Well hope I don't piss off a bunch of you here because many of you have helped me with my issues so far with my 6.5.

I have owned this 1995 chevy 6.5 for about 1 month now and frankly I'm a tad concerned...?

Don't get me wrong, nice riding and driving quiet inside but looking at the post for the last 3 weeks here and having issues already myself has really got me doubting the reliability issues surrounding this 6.5L diesel.

I have driven my 7.3L F250 for the last going on 3 years and due to my PMD in the 6.5...I'm back in it driving it again. The 7.3 is gonna turn 330K miles on it on the way home tonight and I have not had hardly any issues that have ever made me doubt it's reliability, chit I would not hesitate today to climb in it and head for anywhere in the US.

Please I like my new C1500 super cab and I like the pep that the 6.5 has but is it ever going to be reliable?

Sorry if this post offends anyone, it certainly is not intended for that, I just need a little confidence boost here...:o:

TIA,
69

Reliability has a lot to do with previous maintenance and care. What all have you had to replace so far? OPS, I remember, but what else? Get the PMD out of the engine bay, keep up on maintenance (including injectors and harmonic balancer), don't let it overheat, and just in general, treat it right, and it will be a good, reliable engine.

I've only had this engine in my truck as a rebuild, and I've had zero issues with the engine, other then the failing PMD which I knew was gonna end up failing, not bad for almost 2 and a half years trouble free. *Knocks on wood*

RC is right, if you know it well, and know what to do to keep it running, the 6.5 is an excellent engine, but just like every other engine, it needs to be maintained.

Things like the OPS and PMD are known issues, and happen to just about everyone.

The more you do to these engines as far as modifications go, the more reliable it becomes, provided you went with good quality parts :p:

Reliability comes first for me, everything i fix; i fix with quality parts, the saying goes you get what you pay for... You need to do all the reliability mods, yes, stock these trucks are starting to get old, so they are not AS reliable, in stock form. But a few mods and it can be reliable, i had an engine with rotted plugs, for the past 2.5 years i have used starter fluid to start it, other than starters and a PMD i had no problems with it. Tough if you ask me... IM not offended by your post, it is partially true due to this is a bone stock 6.5, it is getting old to, things need to be replaced, when you buy an older truck you need to know it will need work. The 6.5 can be a reliable engine if you help it. Good luck! Now that i have a new engine, i would be afraid to drive mine across the country, only problem is right now i couldnt afford to LOL

I've been driving my 6.5 for 13 years. I've probably replaced 5 PMDs and not one OPS. I've done continual upgrades to keep it cool and putting out more power. I consider it very reliable. Injectors and glow plugs are wear items and will get replaced as needed. I wouldn't hesitate to drive mine to either coast tomorrow morning.

Jake

Ive had my truck about 2 years and other than batteries its never had any problems (until the PMD thing a couple weeks ago, that is it). Its been to Colorado (way up in the mountains at times, once at 11,318 ft) from SW MO. 250k miles on it. The only major work this trucks ever had was a few injection pumps. I would consider this truck to be very reliable. Anything minor like a lift pump, crank pulley, glow plug relay, injector, etc is not at all unreasonable to need to replace after as many miles as my truck has on it. I am highly impressed with it.

I have my burb for almost 4 years now. I have driven it from DFW all the way to Greenville, SC 3 times round trip, Kingsport TN 1 times round trip, Kansas City MO 3 times round trip, Northern OK, Houston TX, Abilene TX, etc. About 25k miles long distance.

The only trouble was at the beginning with bad alternator, bad LP. Recently, it was hard starting, change the fuel filter and solved the problem. Leak coolant, found a leak at the quick connect under the passenger side (only suburban problem since it has a rear heater/ac). PMD is outside on the bumper.

Look at the big picture.
Ford has a ignition module that was known to go pop and leave you walking. So did other manufactures as I recall. Nothing is perfect.

The 6.5TD and 6.2 Diesel sure as h*ll isn’t. Especially when you compare it to the 2008 Duramax.

But that is in factory form. The issues are well known and several vendors have proven solutions to eliminate these problems. Like a OPS relay mod, Fluidampr lifetime damper, PMD bumper relocate, Cooling system upgrade fan to water pump. Glow plugs and injectors are wear items.

So change the make you walk items now from the above vendors and give it some time. After awhile you would rather push a Chevy than drive a Ford. :D

This is why I tell my brother "NO" when he tells me he found a 6.5 that is anything newer than 1993.

People come to this forum generally looking for some help or advice when their truck has an issue. Go to any ford forum, dodge forum or just over to the d-max forums here at diesel place, and you will see most threads are started for these same reasons. I had my 95 3500 for 9 years and suffered 2 trannys, 2 alternators and a PMD failure. I spent some good cash doing upgrades for power and reliability, and I loved that truck enough, that when the crank broke due to harmonic balancer negligence on my part, I went and bought another Chevy with a 6.5. These trucks can be a handfull, but they are relatively inexpensive to purchase and repair. If one wants a shitload of power with a new truck smell, go buy a new truck. What else can I say?

