I just saw an add for the Chevy Silverado with a Duramax Diesel,310 HP with an Allison 1000 transmission.
Does anybody know about this diesel? Is it another gas convert like their disasters in the past?
I know someone who bought an Escalade EXT and their only wish was that a diesel engine was an option. It might be worth a swap down the line if it's a serious diesel.

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85' 300D No inspection, No registration fees, Cheap insurance
"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious %$&^."

It is a REALLY good engine. It's actually manufactured by Isuzu for GM, and is very smooth and quiet for a truck engine.

This engine originally had some problems with the fuel delivery system, but I think those have been fixed.

Lots of power and quiet... but it's still no Cummins.

A decent site dedicated to these types: http://www.62-65-dieselpage.com/

I have a '96 6.5l Suburban, and have received tons of great help. As much as the name may indicate they only do the "old" GM diesels, the have a fair bit of info on the Duramax.

Some of the MB guys on here are also GM guys, so I'm probably gonna get flamed for this, but here goes:

If you want a full-sized diesel truck, IMHO the one to go with is Dodge. I believe that Dodge and Ford have about the same quality of build on their trucks (actually, thanks to Daimler-Benz's influence increasing, Dodge's quality control's going up), but the Cummins is about as reliable as an OM616 (there are examples that have gone past 1 million miles), and actually, the Cummins puts out a bit more power than the D-max (325 horsepower and 600 ft-lbs of torque).

The D-max hasn't had any serious problems, other than the injector issues...yet. I'm of the belief that aluminum cylinder heads don't belong on cast-iron blocks on any diesel, but this goes in spades for truck engines. I don't know firsthand of any cases of D-max heads going bad, but I'm certain that it's just a matter of time.

In addition, if you're looking for a 4 wheel drive, GM's setup uses an independent front suspension not unlike the rear differential/axleshaft setup on a 123. IMHO this setup may be acceptable for highway driving, but it does NOT belong on a vehicle that 's (theoretically) meant to be taken off-road.

Ford's out there, but I for one am not ready to trust the new 6.0l PSD yet; they suffered some serious problems early on and the jury's still out on whether or not said problems are truly fixed.

Just my $.02...a couple of other sites to check out are www.dieseltruckresource.com (a Dodge site) and www.thedieselstop.com (a Ford site).

Good luck with your decision!

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2001 VW Jetta TDI, 5 speed, daily driver
1991 Ford F-350, work in progress
1984 Ford F-250 4x4, 6.9l turbo diesel, 5 speed manual
Previous oilburners: 1980 IH Scout, 1984 E-350, 1985 M-B 300D, 1979 M-B 300SD, 1983 M-B 300D
Spark-free since 1999

The Dmax is an excellent engine. Isuzu is the largest diesel engine manufacturer in the world. VW, Isuzu, MB and others have figured out the alloy head issues. Sure, they don't like to be overheated BUT that shouldn't be happening anyway. While I like the Cummins it is an older engine design and while the peak torque and hp may be higher than the Dmax, the peak is exactly that. The Dmax and the PSD both have a much flatter torque curve, higher redlines, and more area under the curve results in more usable power. Dodge quality is poor IMHO, having seen two up close recently. The new PSD had awful problems with injectors so the verdict is still out. The Dmax also responds very well to tweaking. An 80hp gain is a simple plug-in away. While the IFS system may not be the best for offroading, no one uses big diesel pickups for real offroading. 99% of the time they are on some sort of road. The Ford and Dodge ride like crap compared to the GM. If you need a true offroad vehicle get a Unimog, Humvee, old FJ or Bronco and go rockbanging. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I like the Dodge/Cummins a lot better than the Chevy/Duramax or Ford/PowerStroke mainly because of the great motor Cummins makes. Ideally we would have the Cummins motor in the Ford chassis as Ford chassis seem to have less problems but their motors surely have more than their fair share from what I hear.

The CTD (cummins turbo diesel) has quite a flat torque curve once modified but stock may not be quite as flat. If/when I get one among the first improvments of ridding of that lift pump will also be an air bag suspension. The front ones will be pretty cheap/easy to convert but the rear ones aren't. Nothing beats riding on air!

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k

I don't think you can go wrong with the CTD, what it comes down to is personal preference. I think the Dodge and the Chevy were designed by "Bud Tugly" but the Ford is okay. The GMC frontend is much nicer than the Chevy so that would be my first choice. Doesn't really matter as I can't justify or afford paying what amounts to a downpayment and monthly bill that just a few years ago would buy a house. RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I also cannot see paying more for a vehicle than I did for my residence. That being said, it'll be many years before I will see if the 6.0 PSD or the Dmax is for me.
This is why I drive 20 y/o MBs. Economical, low cost, and still the prestige of driving a Benz

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1971 R600 Mack toterhome (SuperDawg)
99 NU-WA Snowbird 34+2 SE 102 5er
If it's not diesel, it's not in my stable!
53 F100 617.951/auto
95 Dodge 3500 Cummins/5 speed service truck

I guess I’ll jump in here with my 2 cents worth.
First off. Talking trucks and which ones are “better”, is like discussing sex, politics, war or religion.
There are Ford guys, Chevy guys and Dodge guys. And, no matter what engine you put in any of them. No matter what any report states what facts about them. 95%+ of the Ford, Chevy and Dodge guys will remain just that.

