How much do you like your 6.5

[travis-citb]

Over the years I have had the following with a 6.5 in it:

1996 k2500 extended cab long box.
1998 k1500 extended cab short box.
1995 "heavy half" suburban (basically same as 3/4 but 3.42 gears instead of 3.73).
1999 K3500 SRW crew cab long box.
(Also had a 1992 1/2 extended cab short box with a 6.2 and nv4500)

I would take any one of them right now (the best match for the engine I found to be the 6.5 1/2 ton pickup).

I just traded the '99 for a 2007 lmm duramax in February, and more than once I have wished I had my 6.5 back - I like everything about that engine, and the pickups they are in. I also have a 2000 tahoe that I pulled a new 26 foot travel trailer with, and as I was pulling it home, I kept thinking, "This would be a perfect setup if it had a 6.5 in it." With the 5.3 gas, it was less than perfect. So, nothing specific about what I like about the 6.5, but right now not having a 6.5 is a lot worse than having one ever was.

[phantom309]

6.5/6.2 diesels the red headed step child of the diesel truck community,.
I,ve had 4 trucks now an 88 suburban 6.2 4wd,.sold to a friend who is still driving it it has close to 500kms on it,.i bought a 93 'parts' truck that another friend bought off me and he's driving it, its a 3500 2wd single rear wheel drive truck no options 'cept p/s p/b,.it,s over 500kms, i bought a 4 dr dually ex horse hauler that's fancied up like missy's with oak interior and flares, visor, custom front bumper etc,. i hot rodded the motor after i did head gaskets,. added head studs,. modified a gm8 turbo and put a big chip in the 5068 pump,. it would routinely boost over 26 psi for a year or so,. finally melted a piston,. I bought a 94 extended cab 4x4 for the motor,.($1000) but everything worked including the air,. so i,ve been driving it for 2 yrs now,.its approaching 400kms,.
and the big dually is going to be getting a P pumped 12v cummins with the 47rh trans,.(i think) unless i come across a late model stiffer block,. then i may re-do a little motor again,.
the 4x4 has 3:42 gears and seems to be the happiest 6.5 i,ve owned it routinely does 20 mpg (converted to mini gals for you murhicans)

neat little motors ,. i like 'em.

Nick

[JohnC]

(converted to mini gals for you murhicans)

Yeah, but our miles are bigger!

[henryjsx]

Yeah, but our miles are bigger!

Totally!

I got my hands on a beat up 1971 Power Wagon W300 ... worked on it a bit and then bought a 96 3500 CC dually. I love it!

There's a lot wrong with it -- hopefully, it will be a parts truck for the next 6.5 I get.

[cjones]

I got into the Chevy Diesel market when we had our 5th kid. We needed a car to haul the family and luggage on vacation and around town. We first went the standard route and bought a 1999 Chysler Town and Country but every car has issues and after nickle and diming, with new transmission, I started looking for something that could haul the gear and have 4wd, etc. My options, excluding vans, were the Excursion and 6.5. My dad did everything he could to talk me out of the 6.5 but it came down to money. I could buy 2-3 mid 90's suburbans for the price of one Excursion and even if I would buy the Excursion it still requires maintenance, not to mention Ford's issues.

So, we bought a 1994 Suburban with a Jasper rebuilt engine and rebuilt tranny with 280,000 miles. I've had this rig for about a year and no issues with the engine. I've had to replace a brake caliper and hydroboost but I expected that with the miles. As others have mentioned, I have issues with overheating Exhaust temps which have slowed me down on the highway but even at 18MPG I figure I'm saving around $500-$700/yr on fuel compared to a gas suburban.

I'm new to the Diesel scene but knowing now, I would have never bought a Town and Country so compared to the mini-van I love the burb and planning on buying a 95, I like the interior better.

As others have mentioned, I plan on doing my own work on the rig, otherwise an engine change or IP change would make these engines unpractical via cost.....that's why you can buy them so cheap. Works great for the bottom feeders of the diesel world.

Here's looking forward to 400,000 miles.

