looking at a 95 3500 srw crew with the 6.5. It has about 180000 miles on it. the hting with the truck is the current owner said it was running out in the parking lot and just quit and now wont start. it is 4wd obviously a crew and the guy is asking 3000. I think I can get it for 2000. what do you all think, what are some possibilities of why it quit?

there are a multitude of tiny cheap things that'll keep the 6.5 from starting / running invest the 2 grand or whatever and start on the diagnostic checklist. it might just be a bad PMD bat or whatever and the 6.5 is a good motor despite what the cumon and powerjoke crowed thinks

the body has a couple of dents and the interior is clean. is that a fair price for one with that kind of mileage with what little info you have to go on? I dont know a lot about these as all I have had are lly and lb7 duramax's and now own powerstrokes due to the trouble I had with the lly. said I would never buy another gm and here I am looking at this!

well this aint a Dmax or a ford so you'll be happy not to have to take out a second mortage to fix it ! and 180 on a well maintained 6.5 is nothing

Have you ever owned a 6.5 diesel. Reason for asking is after driving a duramax and a powerstruggle the 6.5 will not have the power that these engines have. The 6.5 is a good reliable motor but is nothing but a boat weight. If lookin for another diesl look for a newer duramax lbz or LMM diesel. These are very reliable engines and I never seen any major problems. just my thought:cool:

while this is true that you'll never see 500HP out of a 6.5 ( reliably built ) you'll also never have to worry about your ally trans burning up to the tune of thousands or injectors costing a weeks wages each either.

If you use the 6.5 as it was intended for use... you shouldn't have much of a problem with it with the right guidance... The 6.5 was made for a decent economy truck that could haul occasional loads for the average joe. Many people turn the other way because of the bad rep, but these engines are really not that bad. Hey aren't toque monsters and they don't have high horsepower, but they have found use in many homes. I don't know what your point is about a boat weight... yes they have 6.5s in boats too! so what? :P I know...

And also, price difference between the 6.5 and the lbz or lmm... no comparison.

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To the OP, it could be a few things like stated before.. PMD, clogged FF, bad LP, bad IP, we won't know unless a diagnostic checklist is filled out (link in sig).

I wish I had a friend with a duramax. So I could tow my same trailer and see for myself how much better it is. The inlaws have a 2001 Dodge and I was going to pull my trailer with it to see the power of the almighty cummins, and then after I drive it to the store and it wandered all over the place, I figured I better not. I don't know how he tows a trailer wth it, the truck is all over the road empty, I would never put a load behind it. After owning a IFS GMC I don't think I will ever own another solid front axle truck again.

Have you ever owned a 6.5 diesel. Reason for asking is after driving a duramax and a powerstruggle the 6.5 will not have the power that these engines have. The 6.5 is a good reliable motor but is nothing but a boat weight. If lookin for another diesl look for a newer duramax lbz or LMM diesel. These are very reliable engines and I never seen any major problems. just my thought:cool:

While your right that they don't have the power, they have an advantage of being much more affordable. Your in 6.5 territory here buddy, If you don't have constructive things to say about the OP's post, please stay out of it.

While your right that they don't have the power, they have an advantage of being much more affordable. Your in 6.5 territory here buddy, If you don't have constructive things to say about the OP's post, please stay out of it.

agreed. if you can't be constructive here, don't post.

as far as reliability goes. my truck's got 182K miles on the original engine and it's got almost zero blowby. Transmission is original, save for a fluid change when i got the truck, and still shifts well.

these engines, when treated correctly, are a really good engine. if beaten on and not maintained they'll fail sooner than the newer more advanced motors. if the 6.5 breaks however, you won't need to donate organs to pay off the repair bills.

Another way to put it would be if youre not prepared to learn a lot about your engine and invest some time and a little money into modifications then it might not be the right truck. I love mine, but you wont find a mechanic that can help you, so you have to be knowledgeable yourself.

And at $2-3k which is a good price then youll have plenty of money for modifications.

