[VAC] Re: 987 6.2 liter Suburban

["chyde" <chyde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Terry & all who replied about our 6.2 liter diesel Suburban several weeks
ago.

Thanks very much to everyone who convinced me to purchase this tow vehicle.
I live and run a vehicle development business on the former Plattsburgh Air
Base in Upstate NY. The agency redeveloping the Base decided to get rid of
most of the former Air Force vehicles and I was lucky enough to get one.
This vehicle is a 1987 6.2 liter (higher output 148hp model) diesel 2WD
Suburban with a 4.10 limited slip differential, turbo 400 3sp automatic
transmission with cooler and 8600lb GVWR. It has only 22,540 miles on it and
has been in storage since the Base closed in 95 although it was started
every 6 months for the past 7 years. It rarely left the Base during its life
so there is no rust and still wears it's Air Force blue paint very well.  I
installed a new exhaust system, all new filters and changed the oil.
We are getting ready for our first outing with our 59 Ambassador
International next weekend and have run into what I hope is a minor problem.
It has run great for the past several weeks but has recently started getting
airlocked. If I bleed the air out of the filter into a bottle it'll start
and run fine. This started happening about a week ago and is getting more
frequent now. Any ideas? I thought possibly that the mechanical fuel pump
diaphragm may have deteriorated over time.  This is my first diesel so I
still scratch when I look at it.
I have done some calculations based on the vehicle specs above and find that
with the stock tire size (235/85-16) @ 60 mph the engine will be turning at
2605rpm. Is this high for this engine? I've looked into getting new tires
(305/70-16) and worked out an effective ratio of 3.96:1 which gives me 2520
rpm @ 60mph. It doesn't sound like much of a change however it should allow
me to retain some reasonable acceleration and potentially give me a little
better mileage at highway speeds and be somewhat quieter. Has anyone tried
this switch.  I have also looked into getting a Banks turbo. Apparently
these were factory approved options on these engines starting in 89 through
until the 6.5 turbo came out in 93. The 6.2 supposedly makes 207 hp and 385
lbft of torque with this option. This is slightly more than the stock 6.5
turbo at 195 hp. Has anyone out there owned one of the 6.2 vehicles with
this option. It's a fair bit of money to put into a 15 year old tow vehicle
however  with only 22k miles on the clock, I'm hoping that it will last me a
long time. The fuel mileage is supposed to go up as well. Hopefully I
haven't gone too far off topic. Thanks for the input,

Preparing for our first trip.
Colin Hyde
WBCCI, VAC, 10247
57 Sovereign of the Road (being restored)
59 Ambassador International (very original)
87 6.2 Diesel Suburban (very heavy but a joy to drive)