Tedd Thompson

There is a 1980 Toro diesel for sale locally that is about mint inside and out for $3500, my concerns are that diesel engine. Back in the late 70's my dad bought the first diesel Olds that was offered at our dealership and spent the next two years trying to get it to keep running long enough to get out of town.He finally sold it( they wouldn't take it in on trade)for a huge loss then bought a 81 gas Toro which he loved even though it was gutless. did they ever work out the problems in that engine?...Tedd

I probably should have posted this on the Toronado board , old habits.

Olds Dad

My father worked at Olds dealerships when I was young...his take was that they either ran or didn't: in other words, if you got one with problems, they never ran right - if you got a 'good' one, they ran great - sounds like if this one is running, it may be a good one.

As an aside, I've always wanted an Olds diesel - just because.

I'm sure there are others that will chime in here with more knowledge

D. Yaros

I can tell you that back in the day GM participated in the BBB Automobile Arbitration Program. I was a BBB arbitrator for the program. More often than not, after driving the diesel powered beasts, I made GM buy them back from the car buyer!

citcapp

Not a good engine design and most where not serviced by their owners correctly. Lots of these cars were converted to gas engines because of the failure rate.

I would not buy it myself. Just my two cents

arodenhiser

If it a clean car and great price you could buy it, run as is or swap to gas and sell the DX block to help recoupemthe swap costs. I am sure some racer here is looking for a DX block.

just my $0.02 worth.

Adam

jensenracing77

My dad and i (mostly my dad) have played with several of these engines over the years. I can tell you some good and bad about them. the good... if the transmission is working good and the converter lock up is working correct you will get 26 to 30 MPG. The good mostly ends there these days. Diesel is so much higher than gas the good MPG don't count for anything. These engines have head gasket problems if you hot rod the engine any at all. You MUST baby these engines and drive it like a daily driver and not a hot rod. I helped my dad change the head gaskets on a couple and upgraded the head bolts, also using the thicker of the two head gaskets available for this engine. We never had much head gasket troubles after that. The next big problem is that today's low sulfur diesel is not at all friendly on the injection pump. the pump was made for old day fuel and is not cheep to upgrade it. As much as i like these engines i do not recommend them to someone that don't like to tinker on them. i feel like the price may be a little high but i don't know your areas market.

DeltaPace77

Neighbor of mine had an early 80's Diesel Toronado, and had the engine replaced 2 times. Another friend had a Diesel Riviera, and while the engine held out ok, had no power at all, and just made a cloud of soot, when you tried making a passing manouver. Newer Diesels have really come way, but think I'd pass on an older one. The Olds DX blocks used in these cars have thicker materials, and some bore them to 440 cu in peformance engines, so maybe some demand for it. If buying the car, probably swap to a gas engine.

jcdynamic88

if that 1980 toro has the original diesel in it i would be amazed,the first series of diesels were terrible,they didnt recast the block (dx) until 81 and they were much better but still not for general public.that price sounds high for a mint gas toro.they make great cars with a gas engine,extra sound deadening and hd suspension.you would be the only one on the block with one if thats what you are shooting for.jc

Tedd Thompson

Thanks all, that is what I was looking for, Ill pass on this one....Tedd