I was not trying to piss any off. I am just trying to help someone out who has never own one of these engines. he said he has never own one of these engines and always drove a newer diesel. I am a diesel tech for GM and I have seen more worn out 6.5 than duramaxes. Diesels are made to work instead of putting around town and thats all the 6.5 is made for. And doin research more 6.5 are switched out with bbc gassers or a cummins. Yes I agree the 6.5 is reliable when maintaned all vehicle are that way. So in final I am sorry if I offended anyone. I like this site very much just, it gives me something to do while im a bored thanks. note {Just my opinion}

I was not trying to piss any off. I am just trying to help someone out who has never own one of these engines. he said he has never own one of these engines and always drove a newer diesel. I am a diesel tech for GM and I have seen more worn out 6.5 than duramaxes. Diesels are made to work instead of putting around town and thats all the 6.5 is made for. And doin research more 6.5 are switched out with bbc gassers or a cummins. Yes I agree the 6.5 is reliable when maintaned all vehicle are that way. So in final I am sorry if I offended anyone. I like this site very much just, it gives me something to do while im a bored thanks. note {Just my opinion}


the 6.5 is hardly just a put around town engine.

i've had my truck loaded many times as have others here, some members with huge loads on trailers. with the correct upgrades they tow fine. they won't tow the world away and they won't do it lightning quick either, but then again they have an injection system and engine design that's ancient compared to what's currently out there.

The reason the 6.5 is replaced w/ a BBC or a cummins is because the owner blows it up. Usually the crank snaps from a bad balancer, or the truck is overheated and the block cracks.


now that's enough. the OP wants to know about a truck he's looking at. Lets get this thread back on topic.

looking at a 95 3500 srw crew with the 6.5. It has about 180000 miles on it. the hting with the truck is the current owner said it was running out in the parking lot and just quit and now wont start. it is 4wd obviously a crew and the guy is asking 3000. I think I can get it for 2000. what do you all think, what are some possibilities of why it quit?

More than likely the pmd went south, at 2K I would jump on it. :cool:

I am a diesel tech for GM and I have seen more worn out 6.5 than duramaxes. Diesels are made to work instead of putting around town and thats all the 6.5 is made for. And doin research more 6.5 are switched out with bbc gassers or a cummins.

Ever occur to you that the 6.5 has been around twice as long as the Duramax? Hmm, maybe that's why you've seen more worn out 6.5's than Duramax's. What if I said I've seen more 6.5's with 300K running strong than Duramax's? Goes either way. Why didn't you tell GM that it was only designed to putt around town? They sure didn't seem to think so. Afterall, it was the only Diesel ever offered in the C3500HD, and is either the first or second most popular engine in the C3500HD, a medium duty commercial truck. Guess it was just made to putt around. Finally, the reason so many are swapped out for BBC's and Cummins is because more than ninety five percent of owners and mechanics, even GM ones, don't know crap about them. Best thing you can do for the 6.5 is keep it out of the dealer's service bay. Those that do know a thing or two about them, though, get very reliable service, long lasting service, good fuel economy, and decent performance. Did I mention they love them?

1dmax,
Go to the stickies and grab the Diagnostic Checklist. See if they'll let you do that on the truck. Bring the results back, and let us know. That'll help us be able to tell you what's wrong. Could be PMD, ground, pump, almost anything. Either way, nothing wrong with a 6.5, just gotta know what you're doing. For some reason, that's something even the GM service dept. normally can't manage, so it will be up to you. Good luck finding a mechanic that knows the 6.5 too. Big thing is, are you willing to learn it and service/repair it yourself?

