School me on the 6.5

iluv_mud

iluv_mud

Active Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Location
Asheville
So I went car shopping for the wife today and I found myself checking out a 1996 Chevrolet 1500 with the 6.5 I test drove it and honestly I liked the truck a lot. So before I go slap a down payment on this truck what are the pros and cons on these trucks how well should this truck tow my cherokee and what kind of mileage will this truck get.
 
I had a buddy with a K3500 and the 6.5. Seemed he was always putting money in it for one problem or another, and in the end it was still underpowered and somewhat unreliable. There is some electronic module that is problematic and he used to have injection pump issues.

Not to knock it since they were used in H1s but I think your money is probably better spent elsewhere. My 2500HD Hemi Dodge I used to have towed great and empty on the freeway could get 16MPG. Got about 10MPG towing my Nissan and trailer. Plus it was 10 years newer than what you are looking at and retailed for less than $10k when I sold it (was a $33k truck). Personally, I would keep looking. Newer gassers will outperform those old GM diesels hands-down.
 
add $1800 to the price tag and keep it handy, the odds that it'll need an injection pump and or Fuel Driver Module are pretty good. ( it may be cheaper, but this is a reasonable number )

If you are really serious, take a magnet on a stick or string, remove the fuel filter ( rear of engine behind intake ) drop magnet into bottom of filter cup. if you pull out and rust and or metal shavings, either negotiate an injection pump in the deal or walk away.

rust or shavings is a good indication that the lift pump is fubar, and has passed it's remains on down the line, the rust particulate works it's way thru the fuel filter and on into the injection pump, where it then locks up the ceramic bearing and scares the internals of the injection pump, ( this also causes the stepper motor which controls fuel delivery to burn out )

if they say the lift pump has been replaced and there is still crap in the cup, they did a half ass job and know it's going to have issues soon.

ask if and when the injection pump was replaced ( receipts are a good thing )

it's a decent engine, but no power house, if it's been reasonably maintained, it'll last quite awhile

Ask if the dampening pulley has been changed, and when ( grab belt(s) and try to rock engine back and fourth, there should be no play. )

it is probably an L56 motor, with EGR system, which means it will also have a cat ( unless both have been removed )

Glow plugs, ask when /if they have been changed, be good to be able to get a cold start just to see how well it does when cold.

they bloat when they go out, then break off inside the combustion cup when you try to remove them, and can/WILL destroy valves and pistons if left in cup.

some issues with casting cracks and block porosity ( antifreeze seeping thru block into oil, which is not good for bearings )

head gasket issues from coolant cavitation

I've replaced injectors, valve springs, heads, turbos, injection pumps, glowplugs and complete engines, they're not really anymore problematic than most of the other GM stuff, just more folks like to talk junk about them because they aren't as cool ( or powerful ) as the PSD or Cummins
 
Truck only has 122k on it checked the fuel filter it looked new and clean. The selling points for the truck to me our its affordable it's in great shape. I don't need a ton of power so that's no big deal for me. The car lot its at got the truck in on trade so they don't have much knowledge on the truck but they were told it was recently serviced.
 
use a magnet in the bottom of the fuel filter cup,

only thing that a pretty white filter tells you is some one changed it recently ( recently serviced )

FWIW, the injection pumps were under special warranty from GM 7yrs/120k from original purchase date ( if that is any indication of the problems they were )

To properly qualify for the warranty replacement, GM would only replace the injection pump if the customer popped for lift pump, and cleaning/flushing of fuel system. ~$400 on the customer for a $1600 warranty replacement, which was also warrantied until end of policy period ( as long as the fuel system was flushed )

122k is pretty low miles, so the truck was probably babied, check CARFAX, not one of the other sources,

Carfax seems to have more history detail than the others. any warranty work will/should show up as well.
 
i dont know if it's still their but my old 95 chevy 3500 was at a small car lot about a 1/4mi up lester hwy on the right.
i dont know about now but when i sold it i would trust it anywhere and it already has all the mods to make it stay together and makes decent power with over 20mpg.
go look at it and if you have any interest id be more than happy to check it over since i know the truck.
 
Chris I'll definitely check that truck out and Blkvoodo I plan diving deeper into the truck when I go back next week since today is my last day off until next week. The truck is right up the road from me and I'm apparently the only one who has shown interest in the truck so I'm not to worried about it selling.
 
I have a 94 2500 2wd with the 6.5 and 177K on the clock. I have replaced the PMD (Pump mounted Driver) twice. It is about $300 from SS Diesel. I put the relocation kit on that comes with the heat sink (important). I used this truck to pull my Jeep around for many years and it never let me down. I now have a 2006 Duramax and use it to tow most of the time. The 6.5 lacks power compared to the new trucks but It was only 3 years ago when a buddy and I were hauling scrap on the interstate with about 10-11,000 lbs each on our trailers and he could not keep up with his gasser. I would drive mine to Cali and back if I had to.
 
Back
Top