mid-90s Chevy diesels

[Houndoc]

mid-90s diesels in general

I have been searching the ads on KSL for a truck or SUV that will become either my daily driver or get used by my daughter when she gets her license in another couple months.

Since my main requirement is price and 4 wheel drive, have looked at ads for a wide range of vehicles.

Found one for a 95 Chevy 2500 diesel with 140k miles. Price seems pretty good for the truck, although needs a few little things as would expect for the age.

Anyone have experience with these trucks? Would love to know the good, bad and ugly about them. MPG?

Thanks,
Drew

 

[Toad]

Gutless, no power, no real aftermarket support to get power, head gasket issues, Injector driver module. But i think they do get ok mileage.

 

[Gravy]

Get a remote mount pump mounted driver. Heath deisel and others have aftermarket support. Good mileage. Every h1 on the planet had the 6.5 turbo before the duramax, so the are stupid reliable.
They are slow with not a lot of horsepower (in stock form), but they are torquey.

 

[Ima9er]

stratton is right. heath diesel is yer best and only support. i actually own a 1995 gmc 6.5l turbo. and honestly with the lack of "real" power i love my truck for the price. i towed my jeep and 3 adults and a child with the long bed of my truck full, to moab and received 14- 15 mpg doing speeds between 70-80. now i have a very hard time traveling up parleys canyon to park city towing and trying to go fast or normal speeds. but just like stratton said. you can change the pmd, but as of yet i haven't had any of those issues yet. get a boost controller and egt gauge and watch to see how hot yer truck gets. also another good thing about these older trucks you don't have to have emmisions so cut that muffler off and make it a strait pipe. its honestly not that much louder. if you have any questions about those style of trucks pm me.. also i still think that the army is still using the 6.5 in a lot of their trucks. its not a bad engine. but it's no duramax..

 

[spencevans]

I personally have never owned a 6.5 diesel but I looked into buying one about a year ago and did major research and I also drove about 20 or so. The biggest turn off for me was not the engine itself, I found the 97+ model years had plenty of power. I think the torque went from 360 ft lbs to 440 ft lbs which made a huge difference. The biggest complaint I had was the steering felt very very heavy. I believe this is due to the weight of the engine and the IFS design. If you don't mind the way they feel then I do have several thing I would recommend. While they are rare, I would avoid all 1/2 ton trucks because they came equipped with emissions equipment like an EGR valve. Also, be certain to check for blow-by. To do this get the truck up to operating temperature, leave the engine running, remove the oil filler cap and or the dip stick. If you see any smoke, walk away, the engine is on its last legs. About half the trucks I drove had blow-by issues.

 

[Houndoc]

. i towed my jeep and 3 adults and a child with the long bed of my truck full, to moab

Would the people have been more comfortable if you let them ride instead of towing them behind the truck?

Thanks for all the good pointers thus far. Not sure yet what will show up in the driveway....have about 2 months to stumble on the best deal.

 

[Rot Box]

Ugh... The 6.5 lol. MPG is typically in the 20's unloaded depending on options. I could go on for days about these motors, but I'm tired so I'll keep it short

Research www.thedieselpage.com before buying and DO NOT OVERHEAT THE ENGINE. If you plan on towing anything I'd consider the 97 and newer dual t-stat and high flow water pump upgrade mandatory.

I have a few reply's here that might be helpful. http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?t=74795&highlight=6.5+turbo+diesel

http://www.rme4x4.com/showthread.php?t=69132&highlight=diesel+turbo+6.5

www.heathdiesel.com

www.kennedydiesel.com

http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/tdpforum/

Gutless, no power, no real aftermarket support to get power, head gasket issues, Injector driver module. But i think they do get ok mileage.

Negative. My 95 K2500 (intake, exhaust and aftermarket injector pump resistor) had more towing power than my stock 92 Cummins, 86 and 91 Ford turbo diesels and was in the same ball park an my 01 Cummins. It was not a chipped common rail D-max or Cummins, but it was not anywhere near gutless imo :-\

 

[Ima9er]

@houndoc... yes they would have prefered to be inside the dry truck. towing the jeep when it was raining wasn't to fun for the jeep. i just replaced the lift pump on mine today and was super easy and now it is like a brand new truck. starts up every time, and no lag when fully opened throttle. and i haven't noticed the "heavy steering" that is spoken of. mine feels normal to me. and i can get about 400+ miles on a full tank. which lasts me about 2 weeks.. im very happy with this as my first diesel truck. next will be a dirty max, but thats in a few years. so ol' betty white must last that long.

 

[Houndoc]

Lets expand the discussion to mid-late 90s Ford Powerstrokes.

Good, bad and things to watch for?

 

[Toad]

f-250 twin traction beam sucks

 

[Rot Box]

^ as does a high mileage A40D automatic. Expensive to fix/replace :-\

A five speed F350 4x4 is a great package to have.

 

[Toad]

Not anymore$ than any other slush box.

 

[STAG]

Not anymore$ than any other slush box.

Until you get into the Allison...

 

[Coco]

Lets expand the discussion to mid-late 90s Ford Powerstrokes.

Good, bad and things to watch for?

My dad had a '96 F250 w/ the TIB, and loved it. It was all stock, no power or performance mods to my knowledge, and it pulled/drove great. He recently sold it, and I should've bought it, as just recently I was looking for a decent diesel and his was more of a truck than almost all the ones I looked at. It wasn't the fastest off the line (non intercooled) but it pulled all day long, and drove great.

 

[Houndoc]

^ as does a high mileage A40D automatic. Expensive to fix/replace :-\

A five speed F350 4x4 is a great package to have.

How do you define "high milage"?

 

[Toad]

I had a 190k on my original. That is the exception. I have seen some last only 80k. It all depends on how they are driven. Normally they should get 120K from what I have seen. I now have a built auto and love it. I get about 12 towing 17 empty freeway. Mine has 4.10 gears. Mine is chipped, intake, exhaust, aftermarket intercooler.