DURAMAX

[john4nh]

Well a while back you guys had a discussion going on about the diesel trucks. Someone said they had heard of a head problem with the duramax, but didnt know anybody. Well now you do..

I have a 2002cc4X4LT with the dura and the allison. Found out today that one of the teeth on the flywheel is broken. Probally from trying to start it with water in the cylinder. Water does not compress very well in a diesel. Of course they wanted to know if I ran it hot. For those who dont know the truck has a central message sytem to warn you when you astart getting hot. If that warning is ignored by you then the computer cuts power output to help cool things down. But with all that said no never have I gotten it hot. Its really not looking good as far as Iam concerned, I spent about $38000 on this thing.

Kinda in shock right now, no really feel sick...

 

[cowboydoc]

Sorry to hear about your truck John. I very seriously considered buying that truck a few months ago when I bought my new Ford but that aluminum head scared me off. But I know exactly how you feel. My new F-350 dually is going in for a new transmission tomorrow with only 3500 miles. Oh those wonderful automatic transmissions, NOT. Never again. Your warranty should get you a new motor. Best of luck with it all.

 

[john4nh]

Thanks, but like I said I cant believe it.

I dont think they are gonna do the new engine but some new heads sound likely. To be honest, I knew there was something wrong but I had some jobs to finish on the other side of Houston and no other way to pull my tractor. So secertly I was hoping the dang thing would just blow. Probally not very christian, but I cant believe it.

I too looked at the ford f-350 actually liked them alot, the ride and amminities were cool. The thing was the lack of power, or perceived power. Since I didnt tow anything but just the seat of your pants is why I went Durawarp.

Oh well I wish I had my old 1-ton with the 454 and 5speed back...

 

[wasabi]

Richard,

Athough I'm not one to pass judgement, I'm must admit I'm amazed you would buy an automatic transmission on a truck after all you have had to contribute regarding Gear vs. HST!

Forgive me please for pointing this out, but, given your former vehemance on that subject, I just could not resist.

 

[bgott]

If it broke a tooth off the flywheel it could have also bent a rod. How many miles do you have on it? If doesn't have many miles I would hammer them for a new engine. He11, I'd go for a new engine even if it's just about out of warranty. It's not like you bought an S10 or some other entry level POS.

 

[cowboydoc]

Athough I'm not one to pass judgement

Why bring it up if you aren't one to pass judgment? Also kind of an oxymoron to apologize and then say it anyway. You could have just asked why I didn't buy a manual over an automatic and I would have replyed as follows.

I bought one so that my wife could drive it. I can't get to all of my daughters horse shows so the wife takes her alot. She can drive the stick but didn't like it as well. Since she was driving it more I got it for her. Myself I never would have bought one but I like to keep her happy. She's a pretty dang good woman.

 

[john4nh]

I have 15000- miles on it. Humm Bent rod that would be great. THe service manager tried to act like it was all just air in the fuel system.. He said his tech bled alot of air out of it. I said whats that got to do with the two gallons of anti-freeze I had to put in it? Blank face... I dont like this dealer-ship, but come to think of it I dont like no dealer-ships..Even though its not there fault. I will see what happens and who knows the engine may be next or the whole danged truck. Bgott its JK in Crosby. if you have a dealer youve heard good stories about let me know?

Cowboydoc, What happened to your tranny? Sorry I was in my own misery and didnt catch that earlier..

 

[wroughtn_harv]

All my buds who have the duramax rave about the power and the economy. One of them did have a head problem but it was fixed under warranty. He'd went to duramax after taking his dually to Colorado with the fifth wheeler behind it. The 502 assumed all the gas stations were friends in need and wanted to stop and donate at each and every one.

In my heart I'd like to have another big block. Supposedly the 502 has fifty more ponys than my 97 454. Beings I'm in Texas the number of ponys one has is important.

But if I replace my truck this year it will be with a Kodiak 6500, 250 Cat, six speed, air ride lo profile wrecker chassis. I'll build another custom bed along the same lines as the one I have now.

What would be neat would be to build another bed and then win the World Fence News Fence Truck of the Year contest again. In almost twenty years of the contest only one guy has won it twice. He needs someone to sit there beside him on the list. I could do that. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Egon]

Sorry to hear of your problems. When a person pays that kind of money and something happens it's time for nerve tonic.

Auto's may not be the first choice of all but many trucks must serve more than one driver and in most cases " She who must be Obeyed" is the deciding factor. Our truck has an auto.

After reading some of the truck forums and knowing how far I had exceeded limits I was quite worried. When I talked to the dealer I was told they had very little problems with the autos.

My belief in vehicle equipment failures at very low milage is there is an assembly/quality issue present, not an inherant fault with the mechanism.

Egon

 

[gmason]

There's a very good web site for these DMAX trucks/engines over here <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.thedieselpage.com/>http://www.dieselpage.com/</A>. I've got 15k on mine and the engine/tran are real workhorses. The motor oil after 3-4k looks almost new.
As far as the water in the fuel?? The fuel filter has a bulb to separate the water out and your suppose to open the valve to release the water out of the system. Change the filter every 15k as recommended by the book.
There's a quality inspector on the site that works at the Dmax plant and has seen a few of the engines come back and they tear them apart to find the problem so that they can fix it and he has said several times that there's not a common thread to any problems they've seen with the DMAX's.
There have been a few horror stories of dealers changing the motor oil and the tech only putting in 5qt of oil instead of the 10.
Take a look at that page and the discussion groups.

gary