6.5 REGRETS ???

[Scooby]

I bought a nice 1996 1500 w/6.5 2 weeks ago. Had to take it to dealer to get injection pump changed. I love GM vehicles, thats all I own, but the mechanic there told me of all the pump problems on the 6.5. I have done quite a bit of diesel work, but not on the electronics. When I found this truck, I thought how well it would tow my boat and 4 wheelers, and possibly my mud truck if I find a trailer for it.

NOW I'm wondering... will this truck be a big headache ??? I have 19000 more miles till the big 120,000. I have ordered a remote FSD mount from Heath. I have my 93 GMC Jimmy up for sale.
The 4.3 Vortec in it was a little under powered for my boat, but it worked. Should I try to save the 6.5, or cut my losses, sell the truck, and maybe get one with a "gas" motor. I really like the diesel though, I just want it to be reliable without costing a fortune.

[G. Gearloose]

Take a deep, cleansing breath, scooby!
Appears you got a fresh pump on a nice truck ...

Towing in hot florida, you may want to opt for the '97 cooling update, and perhaps a B/M shift-plus to quicken the shifts - easy & cheap.

[rjschoolcraft]

Before I owned a diesel, I had worked on a couple of 6.2's. I couldn't see why anyone would want one. My uncle owned a 1984 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 with 6.2 that he bought new and towed a travel trailer with. I thought that truck was grossly under powered, but he liked it...so much that he bought a new 1996 Chevy K2500 with 6.5TD. That truck seemed nice, but I still couldn't understand owning one. I towed with an old 1967 C10 that I had built a healthy 350 gas motor and THM400 for. The truck was a little light, but had good power...and it really liked the gas. I finally succombed and decided to try a diesel, so in 2000 I bought this 1995 K2500 Chevy Suburban with 6.5TD.

I have had some problems with it, but I think I'm getting them worked out. Now I wouldn't consider towing with anything but a diesel. I've modded mine to fix some of the factory shortcomings and to increase power. Now it tows very well and I still have way less in it than I would have to lay down for a Duramax. See my post "Significant improvement in towing performance" for more info on what my 6.5 can do now. If I were you, I would keep the diesel, although I would have rather had the heavier 3/4 ton chassis. If you got by with a 4.3 in a Jimmy previously, this truck will be wonderful for what you do. I think you'll like it.

I think some of the IP problems have now been solved. I had to have an IP installed under warranty in late 2000 at 76,000 miles. I now have over 184,000 miles on the truck and have had no more IP problems or FSD problems. My FSD is still mounted on the pump and hasn't been touched.

If you just got a new IP, you should be good for a long time.

[Cowracer]

If all your freinds own Strokes or Cummins, and you want to be the biggest dog in your group, then the 6.5 is not for you. If you want to tow 28,000 lbs. through the rockies every week, then the 6.5 is not for you. If you want a truck you can flog the hell out of with out doing any routine maitenance, then the 6.5 is not for you. If you are afraid of vehicle electronics, then the 6.5 ('94 and up) is not for you.

But if you want a relativly cheap diesel truck, with decent reliability and great fuel economy, then the 6.5 is a great choice. The '94-96 trucks only have two major design flaws inherent to the diesel engine. The injector pump and heat rejection. (GM addressed the heat issue in 97).

There are people working on the IP/FSD problem, and I think that the 'silver bullet' fix is getting closer. Bear in mind that most people who tell you about what a POS the injeciton pump is coulnt tell the difference between a fuel solenoid driver and a sanitary napkin.

I still, to this day, can't convince my friend (who is a professional mechanic) that the 6.5 is NOT a converted 350 chevy gasser. That's the level of ignorance that most people have on this motor, yet they still feel the need to spout off about all it's drawbacks

Owning a 6.5 requires an investment in time and learning. Get the GM service manuals, read EVERYTHING on this website. Don't take anyones word as gospel untill you had a chance to decide for yourself.

Owning and actually loving a 6.5 is easy as long as you realize that your education starts today.

Good Luck!

Tim

[Scooby]

Thanks for the replys so far. I guess what really turned me off is the mechanic at the dealer said the truck had a pump put on at 78000. Thats only 21000 on that pump. He also told me that putting the Dahl filter-separator on it will void the warranty. I am making the bracket to mount it to the upper radiator hose as we speak. ( No room under hood to mount on firewall or fenderwell!!)I put a lot of separators on when I was in diesel mechanics school. The instructor swore by them.
;) I already have the manuals- HELM online is fast- less than a week to deliver. tongue.gif

[Marty Lau]

Scooby;

I had a pump replaced at 28,000 and still have that one on at 155,000. Getting my second FSD in 20,000 miles but I'm going to get this figured out too. Getting a remote FSD cooler will go a long way to helping with pump life. I would bet that the previous owner of your truck didn't use a good fuel additive. Use a good fuel additive, Power Service, Stanadyne, FFFP, some thing that adds lubercation to the fuel and you will get better life out of the pump and injectors.

Scooby, you have a big leg up on a yahoo like me that has very little mechanical training. You with you Diesel training should find this thing a pretty easy to work on once you figure out the electronics part.

[MikeC]

Scooby,

I bought my truck in June of '01 with about 64K on the clock. You can read about it here (http://www.thedieselpage.com/readers/mikecooper.htm).

The only additions since the article, other than miles, is a Heath Turbo-Master and 2500# bigger camper.

I still like the truck, so much that I'm considering a 300HP replacement engine.

Get to know your truck. Also I 2nd what cowracer said about taking in the info and deciding for yourself.

Mike

[patrick m.]

my favorite thing to tell someone who just got one is:
maintain it, mod it(if you want), and enjoy!

[curmudge1]

I'm not near as mechanical or knowledgeable as a lot of those who post in this forum, I just try to read & remember... and say "thank-you" to all the real experts who help out.

Anyway, at ~101,000 miles, your truck is probably ready for new injectors. I was told, & repeated in an earlier post, that injectors probably should be replaced every 75,000 - 100,000 miles... and someone's follow-up post said that old, bad injectors cause problems with pistons (overheating, iirc?) due to bad spray patters. You can search this forum for 'injectors', if that helps. Seems like there's a trick or two, for a couple of the locations. Me, I hired mine replaced.

My inj. pump was replaced under warranty at about 65k miles (probably not needed, turned out to be a bad OPS, oil pressure switch, a very problematic part, read up on this too), and it lasted about 125K-130K miles, iirc, before it died. The replacement was trouble, but seems to be fine now. If you read a lot here, and can do a lot of work yourself (sounds like), you should get a lot of good service from your truck.

1994 K1500 Blazer w/ 6.5 TD, 225,000 miles