I just purchased a 1998 gmc 2500 6.5L 2wd regular cab. It was a former hwy maintenance truck and was owned by the state, 104k miles, no rust, well maintained.

I have done alot of research and realize the 6.5 wont make duramax power, however I bought it for a reliable DD, what would be the best way to spend my money for reliablilty and power? the most i will be towing is my car ( acura integra) and I will be doing alot of long hwy trips in the near future....

I plan on adding..
SS Diesel 3"-4" down pipe
SS Diesel 4" exhaust
" " FSD heat sink kit
" " performance wastegate actuator
eventually buying the ECM upgrade.......

Is this the right route to take?

Thanks for any help in advance........ also any maintenance items that I should get out of the way now since its at 100k?

 

the exhaust system that ss diesel sells is fine but the fsd heat sink is not. like ive said in other posts heat rises. heat is what kills pmds. putting a fsd/pmd on top of the intake where it has cooling from the diesel fuel from the injection pump is just going to kill it faster. you have to relocate outside of the engine bay. a good place is behind the bumper like where mine is. i dont know what ssd is selling for an perfomance actuator and havent heard anyone talk about so i wont comment.

but heath diesel makes a turbomaster which i assume is similar which is really nice or you can make your own for 5-10 bucks. what i dont like about ssd is there false advertising like 80 hp chip they sell. not every truck is going to get 80 hp gain due to different power ratings every year but using the same equipment every year. plus 80 hp is at the crank not the wheels where you can feel it.

at 100k miles you should change the injectors because thats what there rated for. for reliablity mods i would get the upgraded water pump and a dmax fan for better cooling. also thoroughly clean your rad because it gets stuffed full of crap from the road and doesnt cool as well. if your towing i would also get some gauges. egt,boost, and tranny temp. fuel pressure is also important if you want to diagnose problems.

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i also forgot about oil cooler lines. the factory ones are crap and can fail which can lead to your 6.5 running out of oil. need to replace them with stainless steel lines and new oil cooler.

 

Thanks woody 35, that is the kind of info im looking for, I know heath diesel also has the relocaters, I will look into it, I am going to do the injectors once I get the truck home, I hear the marine injectors are a waste? is this true?

and is there a specific place to order the stainless oil cooler lines?, or can I piece something together from summit racing?

Thanks again........

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Looking at some older posts I am going to go with bosch stock injectors, heath pmd relocator, still undecide on who to get the exhaust thru, but I want a 3" into 4" downpipe and 4 inch straight thru after that. and must be bolt on. I will probably fabricate my own airbox with a K&N Cone filter and heat shield. Upgrade the fan/oil lines and clean out the radiator, ( no pressure washer).

 

i ordered a warpspeed exhaust last friday. havent gotten it yet so i cant tell if its completey bolt on but im sure its close. any of the major exhaust companies are fine. you can get a lot of small parts and the oil cooler and pmd relocation from pmdcable.com. he is a good guy and thats where my oil cooler lines and pmd relocation kit has come from.

your stock airbox is pretty much fine for your application. unless your going to fab up a ram air setup the stock 1997 and up air boxes flow surprising well. some people replaces the tight corner near the battery with a plumbing pipe curve that you can get at a home improvement store.

kennedy diesel has a dmax fan im pretty sure. also when your towing dont let the engine stay at 210F degrees for sustained periods because parts dont live long at that temp. GM has the red mark at 260 but that is way wrong.

 

go with woody he knows what hes talking about ssdieselsupply is the crappiest PMD isolater out there. when you get a new PMD get a light grey colored one they're better.

 

Thanks woody, let me know how the warpspeed works out, I will go to PMDcable for the misc. parts. I have learned my lesson with cars about short ram ( hot air) intakes, I will probably do a custom silicone elbow (samco hoses), k&n filter, and just improve the stock one. ......how do I tell if I have an "F" code engine? I have my VIN just not sure where to look....and if my car is loaded with EGR stuff is there a benefit to removing it, I dont need to pass emissions.

Thanks

 

F code doesn't have egr on it I think is the 8th digit not sure though. Take the engine cover off and if it has a egr right on top of the engine it is a s code if not its a f code. You don't suck all the crap from the exhaust through the engine and it stays cleaner. If you are going to buy a new ecm I would remove it. Just buy a f intake of ebay there not expensive and put it on it and a new ecm. If you are not changing the ecm you will have to fool the current ecm into thinking it is still on it.

 

X2

 

I was also wondering how do I tell if I have posi track? I wont actually see this truck until I get back to the states in july, just trying to buy parts now so I can do it all at once. I do have the vin.

Since this truck is a 2wd regular cab, if I do the intake, downpipe, exhaust, and possibly turn up the boost a few pounds, how fast is this truck going to be? (not trying to sound like a newb) but is this truck going to have some get up and go? Im just trying to get an idea.....like what do these run in the quarter mile stock? ( I know its not a racecar)

Thanks.......

 

98 it's most likely not got a clutch type posi but a gov. lock. I have no idea how to tell by the vin the only way I know is to remove the cover and see if it has the stuff for it in the carrier.

I don't know how fast it will be in a quarter. About the best I have ever seen one do is like a stock early d-max. Which is not to bad because the early d-max's where pretty powerful.