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2.8 in the Express vans

38K views 22 replies 10 participants last post by  28 Expressvan 
#1 ·
I happened to notice the FedEx driver was driving an Express with the 2.8 Duramax the other day. I asked him about it and he loves it. Great mileage and good power. Anybody else have one or has driven one?
 
#2 ·
I believe that they also have the 2.8 with an 8-speed transmission in the van.
 
#3 ·
I test drove one, the motor just doesn’t cut it. Highway driving was horrible even empty, if I had it loaded like my van is now it would be worse.
 
#4 ·
With the 1500 pickups getting a new 3.0 inline diesel, I’m surprised GM used the 2.8
 
#5 ·
Makes sense and that's what customer's want so GM probably won't do it. The new 3.0 should be around 250 hp and 450-480 ft lbs. I've driven a lot of miles in an old Penske box truck loaded out at 26k with 200 hp and 500 ft lbs and it was way underpowered. Unloaded it was 15k and it would hold 65mph governed on most hills, so a van that weighs under 8000 lbs with 450 ft lbs and a transmission that keeps it in the power band should be more than adequate. I drove my dad's 2000 express 3500 with 15 ft van body and it weighed 8000 empty. The vortec 5.7 had 250 hp and 330 ft lbs and I think it was down on power a bit, but still would run 75 mph at 10,000 lbs.
 
#7 ·
We are typically running about 7500 lbs GVW in Chicago traffic and also 100 mile runs on the highway. The little motor launches the van quite well, since it has way more bottom end than typical gas v-8's (325 ft lbs @ 1500 rpm, 370 @2000). In the city, it drives about the same as the 5.4 E 250 it replaced. On the highway, no trouble merging and accelerating while loaded. It’s no race car, but it’s fine.
I’ve never driven one of the big diesels, but to attempt to compare this 2.8 to engines over twice its size doesn’t seem to add up. Those big diesel vehicles have about 3 times the torque to weight ratio and about twice the HP to weight ratio of almost all production vehicles in the past 50 years. Yes this van will seem slow compared to those, but it has plenty of power for the typical user. At 180hp, this is more power than most small block V-8’s made until rather recently, and it has way more torque where its counts.
Fuel Economy is exceptional when heavily loaded. We run about 20 to 21 mpg city, and holding a steady 66 mph (at 65 it will downshift to 7th) we just got 33.3 mpg in humid 90 weather with A/C on over 60 miles, while running behind a semi, but not too close. This is probably about the best anyone could get running without any mods, as I had the speed control set at slightly over 65 to keep the tranny in 8th and then added a little extra as needed to maintain driving distance behind the semi. At this speed, the engine is engine running 1600 rpm (about 100 hp). On heavier grades, such as coming out of a river valley, it would downshift to 7th to maintain speed (2100 rpm/ 150 hp), but otherwise would stay in 8th. This is on relatively flat interstate of the Midwest. On open road without trailing a semi, we get a little over 30. At about 55 to 60 mph in heavy highway traffic entering a big city about 31.5 to 32 mpg...the other traffic helps pull and push you along due to drafting etc.
I've been hoping for a small diesel in a full size van for over 15 years. It provides the torque needed to get heavy loads moving, but sips fuel like a compact car.....a perfect combo for tradespeople. The big diesels never made any sense for regular tradesmen, since they don't almost never pull 15000 lb trailers, which I suspect is probably about 98% of the truck and van buyers. For that matter, must truck/van/ suv's are not carrying more than a couple of people, so it's about time a drive train was offered that fits this need quite well.
My only gripes have been the crappy factory shocks (this thing feels like our 2007 Jeep GC with 180,000 miles on it with the original struts) and the fact that the tranny holds low gears way too long. In city traffic this occurs about 35 MPH and it will hold the engine at about 2200 rpm until you accelerate to 37 mph, and on the highway....the trans will not upshift to high gear until 67 mph. On the highway it appears to be about a 10% hit in fuel economy at 65. In the city it’s a little harder to tell, but running 2200 rpm when you only need 1500 rpm or less can't be too good for economy. Again this is running about 7500 lb. GVW.
With the 20,000 miles per year we put on vans, the payback for the diesel upgrade is only about 18 months. If we keep the vehicle for 12 years (my daily driver is a 93), we should save about $30,000.00 on fuel costs over the 6.0 l v-8's that we have in other vans. The mileage is about double of the v-8s, maybe even more than double on the highway.
I do plan to complete some aero mods on the van that should bump the fuel economy up some more, since GM has done very little in this department and there's is a lot of room for improvement. I expect low to mid 30's mileage could be regularly attained with a loaded van, and maybe even better if running lighter.
With the couple exceptions noted above… shocks, trans holding gears too long and poor aero… this is a really good combination. While mileage is still way behind full size service vans sold in Europe (they get about 40 to 45 mpg with 1.4 L turbo diesels), for a heavy full framed vehicle this is exceptional. We will be buying more of these to replace the 6.0l gas equipped vans we have in service.
If put in full size pickups, this drivetrain is going to kill the Ford turbo full size trucks. They are only rated at 24 highway and rumored to get worse mileage than the v-8’s when worked hard.
 
