6.5 K2500

[smokin69]

I know its not an a IH IDI but its still an IDI lol. Theres more traffic here.I found a 92 6.5 by me. It is a regular cab longbox with a 5 speed and has about 60,000 miles on it. Is there anything I should look at when I go to look at it? Are they decently reliable? How is millage? My friend says it has the same DB2 injector pump as my 6.9 and that it should be easy to turn the fuel up. Is it okay to do that on these engines with a pyro and boost gauge to monitor it? Thanks.

 

[Pipeliner_86]

Those engines don't like being turned up, from what ive been told. You may be looking for a new set of head gaskets if you do that.

 

[smokin69]

A couple of my friends have turned up 6.5's and they say the thing is to keep it cool by keeping EGT's lower and putting an intercooler on it.

 

[Jake S.]

A friend of mine has a '92 4x4 also. Has 275,000 miles and is faster than my 6.9. Gets 24-26 mpg empty with a 4l80 slushbox. Put a 6k load behind it and I can run faster than it can accel. IMHO they are good jobsite runners, but not good pullers. The only thing is the heads crack between the valves... alot.

 

[towcat]

The chevy is a good motor for commuter use. It will get the best MPG compared to the two other domestics. They respond real well to turbo and IC but NEVER NEVER NEVER overheat the motor. Depending on the price, it will serve well for a comuter.
Oh yea, turning up the feul isn't hard at all on the chevy DB2. all you have to do is remove the top cover. The pumps are the same, the rotation is opposite of the IH DB2.

 

[smokin69]

They have the same port on the side, you just have to take the 4 bolts on the intake plenum from the turbo off and remove it to reach it. Id rather not take the top cover off and accidently mess up the govener.

 

[94f450sd]

a friend of mine had a 98 6.5 turbo al stock.6 sets of headgaskets and heads later they got rid of it.

 

[Diesel JD]

Heard good and bad things about them..the good, excellent fuel mileage for a V8, the bad sucky injection pump, and expensive to fix or replace. Not much on these blown headgaskets, but honestly don't know much about them. It might be a fun economical vehicle if its well cared for and the price is right. I'd immediately upgrade the PMD to one with a heat sink...that is a couple hundred dollar fix but better than a 500-1000 IP ouch

 

[92F350CC]

I know nothing about the 6.5, but i had a 1990 Vandura 3500 box van with the 6.2, and that was a boat anchor. In the 6 years of ownership, downtime totalled about 3.5 years. It was gutless, got 6-8 mpg unloaded(but it is a cube van with 10,000lb gvw) overheated like crazy, and blew 2 motors while i owned it. I prefered my 6.9 no questions asked to the 6.2, but I can't speak on the 6.5, allthough i believe the differences on those are about the same as the 6.9-7.3 differences.

 

[smokin69]

"I'd immediately upgrade the PMD to one with a heat sink...that is a couple hundred dollar fix but better than a 500-1000 IP ouch"

I can't replace the PMD on a vehicle that doesn't have one. PMD's are found from 94-01 on the electronic 6.5's with a DS4 pump. The 92 Im looking at is a mechanical injection with a DB2 pump, just like ours on a 6.9 and 7.3. My friends are mostly chevy guys and most have 6.5's and 6.2's and I always get smoked by them.

 

[Diesel JD]

Oops, my bad, you are correct. I didn't know when they put that DS4 pump in there. Doesn't seem like a 6.2 or 6.5 naturally aspirated should eat an IDI for lunch, but a turbo 6.5 vs. a NA 6.9, that I can see. Should be pretty even with a turbo 6.9 and turbo 6.5, if not a little in favor of the 6.9.

 

[FordGuy100]

Oops, my bad, you are correct. I didn't know when they put that DS4 pump in there. Doesn't seem like a 6.2 or 6.5 naturally aspirated should eat an IDI for lunch, but a turbo 6.5 vs. a NA 6.9, that I can see. Should be pretty even with a turbo 6.9 and turbo 6.5, if not a little in favor of the 6.9.

Thats what I was thinking. A N/A 6.9 with a good injection system should be able to outrun a N/A 6.2 easily. They might have you if they were turbo'ed though. I've riden in a 6.2 and although it revved rather high, it was rather slow.

 

[RLDSL]

Only v8 gm small diesel I drove was a 6.2 conversion van a guy had for sale with about 50k miles on it. Getting up a hill it was breathing pretty hard, then when I got back from the test drive it had coolant leaking out the back of the head.
No go.
Reminded me alot of the 4.8 v6 gm diesel I had in a chevy celebrity. got great fuel mileage, avaraged 45 mpg.....when it ran. Screwball fuel filters gauarenteed to leak, and when the heads went by-by, the things were made of that lame injection molded aluminum that can't be repaired, and the car ( with a perfect body and interior )wound up in the boneyard

Not real fond of Gm's dalliances into diesels.

--------Robert

 

[Diesel JD]

45mpg on a V6 GM no crap? They had a really tough go of it with the Olds diesels especially, busted headbolts, head gaskets etc. I believe it was actually a 4.3 V6 though, and yes the GM diesels rev higher than Ford/IH stuff. I heard that the governor springs from a GM Roosamaster DB2 was how Ken accomplished the higher redline on his DPS pumps. They limit out between 3500-4000 whereas Ford redlines around 3300.

 

[RLDSL]

45mpg on a V6 GM no crap? They had a really tough go of it with the Olds diesels especially, busted headbolts, head gaskets etc. I believe it was actually a 4.3 V6 though, and yes the GM diesels rev higher than Ford/IH stuff. I heard that the governor springs from a GM Roosamaster DB2 was how Ken accomplished the higher redline on his DPS pumps. They limit out between 3500-4000 whereas Ford redlines around 3300.

Oops, yup, it was a 4.3, it's past bedtime
Yea, that little car consistantly got 45 mpg. I drove it with a very light foot. I was back in college at that time and was seriously pinching pennies. I wish the thing would have held up, it was a pleasure to drive and it always started good cold....when it was runing.
It sucked having to junk it, but at the time we were living in a rental place and couldn't do surgery on cars, so I was stuck at the mercy of the local crooks, and a new set of heads was more than another car.

------Robert