I have been lurking here for a little over a month. We are looking into buying a diesel Sub or older crew cab. They are hard to come by. When I was a youngen, I did quite a bit of work on my GM gassers. I did learn how to drive on a 240 D and that is about my experience with diesel.

Just wanted to say hello and introduce myself. When I do get a diesel, I am sure I will have lots of questions. I plan on doing most of the work myself.

We will use this truck as a family camper and road tripper. We will most likely pull a small and light trailer to hold gear (the dogs and kids take all the room in the Sub/truck). I want a diesel for mpg, ability to run alternative fuels, and uniqueness.

I have read through the faqs sticky, but still feel a little uncertain about buying a diesel truck. Are most problems fairly evident? What are the major things I need to check out? How do I go about it?

Thanks,

Michael

Welcome aboard! Keep on lurking and reading. You'll see most of the same things come around and around again. If you are looking at getting it for towing, look to see that you get a 4.10 rear, for heavy towing that is. That won't spell great milage though. 97 on up has better cooling upgrades too for towing applications.

If you are mechanically inclined, and read through the daily postings on this site, you'll be ready for almost anything.

Kayadad,
Welcome to the site lurk & read but remember many of the horror stories you think you see are just a sampling of a much bigger community of engines on the road many of which are problem free, although too wimpy in power for my taste, this is a target forum as most are, ever see a my truck is running great forum I haven't, so us gear heads commisurate/communicate with each other and then try to figure out how to try and break the laws of Physics and not get caught by them or Mr. Murphy. Be careful gear addiction is seductive, a small taste of torque and it's all over, you will be hooked and before long you'll be fixated on how do I get more.

Many of us here push the limits, and can recover from our zeal & "power addiction" self induced problems, & some things you see discussed which are real GM design problems, notably PMD is biggest one, some fixes for that that nearly cure it or make it a survivable nuisance.

If you would, can you list what you thought was missing from the FAQ you read, I wrote that with mentality of someone who has owned one of these for a while, so I probably missed more than one point on what someone who has never owned a GM Diesel might ask, then we can add this list to what has already been written. Actually 6.2 & 6.5s are IMO great engines, yes they have their quirks, but in truth all of them do, they will never be power monsters, never designed to be, you can get more power out of them, but if abused you wind up going BANG, there is only so much untapped longevity margin/power you can creep into and get away with it.

Again welcome to the site

Hello knkreb and Turbine Doc – Thanks for the quick response.

knkreb – I do not plan on doing much heavy towing. I do plan on getting a small utility trailer for camping, as we have three large dogs that take up much space and a 7-month-old boy, whose toy collection is quickly surpassing my own ):h. I do not plan on the goods I haul being anything close to 2000 lbs. Gas mileage is important. As I get older, I definitely drive slower and easier on my vehicles than I used to be, now only mashing every once in a while. I am decent at mechanical stuff, but a great student. This site is awesome in depth and knowledge. I think a diesel will fit me nicely and be a good hobby to boot.

Turbine Doc – I hope I will not get too addicted to diesel power. I think my wife would take the check cards and make me sleep with the dogs :badidea:. I understand all engines have shortcomings and that forums tend to focus much on the negatives. I am a lurking veteran on many forums (I love reading) and it happens in every hobby.

The FAQ gives a lot of good advice on upgrades and talks some on the better years for cooling and blocks. What it is missing for me is things I need to look for when I go to a dealer or someone’s house to look at a diesel sub. Some examples: How much smoke and what color at start up? Any particular smell to smell for? Sounds? Do all burbs have dual batteries ( I have seen them both ways)? How do I know the turbo is working correctly? Should I check the oil out? Any obvious signs of disaster that I need to look for? Of course those are just my late night thoughts and I do not need a reply for each one. Just want to what you guys look for/at when going to look a 6.5 TD.

- edited for spelling -
Thanks for the help

These are the two trucks I am looking at; of course they are the only diesel subs in my area (Northern California). I have been looking for a while too; they are hard to come by.

