The 1980 Olds Diesel Engine (Dealer Film)

Digitized from the dealer laserdisc "1980 Oldsmobile Instant Access Disc Library". See playlist for other videos.

[@raymondhaley6185]

I only wish I could be as enthusiastic about Tesla as I still am about olds diesel.

[@workingcountry1776]

My diesel olds sat 2 feet from my house as the house burned down and after fixing a melted wire it drove out of the ashes.... an EV can randomly burn down due to massive banks of LiPo or Li-ion batteries...

[@Iamnothereijustsee]

Tesla is gay

[@porcupinepunch6893]

​@@Iamnothereijustsee I don't think gay people deserve to be brought down to the same level as Tesla

[@Lousybarber]

Everybody I knew that had one of these had problems with it. The guy I worked for at the time was considering buying one but did not. While taking a test drive his wife made a comment about the noisy engine. The salesman told her to turn up the radio and you won't hear the noise. That is good salesmanship.

[@rudiknaus4139]

A road test here in Germany said: if I wanna have trouble with your neighborhood in the morning.. 😝

[@brettcannon74]

Ive had 2 of them. First one was totalled with 178k, second one I sold to a GM engineer and he still owns it

[@andreasergiopugliese3571]

In Italy with my Olds regency, bought used in the First 90s, I made 500.000 kilometers without any problem (only change oil engine and water separator filter regulary) and with the second GM diesel car (Cadillac Seville bustleback) now I'm at 270 k

[@OdayAl_Almai]

Where did these industries go? Where has this creativity gone? 80s Beauty, Durability and Power to Match

[@user-Dr.]

I worked with a guy back in the 80's he had a Cadilac with one of these engines in it, he had a 120 mile round trip to work, he put a million trouble free mile on that car, he loved the car and the incredible milage it got, I lived through the time of this engine, as a mechanic I don't remember this engine being problematic at all.

[@glx68]

Most of the later produced diesel engines, 1981-1984, had no problems!😊

[@djsabourin101]

Don't even have to watch it to know, best engine ever made!

[@westhavenor9513]

I remember the big black cloud of smoke when my stepmother drove her diesel cutlass up a hill. They were comfy though, but so were the more reliable gas models. Loved that Olds 5.0L!

[@tomeverett2212]

My aunt ran over 350,000 miles with no problems. However, she knew how to drive it.

[@user-Dr.]

I worked with a guy that had a Cadilac with this engine, drove it for over a million miles, trouble free.

[@eaglevision993]

That was the one and only problem with these engines. The people were too uneducated to use them.

[@reglook1]

My Aunt told the salesman the engine was too noisy and he pointed out that most women loved how easy the interior was to vacuum.

[@jgrothou]

Good point.

[@jw33]

Fuckin based Chad.

[@satunnainenkatselija4478]

@@jw33 Could add something about how you can make noise music by just thinking differently. In Yurup, we poor people never got more than four cylinders. Now we're down to three...

[@andreasu.3546]

Did she close the deal?

[@reglook1]

@@andreasu.3546 no, she called him a male chauvinist pig and walked.

[@MattRawrXd]

The audio quality of this video is almost as good as the build quality of the engine

[@justas525]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@eaglevision993]

This video was transmitted via satellite through a C Band feed and videotaped back then. The antenna was not adjusted very good or the frequency on the receiver was off a little. You also see the sparkies.

[@swathdiver489]

One of my favorite engines of all time!

[@avioncamper]

Why?

[@achannel8142]

🙃

[@swathdiver489]

@ It got great mileage and I loved the smell and sound of it.

[@Alifrom-Texas]

@0:56 Traditionally Diesel fuel was priced less per Gallon? Well that changed completely !

[@Boxerdad27]

Say what you will about vehicles from the malaise era, they were super refined, quiet and beautiful cars.

[@glx68]

That's true. I also miss them!

[@Beaula2]

My 1981 5.7 diesel Toronado has been treating me great.

[@brentaudi9354]

I am going to arrange for a test drive today because of this DiscoVision Laserdisc production. Thanks for the reminder.

