o.t. duramax questions
 

i have been considering a new chevy with the duramax diesel and would appreciate any feedback from any owners or possibly GM mechanics . what kind of fuel mileage and any prolems if any.

I get about 18 mpg with mine (3/4 ton, 4X4 extended cab) I've had some problems with the brake system, but the truck runs/pulls really nice.

Good luck

David

griesel72 what kind of brake problems and what trans are you running. i have drove a friends and was very impressed with the performance and he loves it .i have heard alot of good things about them.

If you are considering a used one, check out the price of rotors for the truck before you buy. I had a mechanic tell me of a guy that had to have all four replaced at at price of(are you sitting down?) over $1700 each(Canadian). Add in the price of calipers, pads and labour. That's one hell of a shock to the wallet. Now if we were talking of an exotic Ferrari or something, the price may be sane but this is a truck!

browndawg71

my truck has the allison automatic, which is pretty impressive with it's ability to shift down and slow the truck with out even pushing the brake.

My truck has what was referred to by the chevy mechanics as a "phantom" problem. when i picked up the truck the first time, right after i started it, it came on with a message "service brake system" I had them take it back to the shop, and they told me that they fixed the problem, but every once in a while it comes on with the same message, but no chevy dealership seems to be able to fix it. It doesn't seem to affect the brakes, but it scares a guy to have a possible problem with the brakes on a 40000 dollar truck.

If you're looking at a 2001, i know that Teeitup just bought a 2001 with almost 90000 miles, and is having good luck (as far as i know)

Good luck, i know you will like it.

David

I've got an '03 and we just turned 20k. We've got a 3/4 ton, full 4 door, 4x4, with the Allison.

No problems other than some board burned up within the 1st 1000 miles and it would not allow the air to work on the driver's side. Just blazing heat and the blower blowing full speed.

Also had a faulty brake sensor go out. Would not allow the cruise to work.

Other than that, it's a great truck. I live in SW Mo, and we drove it to Florida and Colorado last yr. Avg mpg around 19 on the hwy at 70mph.

I've had an 01 Dodge and I love the Cummins, but Dodge cannot keep a tranny behind the Cummins IMO.

Yes I bought a 2001 3/4 4x4 ext cab about three or four months ago just turned over 100K on it, I've put 8K on it since I bought it. No problems yet, getting 15-16 mpg. Allison tranny is AWESOME so far!!!!!

Just make sure you get the "LLY" engine if you get a 2004 model. That is the newer version that has lots of changes to it, namely much better injectors.

It was a running change in the model year.

They're typical GM trucks, that is to say, they are plush and real nice overall. The aluminum heads scare me a little though.



Hijack to respond to post above- By the way, the Cummins has the heaviest duty transmission available. Both mine and my wife's Cummins trucks have the NV5600 6 speed manuals. No tougher transmission in a diesel truck ever.

As far as Dodge auto trans go, notice both of mine are 6 speed manuals? Enough said on that....

I'm a real big hot rod diesel junky. 700 ft/lbs of torque is easy with any of the big three diesel engines nowdays.

I have an '04 Crew Cab with the LLY. I have had zero problems so far but only 6k miles. I think that it is just beginning to get broke in as the mileage just keeps getting better (19mpg unloaded). I haul a 3500# Alpenlite truck camper on it and it doesn't even know it is there. Also, I have the Allison trans....

Tx Firefighter, with simple plugin reprogammer they can get over 900 ft lbs. although you need to strengthen the flexplate lugs on converter as they will shear off. imagine 12.9 in the 1/4!!!
the new ones with the improved injectors I havent worked on yet but the only problem I have seen with the older ones is injectors getting plugged with dirty fuel. at a cost of about $500 each just for parts. you have nothing to worry about with the heads. I had the heads off one that had over 200K miles & there was NO RING RIDGE. even still had the crosshatch on cyl walls!! some of them had a small crack in the fuel rail pressure regulator. keep in mind they run @ 30K PSI so DO NOT OPEN LINES WHILE RUNNING.
to sum it all up if I was in the market for a diesel I wouldnt get anything else than a Dmax-Allison
truck -GM engine-Isuzu fuel injection-Bosch
PS the reason the heads came off is somewhat embarrasing (lack of info & other shop incorrectly replacing an injector)