Oldsmobile Diesel V6 engine

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Oldsmobile developed three Diesel engines for the 1980s - two V8s and this 263 in³ (4.3 L) V6. It was based on the Olds 350 V8 with a 4.057 in bore and 3.385 in stroke.

The history of Diesel engines at General Motors has not been positive. In the 1970s, the company was unable to power its large cars and trucks with their emissions-strangled engines. Like many other companies, GM turned to Diesel power, directing the Oldsmobile division to develop one V6 and two V8 to be shared with all divisions.

Oldsmobile's engines, the 5.7 L LF9 and 4.3 L LF7 V8s and this 4.3 L V6, were notoriously unreliable. Although over one million were sold between 1978 and 1985, the failure rate of GM's engines ruined the reputation of Diesel engines in general in the United States market. Eventually, a class action lawsuit resulted in an arbitration system under the supervision of the Federal Trade Commission where consumers could claim 80% of the original cost of the engine in the event of a failure.

The primary problem with GM's Diesel engines of the 1970s was their design — although the engines used a specific block, the design was based on Oldsmobile's 350 V8. The design had a weakness in the head design and head bolts, which were not able to withstand the higher cylinder pressures and temperatures of Diesel use. This, combined with poor diesel fuel quality in the 80's led to catastrophic failure of pistons, cylinder heads, and even cylinder walls. Reinforced truck Diesel engines, from GM and other companies, did not have these problems. Today, GM uses Diesel engines from Duramax (for trucks) and Isuzu (for non-US cars) but offers no domestic Diesel passenger cars.