Hey Paul and all you Chevy guys, gals too!

I am looking at a mid 80's CUCV and would like to know what I can expect out of the 6.2L Diesel with a TH400 tranny. It is of course the military K5 version, i.e. the CUCV denotation. Being military they were generally chosen for reliability in the field, hopefully so anyways. Anybody with some firsthand knowledge of this combo??

Any leads are greatly appreciated!! :beer:

As far as I know and as far as I remember from driving CUCVs there isn't a whole lot different between their engines and the civilian versions of the 6.2L. CUCVs should come with battery warmers though, as well as neat stuff like blackout lights, external jumper cable connection and other goodies like that.

Thanks Paul. The goodies are always fun to have. What I was hoping to find out is what can I expect longevity wise on the powertrain and how will it perform? Does it have the grunt behind it? Will I get slaughtered on the road as people pass me like I am standing still?? A guy I know has a gas powered CUCV and his max speed is about 70mph here in AZ. And it will not be fun being snail mail slow. ;)

That's kind of "open" question. CUCV's saw some pretty varied use; everthing from sitting in storage or semi storage Reserve use (less than 3000 mi per yr) to battleworn refuges. Mileage isn't a good indicator either as Tactical use can mean alot of hour with few miles. Some can be really beaten cause of the "it's not my truck mentallity" :mad: At least K5s (M1009s) came with 3.08 gears as the K30s came with 4.56 gears and would scream at anything approaching highway speed.

Now civilian 6.2s typically get 100K for injectors 120K for injector pumps about 250-300K for reasonably maintained motors.

As far as grunt, well it's no BBC but a normally aspirated 6.2 feels alot like a gas 305 with alot more low end torque and twice the mileage :) The TH400 is legendary as far as stock beef is concerned. No big complaints with the NP208 transfer either. Axles depends on the model (M1009 or M1008, M1010, M1028, M1031) and the application. ;)

PS Cucvs weren't fielded with battery heaters (electric warmers) but an Arctic Kit was available that included extra insulation for the hood, floor, radiator cover, a oil fired heater that circulated coolant thru the engine and heater, and used the exhaust to warm battery boxes. :D

my buddy had the K30 with the 6.2....can you say slow. dont get me wrong, it is a great truck to build. 4.56 geared one ton stuff is always cool. but the thing couldnt get out of its own way. there was a tag on the dash that read "ear protection to be worn at all times" and they werent kidding. no insulation/carpet. loud as hell all the time. the only problem he had was a fuel shut off solenoid. but the thing had been sitting for years before he had bought it.

I talked to the Mail Man about his 6.2 In his Grummen Mail truck and he loved he siad it was a little slow but grate gas milage good low end grunt. He siad that he had a 1 ton chev truck at home with a 6.2 as well and he put in a turbo and he siad it was a world of difrence he siad the acceleration was excelent and no complants and that he could do burn-outs off the line

Thanks for all of the awesome input thus far guys! Keep it a comin'!!

It is looking like this 6.2L/TH400 CUCV is gonna be a winner for me. All I will need to find is a trailer to pull my FSJ Chero on and I'll be happy as a pig in shite! :D

Any firsthand knowledge of things I should be asking the seller about would be awesome as well. In addition to anything I should be looking for such as any straight off items I should be looking into replacing or keeping my eyes on. Hey, howzabout any good places to get the goodies for it. (i.e. black lighting, NATO cans, racking, etc.)


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Originally posted by dawhipp

PS Cucvs weren't fielded with battery heaters (electric warmers) but an Arctic Kit was available that included extra insulation for the hood, floor, radiator cover, a oil fired heater that circulated coolant thru the engine and heater, and used the exhaust to warm battery boxes. :D

That Arctic kit sounds pretty interesting. I guess the electric battery warmers were a Canadian thing, all of our CUCVs had them.

I have an '84 K20 Sub which cane with a 6.2 (now a 6.5 lives there). Never drove it with the 6.2 so can't comment on that aspect. The only issues I've had are with the glow plug system (the transplanted 6.5 uses the same one the old 6.2 did). The glow plug controller, water temp bypass switch and glow plugs have all had thier turn with non op. conditions. The system seems complex initially but after trouble shooting it three times I can tell what the problem is and I kinda even understand what does what, when and why. No start problems with these rigs are much eaiser to figure out that a modern gasser with a computer.

You can look forward to:

120 horsepower
240 ft/lbs of torque
and really slow take offs

If you get a K30 with the 4.56 gears you can look forward to going no faster than 73-74 miles per with the engine tached out. The Blazer with 3.08's should let you go 70 with relavtive comfort.