Yes GM used the Olds based 350 diesel in the pickups starting in 78.
We had a couple of them over the years. Best one was the 79 Sierra Grande, loaded, burgundy and white, lowered. It would get 28-30 mpg highway. Not overly powerful but adequate. Best performance was if you shifted it yourself, it would shift way too soon on it's own and just be a dog.
The biggest problems with those diesels were people treated and drove them like gassers or figured they should perform like Big diesels, which they weren't.
No water separators, head stud failure with the torque-to-yield studs. They could have been much better, but with a few issues those Olds diesels killed the future diesel market. All had automatics, all had dual batteries & no smog equipment, and all were half-ton 2wd.
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67 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, Oshawa-built 250 PG never disturbed.
In garage, 296 cid inline six & TH350...
Cam, Toronto.
I don't judge a man by how far he's fallen, but by how far back he bounces - Patton
dad bought a brand new Olds Ninty Eight diesel. got great mileage but nothing was good about the engine. It was on engine number 3 when he finally gave up on it. Was not many years after you could buy an Olds with the 307 that got close to the same mileage
I had the opportunity to drive both the Olds & the pickup versions back in the 70's. Both were owned by a friends family. He'd driven trucks for decades and was reasonably mechanical, so he definitely understood diesels. They really weren't too bad to drive. Definitely a lot more weight over the front wheels and on rough roads, you had to be a little bit cautious.
The biggest problem with them, as far as day to day use, was cold weather starting - or to be more precise, the LACK of. They were plugged in from September to the end of April. Dual batteries didn't help. If there was frost, chances were good they would not start. The owner even had a crushed 5 gallon pail (metal in those days) and. Tiger torch used often to try to get the things started. I think GM took them both back in the end. I think the Olds had bottom end problems, repaired twice and I know the truck was knocking when he finally took it to he dealer and refused to take it home. He lost a lot of money on them, and I'm pretty sure he never bought another GM.
Definitely a low point in GM history. I'd be amazed if there are any still running.
Back in the 80's a friend of mine had one of these trucks. The engine cratered so he swapped in an Olds 455. That smartened it right up. He nicknamed it The Rocket.
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'68 Parisienne 2+2 Convertible Matador Red (Resale Red but not for sale).
I've seen a few of these, but none with a diesel in them, all had been converted to gas.I'd considered buying a Cutless wagon with the diesel, pretty happy that never happened. On my 3rd VW diesel, really enjoy the torque and fuel economy.
GM missed the boat on having a good diesel back in the day and poisoned the market. If they'd installed a good Isuzu diesel in the S10 and full size, they'd have done very well IMHO. The new Colorado diesel likely works good, but the price is way too high. As is most trucks.
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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC. 1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada
Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