[@DCGuy1997]

We drove our 81 Cutlass Brougham diesel for about 2 years and clocked 123k miles on it. The only time it left us stranded was one unusually cold Christmas morning when the fuel gelled about 15 minutes into a trip. There were plenty of diesels in out neighborhood too. I don't recall a blown engine but I remember people having issues with starters or one person had fuel pump go out but never a blown head gasket.

[@86twin]

Sometimes you get lucky an get a good one.

[@86twin]

Sometimes you get lucky an get a good one.

[@DCGuy1997]

@@86twin True but a lot of family friends had them too and none blew up. I think most owners just didn't understand them. I remember my friend's mom starting their 1982 Electra Estate wagon one time and not waiting on the "diesel wait" light. She was like, "what do you mean?" After that she "waited" for the light to go off. Maybe her husband didn't tell her? I knew how to start ours because I would be the one stuck starting the car while everyone stayed inside. I think because we let the car warm up and changed the oil regularly that we had better luck.

[@86twin]

@@DCGuy1997 part of the blame is GM for cutting corners. And then the general public just didn’t know any better. Truck drivers and diesel mechanics or people who had a clue likely fared much better than the average Joe

[@DCGuy1997]

@@86twin Yeah. I remember when I told my friends mom she was supposed to wait until the "diesel wait" went off in her 1982 diesel Buick Electra Estate wagon. She was like "what are you talking about?" lol I think a lot of had to do with diesel supply. We used farm diesel and so did a lot of others. I think that cut out the water in fuel issue which is probably what the biggest problem was. We also would let our car warm up for several minutes before hitting the road.

[@joeewing3722]

Oldsmobile was the best thing gm made .i still have a few

[@andreasergiopugliese3571]

Hi from Rimini Italy. I have had an Olds regency diesel and a caddy Seville diesel (regulary imported in 80s) and this engine developed from 5.7 gasoline for me Is very reliable, never problem, but in Italy was sold from origin with water separator. A problem are the two batteries 12v to have more ampere, because are very expensive. This engine was made with too compression and the pre-chamber was unuseful.

[@1940limited]

A guy I know made a fortune converting diesel cars to conventional gas jobs back in the 80s.

[@59megawagon]

That was me...

[@RandomDude989]

A friend of mine has one he drive right now.... Runs black diesel through it.... Look up "Black Diesel" if you don't know what it is. He had another one he ran straight filtered used fryer oil through it until it rotted out beyond patching.

[@deananderson8856]

I was born in 1980 what a time to be alive!! Lol

[@jay-quinthunder7967]

👋😳 Well actually if you was born in the mid '70s like me I was born at the end in 1974 you could have appreciated the '80s a little bit more Jamaicans brought dub to New York City which the African Americans and New York City called it rap and all the anime really started in the early '80s At least started to get imported to America things like Voltron and G-Force The GI Joe cartoon and don't get me started with Transformers I was just old enough to watch all that start up and enjoy it💪😉

[@jay-quinthunder7967]

It's crazy cuz the top TV shows and the top cartoons and the top rappers and other things come from the '80s

[@misterhipster9509]

Still have 5, Olds 98 2dr, Custom Cruiser wagon, 3 Caddys, Fleetwood, Eldo and Seville, all mid 80s. Putting a 6.5 turbo in the Fleetwood.

[@Marines_Dream_Adventures]

I had a few of these! But always in Buicks. I got in the high 20's in my 84 LeSabre!

[@westhavenor9513]

"Questions like, 'how's that head gasket gonna hold up?' "

[@kellanhills1972]

Questions like: “do I need a reliable car or not”. Or “do I need to have a car that can do 0-60 in under 20 seconds.”

[@andreasu.3546]

To be fair, the petrol engined versions of these vehicles weren't exactly racing cars either.

[@captainpicard1701e]

My first vehicle was a 1981 Pontiac Grand Prix Diesel with the Brougham trim. It was so comfortable and smooth, but 3 sets of head gaskets and 2 injection pumps later, I parted with it. I strangely miss the car though.

[@Greatdome99]

The compression ratio of diesels is about three times that of gas engines. The internals of the original gas engine were not designed to handle three times the load.

[@ImForwardlook]

Why would they? The gas engine is nothing like the diesel...except for displacement.

[@MegaMrspain]

Customer asks question; dance around and reply with something else lol

[@jasperjones6962]

Those diesels are nice.