Thanks for the sharing your experiences with me. I'm not ready to throw in the towel, not even close. I realize that I bought a vehicle with almost 200K on it & that with any vehicle is a risk.

I am going to get a new PMD & relocate it on the front bumper. I have checked the harmonic balancer and it seems tight. The Injectors now them I am not sure how to check... I am going to try and run a vin check on the vehicle to see if I can get some history, just a guess but I don't think at 194K this is the orginal motor, maybe but it sure seems real quiet clean with alot of pep.

I really do have much to be grateful for, this PMD could have failed on my recent 1400 mile road trip & left me stranded on the side of the road. At least, with the help from the gracious Members here it took me home.

Thanks to you All for the replies & words of encouragement & for not getting disgusted with me...:o:

Best Regards Everyone,
69

Hey, I own Pontiac Fieros (you know, the cars that everyone says "burns to the ground" because they are "made of plastic". To be fair, mine have only burnt to the ground twice. I just keep fixing them.)

Fieros are actually very simple to work on but they get a bad rap by people that really don't bother to actually look. If you pay attention to them, learn the car and fix what breaks, they are fine.

Any diesel is far more complex and it sounds like the 6.5L TD is no exception. But from everything I have read I think they get a totally undeserved bad rap. All of the issues seem to center around avoidable problems. Move the PMD, watch the harmonic balancer, change the filters before they need it and periodically replace worn out injectors. You might have to do a pump at some point. Some simple cooling upgrades avoid durability problems. After that it's all the normal wear and tear any truck gets. No, the engines won't last forever but they sure do seem to go a lot of miles if you pay attention. You starting at 200k miles and no doubt you need to go over some stuff, but it sounds like once you go through the motions, you will have a reliable truck.

I'm going to buy one. I'm willing to learn and do. And to be frank, when I compare what the 6.5L TD owners deal with to the horsepower-war diesels of the post 2000 era, well, I'm not too worried.

Thanks for the sharing your experiences with me. I'm not ready to throw in the towel, not even close. I realize that I bought a vehicle with almost 200K on it & that with any vehicle is a risk.

I am going to get a new PMD & relocate it on the front bumper. I have checked the harmonic balancer and it seems tight. The Injectors now them I am not sure how to check... I am going to try and run a vin check on the vehicle to see if I can get some history, just a guess but I don't think at 194K this is the orginal motor, maybe but it sure seems real quiet clean with alot of pep.

I really do have much to be grateful for, this PMD could have failed on my recent 1400 mile road trip & left me stranded on the side of the road. At least, with the help from the gracious Members here it took me home.

Thanks to you All for the replies & words of encouragement & for not getting disgusted with me...:o:

Best Regards Everyone,
69

Everyone gets discouraged at times, myself included, and sometimes it's nice to have people say "it's not so bad, I've been through it, and everything is fine"

Your injectors you can have tested at a Diesel shop that has the equiptment to test Diesel injection systems if you wanted to check.

Personally, I replaced my injectors on my truck when I did the rebuild, and the engine only had 101,000 KMs on it, but I wanted to know that they were in tip top shape, and brand spankin new like everything else replaced.

Even things like a good Diesel fuel additive is preventative maintainence to help the injection pump and injectors with lubrication with the ULSD fuel.

Hows this for 6.5 durability? My Boss at the Diesel shop I used to work for had 3 6.5 trucks, and each one of them had no less the half a million Kms and all he did was replace the air filters, oil filters, fuel filters, did the oil changes and injectors when the service interval was up. 2 of which were bone stock trucks.
What about that vid of the 6.5 the morons had a hell of a time tryin to kill with an engine seize formula sent through it, end of the vid, and it was still runnin. :rolleyes::D

You and I have had our trucks about the same tamount of time, and all I can tell you is there's probably a reason someone got rid of it. I paid $1800 for an extended cab 4x4 with power everything, and have so far replaced the PMD, and fixed the a/c. I've spent less than half of what a Cummins or PS in like condition would cost. I've owned 2 Cummins, and they both had elecrical and tranny issues. Rebuilt trans for the Dodge cost what I paid for my 6.5 truck. It's all about perspective, and believe me, the grass is not any greener on the other side.

before my suburban started last night, I was really thinking about getting it running and then selling it. But after it ran, I'm not planning to any more.

