I was reading through many posts and am wondering now if I made a huge mistake. I have just bought a 2005 2500 duramax extended cab and all I read is negative stuff on this truck. I read the the head gaskets are destined to go, overheating problems, crappy intake mouthpieces, crummy egr systems and so on. SOmetimes i think I should stop looking at this sight because of all the horror stories. Money doesnt grow on my trees. Is the 2004.5 to 2005 the crappiest of the duramaxes or what?

My one '05 took a tie-rod @ 120k miles, brakes @ 130k, and now, @195k, it needs a blower resistor and door hinge bushings (for the 2nd time)?????? That's probably the hardest used one I've got.

im just wondering if all these guys with these problems bring em on themselves or if these trucks are veryproblematic even without pulling much

an LLY will run great. with a good tune and proper care and the mouthpiece there great trucks.

every vehicle has its quirks. the guys on this site have simply figured out the ones on our trucks and have stated them and they ways to fix them. all vehicles will need maintenance and repair at some point, it is inevitiable. we have just simply got the jump on it and know what to expect. you should be thrilled. with the proper care and correct mods you should have a great truck for years to come. enjoy it. when it breaks...upgrade it.

Yeah, forums can be scarry at first no doubt. Go on ANY forum for ANY diesel truck and if u read enough posts....you'll get scared :) These trucks run great and very reliable. If you are planning on towing extremely heavy up big grades then you'll have to spend some $$ to keep the temps in check (like $1200) . If u are like the "masses" that never tow crazy weight on major grades....Enjoy your truck for years to come w/ no problems :) PS: Do the Mouthpiece though :)
PSS: Headgaskets are very rarely a problem unless u add big power and run hard

I was reading through many posts and am wondering now if I made a huge mistake. I have just bought a 2005 2500 duramax extended cab and all I read is negative stuff on this truck. I read the the head gaskets are destined to go, overheating problems, crappy intake mouthpieces, crummy egr systems and so on. SOmetimes i think I should stop looking at this sight because of all the horror stories. Money doesnt grow on my trees. Is the 2004.5 to 2005 the crappiest of the duramaxes or what?

My truck is a freakin' wonder. I love it... and no, it's not had anything go wrong per se... with the exception of the ISS issue. But a $3 muffler clamp took care of that. :D

Keep in mind that most of the guys out here are asking how to fix problems; that will cast the trucks in a negative light which sells it very short.

Most of us twiddling with cold air intakes, turbo mouthpieces, exhaust, tuners, etc. are just trying to get more performance out of our trucks. I've done a little of all of 'em (except lift kits) and my truck has about 135k miles now and it's a beast. It's never had a single problem and it's 100% reliable. But I don't hammer on it 24/7 either. While I would ultimately really like to have my mods in a crew cab LBZ, I absolutely love my LLY; it would take an awful lot to pry it outta my hands.

Keep in mind, there are no perfect cars or trucks... just good ones and bad ones. The LLY is by-and-large a very, very good one.

I'm with Randy - my truck runs like a champ. Dead reliable, no overheat problems, gets great mileage, etc. It performed flawlessly stock, and has only gotten stronger as I've added modifications. It seems that there were indeed LLYs built on Friday afternoons, but there are many more that do just what they're supposed to, and have happy owners. I thought the same thing after reading posts, but many of the "issues" have cheap, if not free solutions: Icepick fix-free, harness rub-free, PCV reroute-free or $100 (Tony Burkhard), EGR blocker plate-$15, LBZ Mouthpiece-$85. By DIYing it, you'll save a bundle, and become intimately familiar with your LLY. Enjoy, and welcome to the forum.

I to have been scared with the taught of a $4K head gasket job, then I looked at most sig's...12.3 102 mph, 502 hp 800 tq.

I have had my truck for five years now and it has worked out GREAT for me.

From what I see the only real problems that you can't help is the pump rub, water pump (around 100K) and hubs.

I too have had little problems with mine. As stated above, fix the air intake side in one manner or another. Even if you just port out the existing mouthpiece, it will be well worth it. I tow a 28 ft travel trailer. Just a normal one, not a HEAVY one. I got a little bit of heating up (never overheated) out west when I first got the truck. My truck has the entire 06 airbox assembly and mouthpiece now. I was back at the same spot this summer, temps were even higher. NO, repeat NO heat issues, at all. The only time the fan came on, I was able to stop it by bumping the speed up a couple MPH's and the extra
air flow fixed that.

I got an extra 2 mpg, the truck runs better and the AC blows cooler due to the air intake fix. Other than BILSTEIN shocks, HELLWIG sway bars and an auxilliary RACOR fuel filter my truck is stock, doesn't need a chip etc. I am adding in a Banks intercooler tube though.

I did have an electrical part that controls the turbo go bad, but that was an easy fix and one of the idler pulleys seized and broke the serpentine belt. The pulleys are cheap, and I recommend preventive maintenance by replacing them every once in a while now and carrying a spare as NAPA doesn't stock them. Mine seized with less than 40,000 miles, but $23.00 a piece is cheap to replace every couple years. Both idler pulleys are the same part nbr, so 1 spare should do it.

dc

Just like these guys are saying, this forum is meant for people to learn how to make their trucks faster and fix common problems. Every truck will break at some point, we are here to help you fix it and possibly learn from our mistakes to prevent it. Not a lot of people post topics on here titled "HELP! My truck is awesome and has nothing wrong, just wanted everyone to know that!!!!"

I have a 2005 LLY Crew Cab with over 161K on it and with an average build (check the signature) My biggest problem to date was a water pump, that was 300 miles ago. Only cost me $800 to fix.

I have no issues yet, 71k on the clock. LLY is a good motor. Haters are going to hate thats what they do IMO this is a good motor take what you will of it.

I love my truck. I have very modest mods and have only had my truck break down on me once. That was because of a typical fuel injector harnes rub at the #2 injector. I did take it to the dealer and thankfully it only cost me $150 bucks to get it fixed. I'm sure I could have done it myself but I just didn't want to mess with it. Everything that has been done to my truck I've done it all myself with help from this site.