[@Mr6384]

Had a neighbor who bought an 80 Cadillac Fleetwood diesel. It was his company car and GM had replaced the engine at 75,000 miles. I asked him if had any issues and he explained that he never did . But he made two changes: he increased the oil capacity by one quart and increased the cooling system. Last time I saw him, he had clocked over 100,000 miles on it.

[@justsumguy2u]

The GM path to success; convert an Olds gas engine to diesel and see how fast it blows up

[@eaglewi]

Honestly vw diesels were converted gas engines and had a good reputation. It's all in the engineering.

[@bobbbobb4663]

The biggest sin committed by GM was that they owned Detroit Diesel and it appears that GM never got them involved in the design of the engine.

[@justsumguy2u]

@@bobbbobb4663 When they were converting this engine from gas to diesel, I hear the voice of Jeremy Clarkson saying "I'm sure it'll be fine....I mean, probably...."

[@bobbbobb4663]

@@justsumguy2u Haha. I think GM said that too on the Vega motors. It still blows my mind how bad GM executed in the 70's (Vega, Diesels, and X Car).

[@Greatdome99]

@@bobbbobb4663 They also owned Electro Motive Division (RR locos) which were very reliable.

[@pdennis93]

My dad had a 79 diesel custom cruiser. Worst car he ever owned. Blew the engine with 50k miles in ~ 1982. Olds fixed it under warranty and he traded it for a gas regal. He tried the diesel thing again with the updated version in a used 1984 Caprice in 1987. That one blew the headgaskets with a little over 100k in 1990.

[@bobbbobb4663]

Similar story...Father owned a 1981 Eldorado with the 5.7 diesel. Engine was replaced but the damage was done. He has owned Mercedes ever since. Hell, I won’t even own a GM product because of that experience.

[@ic1815]

These required specific maintenance which most people ignored, resulting in these issues.

[@bobbbobb4663]

@@ic1815 Funny thing...I own a 1979 240D. With the exception of periodic valve adjustments, there is no other maintenance that is different from a gas powered car. Bottom line is that the 5.7L was another 1970’s half hearted effort from GM which started with the Vega and culminated with the X Car.

[@gregcamp9875]

Lack of a water separator helped kill the injection pump

[@pdennis93]

@@bobbbobb4663 ironically a Mercedes diesel was what he originally wanted but my mom said it was too expensive so he bought the diesel olds. Years later she commented "had I known how bad that olds would end up being, I'd have let him get the damn Mercedes" 🤣🤣🤣

[@brkitdwn]

The static within this video was louder than the diesel engine.

[@steinravnik8692]

Hahaha

[@joe6096]

One of the engines that was at least partly, directly, a contributor to GM’s bankruptcy in 2008.

[@johneddy908]

Exactly. At the time of these videos, GM still owned the renowned German automaker Adam Opel AG. I'm sure GM North America engineers would have been better off working together with their colleagues in Europe to develop a diesel engine from the ground up instead of adapting one from its existing gasoline powerplants. Of course, the penny-pinchers would have none of it.

[@mikek5298]

Wrong.

[@joe6096]

@@mikek5298 What? You have no idea what you're talking about then. That engine still casts a shadow over Mary Barra to this day. She was an intern in quality control in 1979. She carries the weight of that engine with her no matter what she says publicly.

[@jasonroberts9357]

@@joe6096 Interesting comment about Barra. Barra is still doing her part to destroy the once great GM. Can't wait to see how how things go for GM once they go through bankruptcy 2.0!

[@joe6096]

@@jasonroberts9357 What absolutely befuddles me is how Barra is now the CEO. A GM lifer from their dark, very bad old days. What, she miraculously found Jesus and had an epiphany when they filed for bankruptcy in 2008? My perspective on that bankruptcy is that the Bush/Obama administrations should have layed down the ground work as follows: for you - GM - to get a dime of American tax payer's money, you must agree in writing to fire all upper-level management, the entire board of directors, and eliminate any engineer who ever contributed to your worst, financially destructive project disasters: The Olds 350 Diesel, Cadillac Cimmaron, HT4100, Pontiac Aztec. Anyone who had anything to do with those projects must be fired with zero compensation. They needed a full enema. Clean house, flush out the old guard at every level, and start from scratch with new, fresh engineers out of college who never even heard of the 350 diesel. And an all new board of directors, and a CEO, all of whom never worked for GM before.

