How would a 03 duramax stack up against my 07 5.9?

[JUeckert]

Yeah... I think they still have one or two of them over there for spares, like we do. The tractor guys run the 650-750 Fords with the Cat engines. We got the 4500 Chevys with the D-Maxes in them. hhmm. . I think we got the short end of the stick on that one.

Since you have a construction co... . Do you know anybody in Harrison Co. that does concrete work?... I need a slab poured for my shop...

yeah i think i would rather have the ford trucks they run, instead of the gm's. at the least thay look better if nothing else! i suppose being a cat service truck, having a ford with the cummins option would not have been up for debate? chk your pm's for concrete info. .

 

[Wingate]

well... . HERE'S some irony... We've been talking aobut d-max being good or bad. I came in from Nachadoches this evening and when I let off the throttle to turn onto my street, the engine started knocking... I mean BAD!!!. . I'm going to attempt to drive it to work in the morning, talked to the boss... its 1K to have the wrecker come here and get it, and its 1K to have him pick it up 10 miles from the shop... so, I'm gonna roll the dice!!. What a P. O. S. ... ... And to think, this is the 3rd engine in 180k miles.

 

[FFL8N]

well... . HERE'S some irony... We've been talking aobut d-max being good or bad. I came in from Nachadoches this evening and when I let off the throttle to turn onto my street, the engine started knocking... I mean BAD!!!. . I'm going to attempt to drive it to work in the morning, talked to the boss... its 1K to have the wrecker come here and get it, and its 1K to have him pick it up 10 miles from the shop... so, I'm gonna roll the dice!!. What a P. O. S. ... ... And to think, this is the 3rd engine in 180k miles.

OUCH!!! Time to get rid of the truck... and I mean get rid of it... Please don't sell it to some sucker LOL

 

[JUeckert]

this is what concerns me about the duramax's, how long can they last being worked on a regular basis. most the folks i know that own them are happy with few exceptions. the problem is, few if any of these people really work them, and the one's that have really arent in the high mileage group. i can find plenty of fords and dodges that are worked daily, and have lot's of miles, but i dont know of any duramax's. anyone know of any?

 

[Wingate]

Well. . it (the d-max) made it to the dealership... . they looked at it said they thought it might have a hole in a piston... Not sure if I agreed with that due to the fact that it had no excessive blowby, no fuel in oil, and it wasn't down on power (thats a relative term... it wasn't any weaker that it usually is)

Anyway. . we had decided not to repair it, just to scrap it. So, I went and picked it up from the dealership to drive it across town to start un-loading it. I made it approx. 3/4 mile and it came COMPLETELY un-wound... I've got dents in the oil pan... hhmmm. . can we say connecting rod???

If I had to guess, I'd say that the wrist pin/bore started giving up and the noise I was hearing was the piston slapping the bottom of the cylinder head... Then if finally broke it apart.

JUeckert. . its funny you mention this... when i picked it up from the dealership, I told the service rep. that it didn't surprise me that it had gave up with only approx. 90k on it... the response was that " well, ya'll just have them loaded so heavy" hhmm. . according to the Izuzu and GM web-sites, the engine is rated for 24,500 lbs load and 150,000 half life! My truck weighs 20-21k on average..... so the math doesn't add up.

I personally thank the d-max is good for taking the boat to the lake and hauling a couple of horses to the 4-H show... but so is a gas engine.

Leave the real work to a real diesel...

 

[JUeckert]

yep, sounds like dealer hog wash to me. if the dealer ya'll are useing is just north of town, i'am not suprised. i took one of my electronic 6. 5's in to be timed after i replaced the inj pump with a new one, and they couldnt even do that correctly. had to get a mom and pop outfit here in marshall to do it correctly. from what i have found, there only 2 good diesel mechanics at that place. as for the duramax, if i cant beat my little 6. 2/6. 5 engines to well over 2 and 300k with virtuallly no issues, haulling much heavier weight's for a living, the maxipad should last atleast 150k. my [theroy], from what i have seen of the bottom end on those engines, they are virtually identical to the 6. 2/6. 5 engine's when it comes to the size and looks of the rods,bore and stroke. again just a theroy, it seems to me if you take a bottom end thats very similar to a engine rated at 155 to 200hp, crank it up to 300+ and ask it to really work for a living, it aint gonna last very long. i realize there are other factors besides size of componets that come to factor, but i really cant help but wonder about the durability of the duramax over the long haul.

 

[rscurtis]

IIRC, the Duramax is not de-rated in power when moved from a pickup to a MD truck, where the Cummins or PS would be. 300HP in an MD is usually a DT466 or 530, a Cummins C or even a Cat C7. Perhaps that is the cause of the early failures.

 

[EArp]

Well, we've all said it before, but I just don't think a v8 diesel engine design is really the best idea for a motor that is intended to work very hard for a long period of time. I mean, the majority of the motors in heavy equipment and semi-trucks are all the Inline 6 configuration. It makes so much more sense, less moving parts and bigger/heavier duty connecting rods and such. Since my dad's dmax has low mileage and he will only use it to pull his 5th wheel occasionally, he should be ok though (... fingers crossed).

 

[JUeckert]

sorry, but i aint part of the inline v's v crowd. there are crappy v engines as well as very good ones. same goes for the inline design. there are many reasons for why semi's and much off road equipment run an inline engine. cost to produce,packageing,serviceability, and in many cases weight are all factors . there was a time in the big truck market when maximum power meant v engines. down the line technology made it possible for the engine produces to create inline engines with similar power levels. in very large apps where max power, is needed, such as mineing, compressor unit's, etc; , v engines are still most common.