I can find both plusses as well as negatives in all of them. What I go on when buying them is what impartial reports I can get my hands on, and what I’ve experienced with them. On the ranch (best proving grounds around when you have a bunch of “south of the border, never driven anything before, illegal aliens” driving them), we run Dodge trucks and Chevy trucks. During the past 8 years, we’ve run with 6 Dodges (3500CTD 4x4,1500gas 4x4, 2ea. 1500gas 2x4s, 2500CTD 4x4 2004 and a Durango) and 4 GM trucks (K10 4x4, 3500 gas 2x4, 2500gas 4x4 and a K2500 4x4 6.5l TD). So far, the GM trucks are killing us in maintenance compared to the Dodges. The worst thing we’ve experienced with the Dodge trucks is the 3500 CTD loosing a 2 dollar nut that held 5 gear on the shaft. Drove home in 4th and paid a shop $150.00 to open a side cover and put a new nut on it.
On the other hand, the Chevy’s are always seeming to need something. The worst thing to happen was with the ’93 K2500 6.5l turbo diesel. The rockers are held on a shaft with 35 cent “plastic” keepers. At 170k miles, the keeper on the #3 intake valve broke off. The #3 intake rocker came off the valve, thus dropping the #3 cylinder out of service. Unfortunately, it didn’t end there. The pushrod came up off the lifter, hit the bottom of the cover, dropped back down the oil return port, wiped out two cam lobes, wrapped up into the crank and was fired back up into the bottom of the #1 piston, destroyed the piston, marred the wall and somehow had enough of itself left to get driven through the side of the oil pan. So, for a 35 cent part failure, I got to do a $3500 complete engine overhaul. Though some of that was for a pump and turbo o/h, it was still irritating to know why the truck was out of service and I had to tear it down. Bottom line - The Dodges will be replacing the GM trucks around here.

The only good thing to come out of our GM trucks so far, is that my daughter Bailey has gotten some good hands-on maintenance experience working on them. Here she is at age 5 helping with the water pump installation during the 6.5l TD overhaul. Aint she cute ?!?!?

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Maybe it was bad design which causes this but when pulling you aren't supposed to use 5th in the 5speed or 6th in the 6spd, step it down one gear and everything (but the mileage) will be alright. I know that the Gear Vendors over/underdrive unit is set so that on a 5spd there is the same ratio in 4th with overdrive as 5th without. This is done to keep the transmission temperature down while towing, not for the nut vibrating loose. The cummins has quirks on certain models and in certain years (53 block failure, killer dowel pin, torque converters on autos) but overall I'd have to say they are better.

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k

We seldom if ever pull anything with any of our trucks in overdrive or top gear. The only real exception is the bumper pull trailer that fits a riding mower, and that’s about all it fits. The 5th gear loss on the 3500 was the only real issue we’ve had with it. We hear it's pretty common, too. Also - We have heard from the local transmission shops that the 5 speed transmission in that truck is it’s weakest link. I think it’s rated to 12K Lbs. , and it’s easy to think you can flat-bed your loader/backhoe and cruise on down the road. You see it a lot around here. We usually hire out the heavy equipment moving. Not worth the risks of tearing something up. We’ll move the smaller farm tractors. Anything else is low-boy material.

I’ll have to agree with rwthomas1 on the IFS issues. Most folks around here (or anywhere) with 4x4 trucks rarely if ever go “off-roading” with them. We use the 4x4s to move stuff out of muddy and/or wet slick fields. Both the 4x4 systems with either IFS or straight axle work fine for this. But, compared to the new Dodge 2500 4x4, the ’93 K2500 4x4 rides down the highway like a Cadillac. Nice on long trips.

I have been a GM owner for over 20 years now and I have never been a fan of their diesel engines other than they were easy to work on. Good thing for that because you often needed to work on them. I don't see many on the roads anymore nor do I see old Isuzu diesels either. OTH, their gas engines (V8's with the iron heads) IMO are the best in the industry. The trucks are built to last. The V8's have been around for almost 50 years now in one configuration or another and there are probably more of them out there than Ford's or Dodge's longest running production engines combined. Even more hot rodders use GM engines than any other engine. But this is a diesel forum so lets not dwell to much on my opinions on GM gassers. One thing though, I'll probably still be owning my GM's long after my 300D is picked over by parts scavengers.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Well that is the way it is in each cummins really, the 6spd isn't as bad though. The 5spd's weak spot isn't the tranny but the input shaft of the transfer case. The auto's torque converter is pretty weak and the 6spd is quite strong overall but seems to have more synchro related problems. I know a guy who pulls 30k+lbs daily with his 3500 dually! (multiple car hauler)

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Jeff M.
Mercedes W123 DIY pages are now located here.
1983 / 1984 300D Sold
2000 CLK430 Cabriolet ~58k Sold
2005 Avalanche 4x4 ~66k

One thing we can probably all agree on:

On a GM 6.5l TD overhaul. If you tell your 5 year old to paint the oil fill tube and get your mother to help you install it, you can wind up with pink parts on your motor.

Oh well - gotta love’em.

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