[@scottwagner3214]

All they had to do to make these engines bulletproof and successful in the marketplace right off the bat was add a water separator, use stronger headbolts (to handle the higher compression ratio) and use a stronger casting material. And that was about all it needed

[@workingcountry1776]

I'm a fan of my 83 olds Ninety Eight diesel. 2 ton car gets mid 20s to mid 30s MPG and is superbly comfy. My kids love it too. Yeah, it needs head gaskets. Its also 40 years old so I'm not upset

[@midnightfarmer382]

Those engines make GREAT boat anchors!!!

[@workingcountry1776]

My boat anchor has 90k miles showing. It rolled over once. Very reliable til it was 40 years old.... then it needed work to fuel system and head gaskets. Wooptie doo. Saved thousands in fuel after diesel spiked by running half used motor oil. Ran fine on that. Crap one day i had almost 100% used oil & atf in fuel tank in a pinch. (Had a few bad months with work)

[@JosephCowen-fz8vj]

Yes people regurgitate 30 year old ideas , the DX 350 was a grate reliable engine , the DX fixed the earlier engines problems , but it was to late and all people remember like the above post is the D350 engine . The fact there are hundreds of thousands of 350 DX Oldsmobile motors still running today says it all .

[@TIJoe-te9qu]

Hard to believe, but GM built the indestructible detroit diesel starting in 1938, and many are STILL running after decades of work. Then they slap together something like this bomb with all their diesel expertise. It could have been great if they'd engineered it ground up as a diesel. Cheap trick.

[@jw33]

@2:58 ZIP TIES N BIAS PLIES perfect sound clip.....

[@stevemamooshka3425]

When I was in college I swapped gasoline engines into two of these. It was a somewhat involved process. I don't know what had gone wrong with them, but both of the engines were blown(up) when they were handed over.

[@paulparoma]

Those GM diesels weren't half-bad when they worked. Too bad most of them didn't. Europe is diesel-happy, but I am not sure that's such a good thing.

[@Greatdome99]

They should have been "no bad" when they worked.

[@duanedragon2]

What a crock of shit. Complete propaganda. GM knew they were bad but had no idea just how bad. Destroyed US consumer sentiment against diesels for 40 years. Catastrophically bad engine.

[@compu85]

Too bad they weren't allowed a little more time to work the bugs out.

[@jay-quinthunder7967]

👋😳 Okay I read enough of the comments here's my two cents More people are saying that these diesels were trash so I'm going to go with the fact that they were trash unless you kept them in warm weather and baby the engine!👌😅

[@workingcountry1776]

Mine was from near the Canadian border in North Dakota... 190k miles before needing gaskets. 27-35mpg highway depending on speed

[@weegeemike]

5.7 Liter 350 CID V8 DIESEL Oldsmobile Division General Motors Corporation

[@joelharbrecht3431]

My boss back in 1985 pulled a two axle trailer with a bobcst skidsteer behind his diesel Pontiac station wagon. Unbelievable. Never rode with him but you know that was a slow boat to China.....🤣🤣🤣

[@TheStraightDope857]

That there was the beginning of the end for Oldsmobile.

[@RaymondHaley-bi8lx]

Has anyone ever admitted to how this engine was maintained, so far after 40 years nobody has ever mentioned how he/she took care of their cars,if you just sat there and let the engine go that's your fault as well as GM.

[@joelakers410]

My car my favorite

[@andrewps84]

Of course it’s efficient…so long as your family can push it down the road.

[@robk9685]

Remember the chrome plating prematurely peeling off the bumper right above the tail pipe on these diesels? Nevermind all the black soot on that chrome..

[@eddiew.6485]

@ 0:31 and 1:52 ,Would hate to have him as my customer😂

[@2Big2Fail2Day]

Where can i buy two?

[@dave1956]

I bought a 1980 Delta 88 with a diesel. It was absolutely awful. It leaked oil, smoked like I was fogging mosquitoes and only got 20MPG. I got rid of it after 3 months and went back to a gasoline car. Right after I traded it 60 Minutes aired a segment on the poor reliability of the diesel vehicles made by GM. The bottom dropped out of the market overnight.

