Im currently looking for a new daily driver and i have stumbled across at 1997 Chevrolet 2500 with the 6.5 diesel, it has 70,000 miles on it, and to tell the truth i dont have a darn clue on how good the 6.5 desel really is i never drove one, but i have a duramax powerstroke and cummins, looking for some advice on if the 6.5 is a good strong long lasting motor, thanks for your input

Welcome to the forum. The 6.5 is very misunderstood, but a reliable and durable design when specific reliability upgrades are performed. Several of the forum members have rigs with 300-400K miles on the original engine. You would be well-advised to read through the FAQs to understand what needs to be done reliability-wise, but generally it includes replacing the FSD (Fuel Solenoid Driver) with one out of the engine bay, replacing the factory downpipe and cross-over with a mandrel-bent ones. Since you have a 97, it already has many of the desirable upgrades from the factory, including a better cooling system, and a high-flow air cleaner system. Being a 2500, yours is likely also an 'F' engine, meaning it is lacking all the terrible EGR-system components.

If I were you and were looking for a good daily driver, I've been very happy with mine, and I purchased the Tahoe with twice the mileage on it. Most guys on this forum would jump at the chance to own something with such low miles.

It's really unfair to compare with the three trucks you mentioned. It's a very different design, and if you want something with decent output (i.e. 180-200 HP, 350-400 ft-lbs torque) that gets 15-19 MPG, you'll be happy. If you want something that can go quite a bit higher, it can be done, but you'll be looking at adding gauges, Intercooler, a new chip, etc.

Bottom line is, for a daily driver that is reliable, you'll need to budget about $1000 worth of add-ons to replace the FSD and the crimped downpipe/crossover and a few gauges. I assume you'll supply the elbow grease for same. If you do this, I think you'll be pretty happy with the reliability. I am.

Have fun,

Rob :)

Thanks for the welcome,

So basically in a nut shell the motor is good, buy the exhaust needs some work on the down pipe from the turbo and the FSD, needs to be replaced with a better unit that cools better than the old, if i am wrong is it the electrical unit that is bad or the fuel injection pump along with the electric unit is bad.

***By electrical unit i mean Heat Sink***

the injection pump on the 6.5 is usually fine. with the new ultra low sulfur diesel fuel thats out now i add a bottle of STP diesel fuel additive (light blue bottle available at autozone). it treats up to 35 gallons. it also provides the injection pump with lubricants that it needs. i also use about 1/4 bottle of marvel mystery oil every other tank(every tank in the winter tho with winter diesel). as for the FSD it just needs to be removed from the hot engine bay to somewhere like behind the bumper where it is alot cooler. the stock location is death valley for electronics. i plan on remote mounting mine once the factory one dies out on me. best of luck with your 6.5TD. i've had mine about 2 1/2 months and i love it. plus it outpulls my dad's ram 2500 with a 5.9 gasser (about 12 MPG highway) -:tand he hates that. ):h

Is remote mounting the new fsd cooler hard at all, or is it just you need to cut the connections and extend the wires to the new position of the fsd cooler.

i wouldn't cut into the factory harness. i would make my own extension cable. if i messed up with the cable i could always make another one. if you mess up with the factory harness you'd have to get it all squared away before the truck would even start nevermind run and drive. premade cables are expensive(about $65 for a 6 foot cable). and new FSD with a cooler already all mounted together wouldn't be cheap either. Heath's kit which is one of, if not the best, is $549 for a new FSD mounted to the cooling plate that bolts to the bumper, the extension cable, a new fuel resistor(#5 i think) and a staggering 7 year free replacement warranty. also i've never heard of a heath kit failing. you may want to look into one of these kits. i would if i had the funds to do such. price of diesel is taking away my upgrade funds. :damnit1:

I hear ya on the fuel prices, my 08 power stroke 6.4 gets 8 mpg, i parked the thing with 198 miles on it and plan to get rid of it, i will just get the whole kit itself, but if its cheaper i will make the harness myself, i am a auto technician and specailty is electronics.

remote mounted FSD is a plug and play. no need to cut wires. i got mine from heath diesel. it plugs into the exhisting harness and the other end plugs into the FSD that you mount on the lower lip of the bumper. some have mounted it else where and thats a good idea to if your going to be offroading.

I hear ya on the fuel prices


diesel just hit $3.85 a gallon up here. i wanted to go into that station and beat the living S-Censored-T out of the owner. that guy is always pricey but thats nucking futs if you know what i mean. at least i get decent fuel mileage so its not all bad. my dad's paying 3.53 for premium in his truck with a 38 gallon tank and 12-14 MPG. i feel bad for him. that ol' truck hasn't moved in prolly a month now just cuz of gas prices.

I can speak from personal experience. My current truck was my actual first diesel pickup. Prior to me buying it, everyone had me scared to DEATH of the 6.5 I passed up a good deal on a Powerstroke cause I had my information wrong and thought the 6.5 was the P.S. and visa versa.

Here is the skinny. Of all the people that talk trash on the 6.5 - 80% of them never even OWNED one and are going off of heresy, and the other 20% have abused it or were just unlucky.

Among all the diesels, it is the most under rated. You have to understand what it is designed for, and what it is capable of. Is it the best heavy-duty diesel on the market? No. Love it like a daughter, observe it like a piece of fine art, learn its quirks, know its mechanics, and it will keep up with any other engine. Be smart, it will treat you good. Be ignorant, it will bite you in the ass.

That said, I love my truck. I got cheap due to other people's ignorance, and it treats me wonderfully. I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

It seems like the 6.5 is a PMD relocate away from being reliable.