BUYING MY FIRST DIESEL!! help
 

well im on the verge of buying my first diesel which i know little about. its an 03 crew 4x4 loaded. they are asking 14600 for it, has 170k. has banks 6 gun banks brake boost and pyro guage. my main concern is the pyroguage is stuck 1600 running or off. could it have gotten stuck there because it overheated or just happen to fall that way when it broke or the sensor went bad? any help would be greatly appreciated. also a freind told me i should not buy it becuase it has lb7 motor. ive read about the tcase rub not really sure if this tcase issue is on going due to normal wear and tear or excessive towing or power. but not really sure why the lb7 would be bad.

id say its a junky gauge or a wiring issue, ive seen pyro gauges wrap around to p on pyrometer from actuall egt, never stuck there. Tcase rub is from the pump vibrating against the case over a long peroid of time, there are several preventative repairs for that. Have balance rates checked on the injectors before you consider buying the truck. LB7 engines are notorious for injector problems, everyone shys away from them for that reason. The injectors arent near as expensive to replace now days and the fuel filters have been updated as well. If the balance rates are good you shouldnt have to worry about replacement for a while. I would however keep in mind that at some point youll be spending over 2k for a set if you keep the truck.

hope this isnt to late, find out if the injectors have been replaced yet or not, they had a replacement warrenty up to 140,000 miles so if the previous owner knew about that they might have had them replaced. i myself have an 03 and couldnt be happoer with it, granted i have alot done to it but it is still an awesome truck

I have a 03 LB7 and haven't had any major issues with it. Its got 100k on the engine and 266k on the truck. Other than some wear and tear stuff the truck has actually done me well. I agree with Dirtymax14, check the the guy and find out with the injectors have been replaced because if not you will have the bill for that in the end, cause (so I was told) that they crack. I worked in a shop and didn't see the LB7's much in the shop. When they came in it was for the injector issues. I also think the extended the warnety to 200k, could be wrong on that..but you only had a certain amount of time to get that into the shop. Oh and another thing also bout these year models. Ask if they replaced the guage pod or had it worked on. Mine went out and it wasn't that much to get it fixed around $120 for a life time warrenty. So mines fully rebuilt. Other than that I'm pretty happy with my rig. Don't let other peoples opinion stear you away from something your interested in. Just make sure you know what your gettin into before buying. Happy hunting :tu:

hello, I am also considering buying/looking at a diesel this weekend(sunday) is there any issues i should look for while lookin at the truck? small things that would be tell-tale signs? i know about hazing/grey smoke. but any other things i should look for? blow by at the oil fill while running? etc....


its a 2003 ext cab short box, 2" leveling lift kit, new 33" tires,aftermarket rims, banks 6-gun tuner...

any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
kris

Kris, make sure the guy had injectors changed out. 03's had updates. If he says yes have him hand you recept or something to let you know it was actually done. Ask him if he cranked the t-bars on the front end (something that should be known just incase) so in case of any front end wear you'll be aware of it. Just look for your leaks and things like that all over. Also ask him if hes had the guage pod worked on or replaced (they go out because I have an 03 and it went out). The gugage pod will cost you $100 if you pull it yourself. I can get you a guy that can fix it, or you can ship it to me and I'll take it over there to the guy and ship it back if need be. Its life time warrenty with these boys. Any who, thats just a few things that I know of to look for on the Duramaxs. Hope this helps you a bit.