[@workingcountry1776]

My 98 gets 22 city and 27-35 highway. Drove it cross country and as a family car. It was 40 years old when parked for a had gasket. Sounds like yours was neglected like most were

[@dave1956]

@@workingcountry1776 You must lead a charmed life. I assure you that I have not!

[@DieselDanTheSchoolBusMan-pe1kl]

@@workingcountry1776 You nailed it.

[@milfordcivic6755]

You get great mileage when it's on the back of a tow rig.

[@optimusprimer4392]

The 4.3 V6 Oldsmobile diesel was a very good compared to the 350 olds diesel you can't beat the mileage too bad they didn't have a turbo version of the V6 I would put that in a Toyota truck

[@user-Dr.]

Toyota sure could use an engine like that right about now, their engine packages right now is terrible, GM trucks, far superior.

[@optimusprimer4392]

@@user-Dr. thank you people misunderstand engines even the Oldsmobile 350 diesel was a great engine if from the start that they had they put a water separator in it and a solid crank and rods and head studs with better head gaskets I know a person who rebuilt a Oldsmobile 4.3 Diesel and put it in a Chevette he got over 42 Mi per gallon in that thing with a manual and in that little car it pulled fairly decent what was indestructible and ran forever rumors are rumors but facts are facts thank you for the comment

[@jonurton7826]

I thought they were the worst Diesel engine … then ford proved me wrong in 2008….

[@workingcountry1776]

The 6.4L navistar is why ford now builds the 6.7 psd in house and its quite good for a DPF engine. So there's good from that catastrophe

[@dennishough3709]

I have a 6.0 with nearly 370,000 miles on it. Just change the oil every 5,000 miles. Still running strong so far.

[@alexmason5668]

With head studs, modern head gaskets, and some careful tuning I bet these engines could be alot better

[@avioncamper]

Using the TH200 transmission did not help either. Ford used EFI corporate 302 v8 with 4 speed overdrive transmission. Why did GM not do that with one of their v8?

[@1940limited]

The lady's right. The engines were noisy.

[@59megawagon]

It sure was a great time to be a GM Diesel mechanic... I made $16.65 per flat rate hour in the 80's .. Min. wage was $3.35 back then. There sure was a ocean of cars to fix...$$$$$$$$$$$$ P.S. The EPA mandated EGR valves were and still are a total disaster for ANY diesel engine.... And yes a 5500LB land yacht of a car could get 30 MPG on a regular basis... Just remember CLEAN emissions has ZERO to do with Mileage.......... The government EPA scam...

[@nicholasrice6933]

Ask your dealer about mpg...to get you into the dealership.

[@operator91210]

This video was actually shown to potential customers in the showroom that showed interest in diesel. You'd find a few other videos like this which were made specifically to be shown before the demonstration drive to aid the sales staff in closing a sale

[@davecollins589]

A friend of mine had a towing company back in the day he said he towed more of them cars he cares to remember

[@mattmilau5909]

Wow..were they way off😅😅😅

[@scottenser464]

I worked at a dealer back in the mid 80s . This engine sucked .

[@wes2460]

That car was horrendous and a joke ,Mu Aunts 1978/79 not sure Olds Regency Diesel . I remember my aunt trying to start that hunk of a crap and it took forever. I was 9 in 1983 and I recall that all those Gm diesel cars had dual exhaust but very skinny tail pipes behind each rear wheel.I was staying with my cousins and it got really cold and it took forever to get that car to start we had the start stick for cold mornings.There was two batteries in that car over but even then that would not be enough if it was being really difficult cause it took so long to start. That week in January it got down to like 3 degrees and we had to take one of those big kerosene heaters that looked like a jet engine to warm it up the garage , block heaters didn't work well. once we got it fired up we had to keep giving it gas or it would stop so we took the stick and jammed it on the peddle and I jammed it on the seat and it kept the revs about 1900 Rpms. Clouds of smoke would follow that car driving down the road. I find this Dealer film funny as hell, cause its B/S in the worst way.That car was not quite at all it was loud as hell.Sounded like a disposer with nuts and bolts in it. My Cousin who is 17 years older than me had a V.W. rabbit diesel and it was a great car all through college he drove that car.That Oldsmobile blew the engine a year later. It only had like 60,000 miles on it.They had it fixed but traded it in on a new 1985 Volvo Turbo same car my parents had and Volvos were fantastic cars back then.That car would have been alot better if they would have turbo charged it. Diesel engines suck if there not turbocharged ...

