Michael & Anne

Our names are Michael and Anne from Australia. Over some 18 months ago, we bought a 1998 Holden badged ('Chevy" Suburban K2500 diesel). We had always admired this vehicle, mostly for its generous size to carry a large family, with additional space to place a fridge; tool box; extra batteries and other items in the rear - great vehicle & there is (no other passenger 4wd in AUst. that really comes close). We got our vehicle for a reasonable enough price, knowing we would have to do some work on it. Among other things, we wanted to rebuild the engine, noting some oil leaks and under power. In the end, after doing considerable research about how best to proceed, we elected to completely replace the long block with a new P400, which we purchased directly from AM General in the USA, for over half the price than we could buy same in Australia.

We also elected at the time of purchase to buy from AM, their 'high output' turbo and replacement fuel pump.(5521), as well as upgrading our existing computer to achieve better performance. As many I am sure on this forum will know, the standard sump that comes with the P400 doesn't naturally fit suburbans, without modification. Although we thought we could perhaps buy a correct sump from AM General to suit our veh, this was not possible at time of purchase, although 'may' be possible in the future???. In the end (and I'll show some pics), we used a local boat builder in Aust., who also makes sumps more generally, to modify our sump that came with our imported P400. We had also previously thought we could modify our vehicle, so as to not modify the sump itself (lift kit for front suspension, but this proved too difficult & expensive). In cutting/ and rewelding the sump (Cost $80), we have lost about 1 litre in oil capacity, which although not ideal, we have been told by AM General is acceptable enough.To protect our system, we intend on doing very regular oil changes; have replaced the original oil cooler with a much bigger and robust Griffin cooler, which came with a 13 inch 'Spal' fan.

Anyway, quite a few months have gone by since we rec'd the P400, as we also sought to replace parts, or add new things to the engine bay that would not only protect the new engine for many years to come, but ensure suitable power output, and reliability. It has ended up being a good size project for us, and last weekend, we set about installing our completed engine into our suburban. Once this is fully completed, we intend on installing a new custom made intercooler, along with replacement radiators (air and eng) etc. Once the engine bay is finished, we are hoping to install a 4 inch exhaust; and snorkel, to ensure a cooler engine environment.

As for expected power increase, we have installed a pyrometer and boost gauge. We are also looking at installing a good size bullbar to the vehicle for the times we head out bush with the family, and need to protect ourselves from some of the 'very large' wildlife that abounds in these places. Eventually we are looking at doing up the interior of the suburban carpet; reupholstering our existing leather seating etc; and adding underneath, extra fuel and water tanks, to name a few things (so much we want to do; and do car enthusiasts ever really stop!), and needed to also ensure we have a vehicle that we can take anywhere, and be comfortable in.

For the record, a total of 746 Holden badged, 'Chevy' suburbans were brought into Aust. in the late 1990s of which, 460 were petrol; 286 diesel). Whist we belong to a small Australian forum for other Holden suburban owners, we concede that belonging to a forum such as 'The Diesel Page' should be highly worthwhile, as we strive to learn more about the diesel suburban and what we might improve in it, even more. There are truly so many wonderful diesel trucks on this forum to also admire.

Thank you anyway for your anticipated interest. And we'll post a few pics of our own rig, including the engine and other possible things of interest. Cheers, Anne & Michael

A nice find, and sounds like some good work. Enjoy the vehicle and the great outdoors. Be safe friends!

Thank you for your kind wishes! We will enjoy!

Welcome!

Very nice rig. Looking forward to hear your end results.

Casey

Thanks for that 'Arveetek', we will keep you posted!

Welcome!

Nice Suburban! These vehicles were originally equipped with a side mounted turbocharger. Do you suspect there might be a problem with the rear mounted HMMWV type turbo? Looks way cool.

By the way, the Duramax uses a rear centrally located turbo. With shielding, there isn't a problem with clearance or with undue heating of the firewall.

