To bad the "well known" reliability issues all have fixes and are generally pretty cheap. i own several 6.5 powered rigs and work on them regularly, if you take care of the known issues with proven fixes and take care of them they are very reliable engines. If you neglect it and have it repaired by people with no knowledge of these engines you are going to have trouble and it is going to be expensive. Thats where their bad rap has come from. The last 3 6.5's that have come in for drivability issues have had fried or bypass'd oil pressure sensors. oh the horror, a $20 part failed, and they still all drove in. Reliabilty is just as important to the people out on the ocean running 6.5's in their boats and the men and women of our armed forces running them in hummers as it is to people in planes. My point was it is the exact opposite of what you would want in a plane, they are heavy low rpm engines and arent exactly compact.

last month i pulled the 250K mile 6.5 out of my suburban and transfered it over into my new 1 ton dually. the 6.5 in my s10 has over 150k on it. These things arent rolling over and dying like people on the forums would want you to believe. I got the 1 ton cause the guy ran it out of oil and spun a bearing then took it into a shop who put a new injection pump, ops, lift pump, glow plug relay, and ignition switch trying to make it run again.


Besides all that people put subaru 4 cylinders in planes and those are rod throwing head gasket blowing piles of ****.

 

Hi josh and everyone i have found a 98 chevy 2500 from a friend of mine with the 6.5 turbo motor its it a newly built motor with only 6k on it and a rebulit trans (has all paper work to go along with it). Motor still has a 1 1/2 on a warranty and mechanic will honor it even if i buy...it also has a fresh built front end including the steering box and brakes all the way around....... hes asking 6500 for the truck. Do you think this is a fair deal...im not going to be beating this truck to the ground just to pull a boat and an enclosed trailer every now and again... thanks for the help.....yogibear

 

4x4???

 

Yep 4x4 extended cab...has bed cap...new tires.....bas is the front seats are ripped up

 

sounds like a great deal if it runs and drives nice and isnt rusted to ****. You could spend 6k on a truck with original engine/trans and unknown service history around here.

 

anytime i look at a 6.5 i always start it up and go underhood and look if the pmd is still plugged in on the side of the pump or if it is relocated and then open the air bleed on the top of the fuel filter and see if fuel comes out or if it doesnt and then the truck dies it has a lift pump/ops issue. good idea to look at the drivers side rear of the block for oil leaks. chances are the oil filter adapter is leaking and or the oil cooler line fittings are. then if it still has a vacuum system i give the waste gate arm a push and see if it holds against pressure, if it doesnt truck probably wont make boost and will smoke. then you need to be sure the trans goes into forward and reverse. if it does all that stuff its in ok shape. Always a good idea to make sure the balancer rubber is in ok shape.

 

Yea its a south Georgia truck no rust whatsoever

 

Yea its a south Georgia truck no rust whatsoever owned by an older gentleman who only towed a camper with it

 

So I'm looking for a short bus for use as a small camper, hauling kayaks, etc. Will never pull a heavy trailer. Cost to operate is a major concern, want good fuel efficiency for low driving costs. Looking at this:


Low mileage diesel Gmc short bus


Guy says it's a non-turbo 6.5, about 18-19 highway mpg. When I asked about how the engine has been maintained, he said it was the turbo versions that have problems not the non-turbos but I don't think this is true? I've been reading a bunch about 6.5s but there's a ton of conflicting info out there.


In a bus like this, what should I be looking out for in the engine? If I'm having to put a bunch of money into reliability issues, the fuel efficiency advantage disappears real quick.

 

And is the fact that this is in a low mileage bus that's probably never been used and abused by towing too much **** likely to decrease my odds of needing catastrophic repairs?