New to diesels. 06 duramax

kurtdsmith13

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I just bought my first diesel pickup. 06 gmc duramax, with a 6 speed manual. I was just wondering about plugging it in, and the fuel. I know on my grandpas farm he plugs in his tractors, and dump trucks, but do i really need to do that on these newer trucks. Also do i need to add some fuel stabilizer, or is there not as big of problem with parafin in diesel these days. Just wondering about some of these things, or what others do. Thanks and i hope to read allot of these posts in the future.
 

FordGuy100

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Depends on the temp. I would start using anti gel diesel fuel additives if the temps got to around 20* or less for day in and day out. Duramax's start real easy in cold weather, but I would probably plug it in if it got to about 10* or less at night so that the first start up will be easy on the truck, and it will warm up quicker.
 

rebel_horseman

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Pretty much all of the additives have an anti-gel feature. It's not as big an issue unless the temps drop down below freezing for several days and the truck is just sitting.

The Dmax trucks start pretty well in the cold. A lot of folks use simple automait light switch timers for their plugging in. All you need to do is have the truck plugged in for a couple of hours before you plan to use it which is easily accomplished using a light timer available at a hardware store.
 

92F350CC

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How did you manage to find one with a handshaker? I thought GM ditched the manual transmission a few years back.
 

dieseldummy

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It was still available in '06, just not behind LBZ programming. Just derated to 300hp 520 tq. IIRC, the '07 classics and new body styles are not available with the manual, just GM's "manual shift" allison joke...

Use powerservice in the white or grey bottles. The red 911 is only for emergency use with already gelled fuel.
 

rebel_horseman

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Yep the ZF was available up till the '07 as far as I know. They were usually found in chassis cabs and special orders. My cousin had a '04 with the ZF and the clutch was shot and trannie needed work after about 40k miles. HE sold it and got a '06 with the Allison. They had the LB7 engine/programming with 300/520.

It's the same trannie in the F-Series trucks and they are expensive as hell to rebuild so take care of it. The mechnic told me that there are synthetic synchros in there that cost about $150 a piece, plus the gears. I needed a new 3rd gear and new synchros and it cost me about $2k cash under the table.
 

92F350CC

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Would it be possible to replace it with an NV5600? Would it be more reliable, and cheaper to repair?
 

dieseldummy

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There would be no benifit in going to a NV5600. The ZF6 is a very well built trans. I've got a friend that has 170K miles on his and the majority of them have been heavy towing with over 400hp. Not to mention the ocasional sled pull.

Midwest trans will sell a rebuilt trans for around $2300 exchange, or around $1700 if you send yours in to be rebuilt. Not that bad of a price compared to a rebuilt Allison at $4000...
 
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