Again, welcome to The Diesel Page. Jim

Thank you Jim for your nice words and welcome. Many would regard the 'Holden' type suburban that was released for the Australian market back in the late 90's, as a type of sub-species, to the of course more abundant Chevy Suburban, particularly in the engine bay area, and where of course we drive on the opposite side of road to US drivers. This meant that the engine bay for Aust use, needed some modification to suit RHD, which included our turbo being rear positioned from the start. Aside from having to address the larger sump issues that the purchase of the P400 posed, the P400 was ideal for us, as there wasn't too much else we had to worry about. Most problems were reasonably able to be dealt with.

Whilst I understand that a side mounted turbo position allows provision for a bigger turbo, space wise, we are assuming that the one we now have, may spool faster, giving us more immediate power for around town.

Some people in Aust who have suburbans thought it was a shame that we didn't look to obtain a bigger turbo (say pursue a different mounting posit), but we also felt reluctant to radically change too much - cost wise; ease. and where do you stop?

The turbo, AM General supplied to us is a 'IHI' type, & apparently their high output version, of the two they had available; and I understand capable of giving up to 15 psi. (in conjunction with other things we are doing with this vehicle) Physically to look at, there isn't too much difference in size, (from orig turbo to our new one), but expect maybe the real differences are inside the turbo itself.

I think any improvement on what we had, (we suspected our old engine had a blown head gasket as well), will be received well. In the most part, we just wanted a vehicle that could carry our large family; tow a small camping van (say 2/2.5 tonne); and last us many many years to come. We are so glad we have also taken the course we have; this vehicle having so much character. Cheers to you!:)

just thought i would show you an image of your american cousin.......mj and anne.......98 gmc with 471,000 on her now.......brand new amg from kennedy at 435180 in 12/12...still on original tranny......amsoil products in everything that will hold it.......dual bypass oil filter set up.....kennedy big suburban open exhaust.....geared timing.....

big red has been and still is an awesome road eating machine. getting ready to make the run from maryland back out to the montana home for christmas again.........the new amg asks for a qt of amsoil about every 3000........with not a drop showing up anywhere under her skirts. with john's help and the best 6.5 "doctor" alive today here in maryland......no rust on the bod or frame.......[ oil sprayed underneaf twice a year ]......the goal is to run big red to a 1,000,000 plus......by then ......i should be in another universe.

Gidday Burgess!

Thanks for the info, and the attached pic. Living ourselves in a very normally warm part of Australia all year round, it is such an impressive thing seeing your own vehicle (cousin to our own dear Burb) sitting out there in the snow like yours. In the current process of doing up own vehicle, came across (among other things) this little disconnected lead with plug just sitting there in the engine bay. Turned out it was a lead to the 'heating block' and which we pondered would we ever use, and even if we travelled south one day to our own modest snow country for a holiday. Seeing thus your own vehicle out there in quite a generous looking 'field' of snow, we couldn't help wonder how well this vehicle's heating systems cope with starting your vehicle. e.g glow plugs etc. Does it take a long time for example to warm your vehicle up? I should expect driving through such dense snow perhaps similar to our best equivalent, thick beach sand, lol! (such as Fraser Island's inland bush tracks, where when sand is very dry, well, it can be a challenge to say the least!)
Your cited 471,000 (miles?) travelled would be about 756,000 klms in our usage, which I think is absolutely incredible, if I have it right; and on the one transmission??? Wow, it is indeed a solid transmission. Clearly, your truck is both a testament to the solidness of this vehicle overall, and equally, the way you have cared for it. That would make our 280,000 klms (174,000 miles) quite ordinary then. We had been going to rebuild our original engine, (it had issues), but in many ways, even replacing the long block with the P400 probably ended up cheaper, and we believe we have ended up with yet a more durable engine anyway. May we ask did you put an AMG, 'Optimiser' or 'P400', as I think AMG still supplies both? Both types anyway were an improvement I think on the original, which could potentially develop cracking in the heads and block..

