duramax 6.6 2008

[diesel8124]

anyone on here a duramax exspert looking at buying 2008 gmc 5500 ambulance 1 motor replaced 1of 2011 2nd one replaced 11 of 2011 had 130,000 at second replace truck no has 200,000 any thoughts is this truck a lemon or motors junk nned imput before i buy thanks in advance.

[DmaxMaverick]

Welcome to the Forums!

Ambulance/fire is about as severe as severe duty gets. As far as miles go, drivetrain use is about double that of the actual "normal" use, and triple for the engine. 200K in 7 years is a LOT of heavy use for ambulance duty, especially if it's inner-city. The upside is, they are usually very well maintained, and often get new engines and other drivetrain components when otherwise unnecessary.

I suggest looking at the package as a whole. If it runs good now, and the rest of the chassis is good, then it will likely be fine for a long time under "normal" duty. If it has any steering/suspension issues, count on (at least) a full replacement of all the components very soon, although they've likely been replaced at least once, probably 2 or 3 times prior. It depends on how much use it's seen since, and how you intend to use it. If you intend to continue similar duty, it won't be much of a bargain, at any price.

[Kennedy]

Regardless of use it is not common to have the engine replaced once let alone twice unless there is something VERY wrong. The question is what?

[More Power]

Locate an (any) ambulance service, and try to discuss general vehicle service and longevity with their service manager. They'll likely tell you all about vehicle life and service, and how the Duramax compares to the Powerstroke.

[diesel8124]

tried that most have hr meter this one doesnt thanks

[EdHale]

The hour meter in mine reset itself back to zero when it had approx 2,000 hours on it. I have no idea why, but I wouldn't put a lot of trust in those meters unless they have improved their reliability since my 2006.

[CoyleJR]

Ed, the hour meter on my 2006 also was resetting for no reason. I found a post here on the DP that GM has a service bulletin out for this problem. The GM fix is to clean and tighten the battery terminals. My terminals were clean and tight but I cleaned them and tightened VERY tight and the problem went away. Additionally, if I disconnected both batteries the HM also reset to zero. There is nothing you can do to avoid that reset. There is something odd about SOME of the 2006 ECMs. Last year I bought a used ECM (same p/n) and had John Kennedy reprogram it and it will not reset the HM to zero when you disconnect both batteries. ???????

[EdHale]

Mine has only reset one time several years ago. I don't remember if I was changing batteries then on not, but I always remove the passenger side battery to change the fuel filter so maybe in the driver side battery had slightly loose terminal connections during one of the filter changes? I have no clue, but my overall average speed over ground with the new hour indications shows I drive much too fast with an overage average speed of 78.