Gotta 6.5 in the family now

[Mike]

My old man bought a 98 with the 6.5 in it. He already has a Dodge with the 5.9 and he's bombed it a little to pull his 5th wheel and a tri-axle farm trailer. But he didnt want to convert his Dodge to full time farm duty, you can really blow an interior in a hurry and his is clean. So he buys this 6.5 to take over the farm chores (running for parts,hes got a 100 gallon fuel transfer tank for field fueling of machinery etc etc). Its a gutless wonder compared to his Cummins but amazingly enough when he went to pick it up (somewhere in Minnesota) and drove it home it averaged 18 mpg.

Lets cut to the chase now, what kind of stink bomb did he get himself into here or are these things pretty good just as long as you dont load them up? What are some of the things he should be aware of or watching for?

 

[ISurvivedNMU]

The biggest thing that I have read about them is heat.. If you bomb them egt's are high, and sometimes the enigine temp is up there...

 

[Mike]

I dont think he has any plans to bomb it. He's got his Dodge that he plays with when he needs a black smoke fix. He just wanted something to replace his old farm beater with which was a mid eighties Ferd Ranger.

 

[TPCDrafting]

Not sure if they had fixed it by 98, but Dad's '94 1500 6.5 had some sort of PCM/ACM/POS somethin or other (read computer box) factory mounted on top between the heads. Go figger when it blew we took it off and right on the box it says to mount where it won't get hot. He found on the net somewhere a mounting bracket and new wire harness to mount it on the side by the battery. No problems since and he has over 170k on it. He hasn't hauled much more than his golf bag with it, but like ya said it gets 18 mpg and pulls better than a 350 but nothing like a Cummins.

 

[dieseldummy]

By '98 they pretty much fixed the cooling problems, but added oil spray piston coolers which have been know to make the block prone to cracking. The pump mounted driver is also of concern, if it starts stalling or wont start when hot, then that's the problem. If he treats maintains it well it should serve the purpose. Mine is a farm wagon and gets some pretty hard use. I think I've finally got it to where a trust it...

 

[LongBlackRam]

I've had a couple of those beasts, still have a 95 P(Y)ukon with the 6.5...
Dieseldummy & TPCDrafting are pretty much on the mark as for what to expect. They can be reliable and economical if maintained (the 6.5's that is ). If there is a plastic cover over the intake manifold and injection pump, I suggest you lose it; it holds heat in where you don't need heat.

Good luck with it.

LBR

 

[Mike]

Thanks for all the tips, I'll pas them along to pops. Now if I truly know my old man although he has no intentions of doing any heavy duty work with this pig, theres going to come a day when he gets his wild hair to "see what this thing can do" and I'll prolly be back here telling you of the carnage.

 

[spindrift]

Originally posted by TPCDrafting
Not sure if they had fixed it by 98, but Dad's '94 1500 6.5 had some sort of PCM/ACM/POS somethin or other (read computer box) factory mounted on top between the heads. Go figger when it blew we took it off and right on the box it says to mount where it won't get hot. He found on the net somewhere a mounting bracket and new wire harness to mount it on the side by the battery. No problems since and he has over 170k on it. He hasn't hauled much more than his golf bag with it, but like ya said it gets 18 mpg and pulls better than a 350 but nothing like a Cummins.

What TPC is referring to is the PMD (Pump Mounted Driver) or FSD (Fuesl Solenoid Driver); they're both the same thing. That sucker is what gave the 6.5TD the reputation it has...none so good if you talk to a Cummins or PS guy. Cooling system problems were addressed in the '97 model year so you're good to go there. There's a lot of power and reliability that you can get from one of these things so don't fret none.

 

[Mike]

Thanks for the info fellas, now I'm gonna pull the bait and switch on you. When I talked to my old man on the phone over Christmas I found out that its a 95, not a 98 as I previously stated.

 

[spindrift]

Do the cooling mods...dual thermostat and hi flo water pump

 

[DetroitDan]

I love how all the Cummins guys have to take their little jabs at the 6.5s. Of course its a dog compared to a bombed Cummins, but compared to a stock Cummins it will run with it all day long. Every stock Cummins I've ever driven has been older than 98 and they were absolute friggin' bones. The unfortunate thing is that the 6.5 got replaced by the Dmax around the time that diesel performance mods started gaining in popularity, so there is hardly any aftermarket support for the 6.5. If I had the aftermarket parts availability I could keep up with any Cummins. And I'm sure that my truck can outperform a 97 Cummins Ram with the same mods that I have. So there.

 

[dieseldummy]

DD, I think ya need to lay off the bottle. I've been drinking all week and still don't get where that came from...

 

[TPCDrafting]

when my Cummins was stock I could outrun Dad's 6.5 any day of the week. We put an old 2 horse bumper pull on Dads truck once while mine was on a road trip elsewhere and the fastest it would go on the interstate was 65 mph. In stock form my CTD would go faster with the exact same trailer on the mountain passes. True experience, not jabs. I think his truck has been very good to him and has proven to be much more reliable and much longer lived than any other gasser he's ever owned. Just not nearly the tower that my CTD is.

 

[Mike]

Well, Im not sure where Dan took it that anybody was taking jabs at the 6.5. Ive read this over and over but still dont see it. Regardless, unless y'all have something pertinent to add to this thread about the 6.5 then take the ****** match to the battlegrounds.

 

[DetroitDan]

Originally posted by 95_stroker
Its a gutless wonder compared to his Cummins

sorry, I guess I took that the wrong way. I tend to get a little defensive when people come into the 6.5 area and try to run them down. I looked up the numbers once and they are pretty comparable stock-to-stock for 97. I'm going to go find a used 97 Ram 6 wheeler that I can take for a testdrive, to see what I think after driving them both in the same day. If I am overwhelmingly impressed with it I will sell my Chev and buy the Dodge. Somehow I dont see that happening. Okay, all I'm gonna say for now, because youre right it is starting to sound like a battleground.