On mine i've replaced or modified:
Injection pump~ 1 year warranty
starter ~life time warranty
PMD with remote mount ~1 year warranty
upgraded cooling with Tstat and fan

I have under $5000 into it, and for me, thats a cheap tow rig. Honestly I was looking for a 7.3 ford when I found this, but this had a cheap price, but I guess you get what you pay for, but that's ok. Several people have told me that if you buy an older used vehicle, plan on putting $1000 into it.

I hope this is the last maintenance thing I need to do to the truck for a long while, knock on wood.

compared to my old starter, which was really bad and would barely start it, my new one starts amazingly. I just thought it was a slow starter because of the whole diesel thing, last night it cranked and started like a gas motor (with ease).

I've owned vehicles with a lot of miles (just look at my signature) my whole life. I've come to learn with that many miles, no matter what brand, gas or diesel, you never know what can happen next. Some may last forver with few problems while others have problem after problem.
It's all on how the vehicle was treated in with its previous owners. Some people can do no regular maintenance, drive the living poop out of it and have no problems. Then they sell it to the next guy and then the problems start coming in.

Just don't get discouraged and keep on chugging away. If something happens, just look at the miles and the year and say, "Well, that's not bad for that many miles and the year."

Good luck!

I've owned vehicles with a lot of miles (just look at my signature) my whole life. I've come to learn with that many miles, no matter what brand, gas or diesel, you never know what can happen next. Some may last forver with few problems while others have problem after problem.
It's all on how the vehicle was treated in with its previous owners. Some people can do no regular maintenance, drive the living poop out of it and have no problems. Then they sell it to the next guy and then the problems start coming in.

Just don't get discouraged and keep on chugging away. If something happens, just look at the miles and the year and say, "Well, that's not bad for that many miles and the year."

Good luck!

Sooo True :thumb:

Thanks Dusty

Thanks for the sharing your experiences with me. I'm not ready to throw in the towel, not even close. I realize that I bought a vehicle with almost 200K on it & that with any vehicle is a risk.

I am going to get a new PMD & relocate it on the front bumper. I have checked the harmonic balancer and it seems tight. The Injectors now them I am not sure how to check... I am going to try and run a vin check on the vehicle to see if I can get some history, just a guess but I don't think at 194K this is the orginal motor, maybe but it sure seems real quiet clean with alot of pep.

I really do have much to be grateful for, this PMD could have failed on my recent 1400 mile road trip & left me stranded on the side of the road. At least, with the help from the gracious Members here it took me home.

Thanks to you All for the replies & words of encouragement & for not getting disgusted with me...:o:

Best Regards Everyone,
69

Put a thread in the vin check section with your vin and that can get you some easy information!

My truck was owned by a construction company. With only 138K miles, I still knew it would take some time and $ to get it "right" and it has but I knew nothing about a diesel or trucks and now I know plenty as I've tried to do as much of the work as I could myself.

I bought it in Spokane at 4pm in late January 07 and set out for NC that night. Took 2.5 weeks to get back cause we "took the long way home." Only issue was an EGR solenoid tripping codes.
Preventative maint has included all suspension parts replaced except the hubs and rear axle assy, rebuilt the front brake calipers, replaced front and rear brake pads/shoes, disc/drums (a must IMHO for any used car purchase), LP, OPS, Injectors, glow plugs, matched batteries and PMD. Add in some fun stuff and I've put in a lot of money. The only thing that has gone really wrong was a bad stalling issue that necessitated a more rapid replacement of all those typical parts one chases during a stall episode that have already been mentioned, part of the plan anyway. The problem...PO purchased an airfilter that the turbo sucked up a portion of against the inlet (did not hit the fan). That and a door handle assy self destructed, $26 to fix, are the only real issues I've had and the vendor (Walt) made good on the air filter even though I didn't buy it.
Like JerrySaenz said, used vehicles get sold for a reason, or "No matter how good she looks, somebody somewhere is tired of her S--t." Ladies, feel free to exchange she for 'he' if you like.
Bottom lines.
Used Truck: $7000
Road Trip Home: $3000
PM and Upgrades for a new hobby: $14000
Cruising across America w/your 15 yr old son singing rock songs at the top of your lungs for 2.5 weeks...PRICELESS.

Wouldn't trade this thing in for a new TDI VW.

FWIW, if you don't want hassles buy a new truck. Every once in a while you get lucky with an old rig, but that's rare. When you buy a used vehicle you're usually buying someone elses problem. Older vehicles, but 6.5's in particular, are suited to people who can and don't mind pulling wrenches. Anyone who expects a 15+ year old vehicle to be reliable needs to learn how to wrench or buy something new...

