roasted my 6.5 GM, time for engine options
 

lent my 02 work van to an associate for 2 weeks and 800 miles, and it returned like uncle bucks brougham, emitting an enormous cloud of white smoke at all times. hes not a gauge watcher so oh well.

Burning 1 gallon of coolant in 20 miles. at the age and mileage im considering going 4bt or 6bt instead since the van is good otherwise. Maybe even an older ford 7.3 instead. Something that can take punishment instead of the glass jaw 6.5

anyone have any opinions?

a picture is worth a thousands words

When my 6.5 bit the dust I found a brand new Optimizer long block being sold off by a Phoenix Chevy dealer for $3000. Optimizer's are much more robust than the original Chevy 6.5's. Ted's sells Optimizer take outs from military Humvees. Lots of people have been happy with his engines. He does a compression test on them before selling them I believe. Not sure whether the Humvee 6.5 will fit in a van due to the center turbo mount. You may need to swap heads or something.

if it still runs good i would pull the heads and replace the headgaskets.probably your cheapest option if you plan on keeping it.a 6bt is no way in h3ll fitting in a van.for one the front suspension would never take the weight.but in the end probably your cheapest option is to find a different van.

I'm pretty sure mine cracked the block so you can't just assume the problem is a headgasket. I have seen it claimed that if the upper radiator remains hard when cold it is a bad headgasket but if the upper hose doesn't get hard, it's a cracked block. Probably not a completely reliable diagnostic procedure though. These engines are known for cracking the lower block or putting a hole thru a rear cylinder wall.

I would have agreed with you until i read a thread where a guy fit a 6bt in an express with a 1.5 inch body lift. Actually fits amazingly well.

Suspension should have no problem on 3500 chassis

Engine is at 300k so a new engine might be the best plan long term

Excellent info thanks!
The vans have a center turbo at the back of the motor, but if i go with another 6.5, i may go naturally aspirated and nix the turbo all together.

My turbo has been non functional due to a NLA van wastegate vacuum valve and i havent had time to rig a pickup or hummer variant. Honestly i never even noticed my turbo wasnt working

Mine's NA, you really don't give up much loosing the turbo except maybe at high altitudes. my GMC has no problems merging into traffic

still wouldn't waste my time trying to jam a 6bt in there.jeez i have an 03 express 3500 with a 6.0 i would sell ya for 3500.its a 15 pass extended van with rear a/c and heat.pull the seats and there ya go.heck a good 6bt will cost you about that.

Yeah i drove the thing around for months thinking i had a turbo diesel. Does great even fully loaded as a NA until i let the van out of my sight unfortunately

Must be a regional thing. 12 valves arent that expensive here. Sub 1000, was eyeing one for 800 bucks recently but someone else moved faster

I will find the thread and link it for you. Its amazing how well it appears to fit. Not a jam at all from the guys photos. I was pretty shocked

might be cheap out your way.but out here in farm country any 6bt under 200k miles is gonna cost ya at least 2500.

Thinking this might be the best option after doing more research. Only hurdle will be getting an NA intake and making everything work in a van application. These guys are pretty on the ball information wise.

what gets me is why they say the engine will not work where a valley mounted turbo is used?they sell them without the intake so it shouldn't matter.just use your old intake.i have never messed with a van 6.5 so can't say just what would be different.

I'm pretty sure the angle of the ports on the heads are different on the side mount and valley turbo heads. But you could just run a side mount turbo engine without the turbo as an NA version. Might have to construct an air filter system for it.

I wised up and stripped the van of useful stuff i added, then sold it to a kid with the problem fully disclosed for cheap. With the body rust it made the most financial sense. He intends to ride out the inspection sticker adding coolant or water i guess.

I then replaced the van with an identical chassis 3500 same year, but powered by a traditional 350 5.7 that is a lot more reliable.

Something I'd wondered before... why not go with an E350 with the 7.3? Too expensive/hard to find?

Local rot preferences.

My experience has been with older domestic work vans, dodge rusts by far and above the worst, ford a distant second, and these express vans are a pretty decent 3rd. Somewhere between dodge and ford are sprinter vans and their awful cosmetic rust issues.

When the express vans do rot they tend to rot along the rockers and where the usual upfitting a-hole drilled holes for shelving when the van was new. Essentially not danger areas. They have other weaknesses like hinges and door handles, but those can be repaired and replaced easier than major rust.

The fords in the same price range see more structural rot, body mounts, frame issues, ect.

Of course there are no hard and fast rules and each van must be considered as an individual based on use, but thats been my general impression in the under 3 grand 15 year old beat up van market. I looked at several 7.3s with horrendous bodies that owners were holding out a high price on.

Also on a purely utility standpoint, i like the express rear barn doors. Now having said all that, the econoline extended body has a much better turning radius, and i would have jumped on a sufficiently decent body ford for a good price, but already having an express means i have many express body specific widgets for a new van


This concludes more than you ever wanted to know in my selection process for crappy old vans. :D

I am not a fan of the Fords with the International/Navistar engines. I have seen so many of those broke down. I remember having a conversation with a Ford mechanic about 12 years ago. All he did was work on those diesels. He stated to me "those engines keep me VERY employed".

I cant imagine a mechanic having that opinion on the earlier pre and powerstroke engine series. 12 years ago? Maybe early 6.0s he was thinking of.

The 7.3 and 6.9 are about as reliable as an engine can possibly get. Hell, i pulled a bunch of bent and broken push rods out of a 350k 7.3 once and replaced them, and the thing ran fine again. It was amazing

I am not certain of the engine size, but it was the Navistar/International engine that he spoke of.