Help! looking at a couple 6.5 Turbo diesels, but don't know much....

[greatwhite]

I'm looking at a couple 6.5 TD is the local area.

First off, I'm not familiar with diesels, let alone the 6.5

There seems top be a lot of negative press about the 6.5 out there.

I;m looking at a 95 6.5 TD in an ecsb, and a 6.5 TD in a 97 Eclb.

The 95 is in better overall shape, and the 97 looks to have been a farm truck. You can tell it was loaded down as the bed is bowed down between the bed supports.

The 95 looks to have been a dialy runner that once had a fifth wheel hitch in the bed.

Mileage:

95 ecsb - 263 000 KMs (about 163 000 miles)

97 eclb - 332 000 KMs (about 205 000 miles)

Both are what I would consider expensive, 95 at just under 9 grand, 97 just under 8 grand.

The 95 is pretty much bone stock, the p7 has the PMD cooler/heatsink installed, but not much else.

The 95 is "rust free", but has one of those stupid sunvisors bolted to the roof and I'm not keen on those holes it will leave. A few more redneck touches like lighted running boards and aluminum bed rail tie down Bars easily unbolt. The 97 is a long box (which I want) with a spray in liner, but like I said it looks like it's been used hard and put away wet. The rocker on the extended cab are also bubbling and will need to be cut out.

Then again, the 95 has the 6 bolt rims (1/2 ton front diff) and the 97 has the 8 bolt rims ("true" 3/4 front diff).

Anything diesel is foolishly priced around here. A cummins or powestroke is completely out of the question.

My concern is the mileage. I know diesels are "supposed" to be able to gobble up high mileage, but my gasser mind just can't wrap around 332 000 kms being "reasonable".


Can anyone offer advice on these two trucks, or the 6.5 TD in general.

I'm just looking for a daily driver in an 88-98 body style that can haul my plow up an down my 300 foot driveway in the winter and be reliable......oh yeah, and get 20+ mpg average.....

[jerry598]

They do sound high priced. Fuel economy/Mileage will depend on the differential axle ratio. The higher the ratio, the lower the mileage. There are some other threads that list fuel economy of these trucks. Just do a search.

[winemaker]

I'd say keep looking. Neither truck sounds marvelous and they want top dollar. Where are you?

Brett

[rameye]

I agree, move on....way too much dollars US anyway

[greatwhite]

I'd say keep looking. Neither truck sounds marvelous and they want top dollar. Where are you?

Brett

Whoops, didn't mention where. Canada, which is the same as USD right now! ;-)


I've found a 98 K2500 (the real 2500, not the 6 lug rim jobers) for 7500 cdn asking price. I get the feeling he'll move to around $7000. It's also got the full floater rear axle.

400,000 km on the truck (it's rust free!) and it has a 99 6.5 from another vehicle. Owner thinks it's around 300,000 kms on the replacement.

He replaced the turbo last year for around 1200 bucks. There's a few niggling things (Mirror switch works intermittently, tailgate handle busted, it's dirty, etc) but the real concern about the truck itself is the pushbutton 4x4 isn't working.

The truck felt a bit sluggish compared to other 6.5 TD's I've driven, but then I realized it had about 7-800 lbs of chainsawed tree trunk in the bed! So it's about even to the empty trucks I've driven, I'm guessing.

Only thing that concerns me about the 6.5 is that is blows smoke out the dipstick tube...

[KallyI]

Not sure where you are at in Canada, but I looked at a 2001 Duramax that sold for $8,000.00, with new paint, tires, and injectors. I also looked at a 2006 for $9,500.00. It had few options, but it was in nice shape, overall.

[DaveBr]

The price on the 98 is to high for 400,000 km. I paid 6,500 with 165,000 km. What provice are you looking in? Never be in a rush when looking for a good truck. When I was looking last year I noticed trucks were expensive in Sask. & Man.

[greatwhite]

The price on the 98 is to high for 400,000 km. I paid 6,500 with 165,000 km. What provice are you looking in? Never be in a rush when looking for a good truck. When I was looking last year I noticed trucks were expensive in Sask. & Man.
British columbia.

To make matters worse, Vancouver Island.

Everything is overpriced here, from milk to vehicles to houses.

I was thinking of offering 5-5500 for the 98, maybe end up around 6-6500.

I'm not in a rush, been looking for a couple months now. Trucks are stupid expensive here, more so if it's a diesel anything, 4x4 makes it even worse....

[phantom309]

i went to school in lake cowichan,. miss the island, can't retire yet,.
i bought a 94 2500 8600lb 4x4 eclb for 1000 here in toronto,. 326,000kms,.
works great, with the 3:42's i get 830-860kms for 108 litres,.
funny tho,. all the bc'ites whine about eastern vehicles and rust etc,. but the coastal stuff can look pretty bad sometimes,.