Also, really was interested when you mentioned you had a dual oil filter, and wondered what type; how did you place it on your engine; and was this unit supplied through Kennedy's Diesels as well? In Australia, many people rave about a similar system called the 'Jackmaster' oil bypass system. My husband Michael, whilst very very impressed with the idea of still having clean oil at normal oil change time, was unsure of the best place to get oil out of the engine, and then back into the engine, connection point wise, and using this system. Also, he was concerned that, could the many hoses and other connection points (at least in the referred Jackmaster) for such a system, potentially easily fail, and leak oil type) . Here is link to our own Jackmaster type http://jackmasteroilfilters.com.au/. Have you had any problems with yours, which I'm thinking naturally you haven't. Not long ago, Michael was speaking to Bill Heath of "Heath Diesels' who suggested that he thought they had a high chance of developing leaking points. Thus, so far, we aren't too sure how best to proceed here; but really appreciate the value of clean oil, and protecting the engine more.

I am vaguely aware that there can be issues with snow/ salt, and really not that dissimilar say to the high corrosive ability of our own beaches/salt water environment here. Beach driving/offroading is so incredibly popular here. We have used a product called 'Inox' (anti-moisture/anti-corrosion lubricant; and lanolin based oil to protect our vehicle's metal parts, and so far, good.

We also must say, that we are so impressed with the steel work in this vehicle; so solid and strong anyway. We absolutely love our own 'big red', and it is so reassuring reading your own post, and seeing what our own vehicle might be capable of, and if well looked after. Thank you Burgess for your very interesting posting, and I'll see if I can attach a beach photo taken with our own suburban. Cheers to you, and may you enjoy many good driving experiences over the imminent Christmas/festive season!

mjeremy...........heeeyyyyyyyyy........i put in a new amg p400........my dual by-pass system is the one amsoil made for the 2500 suburban and i bought it from an amsoil dealer if i remember........think it was before i knew of john........have had no issues with it .....none......but did change out the oil lines for the steel braided long ago and of course just put new ones on and bigger oil cooler with the new engine. i have never checked with john if he offers the by-pass system but no harm in asking him.

i run a winter front cover when ever i'm hitting the 30º down kind of temp and plug in when i expect a cold start in the 20º range.......big red will fire on it's own at those temps but it sure as hell will let you know it's not happy about it until it warms some.

plugged in........i had no problem starting one morning last year in montana when the glow plugs finished their dance..........outside temp was -41º........i do run kennedy's total power additive.

however......even with the dual filter oil by-pass system.........and amsoil filters.......you will not have clean clear oil at change time............the 6.5 just soots up to much........best you can do is............py pass with the best filters you can buy......your choice of synthetic ....[amsoil all the way for me ].........and i change my filters at 5,000 miles and dump the amsoil at 10,000......though the only test i ever did on it showed that it was still up to specs at 10,000 even with all the soot.

i made a mistake in my first post about big red asking for a quart of oil with the new engine.........my records show that she asks for a quart around every 4,000 now.....not 3,000. here's a link for imfo on the by-pass system.......<http://www.thedieselpage.com/reviews/dualbypass.htm>

they simply don't make rigs like the 2500 '98 suburban anymore........as you said .....solid .....strong.......keep it oiled below and we'll just see how long it will run.......of course my biggest worry is someone taking me out on a run..........as insurance will in no way cover the value or investment in big red at this point.

i did add a front air damn and that does add a little to the milage by cutting some of the drag from the high 4 wheel drive stance. on my last run back to my
maryland farm [ whitetail heaven ] from st ignatius, montana .......my average running speed was 68.3........my overall fuel milage was + 17.6 gallen per.......and i was running heavy ......i can live with that easy. i run michelin ltx 265/75r16 and they are rated at 80 psi......i run them when traveling over the road like the montana run at 5% over that rating.......ups did a fuel milage test on their rigs awhile back and found that they got their best fuel milage 10 % above the side wall tire rating.....just passing it on.

