95-99 GM 6.5 turbo deisel

[WS6]

Anyone ever own one the older 6.5 liter turbo deisel pickups ? Did you like it? Hate it? How do they run? Are they pig slow or just typical for a diesel.

Are they expensive to own ?? How well do they tow?

Any opinions please.

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[daviss]

We had one in our fleet @ work and it was hard on heads and head gaskets. I have heard that people swear by these motors but we had nothing but problems with it. Two heads cracked and one head gasket blew in the7 years we owned it. The electrical/battery setup failed a few times also. I heard the military has a lot of them, so I guess with enough maintenance they should be OK. The performance was not bad. Our truck weighed right at 9000 lbs and had more pep than our '04 powerstroke with a similar weight.

I'm sure some others will weigh in and I delieve there was a discussion on this a while back. Could've been somewhere else though.

6.5L Diesel Engine - Diesel Place

This might help you out.

 

[klrv6]

Do some research on injection pumps first. I remember seeing them in the shop for that all the time.

 

[scojack_2001]

From what my mechanic says, they can either be problem children or not have any problems at all. He cant stand to work on them either. I have no knowledge of them, and I dont think I'd want to own one.

I'll probably go for a DuraMax when/if I ever get that kind of money...

 

[6APPEAL]

Love my Dmax. I will not be going back to a gasser. My bro-in-law had one. Overall not a bad truck.
John

 

[57loboy]

I've had a couple GM diesels (6.2 and 6.5turbo)... I really liked them. Common issues include the PMD (solenoid that is related to the injector pump) failing from heat. Most relocate it and have no issue. Injector pumps can be an issue but there was a recall that extended the original 10 yr/100k mile warranty to 11 or 12 years and 120k or so. Some of the 96-98 blocks had issues with cracking near the #8 cyl that required a new block if within the warranty (mine did). I think the 97's and up had higher HP and torque due to revised cooling system (better water pump, dual thermostats/etc)
Most of us used Stanadyne fuel additive to ensure good pump lubricity and found it helped mpg too. I used to get 600-700 miles per tank with 410 gears... Filling one up today would be pricey!!! The replacement 6.5s are now known as the "optimizer" and are sold by AM General. They got the engine line when GM moved to the duramax.

I would buy another - they are much quieter than the Ford/Dodge of that era - Dmax is sweet too...

 

[WS6]

All good info, thanks! I know the Duramax is the hot ticket now, but older pickups with the 6.5 turbo are becoming dirt cheap. I'll be barely putting on 1000 miles a year as it will be the 5th vehicle in the driveway. I just need a truck to haul the trailer and an occasional load of stone or dirt once in awhile.

Been shopping for a 3/4 ton 94-98 GM truck and the gassers are either whooped on or overpriced queens. Seems the deisel versions have been taken care of better (body wise)... but maybe because they haven't been able to keep them on the road...:wink:

 

[57loboy]

You should be able to find one and have no issues - it's what I want to do when my butt-ugly (7 colors, all factory, washed w/sledgehammer, dried with pick) '94 F350 dies... Only use it 2-3k miles a year for the same as you, plus trips to take my son dirtbiking with me.

 

[wagon]

I bought a 6.5 a couple of months ago. AFTER I bought it I found out that they are the underpowered diesels. The DMax is like driving a GN truck. A friend has a Cummins, and that has plenty of power. My 6.5? Not so much. But, supposedly they can be modded enough to bring them up to stock DMax power levels and safely. And like you said, they are cheap. I was wondering why they were so much cheaper than the other diesels out there. I found out why. It's a light duty engine. The others are considered medium duty. I paid just over $4k for a '96 1 ton dually extended cab. Not too bad I think.
With the right care, they will do what you want, provided you don't want it to do too much.
What I learned about them was that they started as the 6.2 NA, then they went to the 6.5 NA, then the turbo. That's like taking an NA gas motor and sticking a turbo on it. You can do it, but don't expect miracles. You are only going to get so much out of it before you need a broom and a shovel. By the way, I love mine, and with a few mods, it has really picked up,and I'm not even close to being done with it.

And definately check out dieselplace.com and dieseltowingresource.com. Lots of info on them.

 

[79TurboCutlass]

My Dad had a '95 GMC ext. cab dually w/6.5 turbo diesel. Not a bad engine. The injector pump went out once, but it was under warrenty. My uncle had a '95 Dodge reg cab dually w/Cummins at the same time. The 6.5 had more power. They even drag raced each other at the track. The 6.5 won every time.