Nick

[greatwhite]

i went to school in lake cowichan,. miss the island, can't retire yet,.
i bought a 94 2500 8600lb 4x4 eclb for 1000 here in toronto,. 326,000kms,.
works great, with the 3:42's i get 830-860kms for 108 litres,.
funny tho,. all the bc'ites whine about eastern vehicles and rust etc,. but the coastal stuff can look pretty bad sometimes,.

Nick

I'm not a "BC-ite"..........I'm Nova Scotian and stuck in "lotus land" for the next 4-5 years.

So "rust free" is a relative term. Maybe "rust less" would be better.

Compared to the vehicles at home (NS), a very nice truck (rust) can be purchased here in BC. At least, in good enough shape that a little clean up and paint can halt the process (somewhat - rust never sleeps). Without exception, trucks at home require wholesale replacement of frame crossmembers and body panels when they're from the 90's. Especially 88-98 chev trucks....

I drove my 200,000+ km 89 ECLB 4x4 5.7 (NS truck) out here with no problems. Only thing is, even though it's got a 75,000 km gm goodwrench engine in it, it's rusty to the point it's not worth saving and that's not an easy thing for me to say, I love that faithful old truck. The cab (floor, rockers, ext cab rockers, door bottoms, cab corners), box, front fenders, FRAME(!), all rotted through somewhere.

If I could pick up a diesel K2500 in good shape (body/frame), I wouldn't mind throwing a long block at it in 3-4 years and drive it for another 15 when I get home (NS).

I do all my own work by the way, so cost is parts only....

I've got a line on a 96 eclb 4x4 K2500 TD with 216,000 on the clock for 4900 in Naniamo. Taking a look today hopefully....

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

@ KallyI, are you sure they were running? $9600 for an 06? Even $8K for an 01 is very cheap.

greatwhite, keep searching, you will find some decent 6.5's for less than those guys want. for 8K up here in Kelowna, you could pick up a real nice 6.5 with plenty of options.

http://classifieds.castanet.net/showproduct.php/product/670866/cat/154
http://classifieds.castanet.net/showproduct.php/product/620987/cat/154
http://classifieds.castanet.net/showproduct.php/product/682008/cat/154

there, three 6.5's ranging from 8Kish down to 3500

[6.5 Detroit Diesel]

oh, i would also reccomend you look at the BC interior. almost no rust issues around here. ;)

[greatwhite]

Well, it's a done deal.

1998 K2500, 400 000 kms on the chassis, 250 000 on the 1999 replacement engine.

He was asking 7500 cdn, the wife (yes, the wife - I couldn't be objective enough to deal on price) got him down to 5000 cdn. She's good at that kind of thing anyways, I mean hey...1/3 off the asking price? I'm gonna let her do all my deals from now on!

The truck has earned it's living and shows it. Littel bits of plastic scratched and broke here and there, but those are easily changed. Dirty, very dirty...but I'll open both doors and blow the fire truck's hose right through the cab! That'll clean 'er up.....................(j/k) Serioulsy though, it'll probably take a couple weeks and 5-10 tanks of cleaning solution through my Bissel "little green" upholsrty and carpet cleaner to get it respectable.

No rust though. At least, nothing requiring any sheet metal or frame (!) replacement. The usual cab corners and rockers are good and solid, not a lick of rust or a bubble to be seen anywhere.
Surface rust only and in the areas you would expect (bed rails meeting frame, most of the frame black has just worn off, etc). An easy clean up job and that's a big plus for me. It'll also be a big plus when I move back to NS where I'll have one of the cleanest 98's around (well, probably the only 98 left in "rust land"!).

Mechanicals I can change, but I HATE doing body work.

There's some blow by, and the "water trick" at idle has the 6.5 pushing down about 1/8-1/4 inch. 2000 Rpm and it pulls the water up the tube about 3-4 inches.

CDR valve is full of oil which may be part of my problem. Turbo is 6 months old. PMD has already been relocated and mounted on a heat sink. It's also wired for a winch and has front and rear 2' receivers for a portable winch. There's also a leak here and there, but the oil cooler lines are clean as a whistle. The old girl will need a good scouring under the hood when it comes home tomorrow.

The 4x4 engages, but it's intermittent. Shouldn't be any more than 500 bucks to fix (at the worst). I'll need to get down into the guts of her before I figure it out but it was a good bargaining chip with the seller. Heck, it might even be the fuse for all I know.

Windshiel shows the high amount of highway miles with stone chips and a funny crack that starts 6 inches up the passenger A pillar, goes up 4 inches then turn 90 dgrees again and goes back to the A pillar. It's not going anywhere else as it starts and ends at the edge of the glass. But I'll chuck a new windshield into it anyways. Nothing as satisfying as "new glass".

Throw in a complete servicing of fluids/filters and an alignment and the initial stuff is taken care of.

But I'm not fooling myself.......the ol' 6.5 is closer to the end of it's life than the beginning. If I get 3-4 years out of it, that'll do. If/when it goes, I'll drop in a long block and the truck will be like new.

Looks like I'll be hanging around the forums and soaking up info for the foreseeable future.

Any recommendations of things I should look at fixing/upgrading first?

And so, it begins............

;-)