Lots of misinformation in this thread.
To answer Geekboy's original question: no Diesel conversion kits that
I know of, and for most of the reasons other posters have mentioned.
Even if the the bottom end of your existing engine could stand the
guff, and in the case of Briggs and Stratton, I'd suggest not, you
need a tougher piston, a totally different cylinder head, different
camshaft, not to mention an injection pump.
Kind of like making a cow into racehorse. I mean they've both got four
feet.....
As far as I know, the Diesel VW was a conversion from the gasoline
motor, which was originally an Audi design. Biggest weakness is the
belt-driven camshaft. It's an interference engine, big time.
The 5.7 liter Oldsmobile-derived GM Diesel was indeed put in cars,
Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs among them. I remember driving an Olds
Diesel that friend brought to me for electrical work. Engine ran just
fine; I think it was a '77 model.
People like to deride the 5.7 GM Diesel, and to a lesser extent the
6.2 which succeeded it. I think the biggest strike it had against it
was the fact that GM had begun selling Diesel vehicles to a car-buying
public that was for the most part really ill-informed as to the need
of developing new driving habits such as, horror of horrors, actually
letting the engine warm up before driving off. And maybe changing the
oil regularly, regardless.
I have been driving a Suburban with a 6.2 liter Diesel for five years
now, and it has never missed a beat, and I've probably put over
300,000 km on an engine that already was far from new. I replaced the
water pump this Spring, as a preventive maintenance measure, and
changed the front crankshaft seal at the same time. That is as deep as
I've had to go into that engine.
I bought another, 3/4 ton, Suburban 3 years ago, with a broken 6.2
engine; the crankshaft broke in half, I think because the harmonic
balancer was not adequately tightened. Basically destoyed the poor
engine, though. I pulled a rust-seized 6.2 out of a parts truck, had a
machine shop re-ring and re-bearing the bottom end, and assembled the
remainder of the engine myself. It's on its first extended road trip
right now. Runs like a pup, but it developed a coolant leak from one
of the two frost-plug type block heaters I installed. And the rebuilt
alternator up and died. Neither problem shut me down, though, and both
are readily and inexpensively fixed.
As far as I'm concerned, the 6.2 engine in a Suburban (for my needs)
is very good value for the money. It has adequate, if unspectacular
power, is frugal with fuel, and it's simple enough that I can do my
own maintenance, all for a capital outlay of about a tenth what a
Dodge with the Cummins engine or a Ford Powerstroke would cost me.
Gordon Richmond
