Money hungry 6.5

[Jolie]

Well, I am not that much of a newbie here, was here a few years ago when we owned our other 6.5L TD (a 1996).

We purchased a 1994 Chevy K3500 6.5L TD manual trans in June from a private seller, truck was in fair shape for its age and miles (147k). Seller assured us that the jerk (more like herky jerky) it had was something minor, he had taken it to a diesel mechanic. So, anyway, we bought the truck without having it checked out.....BIG MISTAKE.

Fast forward 4 months and we are $4k poorer with just repairs.

We have so far done:

Vacuum pump
Oil pressure sending unit
Dual mass flywheel and clutch (replaced with Luk kit solid flywheel and clutch)
Rear axle seals and brakes
Fixed a short in the accellerator

Ended up banging our heads against the wall cause after all this the truck still jerked and stalled.

Finally took it to a competant mechanic and it was indeed the dreaded injection pump.

Injection pump
Transfer pump
Fuel filter

Truck runs perfect now. Don't get me wrong, everything that was changed was bad anyway, but talk about a frustrating and expensive 4 months!!

Sooo, any real advise on how to not have a repeat of the past 4 months? We really don't want to have to do another injection pump on this little monster.

Truck will be used for hauling and towing mostly.

:D

[jspringator]

Look at it this way. A new duramax truck costs 40,000. With these repairs, you should be good to go for another 100,000 miles. I doubt that that was the first pump replacement on that truck; the new ones can go 100,000 miles, but the old ones didn't.

[Jolie]

It had a *green dot* pump on it, however, the poor truck's previous owners believed in beating it half to death.

We changed all the fluids, front to back, drained the t-case (calls for ATF) fluid that was supposed to be red came out in black glops. Same with the gear lube in the front and rear end, everything was low on fluid, t-case was about 2 qts low, rear end was low, front end had almost no fluid in it. Changed the fuel/water separator and it was black, doubt it had been changed in years.

I figure if that truck survived all this then with some TLC it should run forever.

We are hoping to add a DMax 3500 to our stable in the next 2 years or so. However, hubby is still kinda stuck on Ford. He works his trucks and still worries about the front ends in GM trucks.

I drive a Ford, but that don't mean I don't long for a DMax Suburban.....just biding my time. *Hurry up GM!!* ;)

[GMCfourX4]

If all of the fluids that were changed out were that low/nasty, you might want to change them again after a couple thousand miles, and maybe go with full synthetic this time.

-Chris

[Jolie]

We put synthetic in everything but the engine. Not sure about running synthetic there since it leaks/burns about 1 1/2 quarts every 3000 miles.

I figure a 6.5L TD must be pretty tough to put up with what this truck has been through and still run great.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

How does what you've got in so far compare with fair market value? (Don't tell me, just do the math for yourself.) If it's not too far off, maybe it's not so bad.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you might trade it in a couple years (really good news for whoever buys it next). The longer I keep a vehicle, the less it matters what I originally paid - my overpayment is divided over lots of months. This is especially true because I choose what I buy carefully & get what I want. The longer I keep them, the longer I get to drive something I really like.

You might want to consider not buying ANYTHING unless checked out by your 2nd mechanic. In fact, I'd bring that one all my business. My brother's a mechanic, & I don't buy very many without his check-out. It's never let me down.

Blessings!

Brian Johnson, #5044

'82 6.2 1500 4X4 1/2T pickup, 4spd man w/ OD, bone stock, 335K+, "In Rust We Trust"
'89 6.2 4X4 1/2T pickup, bone stock, 146K+
'95 6.5TD 2500 4X4 heavy 3/4T pickup, Gear Vendors Aux. OD, 185K +
'95 6.5TD 1500 4X4 3/4T Suburban, Kennedy exhaust, 200K +

[LanceW]

Heck, it needs oil/filter every 2,500 miles anyway, 1 1/2 qts isn't all that big a deal if you keep an eye on it

Check your oil cooler lines and the inside of your Turbo for oil leaks/use. If you are lucky, your problems are there- the CDR valve (sort of like EGR on a gasser) will send oil into the turbo as it ages, I have been told (but am not positive) that an aging turbo will allow oil to seep past the bearings, and I know for a fact that the oil cooler lines on these things are notorious for leaking.

[GARY PAGE]

Well you know what you have now! I had the same experence last year about this same time. I put 6.5K in with the custom drop in AVANT engine, so thats about 500/month for the last year and it's paid for so I am good. I call her Diesel Dog and it worked out for me. Thanks to the Diesel pages and a lot of reading and help from you folks. I still drive with my eyes open but now I know what I am looking at.

[Jolie]

We paid $6700 for the truck in June which was about what it was worth for its condition/miles, however, in its mechanical condition we should have paid less. Stupid, yes, especially since I worked in car sales and am normally very savvy.

We have about $10,700 into the truck as of right now, which is above what its worth. That said, it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference because the truck belongs to our business so most of its repairs are deductable on taxes.

As for trading it, no, this truck will die with us. We have it for one purpose and our new truck (when we get around to buying one) won't go bouncing down logging roads or haul firewood like the 94 does. Its nice to have a truck that we don't care if it gets dented or scratched.

We are going to have to buy front brake pads, a transmission mount, and a few other odds and ends for the truck. Its running great though and we have found a super great mechanic for who we are very thankful.

Now my Explorer has decided it wants some of our paychecks too.