Deal! 94 3500??

[d10s69c10]

just got the option to buy a 2wd 94 3500 quad cab dualie with a 6.4 TD to a 5 sp manual.

trucks in really good condition buying it from a friend black and silver two tone. has about 150k miles on it intererior is dirty but in great condition other wise.

body looks great, I could only find 3 dents int the rear of the left side bed..

Just was wondering what anyone thinks about the powertrain as far a work truck. no mods for this truck gonna be my "beater"

Whats the PRO's & Con's?

[d10s69c10]

bump.

[crossy's son]

The con is the diesel. im not a fan of 6.5's. there great engines if you get them rebuilt and compression lowered, there slow as s**t too. in 94 it would be the electronic engine too, and there worse. expensvie maintence too.

the pros are good fuel mileage, and the 5 speed is indestructible as long as the clutch is good. Id look hard for a gas truck as a beater because they last so much longer and are cheaper to work on then a 6.5 diesel

FINAL; if it runs good and it has under 200,000 miles. buy it. make an ok beater i guess. straight pipe the exhaust and you'll be good to go.

hope this helps

[Jeep & GMC]

From what I've heard, they got their bad name from an overheating pmd (pump mounted driver) and people kept having to replace their Injector pumps. The cure for this is to put a heat sink cooler, or relocate the pmd to a cooler place like the front bumper. 94 was the first year for computer controled IP, and it was the only year with that particular computer. My dad has had a 93 (mechanical Pump) and it runs great, he's had it 10 years and added over 100k to 40 that was already on it. It's no duramax, but pulls a trailer very well. With mountain driving he's gotten as good as 19mpg. You already said you didn't want any, but there are a surprising amount of performance mods available. Sorry for being such a long post, hope it helps

[special-K]

^ Correct.The problems from the DS4 pump are not the pump itself.They arrise from the support components and having the fuel driver mount to the pump to cool it from fuel flow.Not enough fuel volume for design to work correctly.The result is the driver heats the pump & fuel.Relocating the fuel driver solves that problem.I never replaced the IP on my`95,just the turbo boost solenoid($25) and the fuel driver(then,relocated).
I pull trailers weighing more than the truck and I feel it.But,I think you should when you double your weight.You should drive differently,too.But,I`ve always moved right along just fine.My `92 truck as it sits weighs about 8,000#.I factory ordered it when the 6.5TD was introduced.I just drove it and changed filters and lube until I sold it to my son @ 205,000mi.He put about 30,000 more on it before I bought it back.It was stalling amd smoking when I took it home.It had been sitting for awhile.I drove it once or twice a few miles,then parked it.It was ready for it`s second injector pump and sets of injectors & glow plugs.I had to replace the belt tensioner once @80,000mi. and the alternator froze up @ 202,000mi.I dropped a brand spankin`new marine-duty 300hp 6.5TD in my`95,but I totalled the truck 15,000mi. later.So,I put that motor in the`92 and now the truck has 250,000mi.The motor has 30,000 on it so I should be good for awhile.
Both trucks had problems with the 5spd(NV4500) at around 100,000mi.
GM used a daul mass flywheel that can fail.There`s a solid flywheel conversion.See if it`s already had that.I did it on both mine over 10 years ago.
The motors are fine,but you gotta watch the heat.And with a turbo the head temp spikes when under full throttle and pulling hard,like on hills with a load.There are gauges so you can mind that.The factory should have provided one,they`re EGT (exhaust gas temp) gauges.With one you can see that all you do is let off and the temp drops as fast as it rose.This is for all turbo diesels.

...mine`s longer.

[d10s69c10]

Thanks alot for all the great info. Seriosly.

yes the flywheel has been redone i know that and ill look into this pump overheating thing. i aint got any hills here but i seem to have a anchor for a foot so ill have to work that out.

[crossy's son]

You wont have any problems if you look into the pmd relocater kit. and a 100$ egt gauge. youd be good to go.

[71'tahoe]

Wow! I dont own a 6.5 but have known friends that did and if we knew all this we wouldnt have had so much trouble Croosy's son,jeep& gmc,and special K. You guy have gave me some good knowledge. Special K you seem to know your way around these engines. Have you ever heard that if by chance you blow a head gasket to go ahead and replace both heads? My friend has heard that and passed up a smokin deal on one of these trucks because we were told that at 150,000 they need head/gaskets.. ant truth to this? Sooory for jacking this thread but I thought it might be another problem area...

[special-K]

The head gasket problem is only when they get too hot at some point.If you mind the temps that won`t happen.It`s the same for all engines,but I guess you could say these motors don`t cut any slack on being run hot.
Alot of bad head gaskets are caused by loss of coolant due to hairline cracks in the head,the result of being run hot.You slowly lose coolant until the low level lets the temperature climb unoticed.So,as should always be done on any head gasket job,the heads should always be magna-fluxed (checked for cracks).I guess there just wasn`t enough mass in these heads.Guys are having machine shops insert steel liners in the coolant passages to help solve that.
These motors run about 22:1 compression while all the big three diesels out now run 18:1.The higher compression was to aid starting.But,the higher compression,the higher the exhaust gas temperature.So,by lowering the compression it helps keep the head temps down.That`s how the company that built my motor can get more power without the motor running too hot.It`s got 18:1 pistons.But,I`ve run these stock with no problems,like my`92 w/235,000 and no motor work.

[chrisk1500]

Nothing wrong with the 6.5

As said, the GM techs didn't have very much training in the 90's to understand the 6.5 and hence the bad reputation after coming back from the dealership with multiple IP replacements.

Buy the truck and then register at dieseltowingresource.com and we will get your truck up to speed.

And for the guy who said that the 6.5 is slow.....slow is a relative term....

EDIT - read my sig for 6.5 upgrades and track times....track times can only get better with addition of ATA IC (already done) and WMI (soon to be done)....

EDIT #2 - about the head/gasket problems. I was running 18 psi of boost on the stock CR and blew out my head gaskets. I pulled the heads and found the typical cracks running between the valves - no big deal. Installed ARP headstuds, new FEL PRO gaskets and bolted it back together...still running 18 psi on the stock compression ratio and blowing by the stock DMAX trucks (01-05) with no problems....LOL...