My truck has been beat to living hell. (check out the pics in my garage)205k miles. SHes not pretty, but i can still pull a 20' enclosed trailer with her. Original everything except for rebuilt ip 3 years ago. It spent its first 180k towing around 6'' well casings on a trailer and in the bed (my bed has a slight valley to it now). Not to mention also has had aplow on it all of its life!!! Rammed into snowbanks and pushed hard. Now i have put many miles on her. It has had no gp's due to major rust/rot since 2005, and ever since then when she wont start she gets ether (NOT RECOMMENDED), its all i have for now, till i get my new powerplant in. The truck now will still get up and move, quicker than my brothers 360 dardge. I love my 6.5, its beat, but hey, i have no monthly payments. THat says a lot. My truck has been abused and it still goes. Youd be surprised what you can do with a 6.5 mildly modded..... FOR 2 GRAND, DO IT!

Yes, if you want to tow endless amounts of weight yes, go duramax, i will agree with ya there but they are pricey. No doubt a stock dmax will out tow a 6.5 If you need a cheap tow vehicle, 6.5 is the way to go....

Yes, enjoy your durabux, I enjoy my 6.5, less that 7K in her with mods, does what I need when I need, when empty she does putt well. :cool:

Chevyduramx,
I think we should welcome your comments. I don't think we should tell people that the 6.5 is the best diesel you can buy and leave it at that. It is, but only to some. The way I explain it to others is: Properly cared for and modded, it will pull down a house. If you need to pull down a building then it's not for you.
If people are used to driving some of the newer more powerful diesels, and go to a 6.5, they will be disappointed in the power that the 6.5 has. That is if they aren't warned. If they want a capable diesel that can pull a house, but doesn't cost as much as one, then the 6.5 is good. If they need more, then they should be warned that the 6.5 won't do it, but they will be paying alot more.
They are good engines, and inexpensive, but definately not the most powerful. And also not for everyone.

You all can go ***** *** alright. Yes I do work for GM but I am a little man compared to all the engineers and coexectutives. And I see alot more 6.5 diesels in the shop in these parts than duramaxes. But enough I apologized alright I am sorry I offended yall. I do give credit to everyone that still owns these engines. Without you I wouldnt have a job. Keep up the good work on this site everyone helping others.

well for starters if you had read the OP's thread you would notice he's had 2 durabux trucks and now has a powerjoke. he got rid of the lly and lb7 due to cost/ lack of reliability. As far as comming into a 6.5 thread and telling us to screw *driver* you can take a good hard *look at something nice *!! If it weren't for the engineers at GM being paid rediculous amounts of money for new designs i would side with you being " a little man compared to " . Execs get paid for making marketing ploys IE making the general money to pay overpriced grease monkey's like yourself.

2nd if the Dmax was all that you crack it up to be the US army would have used it but they chose as you put it `the boat weight `6.5 for durability and ease of service not to mention its track record. hell even the canadian army ditched the new GM diesels for mercedes.

for the few Dmax`s you do see i bet its melted pistons cracked over priced injectors and failing ally`s and for the price of either most people could buy a new to them 6.5 truck or even a new motor and trans but you said " These are very reliable engines and I never seen any major problems" maybe your stealership is one of the hundreds being shut down then

to the mods ; apparently he couldnt resist the insulting after he`d been warned by two moderators. maybe the 6.5ers should go bash on these credit ladden nearly broke durabux renters ( cause the bank still holds the title )

* edited posts

Enough!

don't make me close this thread.

This thread is not a dmax vs 6.5 thread. if it continues down that path it will get closed for good.

well for starters if you had read the OP's thread you would notice he's had 2 durabux trucks and now has a powerjoke. he got rid of the lly and lb7 due to cost/ lack of reliability. As far as comming into a 6.5 thread and telling us to screw *driver* you can take a good hard *look at something nice *!! If it weren't for the engineers at GM being paid rediculous amounts of money for new designs i would side with you being " a little man compared to " . Execs get paid for making marketing ploys IE making the general money to pay overpriced grease monkey's like yourself.

