well ive found a few gm 6.5s and just wondering some info bout them first of all what years are the most reliable second what is alot of miles on one of these trucks also are they bombable or no what are the weak parts on these trucks and last yey or nay on the gm 6.5

 

Weak motor unless run stock with an easy driver who is uninterested in acceleartaion, towing, durability, or injector pump swaps every 50,000 miles. Generally like a bad disease, these old 6.5's have a habit of showing up when you expect to find a good old, reliable 350 V-8 instead. "Beware the two-hole bumper" That's what I tend to say. Others are free to disagree...

 

My dad had a 98 and it was a good truck. I beat the tar out of it and we had to replace the injector pump at 65k. That was the only problem. Yes it was gutless but it sounded awesome with a gutted cat and dual flowmaster's. You can bomb them but not very easily. The pistons and rods in them are pretty weak. It pulled our 10-12k lb horse trailer pretty good. The only time you knew it was back there was with 3 warmbloods and a big hill.

 

the first thing you have to remember is they are a light duty diesel,unlike the p-strokes and cu mmins.you can get a 6.5 in a 1/2 ton pickup or sub.you can get more power out of them but at a cost,seems like most people run the 18:1 pistons,and timing gear set,and up the boost.also seems the 97-ups have block cracking issues,i personnally have never seen any but go over to ,thedieselpage.com/ and they currently have a poll of the people that have had the problem and what caused it,seems like 80 percent of them were upping the performance,be it more boost,crankin the pump up,comp chips,etc.i have a 92 1/2 2wd i bought 2 years ago and have put on right at 100,000 miles in that time and have replaced the clutch,waterpump,fuel pump and oil switch.i don't work the **** out of it and rarely tow anything,lawnmower trailers about it. it currently has 435,000 miles and uses maybe half a quart every 1800 miles,and runs me 22-27mpg,all said and done i still prefer the old 6.2 to the 6.5,if you are after one get a 92or 93 with turbo,these have the mechanical inj pump,the electronic ones (94-up)can be a pain in the a$$ and will cost about 3 times as much to rebuild,they are also a drive by wire unit,

 

Well.
You asked for oppinions........


"A 6.5 Chev diesel is like Aids................. Once you have it, you can never get rid of it!"

I have had experience with a few, and like others have allready stated would prefer an old 6.2.

1. Hard starting.
2. Poor injection pumps
3. low power, very little bottom end torque, (like not even in the same legue as a cummins)
4. Weak rods AND bottom end.
5. Hard to BOMB, and when BOMB'ed don't stand up and still won't make big power

Used one as a work truck, an absolute pig to start in weather near freezing, had about 230,000 miles on it, needed rebuilt. AGAIN. (had allready been rebuilt once)

On a positive note, they do get quite good fuel mileage!

 

suzukiZrider,

After re-reading this it seems to me that you are looking for an inexpensive work truck, more than anything. Perhaps it would prove more productive to consider your use (even enlighten us to that) and then ask for reccommendations about a truck.

If all you want is a cheap truck that is cheap to run and work with, and don't plan to tow too awful much with it then it's hard to beat a 350 V-8 Chevy from about '94--'99. There are a few rust issues, and some electrical issues as well, the mileage (compared to a Cummins) is not great but they cost much le$$ to buy than a Cummins also. There's plenty of demand for them as well, so reselling is not an issue. The 6.5's as has been indicated, are not in demand, so if you buy it you better plan to keep it--or loose your shirt trying to eek out some sort of resale from it.

Even cheaper for lighter duty--a Ford F150 or F250 with the old 300 Straight Six. Slow as anything, but reliable and very, very cheap. Hard to find though, and parts could be getting hard to come by.

If you really need a diesel truck, which for most involves towing, hard use, or lots and lots of miles (in my case) you also need to be prepared to maintain it. What I mean is are you ready to spend $129.00 PER ROTER for front brakes? And are you willing to change those pads and roters every 30,000 miles? (or less) Truth is, the Cummins Dodges are likely the most sought-after and reliable work trucks going, but they come at a price. It's up to you to decide if it's worth it or not for you. Just my $.02.