[@GroovesAndLands]

What about performance? ....It doesn't have any... Aren't diesels loud and smoky? .....yes....but don't worry, you'll get used to standing in a puddle of diesel fuel at the pump, and getting it all over your hands from handling the pump. Think of it like perfume...

[@RaymondHaley-lv2mo]

I think I rather have an oil burner than an EV,s , after all trading one car that directly pollutes the air or the new car that indirectly pollutes the air, I'm sticking with fossil fuels

[@andregonsalvez9244]

One of GM'S worst engines ...

[@eaglewi]

Not the Vega?

[@raymontalbano8045]

You’re kidding, right? What a shame.

[@NoNo-iz8hd]

The model is sexy!

[@lilibethdoherty295]

There was no mention of idiots putting Gasoline instead of Diesel into their Diesel cars, Stupidity has no limitations !

[@1940limited]

Hah! Fuel was great in 1980. Imagine promoting the oen of the worst engines GM engines ever perpetrated on the public?

[@rickreid81]

Its to bad GM rushed the development & just through it in thier cars. I think it was a great idea the could have really taken off. Typical GM.

[@GloucesterODaugherty]

Diesel is way beyond over.

[@redbuick]

Horrible engine. A rushed engine that failed all over the place. Neighbor had one,she said she never, ever had a month that thing didn't break down, run bad. Etc. And Oldsmobile didn't like her demanding answers why that bucket never ran "smooth". She wound up getting a crown Victoria.

[@norbertaltermann1762]

Vergleich in mit Mercedes

[@fastfordman1965]

Diesel engines don’t combust, they compress.

[@walterbatman7949]

And as usual GM screwed it up royally still doing today as well Can anyone say bent push rods in my Escalade 6.2 engine??

[@patricksaint-pierre7768]

Why buy GM?

[@GroovesAndLands]

If you hurt an Escalade 6.2 - YOU did something wrong, not GM. The gen3 GM smallblock is easily top 3 greatest engine designs ever.

[@tristan6509]

GM is so terrible at making diesel engines that Isuzu had to get involved for their Duramax lineup... I'm not sure why didn't GM just use Isuzu's truck engines from this era instead of engineering these lumps of turd.

[@workingcountry1776]

Good point but nobody would buy an import back then, even an engine

[@tristan6509]

@@workingcountry1776 a lot of of GMs cars from this period (Chevrolet, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, etc) already use Isuzu engines, infact people where I live would specifically buy the diesel variant since the isuzus are reliable while the gasoline variant is unreliable garbage made in house by GM. GM makes great truck engines but their small displacement car engines are unreliable I think in the US market the Chevrolet chevette is the only one with an Isuzu diesel

[@nicksautorepair6936]

Could’ve been a great alternative but in classic GM fashion, they screwed it up. Had they developed a purpose built true diesel instead of using a gasoline designed block as the foundation maybe it wouldn’t have been the epic disaster it was. These crappy furnace engines gave diesel a stigma for decades. Unreliable Roosamaster injection pumps and regular head gasket failures were only 2 of the features customers could look forward to in this design.

[@10blood]

They never used a gas block. That's a complete nonsensical myth spread around by people that don't know what they're talking about.

[@maz3563]

I bought that piece of 💩 car in 1981, and traded it back in three months after 2 close calls of having a head on collision trying to pass somebody. That was the last straw and NEVER bought another American car EVER again till now and until I die…

[@RafaelBeltran-o9l]

I'd like to meet the engineers, if , still alive who ,designed those diesel engines, and the ones approved production., so I can tell them what a garbage of human, and crooks they are.. for building garbage ,and selling garbage.

[@VintageVaughnVehiclces]

The cute guy driving the car has only sex on his mind it was a great time in 1980.i bet he was glad he did 5 years later he'd have a whole lot more time to worry about his faulty,Olds diesels problems with sex becoming deadly.

[@DCGuy1997]

lol I was thinking the same thing.