Opinion on Cehvy Diesel

[remist17]

Well I had a 04 Dodge Cummins Common Rail. Recenetly found out that there are some significant issues with it pertaining to the fuel system. It seems the previous owner must have ran crappy fuel with water in it. The Cummins does not have a good water serperation unit for the new Diesel Fuel. This led to rust forming on the injectors, Injector tubes, Fuel Lines, CP3, Tank and some pitting on the Cylinder heads. To fix it would have cost over 10K. I am selling the truck and buying a Chevy SUV.

My question to you all:
What diesel engine in a chevy is reliable and not to hard to work on. I was looking at the old 6.2L. I would like the duramax but would need to save up. I am looking to buy a truck for no more than 5K..Suggestions please !

[rebelbowtie]

coming from a cummins youre going to hate the 6.2, its mostly powerless. but it is however dead reliable if you dont try to boost it or turn the pump up too far. they have almost a cult following either you hate them or you love them. also theyre mostly found in older trucks. the 6.5 however can be found in slightly newer trucks. they produce a lil more horsepower but i dont believe they are quiet as reliable.

[remist17]

Right now I am missing the Diesel and I havent even sold it yet. But I dont trust the cummins anymore. I had a old 85 GMC 3/4 I thoguth it was a 7.2 Detroit. I loved that thing. Never had to do anything except glow plugs and it had a huge water serator on it! Not like the dang Cummins Common Rails.

So can anyone tell me what the year breakdowns were? I would like a reliable easy motor to work on. Suggestions

[rebelbowtie]

idk the break down on all the years. but there is a member on here i forget his name. he is pretty much a 6.2 diesel enthusiest, he has a 6.5 turbo in a 1500 and its pretty stout. he knows alot about them. i wish i could remember his username. he also always recommends one website in particular for 6.2/6,5 diesels but i cant recall it either. sorry i kinda failed on this one

[TexMax]

ChrisK1500 i beleive.

[remist17]

Originally Posted by rebelbowtie

idk the break down on all the years. but there is a member on here i forget his name. he is pretty much a 6.2 diesel enthusiest, he has a 6.5 turbo in a 1500 and its pretty stout. he knows alot about them. i wish i could remember his username. he also always recommends one website in particular for 6.2/6,5 diesels but i cant recall it either. sorry i kinda failed on this one

Thats ok. Im sure theres plenty of posts out there. Just a little down on getting rid of the Cummins ....

[mr_goodwrench_0]

Look for a pre '94 6.5td. This will have the DB2 IP and a mechanicaly wastegated turbo. The newer 6.5's are fine, you just need to be aware of some easy to fix problems.

Check out www.thetruckstop.us It's the old DTR. Very good people/knowlege.

Bill

[vegaman04]

The 6.2l are NA and the 6.5l a FI from the factory. You can get a kit for 6.2l and turbo it.

[remist17]

So from what I understand. 6.2 were dogs but ok if your not looking for much. 6.5 had problems but could be fixed.

Knowing this site is a Chevy site and all... I had a Dodge 5.9 Common Rail and I had really bad luck with it. With all the diesels out there what would you recomend me getting?

I am looking for a truck thats simple to work on in a basic garage. Looking for a reliable motor/tranny combo. I am not looking for big HP but a good mid range that can pull some medium trailer with no more than 6K on it. I am open to Chevy or Dodges no FERDS

[rebelbowtie]

i thought you were picking up a tahoe? i would recommend a 94-99 ram 2500, i have had two dodges from that body style and loved them. much better than the GM trucks from that era. 00 had the 24v HO motor and could be had with a 6 speed manual.

[red suburban]

the best website for 6.2L and 6.5L info is www.dieseltowingresource.com. if your looking at pulling only 6k pounds+trailer just about any fullsize will work just fine.

6.2L, damn reliable and very easy to work on, just not powerful in stock form. you can bump them up to about 400-600ft/lbs of torque but thats about it and requires alot of work to get them that high. non turbo from the factory and crank out roughly 300ft/lbs stock.

6.5L, the mechanical injection (93 and older, some 94's) are a 6.2L bored out slightly with a turbo added, literally. the later 94+newer have an electronic injection pump, raises a problem with the pmd (little black box thats mounted on the injection pump). get the pmd out of the engine bay and add a heatsink to it removes most of the issues with the motor. other issue is a lack of cooling on the 96-older models, but there are a couple simple upgrades that can be done to fix this.

with either motor they pull good, easy to work on, and so long as you watch temps will last for a long time. shame your on the other side of the US i've got a 6.5 powered yukon i'm selling, pulled similar sized loads without issue.

[remist17]

Originally Posted by rebelbowtie

i thought you were picking up a tahoe? i would recommend a 94-99 ram 2500, i have had two dodges from that body style and loved them. much better than the GM trucks from that era. 00 had the 24v HO motor and could be had with a 6 speed manual.

I am getting a 05 Tahoe. I am also looking to replace the 04 Ddoge Cummins im trading in on it. I put a lot of money in that dodge to find out that the previous owner used crappy gas and rust formed in the fuel system and some internals got damaged. I decided that the $12K to fix the fuel system and not even touching the internals was to much. So I am a little gun shy of the dodges at this time.

[The Fiddle]

Pick up an older 12v cummins.

[JCPERSON11]

I think you might need to find a new mechanic to look at that common rail. Not only would the truck not run with that much water in the fuel but causing pitting to the cylinder head is just b.s. Any water in the cylinder head would be vaporized during combustion same concept as water methanol injection. plenty of people run water setups to cool down egts with no harm to injectors. Sounds like some b.s. to me. Cummins are one of the most reliable deisels out there.

[remist17]

pitting was from rust chunks. I saw photos of the damage. Its was nothing I care to keep around

[VortecZ]

Have you thought about just swaping the motor for one out of a junk yard? They can be hard to find but you could get one for a lot less than it would cost to fix yours.

As far as old diesels go, I've been around a lot of 6.2s and 6.5s and they both seem reliable. They still don't compare to an good old 12 valve cummins though. I'd look for a 94-98.5 Dodge. I recently bought one, love it, and it is the only vehicle I've ever owned that wasn't a Chevy.