 

[JUeckert]

IIRC, the Duramax is not de-rated in power when moved from a pickup to a MD truck, where the Cummins or PS would be. 300HP in an MD is usually a DT466 or 530, a Cummins C or even a Cat C7. Perhaps that is the cause of the early failures.

very good point. to be fair here, many of the higher hp 5. 9 cummins[ 210/250hp depending on years] i have ran across in medium apps such as buses or single axle dumps over the years, have had what i consider premature engine replacements. i rarely see this with the lower hp 5. 9 engines. buying and being around equipment most my life, i have found in those apps, the 5. 9 peaks at about 140hp ish[again depend on year]. Higher hp apps, equipment manufactures then bump up to bigger engines. Having said this, ford derates the 7. 3 and 6. 0 engines very little for the 450/550 line up, which is the same class as mr wingates service truck. other then the egr/sensor created issues of the 6. 0, the engines hold up well in those apps. dont know the track record of wingates truck, but with 3 engine's in such a short mileage span, i'am wondering if there's not a dealer/mechanic issue here?

 

['strokeThis_'07]

IIRC, the Duramax is not de-rated in power when moved from a pickup to a MD truck, where the Cummins or PS would be. 300HP in an MD is usually a DT466 or 530, a Cummins C or even a Cat C7. Perhaps that is the cause of the early failures.

Duramax Chevy/GMC 3/4-1 ton pickup rating: 365/660

Duramax Van rating: 250/460

Duramax Medium Duty Rating: 300/520 (LRX); 330/620 (LYE)

 

[rscurtis]

The "LYE" ratings are not much different from the pickup, espescially when you consider that it can be fun flat out on a regular basis, and sometimes for an extended period. 250 HP is more than adequate for a 26,000 GWV truck.

 

[Wingate]

I think some of our issues over the years can be attributed to poor knowledge/training at our local dealerships. . None of this has added up to short engine life though. Usually, our problems with the local dealerships are things like, cutting the o-ring on the fuel filter, taking WAY too long to do a P/M, putting rear wheels on and not clocking the valve stems!!!!. . Taking a week to change a set of injectors, only to find out it was the injection PUMP that was bad!. . etc... We've used 3 dealerships for repairs... and noticed about the same level of competence from all of them.

I can remember the first engine, it was running hot on the open highway, then cooled down to 210 ar redlights, in town. . etc. . By hot, I mean... . 260+ on open highway at 70 mph. HOT. . First they basically said I was lying, then I tool a picture of it while driving down the road...

Thats when they FINALLY tore the engine down, and decided to have the cylinder heads magna-fluxed for cracks... Low and behold, they didn't show any cracks, so they MUST be ok???... I was standing there when the service advisor and tech. told me this... Not to mention that the cylinder walls were COMPLETEELY washed ouut...

After about 10 minutes, I brought it to their attn. that you can't MAGNAFLUX aluminum!!!.

I bet the guys at the local machine shop got a good laugh and some good $$$$ to do that procedure!!!. .

 

[JUeckert]

have you got a replacment yet?

 

[Wingate]

yep... in another 03 d-max that is/was a spare truck. From what I've been told, we're getting 2011 Ford 550's in approx. 8-12 weeks. They will be a welcomed sight... . hopefully!.

Apparently, the d-max is only good for about 80-90K under full load conditions, we lost one about 8 weeks ago, mine about 2 weeks ago, and we have another one that has developed a lower end knock within the last week. All of these engines were in the 80-90k mile range...

 

[JUeckert]

h'mmm, kinda makes me wonder if my theroy on duramax longevity under a steady diet of work might not be true. as for the new replacements, i have high hopes for the new ford engine after the 6. 0 fiasco. gotta say what few actual 6. 0 failures i have seen, makes me wonder if it's not better then the duramax after all[ less the nitpicking 6. 0 issues anyway].

 

[Wingate]

I guess only time will tell. The new trucks are going to have PTO driven cranes, out-riggers, and air compressors... . So the engine is going to see LOTS of idle time. I HOPE Ford and their re-gen system is ready for it!!!. I'm prolly gonna go thru more UREA that winshield washer fluid... dang lovebugs!

 

[JUeckert]

yep, good old epa's nut's. we can thank them for a big part of the problems these latest generation of diesel's are having. seems to me reliability and diesel are two words that cant be said in the same sentence anymore. i'am all for cleaning up the enviroment, but could be things are getting out of hand. for jobs like ours, low rpm's or even idleing is part often part of the daily chore's. i have likely cut 50% of my truck and equipment idle time out. depending on what happens in the next year or two with the big 3's diesels, i'am kinda concerned if my 05 was my last new diesel purchase.

 

[Wingate]

I went and looked and smelled a new 2010 2500 4x4 Lamarie this last weekend.

As pretty as it is, and as much as I liked the interior vs. my 06 model... . the 06 is paid for with approx. 30K on the clock. And it doesn't require "turbo cleanings" and $2500 exhaust filters. The fuel filter is 10 bucks vs. 40+..... I think I have just decided to build my dream shop, then pull my 06 in there and upgrade the interior and suspension... . Then all I have to do is wait for somebody to come up with a stand-alone trans. controller to run either Aisin or 68 RFE trans...

 

[JUeckert]

same here. i checked out the 2 new body style dually's they had about a week ago, and had the same thought as you. gonna chk out the new fords too, but probably just walk away from them also. your building your dream shop, i may just end up building my dream truck. [drivetrain wise anyway]. speaking of trannys , anyway you could snag the allison out of the worked truck that died on you. could it be made to work for your 4x4 application.