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Thinking about buying 96 k2500 diesel pickup...

OffRoad

OffRoad

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96 3/4 ton 4wd, auto tranny, ext-cab, long box. 260,000 kms. previously used to tow a 5th wheel. i'm asuming the tranny is a 4l80. these are turbo 400's with overdrive right? pretty tough?

i'm new to diesel motors. what's the equivalent of a compression test for a diesel?

it's gonna be nice having a fullsize. (i have a sammy now) i'm guessing about low 20s for mileage.

luxury stuff: it's got pw, pl, cd player, chrome grill and bumpers. a/c (which may or may not work, i don't care)

is this a sweet truck or a pos? comments welcome. thanks for your help.
 
You can find a better truck in that mid to late 90's era through a Ford or Dodge, but that truck is still a good solid truck.

Yes, the trans should be a 4L80E and it's plenty stout for that motor. It is basically a Th400 with overdrive and electronics.

You will not get low 20's out of the truck. Even the Cummins Dodges struggle to get into the 20's and only do under the right circumstances.

I have gathered that the 6.5TD guys get 13-16 in town and 15-18 on the highway. From what I have heard gear ratios make a big difference with these trucks. 3.42 geared trucks yeild the best mileage on the highway but are dogs towing and accelerating. 4.10's yeild the worst mileage but the best power. 3.73's were also available and are somewhere in the middle.

If the truck is in good shape, runs good, and is a good deal I'd do it.

Just look out for that selonoid or little electronic box that is troublesome. I can't remember it's name but someone else will.
 
I had a 96 dually 454, 4L80e that had the tranny rebuilt at 125,000 (previous owner) that towed a lot with it. Not sure what went wrong, but it performed awesome for me while I had it.
 
rjfguitar said:
You can find a better truck in that mid to late 90's era through a Ford or Dodge, but that truck is still a good solid truck.

Yes, the trans should be a 4L80E and it's plenty stout for that motor. It is basically a Th400 with overdrive and electronics.

You will not get low 20's out of the truck. Even the Cummins Dodges struggle to get into the 20's and only do under the right circumstances.

I have gathered that the 6.5TD guys get 13-16 in town and 15-18 on the highway. From what I have heard gear ratios make a big difference with these trucks. 3.42 geared trucks yeild the best mileage on the highway but are dogs towing and accelerating. 4.10's yeild the worst mileage but the best power. 3.73's were also available and are somewhere in the middle.

If the truck is in good shape, runs good, and is a good deal I'd do it.

Just look out for that selonoid or little electronic box that is troublesome. I can't remember it's name but someone else will.
Click to expand...

That little box is a injector driver, that goes out and the engine won't start.Most think it's the injection pump,and it is somtimes both.
 
CrewCab59 said:
That little box is a injector driver, that goes out and the engine won't start.Most think it's the injection pump,and it is somtimes both.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but I can't remember the name of that little critter...:doah:
 
If it's the over 8600gvwr it will be 14bff, also known as the K2500 HD. K2500 LD got a 14bsf, so do some checking. If your unfamilier with how the axles look, just take a look at the lower a-arms up front, if they are cast iron, it's an HD. If they are stamped sheet metal, it's a LD. Some under 8600gvwr turned into 14bff and cast a-arms if they had the snow-plow prep package. You DO NOT want the stamped a-arm version. They bend very easily and can't keep alignment for nothing, so your chewing tires and balls joints all the time.
I've got a '97 6.5TD, K2500 HD regular cab, long bed. Nice truck, I bought it in canada actually, it's got 297,000km on the ticker. Runs good. Change the fuel filter often (every other oil change), so an expierenced 6.5 diesel mechanic told me. Mines a manual tranny (NV4500 :) ) and 3.73 rear , I get 20 all day long, if towing 4-place sno-mo trailer in 4wd going 55mph, she gets about 16-18. I've never gotton below 16 or 17. But, manual tranny, so mabey a big difference.
My "little box" has never given me trouble. But '97 was first year for drive by wire (no throttle cable, has electric acell pedal), so I think that whole system got overhauled in '97. The injection pump was replaced at 87,000mi under warranty. The first fuel pump has been replaced twice, if it goes out there's a main pump within the injection pump, truck runs, but if you accell hard it dies out, there's a secondary pump under the drivers side footboards on the frame rail, I've had to replace that twice. Other than that, glow plugs, once, change the oil, and she's good to go. Oh...sorry, the oil filter adaptor that breaks off the lines to the oil cooler, the orings in it go bad constantly. I ordered 10 of each off gmparts direct.com (theres 3 orings). I just replace them now every other oil change. If they go bad, the thing spews about a quart every 100 miles, so I just got in the habit of changing them. There's 2 on the giant bolt thing that holds the adaptor on, and 1 big one for the adaptor to engine block seal. It's a very well documented problem with the 6.5.
 
I just sent a deposit for a '93 6.5 xcab, long bed. Should I ask the seller if it has stamped lower control arms? Then back out if it does? Can they be changed? It's in Oregon... I'm not!
It also has 277k, very well maintained, loaded - 4L80... $2600 delivered to Portland for shipping east.
 
The cast arm/stamped arm deal confuses me, I don't think it was the same for every model year. Not too long ago, there was a '95 or so k2500 and a '00 k3500 SRW at work at the same time. The 2500 had the cast arms (8 lug), but the 3500 had the stamped arms of the lighter-duty models:confused:
 
PMD (pump mounted driver) or FSD (Fuel solenoid driver) are the same part and it's the one part that really helped give the 6.5 TD a bad reputation. My brother in law bought a 97 with a 6.5 TD 6 months ago...ran like a dream and got him 20 mpg for most of his driving. Monday it quit on him...and would restart if it cooled down a little, but would only run for 10 seconds or so.

He was replacing the PMD today and relocating it.

Rene
 
So the seller of the '93 6.5 xcab LB K2500 says it has a front GVWR 4250, rear 6000, but it has stamped fr lower control arms. Can I change these for the cast ones if I/you thought it was neccesary?
And if I ad the numbers up, they ad up to more than 8600lbs, but they're stamped... Hmmm..... Explain how this work, Pls... Andrew
 
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