New guy with a couple ?s

[bfourman]

Hey all, I'm shopping around for a tow vehicle/DD and wanted to get some input from the people that drive them everyday. I'm not a diesel newbie, as our work trucks are PSDs, but I personally don't care for them as a DD. Plans for this vehicle include a popup style slide in camper most weekends and a Jeep Cherokee on a 16' trailer occasionally.

I came across this 96 3500 in the local trader magazine, and wanted to find out anything specific I should look/ask/listen for when I check it out. I read through a few pages on here and saw that the PMD/OPS is a pretty normal problem. Anything else I should be aware of?

http://www.auto-rv.com/ADImages/jpg/CI4240061.jpg

1996 GMC 3500. 184,000 mi., great work truck, 6.5L turbo diesel, all power, runs great! Gooseneck hitch, Reese hitch, new 10 ply tires, 4x4. $6,500 OBO. Muncie, IN.

Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

[sturgeon-phish]

Look to see if it is the early or late '96. Late '96 will have a dual t stat setup that is much better. Look for 4 bolts on the T stat housing. See if the IP was changed out and if so if under warrenty. Warrenty good for 10 years and 120K. Good looking truck.
Jim

[crazpony]

I can tell you, I have a 97 K3500 dually 4X4, great towing capacity, I tow 2 different types of horse trailers, a bumper pull (wgt around 7500lbs) and a gooseneck (wgt around 11000lbs). The truck doesn't even know they're there at 70mph with the A/C running.

I replaced the PMD on a cooler mounted to the in-take, no problems. Originally I had the cooler on the right wheel well, the darn extention cable (from Kennedy) kept losing it's connection (vibate lose ever so slightly) and the truck would shut down (mostly at bad times, traffic, toll booth, on ramp, etc.), moved it without the extention and not a lick of problems. Had the pump replaced under warranty about 20,000 miles ago. I recommend no extention for your PMD. :mad: To many connectors.

:) Nice truck, good power

[Hubert]

At 184K miles most all the goodie is gone out of wear parts. Its a 10 yr old truck now and a gamble. Personally I could buy it from an individual but not a used car lot depending.....

If its an ok deal and you can do some wrench turning yourself it would make an ok truck. If you have to pay for work keep in mind it will probably need a new IP, injectors, glowplugs, timing chain, and several other parts (brakes, fluid changes, filters etc) in the next 0-40,000 miles (40K if you are real lucky - depending on maintenance). That maintenance is fairly costly at a shop. If its stock figure on about $1000 for the recommended upgrades for towing: exhaust, & gauges. To drive these trucks its either a truck payment or saving for maintenance.

How much smoke it puffs on cold and warm starts and under load (acceleration, or hill climb) are some indication of health or problems. Keep in mind the seller could have the fuel hopped up on heavy dose of cetane and fuel addatives. Records and or feel for maintenance and treatment of the truck etc.

[bfourman]

Thanks for the replies. I'm waiting on a call back, as I have a decent list of questions for the seller before I make the 1 hour drive to check it out. I'm not in dire need of a truck right now, this one just caught my eye. The only thing holding me back is what Hubert said; the amount of PMs its gonna need right out of the box, unless the seller has already done them.

BTW - it's a private seller.