1990's GM 6.5 Turbo Diesel???

[Builder]

I find it hard to believe that a GM dealer can refuse to sell or service a GM product.

Oh, absolutely. When I was out buying my 6.5TD, there were a couple dealers who would not stock a 6.5TD and would only order one if you really raised a fit with them. I went through this when I bought mine.

The reason the dealers gave me were because of the failure rates of the injection pumps and other reliability issues. They would urge you to buy 350 or 454 gas power instead. In retrospect, I think another reason is because they were a poor selling diesel, never claiming more than 5% of the light diesel market. Therefore, the dealer didn't want to have to pay for a diesel mechanic on their staff that would hardly see any diesel work.

 

[hudr]

L39Builder:
Quote<With all due respect-if all you have to compare your 6.5TD to is a 5.7L Oldsmobile diesel and a 6.2L GM diesel, then yes, it would seem like a nice diesel.>

We also had an 86 6.9 Ford. Engine was great. It needed another gear in the tranny and after 250,000 you had to "herd" that twin I-beam down the road. Also had a 92 Dodge w/ the 12 valve Cummins. Once again, engine was great but the auto tranny was bad weak and it drove like...well...a Dodge. I have always liked having a Chevy truck wrapped around me. Honestly, I have had little in the way of reliability issues w/ the 6.5. Of course Dad and I did all of our own mechanic work.
Also, a couple of posters have mentioned Chevy dealers not wanting to sell/sevice diesels. Our local dealer is/was one of them. I tried to get some work done on one or our 6.2's when we were short on time and they tried to send me to some "crescent wrench" mechanic across town. So yes, it did/does happen pertaining to dealers refusing to sell some products. maybe not as much now as it did then (late 80's early 90's).

 

[KICK]

I don't think it makes a truck any better to have it mostly made in house. In fact, I'd take my '07 HD which has some of the best of the world in it. (Isuzu/GM diesel, allison trans, NP transfer case, etc).

.

those three items mentioned above are GM owned or GM joint ventures. in other words in house products.

I wish I would have bought a Ford instead of my 95 gmc but that is hindsight. I got a better deal on the GM at that time but I would say the Ford was the better rig.

Hindsight is 20/20. LOL.

 

[JimR]

those three items mentioned above are GM owned or GM joint ventures. in other words in house products.

I wish I would have bought a Ford instead of my 95 gmc but that is hindsight. I got a better deal on the GM at that time but I would say the Ford was the better rig.

Hindsight is 20/20. LOL.

I just wish they would make vehicles that didn't rot away. Otherwise I'd invest more money in my 1994 Ford F250 gas hog and keep it. You can always fix all the mechaical problems. Once the underside starts to errode your out of luck.

 

[KICK]

I just wish they would make vehicles that didn't rot away. Otherwise I'd invest more money in my 1994 Ford F250 gas hog and keep it. You can always fix all the mechaical problems. Once the underside starts to errode your out of luck.

yep.

I live in FLA, so I dont deal with rust, just cracked plastic interior parts and faded paint.

dashboard was absolutely falling apart in my 93 GMC, finally bought one of those plastic dash covers that glue right over the old one. but no rust.

 

[cdhd2001]

I'm looking at possibly buying a used 1995 Chevy Silverado 3500 one ton with this motor in it. The truck is a 4WD with an automatic transmission in it with single rear wheels. Has anyone owned one of these motors in their pickup truck? Are they reliable? MPG if known? How does it pull a 3 ton load?

My younger brother has a 1992 Chevy 3/4 with the 6.5L TD and a 5 speed standard with 200k. He bought it two years ago for $3,500 with 160k miles. Tows his 26 ft. 5th wheel great (oil field work) and gets 13 mpg towing and 20 mpg highway.

I have a 2003 Chevy 3/4 with Dmax/allison. Mine tows better, but cost ALOT more $$$. I get 11 mpg towing my 29 ft. 5th wheel and 18 mpg highway.

 

[JimR]

My younger brother has a 1992 Chevy 3/4 with the 6.5L TD and a 5 speed standard with 200k. He bought it two years ago for $3,500 with 160k miles. Tows his 26 ft. 5th wheel great (oil field work) and gets 13 mpg towing and 20 mpg highway.

I have a 2003 Chevy 3/4 with Dmax/allison. Mine tows better, but cost ALOT more $$$. I get 11 mpg towing my 29 ft. 5th wheel and 18 mpg highway.

That kind of mileage would make me quite happy. The truck is till for sale too.

 

[cdhd2001]

That kind of mileage would make me quite happy. The truck is till for sale too.

My brother and I did alot research before he bought the truck. Sure, the same year powerstroke and cummins are better, but cost considerably more (people sure proud of them).

If you buy the 6.5L TD, only buy 1991-1993 or 1997 and newer. The older ones like my brother have reliable mechanical injection. 1997 and newer has an updated electronic pump and additional cooling. The 1994-1996 have the first generation electronic injection modules that are prone to burning out from engine compartment heat. The 1st gens can be made reliable, but it takes an effort.

dieselplace and dieselpage are good sources of info.

Good luck!

PS. Once you go diesel, you never go back to gas!

 

[JimR]

My brother and I did alot research before he bought the truck. Sure, the same year powerstroke and cummins are better, but cost considerably more (people sure proud of them).

If you buy the 6.5L TD, only buy 1991-1993 or 1997 and newer. The older ones like my brother have reliable mechanical injection. 1997 and newer has an updated electronic pump and additional cooling. The 1994-1996 have the first generation electronic injection modules that are prone to burning out from engine compartment heat. The 1st gens can be made reliable, but it takes an effort.

dieselplace and dieselpage are good sources of info.

Good luck!

PS. Once you go diesel, you never go back to gas!

I saw that info posted on DieselPage about the heat causing the electronic module to fry.

 

[Jaybr]

I saw that info posted on DieselPage about the heat causing the electronic module to fry.

It's not that big of a deal to fix, I have mine mounted on a heat sync with an extension cable. The guy I got the truck from got the remote mounting kit off ebay.