I have gone and looked at the 94, but I had my son with me so I did not get to drive it. The fit and finish was not great and I do not like the "Trail Boss" after market kit. We also perfer cloth to leather, cause it gets hot here. I am going to go have a second look at it and also look at the 98.

94: Click on the link below or copy it into your browser to see the 1994 Chevrolet Suburban K2500 4x4! (http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=184059296&dealer_id=79171&car_year=1994&search_type=both&make=CHEV&model=CHEVSUB&transmission=&make3=&distance=300&address=95820&make2=GMC&advanced=y&certified=&model2=SUB&max_mileage=&max_price=&min_pri%20)

98: Click on the link below or copy it into your browser to see the 1998 GMC Suburban K2500 4x4! (http://autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=159723116&dealer_id=79171&car_year=1998&search_type=both&make=CHEV&model=CHEVSUB&transmission=&make3=&distance=300&address=95820&make2=GMC&advanced=y&certified=&model2=SUB&max_mileage=&max_price=&min_pri%20)

The 98 has manual windows and no rear air, neither of which are show stoppers but would be nice to have.

I wish I had more choices. I am going to be patient though, hopefully.

Michael

Make sure the brakes are good. It can cost you over a thousand just for parts if not

How much smoke and what color at start up? Any particular smell to smell for? Sounds? Do all burbs have dual batteries ( I have seen them both ways)? How do I know the turbo is working correctly? Should I check the oil out? Any obvious signs of disaster that I need to look for? Of course those are just my late night thoughts and I do not need a reply for each one. Just want to what you guys look for/at when going to look a 6.5 TD.


At startup,- a puff of white smoke may be expected, but not a smoke screen. On the road, if you see a puff of black smoke, okay. Long periods of smoke of any color is unusual, and indicates an issue.

SES Light (Service Engine Light) in a 96+ vehicle will rat out about hundreds of different things. It will also do that for earlier vehicles. This is how I was "had" with mine. I have a master battery switch. It was turned off after each trip at the dealer, and cleared any codes - which covered up the injection pump that was almost dead.

Turbo, you can hear mostly. Not totally a great test, but one that would indicate if the turbine is spooling.

Oil, will almost always be black. The only way you can tell with oil is send it off for an analysis. That's just the nature of a diesel.

At idle, pull off the oil fill and see if air is blowing out. That could indicate some serious blow-by and other issues.

Crawl under the truck and check for oil leaks on the front and rear diffs and at the driveshaft where it comes out of the tranny. When you are at it, check for engine oil leaking from the plastic panel on the front under the engine. The plastic panel covers oil lines going to an oil cooler in front of the radiator; these lines are infamous for leaking.

Michael,

Welcome. I have owned my '95 Submarine since new. I've had over 145k of enjoyable, troublefree miles. Here are some things to consider:

1) 97+ vehicles will offer the improved cooling. However, this can be added for less than $1k.

2) You're pretty much stuck with a C/K2500 in Kalifornia as the Diesels weren't available here in the 1/2 ton sizes at all. This is actually a good thing, as I believe the C1500 chassis were underdesigned (my opinion).

3) Cleanliness of the cooling system and the existance of rust / scale in the block is a bad sign. The head gaskets on these motors are notorious for failure and if the car has been neglected, the likelihood that the head gaskets are in jeopardy for failure.

4) Diesel Suburbans are exempt from Smog in Kalifornia - this will save you $50 bucks every two years, min.

Your ability to tear things apart and wrench on them may drive which year you buy. I work on all my cars, so I would go for almost anything. you may wish to look for a vehicle in better shape if you aren't afraid to rip the heads of your engine...

Welcome!

you could also write down the vin # of the sub and go thru the vin check area of the forum to get a rundown on any service work by gm. i found out my engine was replaced at 56kms. i found this out two months after i bought it. truck has 168kms and engine has 112kms om it. thats like 60,000 miles.. and it runs great. you'd best get a 4 inch exhaust. it's part of the torque addiction.

BTW Steve 1500 and 2500 Subs are virtually identical