Diesel Mechanic Recommendations in Dallas Ft Worth Area???

[EscaladeDiesel]

Can anyone recommend a 6.5L diesel mechanic in the area? A mechanic I can talk to, not a "service advisor" i.e.: a "ticket padding-middle man" like at the dealer. I'd like to find one that is reasonable in price, but at this point I will settle for competent and trust worthy. I am feeling a bit lost and sorta overwhelmed in owning my diesel vehicles.

[ 01-11-2005, 07:33 PM: Message edited by: EscaladeDiesel ]

[john8662]

Just start doing what I do, go to the various diesel shops, shoot the sh*t with em. Eventually you'll find one thats good, and willing to answer questions, or even better, lets you watch. First off though, find out their general opinion of the 6.2 or 6.5, if they are negative, walk out.

Whats got you overwhelmed?

[grape]

Try Darin at D&S diesel in south Forth Worth. I wish I could help....I'm just snowed under with various projects, one of which being my 6.5 blazer.

[EscaladeDiesel]

What has me overwhelmed is the simple fact I don't have a trusted diesel mechanic, and I can't trust any of my vehicles to be reliable and I have to drive 100 miles a day. The '98 Suburban starts fine, sounds fine at idle, has good acceleration, AWESOME turbo whine, stays cool, good oil pressure (though still uses a bit more than I like, though using less), but has lots of clatter and or nailing, a muffled thumping (for lack of better word) from the right side that seems to be coming from the new egr valve area, sounds more like puffs of air inside something or some line than it does anything metallic. The constant fine vibration from the engine (not a shake, but a fine and VERY noticable vibration) that causes the pedals to act like vibrating and massaging pedals, which would be GREAT if I wasn't constantly worried about when it was all gonna blow. When at a stop light the vibration has a cycle and rhythm to it, every second or so it goes from vibrating to REALLY vibrating, yet the tach. does not move. I don't know if it's a simple adjustment (never that lucky <grin>) or the IP, that hopefully can be replaced under warranty, or if it's the fact the lines were not put in right or has missing parts, or if the injectors are bad or need to be cleaned or what. I feel like I keep putting good money after bad and never getting it fixed or knowing the real problem or worse having a mechanic never know the real problem, but guessing at my expense.

[ 01-12-2005, 05:00 AM: Message edited by: EscaladeDiesel ]

[john8662]

I hear ya, you just would like a good mechanic to have a look at it and have more of an opinion than "must be normal" for every quirk. On the vibration thing, sounds like your timing needs adjustment. I've noticed on my 95 that while sitting at lights that it pulsates too. It vibrates, then smooths out, then vibrates. I think thats one of the quirks to the DS4 pump design.

[EscaladeDiesel]

Yes, that would be nice. WOW, I am kinda surprised that there is only one recomendation in all of Dallas and Ft Worth.

[chevytuff]

Escalade,
Back when I was still driving my 95 Chevy 6.5 I too was looking for a competent diesel mechanic, I live about 30 minutes south of dallas. I ended up performing most of my own diagnostics/troubleshooting. I have had just about everything go wrong with my truck that can go wrong.

As for the vibration shaking the truck check your harmonic balancer, in the 150,000+ miles that I put on my truck I have replaced the harmonic balancer 5 times. The last and worst time the rubber ring which connects the inner metal ring and the outside "weight" completely disintegrated, Unfortuneately I did not notice this for who knows how many thousands of miles. I only realized it when I installed the DSG Timing gears and Highflo cooling mods. A simple way to check your balancer is by standing on some sort of stool where you can lean into your engine bay... grab ahold of the accessory belt and pull on it forcibly. If there is noticeable movement in it and the Belt tensioner stays in place it is time for a new harmonic balancer. Not that complicated of an install for a do it yourself project.

Your stated that you can hear the turbo whining..... do you have an aftermarket exhaust? or have you done any modifications...? If not this might be a problem... On a stock vehicle with no airbox modifications you should be able to hear the turbo but only under hard acceleration. If it is "excessive" this could be a sign that your turbo is going bad... Do you notice a lot of black sooty smoke under hard acceleration or load? Installing a turbo is another DIY project for a compentent DIYer.

The pinging from the passenger side I would have to say it would be best diagnosed by more than me.. smile.gif However I realize that I havent answered your original question. Let me do some checking and ask around and I will get back with you. The biggest problem with non-dealership mechanics is that they usually dont specialize in our motors where a dealership mechanic does. Which can lead to costly guessing at what the problem is.
Hope this helps a little,
Ill get back with you later

[EscaladeDiesel]

Hi Tuff,

Thanks for the reply. You can read about my ordeal over the past year. The short version is: oil line failed, lost oil, engine still ran. After the run around with three different mechanics, and a lot of wasted money in diagnostic costs etc, the original engine w/ rebuilt crankshaft (old one damaged by failed bearing)all new bearings, piston rod & new rings for #8 piston, harmonic balancer, pulley, tensioner & rebuilt heads, etc

The turbo was taken to Majestic in Dallas, they said it was tight and strong.

The noise on the right side seems to be air or exhaust "popping" or "puffing" from the erg valve or something does not sound metalic in nature.

The vibration is similar in feel to broken/bad motor mounts, feels very metal on metal. Seems hard to believe the injector lines or the IP could cause such a vibration.

I ran some injection cleaners to see if would lessen the "nailing" but no difference.

Chris

[ 01-14-2005, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: EscaladeDiesel ]

[EscaladeDiesel]

Today I went to Lone Star Diesel in Ft Worth. I had to take injectors from my Mercedes to get rebuilt (always something). They also work on 6.5's. Based upon the symptoms, not able to put it in the shop till next Monday, he said he bets it will be the timing is off, and that it is computer controlled....and he will connect it to a machine and check it out and correct it...does this sound right?