we put phaser gears in when we installed the new engine..................i should say that this is the third engine in big red because way.... way...... way back when she only had some 30 thousand original miles on her.........she started sucking coolant by the quart and of course i was on the way to montana.........when i got to montana......i put her in a dealers shop [ to remain unspoken right now ] ....after all she was under warrenty.........they replaced the engine and when i flew back to missoula to pick her up they said gm had denied the warrenty because i never changed the oil.........it's really a long long long story.........i went through every fricking lawer in montana and no body would take on the dealer or gm..............it took me ten years before a friend of mine fly fishing in russia with a young lawyer from billings told the story around the campfire..........the young lawyer told my friend he wasn't afraind of anyone in montana and to have me call him when he got home........ten years.........we beat gm and the damn dealer and they paid.......of course not enough for all the years........but i beat them.

the replaced engine lasted the rest of the time until i put in the p400.

of course we replace things that need replacing........fsd is on john's new cooler on the fender mounted with heat paste [ but keep a spare because they still aren't any better than they ever where ] ......normal wear and tear.........ball joints and wheel bearings as needed..........new transfer case as the old one sprung a leak...........new u joints with grease fittings as needed.......etc..........but like i said........big red is a road eating machine...........fun to drive on long hauls and you get out and can still function..............i love driving her and really have not had a long distance run in anything that's as comfortable as she is over the road.

enjoy your beast mj.........they simply don't make them like that anymore.............

Sweet looking Burb.

The P400 will really be a plus in the rig

You should be able to get many many years of great service out of that beauty.

Thanks for sharing the pix

Robyn

Gidday again Burgess,

Thank you for your wonderful reply. Michael and I were absolutely enthralled to read it, especially as we are so unacquainted with snow/ultra-cold temps; the effects on trucks; and how problems are overcome. Here and with our own vehicle, we have, and continue to look at ways to achieve better cooling systems for our truck, allowing say touring in the worst type of conditions - like full payloads; towing a loaded camping van, in a hot location. Thus our basis in buying a high quality custom intercooler; & generally upgrading all our original radiators/coolers, incl. some to a higher standard. It is our intention to look at ways of also removing heat more efficiently, like upgrading exhaust to 4 inch etc ; and maybe even pursuing better external venting, in the area of the rear turbo.

We are still considering installing an oil bypass system, something which is clearly viewed by so many as giving real improvement to engine performance and longevity. Our decision to proceed will rely on working out our best to install such a unit with minimal chance of creating weak points, that might have a tendency to leak oil down the track. As said above, we are replacing the oil cooler with a larger/heavier duty one, which came with an attached rear mounted fan to aid cooling better. (I'll include a pic of this). Michael was hoping to also 'tap' the oil cooler line, needed to drain all the oil from the total system, at oil change. And like you said, regularly changing the oil more generally appears highly important as well, not to mention using quality filters.

Found it staggering that GM/ and your dealer would try and avoid honouring their warranty, and even more amazing that it took over 10 years before something was done.Bravo to the young lawyer who took on your case, but shame on the authorities for treating you as they did. By the sound of it, your second engine served you well; and no doubt, you are very happy with the P400. This weekend, we are hoping to connect the new engine to the gearbox, and then look at installing the various fans and radiators. We will also need to have our timing/fuel pump refined as well. As you might imagine, we are just that excited at the prospect of driving our vehicle again, as it has been off the road for a while. We still have so much to do, but admittedly, this is a project of passion for us. Australia as you may realise is a big country, with so many wonderful natural attributes, and in choosing to buy a suburban, could think of nothing more comfortable to do touring in.

cheers to you, and we'll keep you posted. great communicating with other overseas suburban enthusiasts!

Yes Robyn, it is our hope that with all the various improvements we are implementing on our suburban, especially the engine upgrade, that we will look forward to many many years of enjoyable driving experience.

