping around in it

When you install the head studs, you have to put RV sealant on them because they go into coolant passages in these, you also want to torque it over 100 foot pounds or those heads gaskets will definitely blow soon. I have an Olds 350 Diesel that’s factory in my C10. I drive it a lot.

Listen to that diesel knock 😂. It does sound like a d9. Gotta love that sound! That thing is MINT man. And angus, it’s a diesel, it’s suppose to knock 😂.

Put a Cummins in it 😭🔧 Poor Angus suffering @1:40 in lol. Well dang 27 mpg with 3 people is actually pretty impressive..

I just wanna say angus is a fantastic co host and comedic relief lol and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say I love the way the channel is headed and we love the content keep it up guys and thanks for all you guys do

Those governor rings can take a hike. All they do is isolate the governor cage from the torsional vibrations of the pump to make it idle better (this is per the stanadyne literature). You can replace the ring or even swap to a newer governor design, but personally I just tack weld the assembly solid.

I remember watching an old retired mechanic who did his time on these diesels had his running mint. Got to love the clatter of an old GM diesel

When Angus raised his hands in the air all I could think of is young Frankenstein. It's alive! Then you both yelled it. Lol

I remember those loud obnoxious cars driving around back in the day lol I loved the ones you would see getting on the highway sometimes with a huge black cloud of exhaust coming from it to get up to highway speed 🤣🤣

Man did this bring back memories. Back in the 80s, I owned a 1980 Delta 88 with the diesel engine. I had to change the head gaskets twice, because the first time I didn't think to have the heads milled and the fix didn't last. It was tough to find a machine shop that would mill them but I got it done. Unlike you guys I did the work with the engine sill in the car. I experienced the same type of fuel mileage when it was all said and done. All in all, it was a good car.

You guys have really hit your stride (again) with these past few "taking a shit car on a roadtrip" videos. You and Angus seem to be having a riot and it really translates into the show. It's fantastic! Keep it up! PS: You're to blame for me buying two barn find MG TFs this week so I hope youre happy with yourselves.

That startup made me belly laugh. As well as leaving the shed. The best engine jack is that mitsubishi forklift you have in the workshop. "Angry batch of bull frogs", that's a new one f9r describing how a diesel sounds. I love it.😂

A friend of mine had one of those. It used alot of oil. He was always working on it. It is a pretty cool looking car though, for a 4 door. Very entertaining episode, thank you.

5:00 CLEARLY there's LOADS of content, seeing as this video is 1 hour and 12 mins!!!🤣 LOVE IT!!! Keep up the great content!!!!!

I owned a 5.7 litre Oldsmobile diesel. With the injector pump in the valley between the heads, it heats up the injector pump and cooks the gaskets inside the pump. The aluminum rocker studs wear out at about 50K miles, so I had to rebuild the injector pump and rocker posts about every 50K miles. It's a turtle in city traffic, but loves the open highway. I got about 35 MPG on long trips. Good luck.

Had a ‘83 Buick with that engine. I had the transmission fail 3 times. The final rebuild was done using motorhome trans kit and it finally worked. That Standyne injection pump was a piece of crap and a constant source of problems and adjustments. The head gasket finally let go at about 87 thousand miles.

My buddy Bean face had an 82 royale...very nice. He put in an olds 455 from a tor.That car was insane. he left the diesel torque converter in it. It would destroythe back tire for blocks and top end was a crazy 135 mph

I worked in a small junkyard outside of chicago in the 80's, we did alot of oldsmobiles for the gas engines to replace limo's diesels,I would cut engine out with exhaust, leave engine whole, alt,cmp,starter , wire loom , a complete bolt in for a diesel , plus if they were diesel titled they didn't have to go thru the emission test crap,, I also sold alot of vega/monza v-8 conversion kits , suspension,cooling.exhaust etc, for the hot rodders

Kevin, if you haven’t already consider it, please consider scanning that manual and uploading the file to where like the Internet Archive. That way it would be way more accessible to the regular Joe Schmoe than in the middle of a RU-vid video.

Angus moving to be closer to Kevin, poor Moog just third-wheeling the bromance 😂

My grandparents hauled a heavy 1970's camper with a mid 70's Ford Torino sedan. I can't imagine that it was great experience, especially on hills, but the car did it. Definitely had to have the electric trailer brakes installed.

Parents used to tow a fully loaded Star-Craft pop camper loaded with our gear, 2 adults, 3 kids, and an aluminum boat on top of the camper with an 84' 87' Oldsmobile Delta 88 for our yearly summer camping trip. Gas engine not the diesel.