2nd if the Dmax was all that you crack it up to be the US army would have used it but they chose as you put it `the boat weight `6.5 for durability and ease of service not to mention its track record. hell even the canadian army ditched the new GM diesels for mercedes.

for the few Dmax`s you do see i bet its melted pistons cracked over priced injectors and failing ally`s and for the price of either most people could buy a new to them 6.5 truck or even a new motor and trans

to the mods ; apparently he couldnt resist the insulting after he`d been warned by two moderators. maybe the 6.5ers should go bash on these credit ladden nearly broke durabux renters ( cause the bank still holds the title )

* edited posts

I would take offense to all your comments about grease monkey and my salary but I am not. We are here to learn from others and their expeirences this is not diesel vs. diesel. I already apologized and am not goin to say it again. lets move on and I hope if he buys the diesl good luck and hope you enjoy it. One more thing dont take the thread away I find this site very informational. thanks

Man Dave I gotta come in here more often...this is great! Here guys I'll give ya something else to talk about....... What could be wrong with this dudes truck? PMD? What? Learn me.. :D

Man Dave I gotta come in here more often...this is great! Here guys I'll give ya something else to talk about....... What could be wrong with this dudes truck? PMD? What? Learn me.. :D


):h :p:

But yes Chris is right. lets get back on topic and figure out what's wrong with the OP's truck shall we?

...was running out in the parking lot and just quit and now wont start...what do you all think, what are some possibilities of why it quit?

People could fire random wild guesses all day, but without a little more detail, it's impossible to say, could be anything from running out of fuel to a rod through the side of the block.

I think it was the 2nd post in the thread i told him to get the truck fill out the diagnostic and go from there I'm betting an apology its a PMD failure. considering it was running the died . now the source i wont take a wild stab at though

75% chance for PMD, 15% chance for LP/OPS, 10% chance for IP.

That is my guess, pending a diagnostic checklist.

For $2000, I will take my chances.

All the things that can go wrong is covered by FAQ.
This is one of the section with the most comprehensive FAQ and knowledge due to the length of time.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309462

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313969

nuff said

sorry been out of town and unable to post. WOW! this thread has gotton a little harsh in spots. Ok to fill every one in on what my intentions are with this truck. I currently have a 92 chevy 2500 with the 350 gas that I am looking too replace. It is just one of my plow trucks. The crew will need to be reliable and start in the michigan winters so it will beable to plow at all hours, and do a 35 mile round trip commute every day.. I probably wont pull heavy with it very often but may pull my 4 place enclosed snowmobile trailer in the winter. In the summer I may run it up north to our cottage about 200 miles round trip and pull my 18' searay in and out of the lake. I am mainly concerned with it being reliable and beable to pull on once in a while. If I need to pull real heavy I can use my 06 powerstroke or my 02 duramax. Mainly the 92 is getting tired and I need a heavier truck than the light duty 2500 that it is.

Now for the original topic of the truck, what is the pmd, is there a way to check it? I dont have any way to pull codes at this time is there anything else I can do to get you all more info. I am thinking since it was idleing when it quit it cant be to major. one thing the current owner said is it will start and stall if you shoot ether in it(I know it is a bad idea and I told him that) ok let me know what more I can tell ya

at the top of this forum there is a diagnostic checklist in the stickies part of the forum.
with a small investment into simple mods the 6.5 can be as dependable as old faithful

anyone?....................

You really need to get the truck and start checking things off that have been checked... (thats a lot of checking:D) Start with grounds and things of the cheaper nature. Pmd's start going by having stalling issues, then finally a quit and no restart.... Buy a new pmd, heatsink and wiring harness to relocate it behind the bumper.So i take it the engine cranks like its trying to start but doesnt start?? Jump the lift pump relay with a paper clip and open the t valve by the thermostat, see if fuel squirts out...

ok I am going to try and see if I can get it for 2000 like I think I can. As stated these motors have a bad rep so I am a little leary of it. But it sounds like I can make it a dependable truck just by doing a few mods. Do you all think it is capable of pulling 5-7000 pounds regularly and dependable enough to run everyday to keep some of the miles off the other trucks. this is if I decide to use this for more than just plowing. the truck does have 410 gears in it i believe.

