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noJeeps 2001 duramax Frank - new headlights

Went for a drive in the mountains after church today, kind of a shakedown run before I leave for Montana on Thursday. Truck did very well, shifted smoothly, pulled hard, brakes were smooth and it rode very well with the new tires and Bilstein shocks. Overall, it's becoming worth the headache that was the fuel filter debacle, still not entirely decided on that yet. However, at the to of the mountain, after 18 miles of running hard, this is as warm as the engine ever got. Is that normal? The temp at the base was 42 and 26 at the top, so a little chilly. My experience with diesels is mostly heavy duty motors in motor coaches and semi trucks, so not a whole lot to compare on, but it seems like it would eventually warm up completely, ie. nearer to 200 than barely touching 180. For those of you who drive Duramaxes, what do your trucks normally run at empty? Maybe I just need to get used to it.

22350.jpeg
 
I don't know about your DMAX, but my 2000 S-10 does the same. Tried 3 different t-stats, never gets above the 180ish mark on the gauge...

Probably not useful info, aside from similar era electronics.
 
noJeepshere said:
Went for a drive in the mountains after church today, kind of a shakedown run before I leave for Montana on Thursday. Truck did very well, shifted smoothly, pulled hard, brakes were smooth and it rode very well with the new tires and Bilstein shocks. Overall, it's becoming worth the headache that was the fuel filter debacle, still not entirely decided on that yet. However, at the to of the mountain, after 18 miles of running hard, this is as warm as the engine ever got. Is that normal? The temp at the base was 42 and 26 at the top, so a little chilly. My experience with diesels is mostly heavy duty motors in motor coaches and semi trucks, so not a whole lot to compare on, but it seems like it would eventually warm up completely, ie. nearer to 200 than barely touching 180. For those of you who drive Duramaxes, what do your trucks normally run at empty? Maybe I just need to get used to it.

View attachment 281689
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Ours both run just under 100 normal driving... until you work it, both are tuned though. And Canadian gauges, but I assume the calibration is the same?
I have also be told the gauges are not the most accurate.

EE7A60AD-9314-4CC8-8ED2-3843B784D56C.jpeg
 
75c is about the same as 160f, and 100c is 212f, so they're calibrated the same.

I have 4 gallons of antifreeze concentrate and 4 gallons of water to flush the cooling system, so I think I'll add some thermostats to the job just to eliminate that unknown, given they're probably original to the truck. Just another thing to make this truck ready for another 17 years of service.
 
I should also mention that the temp gauge bottomed out on the way back down the mountain.
 
Well, a piece of cardboard is free or damn near
 
noJeepshere said:
For those of you who drive Duramaxes, what do your trucks normally run at empty? Maybe I just need to get used to it.
Click to expand...

I drove mine up to Afton, WY yesterday and back. Never touched 180. All winter I run a grill blocker. Still never really heats up all the way. :dunno:
 
ashman said:
I drove mine up to Afton, WY yesterday and back. Never touched 180. All winter I run a grill blocker. Still never really heats up all the way. :dunno:
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Your thermostats might be bad too, this is what mine looked like:

22404.jpeg

The gaskets came out in pieces...

After putting in the new ones and purging the system of air, just idling made the engine run warmer than it has in a long time, or at least since I bought it. Ran partway up the canyon, and before I even got two miles up the road the gauge hit 205 then backed down to 190-ish and stayed above 180 all the way back down.
 
noJeepshere said:
Your thermostats might be bad too, this is what mine looked like:

View attachment 281807

The gaskets came out in pieces...

After putting in the new ones and purging the system of air, just idling made the engine run warmer than it has in a long time, or at least since I bought it. Ran partway up the canyon, and before I even got two miles up the road the gauge hit 205 then backed down to 190-ish and stayed above 180 all the way back down.
Click to expand...

Awesome you are working the bugs out. Buy an ecm pin and grab a toggle switch. There are plenty of write ups on high idle. I loved having high idle on my lb7. Jumping a truck kick it in high idle. Cold morning kick it in high idle to warm up. Should be 15 ish dollars in parts to install.
 
That would be a good idea, though my normal driving habits don't make a high idle necessary... Fire it up, wait a minute, drive off carefully until the temp gauge registers. I do that mostly because the Yukon knocks (probably piston slop) for a bit when it's cold out. Figure a diesel should be about the same.
 
So the truck is as ready as it's going to be for my trip to Montana tomorrow. Changed the oil after putting a can of seafoam in it this morning, got the fender liner reinstalled, cleaned the ground for the BCM, and unloaded two cans of Gunk on the frame, then hit the carwash for the undercarriage spray.

Funny thing about the fender liner, I pulled it out to inspect behind it, and naturally broke all the little pins that hold it in, and struggled to find enough and the right kind of pins to put the liner back in. So I called up the dealer and they had enough pins for my job, but at $2.70 a pin, for a total of nearly $50, I was naturally hesitant. So I looked around and found a body shop supply store that had a 100 pack for $10. So I have about 90 body panel pins if anyone needs some...

The abs and brake warning lights were coming on at random times, which made me a little nervous, so I took the truck to my mechanic and he hooked up his fancy $3000 code reader thingy and told me the bcm module was complaining about a grounding issue. The ground is on the frame right behind the drivers front tire, and was very dirty and corroded. Bit of wire wheel, some dielectric grease and battery terminal protector goop and so far the lights have stayed off.

That massive silver cylinder that was attached to the drain plug and oil filter adapter was just a bypass, no wires to it. Looks like it added about 2 quarts of capacity, and a lot of leaks, so away it went.

We'll see how it fares on its first long trip with me, hopefully there are no breakdowns. I have about 460 miles to do tomorrow.

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You’ve worked hard to prep the truck. Have a great trip.

David
 
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Frank the diesel Chevy ran flawless the whole trip, covered a little over 1,000 miles and averaged 17.5 mpg the whole way doing about 72 mph on the interstate. After sitting for two days at Mom and Dad's house I went out this morning in the 25°f air and it fired right up with minimal smoke and no block heater.

Some observations from the trip:

I really wish it had the 6 speed transmission.

The back window needs tinting.

The driver's seat, even though it looks like garbage, is still very comfortable, but it's still getting re-upholstered.

I really miss the backup camera and Bluetooth that the '14 had.

I'm glad to say I bought a good truck at a good deal.
 
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