[greatwhite]

Liked my 98 when I bought it.

Then it cracked a piston crown and left us stranded in a foreign country (usa) with a 35 foot trailer on a mountain pass.

Like turned to dislike.

A $10,000 repair bill turned dislike into hate.

A year later, hate has turned back to like.

I don't use the world "love" with inanimate objects, it cheapens the meaning of that powerful word for me. So like is as good as it gets for the truck.

Like is going to have to be good enough, I've got to keep it for another ten years to get my money back out of it!

Still, I have less in it than 3 times what it would cost for a new DMax...

[vsandme]

Ive had mine nearly a month now and Im still leary of it not knowing them as well. Ive owned many vehicles with tbi and vortec 350's and a few 4.3's a few of the 350's making 350,000+miles before selling them and trust them to all ends of the earth....but this 6.5 ive been on edge with driving 200miles a day. Gotta say I love the much better fuel mileage!

[Gmc65turbo]

Hello all
I have 96 dully with a 6.5 turbo. Love the truck and the body style. But I know there has to be some not so expensive upgrades out there that won't break the bank. Where do I start? If any one has done some mods to their 6.5 that improved powered can you share list of tricks. This is my first diesel I want roll this baby out of the garage the right way.


Thanks

[Robyn]

Hello

A free flowing 4 inch exhaust system (Several companies offer good kits)

A power chip (Or in your case, the 96 requires an ECM swap)

Depending on the ECM program you choose, a turbo master waste gate controller would be good.

Set max boost to about 12 psi

If your truck does not have the cooling system upgrades (Dual t stat set up and high flow water pump) this is good.

A gauge set (Boost and an exhaust gas temp gauge "pyro" )

The combination of the exhaust and the reprogrammed ECM will give you about all that's easy to reach


There are several vendors that can help.

John Kennedy
Bill Heath

There are others, but these are two I am familiar with and trust.

Several companies offer larger exhaust systems for these rigs, and the big deal is BIG PIPE and a free flowing muffler.

If your interested in more $$$$$ a turbo upgrade can help some.


Hope this helps

Missy

[sctrailrider]

I love my 6.5 so much that I am going to celebrate by replacing it with a Cummins....

[bowtiebutler]

I love my 6.5 so much that I am going to celebrate by replacing it with a Cummins....

Thats cold!

Matt

[Turbine Doc]

Been forever ago since I posted here or any forums, I needed to send a message to Robyn and figured best way to get her was here, and stumbled across this thread when changing passwords from long ago.

Last update on my 6.5s was 8-9-2007

As of then to now both mine still up and running strong, the 98 C1500 burb got parked for a few years while doing a body swap (It was a Katrina salvage project) acquired in 2006. 185K on the drive-train trans rebuilt @ 165K when it failed to go in reverse, is only major issue on that one.

And my original 98 K1500 acquired in 2000 still in the game as well MANY MODS that one, stock engine ran from 98 until 2013 and was pulled last July to allow me to install my "project engine" that took 4 years to build (I spend a LOT of time on the road) I'm off to Australia in the morning to work some turbines.

The removed engine is my "running take out" spare for both vehicles now with 225K on engine when removed, project 6.5 has 6500 or so miles on it now, I don't drive it much due to high Diesel fuel costs I've moved back into my 90 4.3L C1500 gasser as my "daily driver".

Trans on the K1500 was rebuilt at 185K thinking I'd have it "fresh" to be paired with the project engine fresh, it didn't turn out that way .

BUT LOVING the 6.5s still to this day......New paint for the K1500 come 1st of the year (sons college tuition put a crimp on "toys" ) I'll run it until it rots away so I say Phooey on Dmax/Common rail/Cummins/Stroke

My best guesstimate to my K1500 is 250-300 rwhp now, based on 200rwhp dyno I had in 2005 pre-ATT install runs, & before installing all bells/whistles with current setup & completed project engine.

[JeepSJ]

I like it enough to be building a new Navistar block based engine for the DieselSJ project. And I'm seriously considering building up the 2nd Navistar block to swap into the dually to replace the 454.