Only one way to find out, hook her up.

With some mods (both for performance and reliability), yes that truck will tow a good amount of weight. And about the bad rap., if u take care of her, she will take care of you! They have a bad rap. because not many people know much about them. Mine has been beat to hell, im sure overheated and is addicted to starting fluid. (btw NEVER do any of those things to your 6.5). Im sure it also has 4.10 gears being a hauler. Keep on the maintenance aspect (and reliability mods) and it will and can be a VERY reliable rig....

Only one way to find out, hook her up.


there is a better answer then that> if your concerned about what a 6.5 will haul take a look at this thread aptly titled ....

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309462

i personally have seen an abused unmodified 94 6.5 ( 300,000 + KM truck ) pull a combine out of a field after being sunk to the axles in mud. the truck then pulled a loaded grain hopper out of the same field.

ok I am going to try and see if I can get it for 2000 like I think I can. As stated these motors have a bad rep so I am a little leary of it. But it sounds like I can make it a dependable truck just by doing a few mods. Do you all think it is capable of pulling 5-7000 pounds regularly and dependable enough to run everyday to keep some of the miles off the other trucks. this is if I decide to use this for more than just plowing. the truck does have 410 gears in it i believe.

The bad rep is coming from the PMD which after 15 years of experience has been solved by putting it outside on a heatsink.
The bad design of the LP/OPS in 94-95 have also been solved in later but for that year, a relay can be placed to remedy the OPS issue. So all in all, most of the problems are solved or have work arounds.

Just remember, it is designed for economy not heavy duty. Not a Dmax.

Im very happy with mine, it has been a good truck, we bought it from a, get this, a GM Tech, it was his sons truck and he had said that they had replaced3 IPs, I had it for a week and had the truck running, it turned out that the cat/soot trap was plugged and wouldnt let the truck breathe, so if you try every thing else pull the EGR valve and see if it will run. Just my 2 cents.

what is the pmd?

Pump mounted driver, it is a little black box the size of a deck of cards on the side of the injection pump. Can be relocated to behind the bumper on a heatsink for a few hundred dollars. Once it is relocated off the pump it is called an fsd, fuel selenoid driver. Units are just big resistors that fry when they get subjected to heat... Best thing for them is to ount them behind the bumper, thats the best spot for cooling....

If you understand electronics, heat is always an enemy of electronics component. PMD is an electronic component consisting of 2 big transistor which by themselves generate heat when operating. Then GM puts it in a hot engine environment. Their argument was that the IP have fuel flow which will cool it off. It is true, except after engine shutdown. The non-moving air inside the hood (no fan) is actually an oven with raising temperature. Which essentially cook the PMD. Early solution of the PMD was putting it on a heatsink mounted on the intake. Great idea, except it was still being cooked and turned out to be a worst solution than the IP. Later solution was to move it outside the engine compartment. This has been a generally accepted solution for about 90% of the people who knows. The 10% still insist that somewhere inside is better.

That is a little bit of story that I learn in this forum and others.

there is a better answer then that> if your concerned about what a 6.5 will haul take a look at this thread aptly titled ....

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=309462

i personally have seen an abused unmodified 94 6.5 ( 300,000 + KM truck ) pull a combine out of a field after being sunk to the axles in mud. the truck then pulled a loaded grain hopper out of the same field.


How else is he gonna know what it can do, hook her up work it you aint gonna know without trying. Every truck is different but smiliar in quality.

get a check list and start with the basic trouble shooting guide. and pay the man 2000.00 for the truck. try sqirting wd40 into the intake a VERY LITTLE BIT and see if it will hit after the glow plugs are warmed up. use very small squirt.

Hi Guys,im new to Diesels. i have a 1997 trek motor home,with a 6.5 diesel.(code F) i just drove it from Oklahoma to florida,and averaged 9.73 MPG.the MH has only 42,000 miles on it. which mods could i make (or should) i make to get a little better MPG,and longevity?i love the way it starts and runs !!!