Last owner didn't take care of the engine, so we are rebuilding the engine.
It's getting bad mileage (16mpg at 65mph, it weighs about 5000Ibs "customized van") and seems very slow with a 3.42 rear gear.
One of my relatives own an identical customized 1984 van with the same diesel engine and is a lot faster, even though it has a lower 3.07 rear gear which should make it a lot slower than the my own, that's bad.
My relatives 6.2l diesel with a 3.07 gets 25MPG at 55mph.
When we are finished with our van it should get about 22MPG, not including the more free flowing K&N filter and other stuff we are going to do with it.
Performance marks
-Handles well in all weather, sharp turning radius, good traction, will pull a 6000Ib boat and trailer OK when running bad (will pull much better when engine runs great)
Reliability marks
- Even though the engine is hard to work on when it's in the van from lack of room, when it runs great it almost never needs to be worked on when doing the usual oil and filter changes.
The body and frame is very strong with also a big steel bumper on the front and back of the van.
It's also safe from being higher up off of the ground than most vehicles.
Comfort marks
-This van is big enough for 7-8 people and 1 big 120Ib dog.
The non-leathery seats are very comfortable.
Noise level is higher than most vehicles, especially since this is a "diesel van" that we are talking about (mine could be louder from running bad).
Running Costs
-diesel van insurance is very cheap and gets pretty good mileage depending on the rear gears (15-27mpg, 15 pulling the most 27 the less), tire size, 21century air filters...
Running Costs
- Oh, and I'm not including fixing up the engine in the running costs. Any engine will run bad if you don't take good care of it.
Oops I'm wrong about the weight, it doesn't weigh 5000Ib. On the door it says the van weighs 6600Ib, but it's customized now, so it should weigh about 7000Ibs.
It's me again, the engine runs great now and much better than new, but the transmission on the other hand is a piece of junk. So in other words, the van is sluggish on the pick-up, getting bad fuel mileage, and acting like it's constantly pulling 6,000pounds behind it. Don't be fooled, just because this is a heavy diesel van doesn't mean it's slow on the pickup, right off the green light my dad was keeping up with a Corvette (and passed him) giving the gas all the way even with that bad transmission.
We are hoping to get a Raptor Transmission.
It's me again.
We were hoping to get a Raptor Transmission and did finally get one and put it in. It works great, it's slower on the from 0-20ishMPH, but the pickup from about 30mph and over it's way faster than before as of June 22, I've only drove it once, put it threw me back in my seat for a second, I didn't go past 45mph, (little street, SPEED LIMIT 30 on that road). The RPM'S are way down.
Hello me again, the van is running the same as the last comment. But I noticed sometimes the van is faster in pickup some times and slower other times? It's either the brakes or the entire rear end. The van has a stock 3.42 rear gear which is too low and the engine is bogging down going up a hill in Overdrive. We expect that a higher 3.91 rear gear is needed. when the 3.9 is put in it will have way more power and get better fuel mileage!
Hello me again. It now has a 4.11 rear gear with rear disk brakes because the whole entire rear end was messed up AND not right for the van to begin with. The van bogged out and didn't have enough at 3.42 and the brakes sucked as if they were for a medium sized pickup truck.
HELLO!!! It's me for the last time. On December 15 2008, the van was in a wreck and was totaled out. Last MPG check averaged 24MPG in the city and never got to do a highway check.
Now we have a 1989 Chevy 6.2L Suburban (with a BANKS TURBO system) which we are currently fixing up nice.
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