First Time Diesel Owner

[99gmccrew]

Hello to everyone!
I'm a new member and new diesel owner. I've been reading a little about the 6.5L and I see there have been some problems. Mine is a 99' crewab dually with a 4.10 gearing. I absolutley love the truck and I enjoy doing my own maintenance. Does the 99' still have the same problems to look out for as the earlier model engines or did GM work the bugs out. Also can anyone send me in the right direction as to mods that will prolong the life of this truck and prevent any mishaps when I'm towing my 30' toybox in the heat of summer. I'm not looking for anything to high performance, just reliability. Thanks in advance for all suggestions. Steve H

[rjschoolcraft]

Welcome aboard! :cool:

The 99's have good programming from the factory and have the high capacity cooling system. So that's good news.

The one area of cooling that might need to be addressed is the fan clutch. I don't know if the 99 units have an improved one or not. Kennedy sells a recalibrated clutch that engages 15 deg. sooner. That made a huge difference in my Suburban.

I would suggest that you invest in a set of boost and egt gages. Indespensible equipment even when running stock. Great troubleshooting aids.

I know they're pricy, but I would also consider an intercooler. That will keep intake air temperatures low and improve the engine's overall durability. Plus you get a big power improvement. With that done, I'd go for electronic boost controls to increase boost. These engines run cooler egt's when the boost is increased. Again, that helps durability but also gives you more power.

Read my post "Significant improvement in towing performance" on this forum for more information on the benefits of some of these components. My truck used to struggle to tow my trailer with high egt and coolant temperatures. I now pull the same load faster with lower egt and coolant temp and less overall perceived engine laboring... if you understand what I'm trying to get across. It doesn't feel like it is working nearly as hard now. ;)

[Turbine Doc]

Welcome and dittos to what Ronnie said, how many miles on your truck, important to know to see if you are still eligible for GM extended warr on IP.

What mods depending on size of wallet, this is the order I would work it, get a new FSD/PMD remote mount it leave your now working one on the pump as a used but good spare to get you home in a pinch if need be, exhaust/gauges(Boost-EGT-trans), better air filt, boost control, HP injectors, and IC. That's my opinion others may have a different order preference, exhaust and gauges a must do, and gages before adding fuel or air to keep from buring up engine.

For longevity I'd add dual remote bypass oil filtration, deep trans pan, and remote aux trans cooler.

[99gmccrew]

Originally posted by ronniejoe:
Welcome aboard! :cool:

The 99's have good programming from the factory and have the high capacity cooling system. So that's good news.

The one area of cooling that might need to be addressed is the fan clutch. I don't know if the 99 units have an improved one or not. Kennedy sells a recalibrated clutch that engages 15 deg. sooner. That made a huge difference in my Suburban.

I would suggest that you invest in a set of boost and egt gages. Indespensible equipment even when running stock. Great troubleshooting aids.

I know they're pricy, but I would also consider an intercooler. That will keep intake air temperatures low and improve the engine's overall durability. Plus you get a big power improvement. With that done, I'd go for electronic boost controls to increase boost. These engines run cooler egt's when the boost is increased. Again, that helps durability but also gives you more power.

Read my post "Significant improvement in towing performance" on this forum for more information on the benefits of some of these components. My truck used to struggle to tow my trailer with high egt and coolant temperatures. I now pull the same load faster with lower egt and coolant temp and less overall perceived engine laboring... if you understand what I'm trying to get across. It doesn't feel like it is working nearly as hard now. ;)

[99gmccrew]

Originally posted by ronniejoe:
Welcome aboard! :cool:
Thanks Ron. I like those ideas. I think the first thing I'll do is get those gauges. I've seen some triple a-post mount kits that look cool. I figure I should get the egt,boost, and trans temp. Where can I get the best deals on these? Also how much are the intercoolers going for and can a backyard mechanic like me install it.

The 99's have good programming from the factory and have the high capacity cooling system. So that's good news.