I bought mine with a dead injector pump and needing a lot of routine maintenance. I've been too busy to work on it lately, but once it's all said and done I expect to have roughly $3000 into including the purchase price of $1000. Thanks to my ability to pull wrenches I'll have a 4x4 turbodiesel long box fully loaded workhorse for a 20th of what a new truck like it would cost. You know what? I could run into every 6.5 issue known to man after getting this thing running and it would still be a massively smarter financial decision than buying a new truck. I'm going to be using this for work, so body damage is an expectation, making this an even better way to go for me. I think all the guys who complain about 6.5 problems need to look at things a little differently, the big picture is actually pretty favourable to our trucks IMO

I agree, the 6.5 is the beast I know, I don't mind fixing what screws off in order to keep it running, rather then trying to learn something else's quirks and flaws.

The 6.5 is the underdog, and I'm happy with that, besides, I see a lot of guys doing stuff with these engines that most people would have blown off as an idea.

If nothing else, it's a fun hobby.

Well it's been another 1K miles and 10 days more running my new too me 6.5TD...

I'm really starting to like this truck...

It's got nice pep on the expressway, MPG avg is right about 20 so far, that's mostly running at 70mph on the interstate, I run 97 miles a day round trip to work, with 85ish of them miles on the expressway. With the 34 gal fuel capacity I can go the entire week on one tank, I like that.

I'm thinking a new set of Bilsteins is in the future, I have checked most everything except for the injectors...based on the Vin check info, it suggests that this 6.5 & tranny may be original now setting at 195K miles!

This thing runs smooth quiet with ample acceleration. The ride of this 1/2 ton pickup with the 155" wheel base is incredible like a caddy. I've been running my F250 the last 2 years & that has 1 ton suspension; talk about night & day differences...LOL

Anyways, now that I have changed the OSP & PMD, blew out the air filter, new fuel filter & fresh oil & lube…things seem to be lining out, fairly certain the truck sat idle for about a year, so I'm hoping that most the little bugs / issues from setting are mostly behind me...I HOPE!

I like to tinker and have no issues popping the hood weekly to assure my vehicles are up to snuff...I think me & MY new 6.5 are gonna get along just fine…I hope!

Thanks to All of You for being here and providing me with the help when I need it...I'm sure I'll be asking for more info!

69

Excellent.
One of the things I did after we got it home in getting a maint. baseline was an automatic trans fluid flush, BG Service IIRC. That and coolant flush along with the oil and airfilter changes...stuff you did. My .02.

Happy Motoring.

i luve chevys!!!!!....................with cummins.

I bet you do luve them... Whatever that means....But this is a thread about the 6.5 Chevy's. Either that or I missed the part about cumbin swaps.

I usually buy used and many times I have to put some money into it bringing it up to spec. Usually just maint but it can add up. Once you get them up to spec you will do just fine.

My 93 has been amazing, I serviced the 4L80E, brake fluid service, alternator, and a few front suspension components and I'm in it about $500 on top of purchase price. I just wish I was planning on keeping this longer but I'll need a Burb or Excursion soon and the projects I needed the truck for are complete.

i have a 94 thats in my sig and i bought it with 140k on it for 6grand 4 years ago and i have drove it for 3 years 67k pretty much trouble free and i have abused it i for about 2 years had a lead foot and found out a couple times my truck dose not have a rev limiter and i didnt have a problem till i blew the head gasket i was mad but happy when it happened i was happy it lasted that long before it went and im very lucjy thats the worst that happened now that its back and running i remember how much i love driving it

..,...,....,....:)

Good Luck with your truck, I'm looking for one at the moment and hope I can find one that makes me as happy as everyone elses makes them.

Thought I would provide some feedback now that it's been about 12k miles since I purchased this truck.

Things updated/repaired new since purchase Oct 2009:
Dtech PMD new relocate FSD to bumper
OPS
Boost solenoid
Rubber vacuum hoses replaced plastic brittle lines
Front brake lines & rotors
F PCM tweaked chip (eliminated vac hoses to EGR)
GMTD Scan
Performed TDCO learn -0.18 best I could get

Things still to be done:
Install new pillar mount gauges
Replace S intake with F
Adjust IP to get TDCO offset to -1.85
Possibly update exhaust like new crossover, down pipe &...?
Maybe new wheels? Would like to go bigger then the 15" like maybe 20" but the 5 lug OEM setup limits my options.
Front end seems to have a little slop no vibs so...

I am very pleased with the 1500 6.5TD, it has been a bit of a learning curve for me, but an enjoyable one. My winter MPG is 18.

I love the thing!

Many thanks to all of you here that provided me with info since joining here, much appreciated!!!

B/r all,
69

Great post and glad to hear that the truck is working out for you. I have gone through a similar learning curve as well.

Look at it this way,the 6.2 and later the 6.5 has been build since the early eighties till 2002 with very little change in construction and lots of them are still on the road today.

Why do you think the militairy still uses only these 6.5 engines in their humvee's.
The militaire want only the best,peoples lives depend on it.

Here on these sites you only hear of people with problems,it dont tell ye the of the thousands that run relatively problem free.