How rare is my Diesel Suburban?

[obxjake]

Had 1985 suburban 6.2 great 100K = sold + 1995 6.5 = great 100K = sold...giy went 250K and sucked..had to rebuild 2x....new Duramax Greta = last forever...which they made it for urban

 

[MRAJB]

Heh I think they are rare because getting the Diesel in a a 1996 Suburban was a 7k option. I was at the dealer when my dad was ordering his...he was all set on getting a Diesel, but that 7k, made him stick with a gasser. That K2500 towed just fine. He got every option besides the Diesel and leather.

 

[GM Guy]

They are very uncommon, but not super rare like the Naturally aspirated half ton diesels or the two door turbo Tahoes.

Turboed half ton pickups and diesel burbs are about the same rarity.

6.5L is a great engine if cared for. If neglected it will be a heap of ****.

I maintain mine pretty well and get along awesome, they tow heavy, been over 26,000 lbs a few times, and the heaviest and longest distance was around 21,000 combo, and I went out to California, up and over Donner Pass, which is a hell of a pull. Loaded same weight coming back out too. 1500 miles one way. Got about 11-12 mpg the whole time too.

 

[tinfoil_hat]

I don't think the 6.5 'burbs were as rare as current availability would suggest. I read an article a few years ago about how the 6.5 'burb was a very popular fleet vehicle in Latin America. As those fleets aged, they were supplemented by autobrokers who snapped up these 'burbs whenever they appeared on eBay or used car lots. Those 6.5 'burbs then went on ships and left the States. Most of the ones you see these days belong to municipal fleets or small town fire departments.

I second heading over to The Diesel Place to learn more about the 6.5. The engine has a poor reputation which I don't think it really deserves. It has a few design weaknesses but they can be addressed. Part of the bad reputation I think is a hold over from the 6.2 days. The 6.2 doesn't deserve it's bad reputation either. People misunderstand what the 6.2 was intended to do.
If you don't expect your 6.5 to behave like a Cummins 6bt or an IHC 7.3 you will be perfectly happy with it.

 

[Normand]

Hi, I have been the proud owner of a 1999 6.5td for the last 14 years and I'm holding on to it because nobody has been offering anything to replace it. But I must advise you on a few important idems that should be upgraded to prevent costly maintenance bills.First I must point out that GM are responsible for not solving the issues with this engine.My engine is the latest design so it has some important upgrade like the cooling dual thermostats and the bigger fan, but here is.what I have done to it :1) I relocated the PMD, I left the one on the fuel pump,it'scheaper to buy a new one with the cooler kit than removing the intake to get to the pump. By the way I should point out that my engine has all the original componants never been touch,original pump ,turbo etc.I've done a lot of research.2) the exauat was upgraded to a 3 in full flow ,3) Replace the crankshaft damper and pulleys before they go sour, because when they go they will unbalance the crankshaft and it will break,I've installed a fluidamper a few years ago,4) The oil cooler lines were also upgraded with SS lines. The rest is regular maintenence oil change etc, I run syn.oil K&N air filter if you take care of it it will give you years of loyal service if you dont it will bite your wallet.Also make sure that you get good fuel (truck stops)Never rev up the engine cold let the glow plug do their work and let them cool down once they have that means give it a minute of idle before engaging the trans.An other point you must have 2 batteries in good condition. Always replace them as pairs and keep the connections clean specialy the positive on the right.
It seams to be a lot but it's all comon sence GM production on the diesel suburban was 1%.

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[DirtBag]

Great info and a beautiful Burb!

 

[dave_erald]

Nothing wrong with burbs. Nice Truck

I'm told stay away from 3208 cats. And as much as I want a 453T, they are near impossible to make inconspicuous, they stand out like a sore thumb.


2wd diesel burbs must be rare (or rarer), there was only one in this area that I knew about, and it's long since died and gone.


My truck is a mechanical 6.2 with a HX35 on it, fuel system upgrade and it runs pretty good I think. Not entirely sure how long it's going to last but I'm not convinced at the moment to change it out for anything else just yet. Plus the trans is new, starter and flywheel are brand new, fuel system is new. But, like some others have said, I am also not pulling 20k down the road everyday either, so there's that. My fuel mileage is 550km per 100litres, but i'm lifted on 33's and i'm a little heavy on the go pedal so take what you want from that...


Gm 6.2 and 6.5 diesels get a lot of legitimate hate around here, and at most times deserved. Draw your own conclusions

 

[tinfoil_hat]

There are a few upgrades to extend the life of that 6.2. They are famous for cracking the block mains but you can beef this area up with a stud girdle kit. You can also convert to the serpentine system used on the last few years of production. Its also important to use the right glow plugs but its been awhile so I forget which p/n. The ends can deform and make it impossible to remove the plug or worse yet fall off inside the cylinder.
Maybe the most important thing is to use a fuel additive to replace the lubricant lost whith the switch to ULSD fuel. That Stanadyne pump will eat itself up without the lubrication. There are several priducts purpise madr for this purpose or just dump a bottle of 2-stroke oil in the tank every fill up.

 

[dave_erald]

500 ml of 2 stroke oil every 100 litre of fuel

Everytime, you'd be surprised the difference in noise it makes on that old rattly *****

 

[tinfoil_hat]

Yep. Not just adding back lubrication to the fuel you are also improving the cetane level. I used to filter my used motor oil and ATF and dump that right in the tank as well. The old girl loved it.