I know absolute 0 about cars, don’t work on em or nothing but I LOVE watching your videos! My family owned an old 55 Chevy in fire engine red that we had in car shows for years, so the love is there. The Junkyard Digs group is hilarious and fun to watch. Thank you for sharing the knowledge and keep it up!

New TShirt idea... A Blown Head Gasket is a Happy Head Gasket

My dad had two Olds diesels, a Delmont 88 and a two door Cutlass Salon, The Delmont ran forever with the newer diesel in it and the Cutlass died pretty early. Turns out Olds was replacing the motors that had blown up for free but my dad never found out about it and waited 20 years before having it towed, being an aircraft mechanic he always said he was going to fix it but he got too old to do it. Our neighbor had a Cadillac he used to tow his fifth wheel trailer with, he had a roof mounted hitch on it.

Great video brings back memories my uncle's had several of these cars amazing that something that big got 27 mpg awesome 👍

I swapped a 94 caprice wagon with a gov rebuilt 6.2 turbo diesel. It got 37 mpg with just me and my dog. It got 28 mpg towing a 18 foot camper, had 4 people, 2 dogs and the back loaded down with camping gear and 2 loaded coolers. Air bags are definitely a good investment. You lose mpg when the car sags like that. I'd suggest a 4L80 with a 4.10 gearing. When you don't have a lot of torque. The lower gearing helps get you off the line. The overdrive helps compensate for cruise speed. In my experience. The older diesels run more efficiently between 1900-2100 rpms. They like a little heat in them.

Okay, you're not supposed to make me fall in love with a 350 diesel olds! Damn it now I want one

Adding Angus has been a win. This is truly the only channel I watch every second of each week...I watch this channel like my wife watches Below Deck or Magnolia Network. Also loved seeing Mook again...although her Mookiness was lower than usual. I watch this for all of your personalities as much as for the crazy car content. Keep it up Kev, Angus, and Mook (and occasionally Dalton)!

I've been driving a new-to-me Caddy Seville with the 5.7 diesel to work a few times every week, and I have actually been pleasantly surprised with the power and ride quality, when compared to the motor's reputation. It has I think 45k or so on it, and it fees like it has quite a bit of life left to it. Doesn't even have any detectable blowby. My biggest gripe with the experience so far, is glow plug replacment. Mine were swollen BAAAAAD. Looks like you got pretty lucky with yours.

38:40 "it's a book, kevin." Loved it. Thanks for the content Angus

My parents bought a '79 Delta 88 Diesel from my father's uncle. He had meticulous service records for this vehicle and and my dad kept up on the maintenance. It died at 79,000 miles in 1987. When we pulled the engine we found out that the crankshaft had broken in half and one of the main bearings pierced the oil pan.

A lot of those came with a TH350-C which is a basic TH350 with a lockup converter. No OD. I had a co-worker with a Cutlass running all stock with that setup in the early 90's. I bet the connector was for that.

I had one of those. It was in an oldsmobile station wagon. I could put accelerate it on my bicycle. It would tow a boat though, no problem. I had a 76 glastron bass boat that we towed all over texas with it

I can't believe you even found one of those Olds Diesels. I thought they had all been scrapped by now. I was a mechanic at an Olds dealership in those days. Most customers opted to swap in a gasoline engine after the diesel engines broke 5 or 6 times in a row.

I had a 1979 Cadillac Seville with the Olds diesel, and I absolutely loved it!

We had a couple delta 88's with the 350 conversion diesels in both, got 300,000 miles out of one of them. That one was my father's work vehicle and he had to drive down country roads in all sorts of weather. Replaced a few starters, a injection pump a few times, Glow plugs, went through a few sets of tires, rotors, brake pads, one had a bad head gasket at the 100k mark the other soldiered on. They had barely adequate power. Sounded like marbles shaking in a coffee can, smoked excessively on startup. They were big and could carry 5 people in comfort, and got really good fuel mileage, averaged 34 mpg on a long 800 mile trip. My dad had a extra fuel tank hidden in his and ran offroad fuel that he got free from work and kept the undyed fuel in the normal tank in case the state patrol checked.

I had to chime in. The first car I ever bought was a 1981 Delta 88. It was the same color but not as clean. I paid 600 bucks for it in 1997 and my friend and I learned a lot buying parts at the Junk Yard and fixing the parts as they rusted off lol. When I sold It, it was to a guy who used it in a demolition derby. I regret having sold it to this day. I have a lot of great memories with that car and i loved watching the video you posted. Thank you from a long time subscriber who appreciates all you do.

I worked for Olds dealers from ‘79 to ‘82 and experienced my share of these diesels. Parents even had a Toronado diesel. They made improvements in later years, but I gotta say this video brought back some nice memories.😎🍺