 

I second that oppinion. If your looking for a cheap work truck, for the money it is awfully hard to beat a sy 94-96 Ford F150, or 94-97 250/350. They are dirt cheap and actually quite dependable. Way less money than even a used gasser chev, and in from my experience good trucks.

I had a '96 F150 plain jane with straight six, very dependable, slow... but cheap. That truck hardly cost me a dime and it got used and abused! had 150,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. All I ever put on it was tires, one set of brakes, full set of ball joints, (and it needed another set when I got rid of it, rough rutted gravel roads and highspeed every day ) one set of driveshaft u-joints, a clutch linkage and one spring shackle.

We still use a '95 F350 crew cab dually on the farm. It hase been very reliable as well. It has around 150,000 miles on it. Still on the original E4OD tranny (sometimes reffered to as the E4oh-no! ) It has only had brakes and regular tuneup parts, + a pump for the EGR that was fairly pricey, needs full exhaust now including cat. The 460 gasser is a little scary on the fuel though.... depending on the capacity you need I would take the ol' 300 straight six and just be slower

 

The 6.5 is nothing more than a gasoline engine thats had it spark plugs traded for injectors.

 

"A 6.5 Chev diesel is like Aids..........Once you have it, you can never get rid of it!"


Humm, I'm asked about every 3-4 months If I want to sell my 92 6.5 with 250,000 miles on it.

The 6.5 is nothing more than a gasoline engine thats had it spark plugs traded for injectors. The 6.5 was not originaly a gasser, its not a cummins, but it has done the job.

Just bought a 2001 CTD, yet to tow my TT yet, hope I'm not disappointed.

 

My introduction to diesels was a 1982 GMC p/u with the 6.2L.
It has 280,000 miles on it when I bought it in 1992.
The original owner had all the paper work for it, including all service work done to it.
I had it for 11 years and finally had to trade it in because the truck was falling apart. However, with 405,000 miles, the engine still ran well.
It went through several injection pumps and it liked to eat altenators. I never abused it and used it as a daily driver.
It was a good truck.

Rich

 

At least the alternators for Chevy's tend to be cheap! Every chevy owner I know, including me when I owned the ol' '82 K-10, pretty regularly changes alternators. AutoZone must give out tons of replacement alternators a year!!! They gave me 3 free ones, after the Lifetime Replacement one I bought failed. They even brought out the diagnostic equip. to see if there was a problem with the rest of the wiring or battery, but everything checked out! They even gave me the absolute topline New alternator (the middle one) instead of another remanufactured one, but it also failed in less than a year. Just the price I paid for owning the Chevuy, I guess. Wasn't a bad truck, really, but I had to reengineer a few things to keep it reliable. Guy I sold it too has replaced the front hubs, brakes, and had some electrical harness issues, but still drives it everywhere! The Goodyear M/T's on the back still look 3/4 or better!! If I only could get that tire again!! (not for my Dually, but for my Dad's truck) Great directional traction design and wears like Iron! Not nearly as impressed with the MT/R's

 

A good exhaust system and air filter will help out on the power. If you get a computer 6.5L, you can put a chip in it also, which wakes 'em up quite nicely, and add an FSD (Fuel solenoid driver cooler). If it has an auto transmission you will want to add an auxillary cooler, and be sure to run a lubricity additive in the fuel, the injection pump will thank you.

 

what is more reliable and/or durable the mechanical 6.5 or the cpu 6.5 and is 220k alot on those trucks with a pump rebuilt 4k ago

 

zulu ,where you at in ia?suzuki what year are you looking at??the early 94-95 cpu 6.5's are easier to get codes out of ,but i myself still prefer the 92-93 with mechanical pumps.

 

if it was me i would look for a 62 over a6.5 i had 1991 not alot of power but it was varry dependable good fuew millage mine pollled 4 horses and a 10 ft slind in camper about every weekend it had 350000 miles on it win i soldit the only repairs i every dun to it was glow plugs..