The 94-97 6.5’s are dropping like flies…

[2INSANE]

Working at a scrap yard and having awesome connections with other scrap yards in my area, I am seeing 94-97 6.5 turbo diesels coming in for scrap with blown cranks, cracked heads, seized motors, seized injection pumps and failed harmonic balancers.

No surprise right?

Well… the surprise is how low their mileage is… From 78,000 to 268,000 tops…

Some of them are still in like new condition with no major wear on the seats…

They are dropping like flies!

No shops will even touch them or even look at them. All the “Certified” mechanics are either dead or retired. Too much “liability”.

They are all over Facebook Market Place.

Just a fair warning…

I grind my teeth sooo hard every time I see a mint condition 6.5 fully loaded get sent to the scrap yard… These motors are so easy to fix, repair or replace. Good trucks gone to waste.

 

[max 02]

Working at a scrap yard and having awesome connections with other scrap yards in my area, I am seeing 94-97 6.5 turbo diesels coming in for scrap with blown cranks, cracked heads, seized motors, seized injection pumps and failed harmonic balancers.

No surprise right?

Well… the surprise is how low their mileage is… From 78,000 to 268,000 tops…

Some of them are still in like new condition with no major wear on the seats…

They are dropping like flies!

No shops will even touch them or even look at them. All the “Certified” mechanics are either dead or retired. Too much “liability”.

They are all over Facebook Market Place.

Just a fair warning…

I grind my teeth sooo hard every time I see a mint condition 6.5 fully loaded get sent to the scrap yard… These motors are so easy to fix, repair or replace. Good trucks gone to waste.

That would be hard to see. I like that body style.

 

[2INSANE]

That would be hard to see. I like that body style.

Love that body style too! Reminding myself all the time I have an LBZ Duramax lol…

I do see a potential money making business on all these great looking 6.5’s going to the scrap yard. If one was willing to do the work, there could be a lot of money made.

Hypothetical…

$1,995 Takeout
$395 Pre-purchase Test
$800 Shipping
$500-$2500 For the truck
$500-$1,000 fluids, gaskets and junkyard parts.

=$6,690 out of pocket tops

Sell for $10,000-$15,000

=$3,310-$8,310 Profits…

 

[tRustyK5]

You know people that would give more than $10K for a 6.5 when there are less spendy Dmax's out there? It's still a turd in comparison, even though the truck t's in is pretty good. Even if that is harsh, that is the general perception out there...

 

[max 02]

You know people that would give more than $10K for a 6.5 when there are less spendy Dmax's out there? It's still a turd in comparison, even though the truck t's in is pretty good. Even if that is harsh, that is the general perception out there...

To be fair any 10k Duramax is clapped. That’s why Me and Colby sold our LB7s they both ran but needed 4K worth of work and had over 500 thousand Klms on them.

 

[2INSANE]

TBH I have seen a few low mile almost mint 6.5’s posted for $12,000-$20,000. There is a big market right now for simplicity, cheap to repair and no emission trucks.

Found this almost mint 6.5 93,916 mile truck with a seized motor last winter. When I asked him the price, my jaw dropped. He was firm at $5,000 for a seized 6.5! Lol!

Help! This worth $5000?

In the back hills of Montana, one could find just about anything… I found this low mile 1994 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 93,916.8 miles single cab. It has been sitting for about 15 years. The current owner said he and a bunch of friends whom are mechanics tried to get it to run but couldn’t. He said...

www.thedieselpageforums.com

This one here is more promising as a flip truck. Got him talked down to $1,500 without the shell… I am letting him stew on my $1,000 offer.

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[tRustyK5]

Dean, I think my point was that from a potential business standpoint I see too much downside to any 6.5 truck anymore. For not too much more money the Duramax trucks are out there. Yes, maybe $10K is the very low side...but I believe most anyone with even just passing knowledge of diesels would spend a little more and skip the 6.5. I would be way more likely to swap in a TBI 350 or 454 into one.

 

[max 02]

Dean, I think my point was that from a potential business standpoint I see too much downside to any 6.5 truck anymore. For not too much more money the Duramax trucks are out there. Yes, maybe $10K is the very low side...but I believe most anyone with even just passing knowledge of diesels would spend a little more and skip the 6.5. I would be way more likely to swap in a TBI 350 or 454 into one.

I do agree with you Rene.
In 99 we were looking at buying a new 6,5 we ended up buy a new 98 Z71 with a 350. Turned out we were glad on the decision. Traded that truck for a new 02 Duramax. Best truck I have ever had…. It owed us nothing, we just wore it out.

The 6,5s are a roll of the dice for sure. We have been around a lot of them. You have seen the Row of death!

As I say that BIL has had one or two 6.5s that just ran and ran.
For some ungodly reason that is beyond me because their starting and go procedure was undeniably focking retarded!

 

[ZooMad75]

A big issue with any pre-2007 but even worse for any 6.5 with a computer-controlled injection pump or a manual one is the lack of sulfur in the fuel to lube the pump. So far it seems like the early d-max pumps have been surviving to various degrees but the 6.5's need lubrication and today's fuel doesn't provide it. Besides AM General, Workhorse was the last main user of the 6.5 engine and we had issues in 2007 and 2008 when the ultra-low sulfur fuel went live. So much so that the supplier we used for remanufactured injection pumps basically stated they would not warranty pumps that failed due to lack of lubrication. They would see the same failure when core pumps came back for rebuilding.

It's often overlooked by even many that know, but it is completely overlooked by John Q Public that just puts fuel in and goes. So it goes to no surprise to me that 6.5's of the era are dropping like flies for all the reasons noted. They snap cranks, they have PMD's that fail from heat and IP's that shell from lack of lubrication in the fuel.

As far as buying these trucks to fix the 6.5 and flip I'd say you will have a hard time selling them. Those that are looking for a cheap no-emissions diesel already know about the history and issues of the 6.5 era of diesel trucks. Most won't want to touch one even with no emissions on it.

Now I do see an opportunity in taking those minty GMT400's that have a dead 6.5 and swapping in a rowdy LS or big block to those that live in areas where they can't do something like that in a normal truck but the diesel vin allows them a free pass from the emissions police.

 

[Truckman4life]

I love 6.5L trucks but I'm weird LOL. We have a really nice '98 here at work with like 170k. I'd love to get it someday if they auction it. I love the sound of it and driving it but I wouldn't use one for towing much. It does need an injection pump, runs awesome, better than stock but smokes a bit and throws a code.

 

[longbedder]

I believe that I'll likely die owning my 6.5 diesel Suburban...it's just become very unique with age, it works very well for me, and is smog-exempt in CA. It's got a Fluidampr and I run TCW-3 2-stroke oil in the fuel for lube. PMD is on an aluminum heatsink behind the bumper and I've got a spare in the console - could swap it out in 5 minutes if need be.

It will absolutely not pull like a D-Max...but there's no way in hell I'm paying $70k+ on a Dmax Burb which is optimized for emissions.

I can't say I'd feel the same way about a 1993+ pickup truck...there wasn't a 22-year gap in diesel options for them and there are better ways to go than a 6.5.

 

[Big Ray]

swap them to gas. Have a nice truck cheap.