The one area of cooling that might need to be addressed is the fan clutch. I don't know if the 99 units have an improved one or not. Kennedy sells a recalibrated clutch that engages 15 deg. sooner. That made a huge difference in my Suburban.

I would suggest that you invest in a set of boost and egt gages. Indespensible equipment even when running stock. Great troubleshooting aids.

I know they're pricy, but I would also consider an intercooler. That will keep intake air temperatures low and improve the engine's overall durability. Plus you get a big power improvement. With that done, I'd go for electronic boost controls to increase boost. These engines run cooler egt's when the boost is increased. Again, that helps durability but also gives you more power.

Read my post "Significant improvement in towing performance" on this forum for more information on the benefits of some of these components. My truck used to struggle to tow my trailer with high egt and coolant temperatures. I now pull the same load faster with lower egt and coolant temp and less overall perceived engine laboring... if you understand what I'm trying to get across. It doesn't feel like it is working nearly as hard now. ;)

[99gmccrew]

Thank you Ron and Tim. I'm still trying to figure out how to use this forum. I'm going to take your advice and get some gauges to mount on the a-pillar. Where can I get the best deal. I'm finding the egt gauge to be about $120. Does that sound right? My truck has 85K on it right now and I understand the injector pump is warantied until 120k. How about the engine. The lot I got it from said 100K/5yrs. When I called GMC they couldn't give me a straight answer. Anyway, I'd like to put on an IC but I'm not sure how difficult they are to install or how expensive they are. Is this something a backyard mechanic can handle? I have lots of questions and I really appreciate your comments. Does the fsd cooler use the stock fsd or is it a complete new unit. I checked into a banks exhaust system and they told me they didn't make them for the '99. Is that true? Thanks for your help. :confused:

[Turbine Doc]

Steve Banks isn't only vendor for exhaust several others, Banks makes a good kit I have it was my 1st mod, came with gauges and air filt, sometimes the person at the end of their phone is just a salesman; & only knows what is on computer screen for application of product, supposedly they did not make a exhaust for mine either, year to year not a whole lot of difference in frames exhaust, mine is supposed to be for a 96. When dealing with Banks get with the tech dept as they tend to think out of the box more than the upfront sales guy/gal does.

Give Kennedy Diesel a call he sells a system as does Bill Heath I think, go to advertisers section see link above, you will find folks there are in pretty good standing with the members of this group; bad vendors don't last long here word gets out pretty fast, if you find somebody you need some experiences input on, shoot a question to the forum.

Do go to Banks web site a lot of good info there for the new Diesel owner www.bankspower.com (http://www.bankspower.com) are you a paid member if so go to the members area (separate pass ID and code than this forum get from MP) there is a lot of BTDT knowhow specific to the GM Diesel products.

Id hold up on the IC until you improve airflow Diesels must have air flow to make benefit of extra air or fuel aded, opened inlet and exhaust keep temps under control and unstop choke points, look at factory turbo down pipe looks like it has been driven over restricts airflow a lot. I'm pretty sure the 5yr/100K is on block not sure if it covers complete engine. IC is a self install for someone with reasonable mechanical ability plan on making a weekend of it. When you get to that point I have some photos I can send that should help, it goes for $1200 or so depending where you get it from.

On using forum you can edit/delete a post just to the right beside the time /date header after posting there is a icon of a pencil and tablet that allows you to edit or delete your post. use the search feature also in the forum much of the basic info you seek is in the archived posts.

[rjschoolcraft]

It took me about 8 hrs. to install my intercooler system. It just takes patience and an ability to interpret instructions that are not written very well. If you're mechanically inclined at all, it shouldn't be too bad.

Lot's of folks sell gage kits. I'd just do some comparison shopping and pick the best deal. I got a set from Banks and the literature said they were made by Isspro. I got four gages: boost, egt, trans oil temp and engine oil temp. I used a two gage pod that mounts on top of the dash at the left side and a two gage pod that mounts on the a-pillar. I don't have the sending unit installed for the engine oil temp gage yet.