#9 ·
What do you use the van for? How many miles on it so far?
There is a van section here too, post up your mods in there you do for mileage and swap out your shocks.
 
#8 ·
That's probably the best and most informative first DP post I've ever read.
 
#13 ·
2018 Savana Cargo Van with 2.8 Duramax Diesel

I am very happy with mine. Have made several trips between Quebec and Florida both with a loaded van and also towing a heavy trailer.
Admittedly it is not the old Big Duramax but the additional gears in the transmission do a good job of compensating for the reduced engine size.
 
#21 ·
2018 Savana Cargo Van with 2.8 Duramax Diesel

I am very happy with mine. Have made several trips between Quebec and Florida both with a loaded van and also towing a heavy trailer.
Admittedly it is not the old Big Duramax but the additional gears in the transmission do a good job of compensating for the reduced engine size.
What kind of Mileage are you getting?
 
#14 · (Edited by Moderator)
2017 Chev Express w/ baby Dmax

Thought I'd liven this post up. I bought a new 2017 Chev Express 2500 cargo van short wheel base (or as I call them, the "stumpy") in July 2018. It has the 2.8L Dmax. I put 405 miles hwy service on mine a day on a harsh hwy short haul route in northern BC, Canada - my last point of call is actually 5 minutes from the southeast border of Alaska. I just rolled the van over 105000 kilometers this past week (65625 miles). I have had zero issues so far except for the aux fuel heater hose springing a leak which was fixed under warranty. I absolutely hammer this van hard every day with 2000 - 3000 pounds payload and it continues to deliver 30-35+ hwy MPG. I plan to keep it till it dies and then if the body and frame aren't rusted out, I intend to fix it up and run it some more. It has to go at least as far as my previous Express that had the 6.0L gas... which is now a shed with 972,000 km's on it!
 
#16 ·
I haven't done them yet. I am hoping to do them this summer after taking car of all the "haff to do's".... painting the house and garage, changing fluids and a few other car repairs. But this is how I'll probably proceed

1) Close up all openings that allow air to bypass the radiator( and intercooler) and then see how much of the grill opening can be closed up. I think for most vehicles nearly half the air coming into the front of the vehicle is wasted.... it goes around the radiator instead of through it.
2) Make a front belly pan sealed to the back of the airdam and go back as far as possible with it. I may want to extend the airdam down if there is a lot of stuff in the airstream below the air dam. The front bellypan, if ending behind the engine, will probably increase cooling flow due to the low pressure it creates under and behind the belly pan. ( which in turn allows the grill to be closed even more, improving aero)
3) While building the belly pan, extend the wheel wells down to create deflectors to move the air around the front tires.

Next may be finishing the belly pan under the middle of the vehicle and deflectors for the rear tires.
 
#17 ·
I have a 2018 3500 GMC Savana with a 2.8L diesel and 4x4 Quigley conversion. I like it a lot. The extra gears in the transmission compensate well for the smaller engine size. It also does well towing a heavy cargo trailer. Suspension is exceptionally good. Whether loaded or towing the mpg is always in the mid 20s. I primarily use the van as an offroad campervan. Being that it still has a real frame under it, it is well suited for this purpose (as opposed to the unibody designs). I order the true locking rear differential option which has proved to work very well also.
 
#19 ·
UPDATE- I now have 300,000 km's (186400 miles) on my 2017 Chevrolet Express 2500 with the 2.8L diesel. Bought this unit new in 2018 with a bit of doubt about how this engine would hold up to the work that I do. Well... I now have had my doubts silenced - this is a phenomenal engine, folks! I work it hard day in and day out and get a consistent 26 - 28MPG on the hwy loaded down even at the higher mileage it has now. So far biggest repairs have been the serpentine belt twice, timing belt at 242k & was getting turbo blow by around 270,000 kms - had to get the turbo gaskets replaced. Other than that... just regular oil changes & fuel filter changes. I love this van so much thinking of getting an extended one next and get built up with 4x4. www.facebook.com/SBEDmax
 
#22 ·
Hey everyone, hope to get a little advice. I have GMC savana 2.8 duramax van. Should be same as Chevy express.
This is a brand new van with only about 1000 miles on it. It has a small transmission oil/fluid leak. I brought it to dealership and they came up with nothing. I think they focused more on looking for engine leak when I now think its the transmission for sure

At any rate, I am pretty mechanically inclined and just wondering if anyone has heard of problems with these 8-speed autos mated to the 2.8 duramax?

I have not had a chance to investigate close yet but just wanted to see if anyone has heard of this. I would imagine a seal leaking somewhere? But is brand new! Such a negative experience at auto places these days I tend to do all my own work.

Lastly, anyone know which GM transmission this 8-speed is? The model so I can search the internet? All I keep finding is "8-speed auto" for the duramax 2.8. Is this likely the same transmission in the Canyon/Colorado pick-ups ? I figured I can look to those forums as well

thanks
 
#23 ·
I think the Colorado and Canyons used a 6 speed. Also, I did have tranny problems with mine. Apparently the wiring harness was rubbing against a A/C line and was shorting the controls. It took months for the dealership to find the problem, with the vehicle off the road for about 3 to 4 weeks or more total.
 
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