6.5 turbo diesel questions

[Sketch]

I am looking at a 1998 ecsb 2500 with a 6.5 turbo diesel with 5k miles on a freshly rebuilt engine and tranny. engine was rebuilt with 18:1 pistons and a banks turbo kit. He claims it makes around 365hp an over 600 flbs of torque. I went and looked it over and sure enough it has a Banks turbo. I took it for a text drive and it deffinatly has more pep than my friends k1500 with a 6.5. Barks the tires on pavement with no real trouble. He is selling it because he just bought a 2006 Duramax. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the 6.5 with these mods? I will be using it as a DD and to pull a 30 foot goose neck from time to time.. The farm that owns the goose neck already pulls it with a 6.2l with some kind of after market turbo kit and it does just fine. the trouble is, Every time I want to use the trailer their truck needs to be available at the same time and its on snowplow duty this winter so trailering is out of the question unless i get something with enough get up and go to pull it. Not only that but I'm sick of re filling my truck every other day as it only gets 14mpg

 

[95chev]

I am looking at a 1998 ecsb 2500 with a 6.5 turbo diesel with 5k miles on a freshly rebuilt engine and tranny. engine was rebuilt with 18:1 pistons and a banks turbo kit. He claims it makes around 365hp an over 600 flbs of torque. I went and looked it over and sure enough it has a Banks turbo. I took it for a text drive and it deffinatly has more pep than my friends k1500 with a 6.5. Barks the tires on pavement with no real trouble. He is selling it because he just bought a 2006 Duramax. I was wondering what your thoughts are on the 6.5 with these mods? I will be using it as a DD and to pull a 30 foot goose neck from time to time.. The farm that owns the goose neck already pulls it with a 6.2l with some kind of after market turbo kit and it does just fine. the trouble is, Every time I want to use the trailer their truck needs to be available at the same time and its on snowplow duty this winter so trailering is out of the question unless i get something with enough get up and go to pull it. Not only that but I'm sick of re filling my truck every other day as it only gets 14mpg

The 6.5 is a great motor as long as you take care of it and keep the maintenance up, its a 98 which was one of the worst years as far as the block casting, the best i've been told was 92. Pmd will need relocated as soon as possible if not already done. As far as the banks turbo I've always been told that its not any better than the factory turbo. Milage should be around 18 in town and mid 20's on the highway

 

[West Mi Mudder]

Yeah, i am extremely confused about the Banks Turbo.. that seems like a huge waste of money and time over the stock turbo. Most people who want to upgrade, got hx40 from a Cummins. I would figure out when the block was rebuilt. Cracked heads? Cracked Block? Or maybe just old age. 6.5's are known for their cooling issues, and thin walled blocks, causing the blocks to crack. Start the truck, and smell the exhuast for coolant. IF there's any white smoke on startup, dont buy it. And not calling the guy a liar, but i highly doubt the HP/Torque numbers.

The 6.2L your talking about, probably has the Banks Sidewinder turbo kit. I have always want a K5 blazer with the 6.2L to add a banks too.

the 6.5L can be an awesome machine, but needs mantained. If your willing to spend time and money on it, then i would say buy it.

 

[Sketch]

Im doubting the power and torque as well. It definitely is peppy and has a lot of get up and go to it compared to ed's 6.5, but its no screaming race truck either. the body has 242k miles on it, Im betting it was old age. No colant smell or white smoke. little puff of black smoke typical of diesels. I had an 86 6.2 suburban 3 years ago, so I know all about maintaining these things. bout 80 bucks an oil change and constantly checking the coolant, fuel filter every 10k? miles, etc. another thing i need to ask him is if/when the glow plugs were replaced and if the block heater works. I know my 6.2 block heater was disconnected and if you didn't cycle the glow plugs 4 or 5 times even at 50* it wasnt going to start. that was a stubborn old girl but once you got it running it would pull a dang freight train

 

[95chev]

Forgot to mention that even though you won't fill up as often and will have improved mpg, you are still gonna end up dropping alot of cash at the pump. Bigger tank+Diesel Prices=$$$$$$$

 

[West Mi Mudder]

I didnt use my block heater a single time during this past winter, due to our garage outlet being GFIC (like a bathroom. IF it sinces water, it blows the circuit) So the snow will blow the circuit everytime. My truck started every morning, after the first cycle. I use full synthetic oil, so go about 8000 between oil changes, and change the fuel filter with the oil as the filter is only like $15. My truck does monster burnouts with the computer tune and manual wastegate, and i would be surprised if i am even at 250. My truck is at 296,000 on stock drivetrain. I think the truck will be a good investment.