Oldsmobile had a long history as General Motors’ engineering division, thanks in part to the first HydraMatic in 1940, the Rocket V8 in 1949, and the front-drive Toronado in 1966. Unfortunately, as any car person knows, the teething pains of their 5.7-liter Diesels of the late 1970s tarnished that reputation to some extent. It’s certainly never good practice to use one’s customers as beta testers; however, many don’t know that Oldsmobile actually turned the V8 Diesel into a decent engine by the time the program was canceled, and it also released an engine that was quite reliable right out of the gate: the 4.3-liter V6 Diesel. Yes, that’s an Oldsmobile engine that was introduced in 1982, and there’s still a Ciera left with that powertrain under the hood. It’s in Iowa on craigslist for $3,000, and Barn Finds reader Tony Primo found it.
I think it’s important to clear up a question one might have about the 4.3: it is not at all based on the Chevy V6 of the same displacement; in fact, it’s based on the Oldsmobile 5.7, using the same bore and stroke. It’s the only Oldsmobile-manufactured engine you could buy in a Ciera in 1983. Learning a few lessons from the deficiencies of the original 5.7 Diesel, the V6 had six head bolts per cylinder (instead of four) and a water separator for the fuel, in addition to aluminum cylinder heads and intake manifold. All told, this added up to a rousing 85 horsepower and 165 lb.-ft. of torque (and thanks to Diesel World Magazine for some background on the engine).
As an aside, Oldsmobile engineers were up to some crazy things in the ’80s: Here’s a prototype for a V5 (yes, a V5) Diesel that would have produced a mere 70 horsepower had it gone into production. I found it at the R.E. Olds Museum in Lansing, Michigan.
With that out of the way, we can look at this Ciera Brougham. The seller says that the “interior is rough” and that parts of the dashboard are in the trunk, so count on some electrical or heating issues. Honestly, it looks like a good cleaning could cheer things up in here so the new owner could enjoy their nearly 40 miles per gallon on the highway in velour-trimmed luxury. Yes, the V6 Diesel was rated at over 40 miles per gallon on the highway, and even using the EPA’s current methodology, it’s in the same range. Sure, getting up to expressway speed will require a lot of fuel and a lot of patience, but that’s great mileage for a car that has fundamentally disappeared: It’s a Diesel-powered spaceship these days. Remember when these were everywhere? Not anymore.
A trunk full of fluids and spare parts is usually a bad sign when you’re buying an old car, but let’s face facts: You’re not buying this car if you’re not a mechanically-inclined lover of offbeat stuff. You know what you’re in for.
In the brochure-collecting days of my youth, I distinctly remember reading the literature on the new 1985 Buick Electra. For that model year, you could choose an Electra 300, 380, or 430 (the nomenclature represented engine size: 3.0, 3.8, 4.3 Diesel), but I only remember seeing 380s on the road; I don’t remember ever seeing a 430. The Buick V6 was probably the smart buy, but I’m still holding out hope of finding the oddball of the bunch; therefore, cars like this Ciera represent the car-spotting of my youth, where I was always excited about the outlier. Is this Ciera worth three grand? Who knows, but the owner says it runs great, shifts well (it has a three-speed automatic), and has new batteries (plural?). There’s some rust, but it doesn’t look terminal. Is there a market for an engineering footnote in the collector car world? I hope so, and if you agree, let us know if you pick this one up so I can live vicariously through your Diesel adventures.
“Offbeat stuff “, is definitely the understatement of the day Aaron.
Rousing…Heh…Merry Christmas!
Good eye Primo.
Dr Olds’ offering up a fuel miser for 83.
Those whitewalls haven’t seen white in years. Says something of the car’s maintenance.
It’s almost like someone found it in a barn…
It was from the soot pouring out of that oil burner!
We had a customer at my workplace (an independent repair garage) who was a traveling industrial consultant who drove all over the continental USA in a prior generation (1979?) Cutlass RWD sedan with this engine and a 5 speed manual transmission. He was a heavy man and his car was always loaded, and he still got fuel economy in the high 30’s mpg range and never had any noteworthy mechanical problems that I can recall. We also had a customer with two 8 cylinder Olds Diesels with the 200R4 transmissions that were off the road for repairs more than they were drivable. The V6 was the best of the bunch, by far, and if GM had started with it first and took what they learned to create the V8, we might be driving passenger car Diesels today.
The 4.3 liter V6 diesel was never offered with a manual transmission. You must be thinking about the 260 Olds V8 that had a 5 speed as an option.
I stand corrected; you are absolutely right! It was a 260. I know it drove really well. No road rocket, but it pulled well, certainly kept up with traffic easily, and was very economical. Forgive my imperfect recollection–that car was in my life nearly forty years ago! It doesn’t seem possible………
As with so many things GM, this too was canceled just when they got it right. Seems to me some of the test magazines even recommended them, but it was too little too late. This was about the time you stopped seeing “Mark of Excellence” and “Standard to the World” as their by-lines.
Duramax swap.
That V6 diesel was just about bulletproof. The only “iffy” part was that old Roosamaster diesel injection pump.
One of the most unique things about the 4.3 diesel had to do with its appearance, not its mechanicals. Oldsmobile used what was referred to as the lost foam casting method for the aluminum cylinder heads, where they packed casting sand around a styrofoam block shaped like the cylinder head that they intended to end up with, then the molten aluminum vaporized the styrofoam as the mold was filled. As a result, and because the heads were painted to match the cast iron blocks, these engines appear to have styrofoam heads.
Saturn engines were made the same way, and yes, seeing the outline of the foam beads at the surface of the casting was interesting to say the least.
Whoa, flashback! I went to work out of college at Olds engineering in March, 1983. When I went for my final on-site interview in fall of ’82 my host picked me up from the Lansing airport in one of these complete with the diesel. I agree that the V-6 was great compared to the diesel V-8. I believe that the diesel injection pump came from Stanadyne.
Yes, this Olds brings back alot of memories! Having worked for an Oldmobile Cadillac dealership throughout the 80’s I was very familiar with all the Olds Diesel engines. From lack of power in the early 260 V8’s, to breaking crankshafts in the pre-DX block 350’s and ohhhh… all the blown headgaskets!! By the time this 4.3 came out they had learned from their mistakes but unfortunately it was a little too late. This was a very reliable engine especially when used as designed. Lots of hi-way miles! Not exactly that easy to work on in these cars as the engine was transversely mounted. Very tight fit in that engine compartment. It was also available in rear drive configuration like in a Cutlass Supreme or Chevy Montecarlo. I really wonder about parts availability for these today as there can’t be many still out there. Even though the asking price isn’t super high by today’s standards you’d have to be someone that had a special liking for these and be able to wrench on it yourself as I can’t imagine there are too many mechanics out there that want to dive into one of these relics! That ship has sailed for me!
I worked on these when they were new. Hard to believe that any still exist!