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[jtdalrymple]

Hello All.


I was a previous heavy user of the diesel page and the forums. At the time I owned a 96 GMC 6.5 TD 2500. I gained a world of knowledge and help from these sites.

After a trip to the Chevy dealership during a "super sale", and a weak moment of self control, back in the winter of 2002 all my concerns about keeping a 6.5TD in sound condition came to a sudden halt. I became the owner of a Duramax, then the dream ride of anyone who had skinned a knuckle working on a 6.5TD.

All went well for 5+ years and only 65,000 miles, when the beloved Duramax began to idle rough and smoke.

I have a great relationship with the service end of the dealership, and they perform all routine maintenance. Regular oil changes, yearly fuel filters, tranny service and the like.

I immediately rejoined my trusted source of info and found out about the injector issues and the extended warranty from GM.

Now 2 months and a complete injector swap (all under warranty!) later I say thanks and hello again to the forums and pages.

Now my question, are the injectors the PMD of the Duramax?
What can one do to minimize trouble with them?

I don't use the truck for a daily driver, saving it for pulling my travel trailer, mostly. It was a real shock to have this kind of problem with so few miles.

Best Regards,

[carco]

Posting in the Duramax threads might get better response but here goes.


Now my question, are the injectors the PMD of the Duramax?
What can one do to minimize trouble with them?


The injectors are not equivalent to the old PMD unless you mean by that, the Achilles heel, then maybe yes.
The best filtering money can add, true 2 micron filtering may help the injectors last longer, better filtering positively will not hurt.
bob..............................

[Mark Rinker]

You might want to start a regimine of using fuel additives and/or add some additional filtration, now that your warranty is soon to be up.

No guarantees that you won't put in another set at 150K, but general concensus is that both help to extend injector life. Best of luck!

[jtdalrymple]

My post started out as a thanks for all the info I have found here, and a small self introduction.

Bob, your assumption is correct. I was indeed asking if the injectors are the weak spot of the duramax just as the PMD was to the 6.5TD.

Then I tripped over my soapbox.

I will search for improved filtering options.

[More Power]

Welcome back Jeff!

Not everyone has injector problems with their LB7, but enough do that it has become one of the more frequently discussed service issues. The mechanical aspects of the injectors should now be as good as the injectors used in the LLY, LBZ and LMM, but since the fuel-return lines are beneath the valve covers, it presents a potential for oil contamination that the newer engines don't have.

Back in the early days of the LB7, boards buzzed with talk about additional fuel filtration as a way to extend the life of the injectors. This was driven, in part, by several noobe vendors who sold auxiliary fuel filter kits and the logical assumption that additional fuel filtration would help extend the life of the injectors. Kinda makes sense, but it's still an educated guess, even to this day (IMHO). No hard data to prove it one way or the other. We've got a couple aux fuel filter reviews available in the Product Reviews (http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews.htm) page that shows how to install them and explains how they could help. :)

Jim