It is also impressive to read some of the reliable & higher mileages that other suburban owners are able to achieve, as read on this forum, noting the value of appropriate care and maintenance given to the vehicles, to provide this. Thank you! :)

I didn't know Holden ever rebadged a Suburban, and certainly never knew there was ever a Burb made with the steering wheel on the other side! Thats awesome, and I love what your doing with it. When you finish the engine install, would you post pics, as I'm very curious how the firewall was built for use with a center mount turbo setup. Your P400 should last a very long time, especially if all it will see is 15 psi of boost. Who customized the oil pan for you? Thanks

Matt

______

Gidday Matt, and sorry it has been a while since able to respond to you. We are still going about finalising things for this vehicle/engine install, Michael presently connecting up all the stain. steel piping and silicon bends for our intercooler as well. We are lucky to have found some local metal work fabricators in Moffat Beach (who mostly build high quality boats, but do other things like make sumps; and high end roof racks etc etc) and who have also been able to assist us with some of the req'd modifications, for eg. the sump alteration. In this instance, this task wasn't as difficult as first envisaged. Many who have seen it comment about the high quality of the weld as well, and cost was only $70.00. Certainly, it shows what can be done!! We intend on using this same business to make an eventual stainless steel snorkel and 5 posted bullbar, as well as other bits and pieces for our 'dear' suburban.

As per our centre mounted turbo, I will look at getting some better pics for you to see how the fire wall accommodates our particular vehicle situation. Whilst perhaps we could have looked at other configurations to allow for a bigger turbo elsewhere, (say side position), in the end, we tried to keep things as close to standard; not just for limiting our costs, but also to better guarantee, that everything would fit in. It is our understanding that this turbo should (hopefully) suit our needs; and we are encouraged when you imply that running it at about 15psi should cause it to last a very long time. Out of interest Matt, are you aware of what others might with this engine, run their vehicles capably at?

The Christmas period has slowed us down a bit with doing the last details, but we are still pushing along. I can't yet fully envisage whether or not we will ever perhaps even completely finish this vehicle, as once we complete have the engine bay in order, will likely look at improving other things, say detailing the cabin area; adding say better roof rack system; extra lighting; extra fuel and water tanks; car mounted roof annexes.; winch etc. Basically we want to have a vehicle that is very capable as well as comfortable.

I remain unsure of how much you know about Australia, but here 4 wheel driving is a growing past time, with many families going touring through the Simpson desert, and on other epic tracks here. Would love to know how capable our suburban thus would be for this type of touring, and what we might do to still improve its off road ability (of course allowing for its extra length). We are looking at putting bigger tires on; and maybe adding high quality air pump/suspension. At this current time, we feel that we have ensured engine wise (in pursuing a P400), that in this area, it will be very reliable. Cheers, Anne and Michael: P.S. Will keep you posted with news and pics! And thankyou for your interest!In this link, these guys took their hiluxes. There are a few tracks to take in this region. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJCD-qc4wuk

Love the video! That should make for some quality fun with your Suburban. :D

As far as how much boost you can safely run. Your P400 should be very happy at 15. I don't know how efficient your GM center mount turbo is. I am familiar with the side mount GM turbos, and they were terrible at higher boost levels. The drive pressure to boost pressure was around 2:1 and higher. So if you were running 15 psi boost, the drive pressure in your exhaust pre turbo would be 30+ psi. The higher the drive pressure, the higher your EGT's get, and the more risk of head gasket failure.
I'm currently running a Holset turbo on my truck, with a max of 20 psi, but the drive pressure on my turbo is 1:2 to 1:5 depending on what my RPM is, which makes higher boost levels safer. My engine is just the normal 6.5, so its not built nearly as well as your P400. You can see my current engine here. http://www.thedieselpageforums.com/t...ad.php?t=43766
I know several people running in the 25 psi area with their 6.5's without problems, but it get risky at those pressures. I don't know if the P400 has improved head gaskets, but I've read that the heads have been improved, so they don't crack like the old 6.5's did, and of cours the bottom end is bulletproof! Forged crank, main cap girdle, etc...

I'm really looking forward to seeing your Suburban completed. :)

Matt