I bought this baby brand new back in 1995. K2500 6.5 diesel, 3/4 ton 4x4. Atlantic Blue and silver. 123,000 miles. Still has original paint and a perfect body. We were attempting to tow my 24 foot trailer from NJ to a car show out west. I got 130 miles into PA and pulled into a rest stop to use the facilities. She was running smooth as silk (always a bad sign!)
I then noticed whitish smoke puffing out the exhaust when idling. Almost like what you see on start up on a cold day. Only it was after 130 miles. When I stepped on the pedal, the white smoke was much more evident. Since I didn't like the looks of that we turned around and headed home slowly.
I got within 30 miles of home when the mushroom cloud of white smoke came out the exhaust and the coolant blew out of the bypass hose off the reservoir. The truck's coolant temp was only running 185 degrees at the time (verified by infra-red heat gun on the hoses, the block and the radiator). Looks like a blown head gasket.
I was able to limp the truck off the exit and only travel another 1/4 mile to a safe parking spot which just so happens to be only 2.9 miles from my co-driver's home (This becomes a rather important fact next...).
I then call the wife and ask her if she renewed the AAA like I asked her to a couple dozen times before. She of course says, "Oh, I was going to do that later today." I then tell her to do it now. She gets on the AAA web site, and it crashes. So she drives into town and renews. (all while I am sitting with broken truck and trailer).
She then calls me back and gives me the Good News/Bad News. Good news, we are members again...bad news; they only tow 3 miles during the initial 7 day waiting period. Jeez - isn't the national gun buying waiting period shorter than that?
Luckily the destination is just under 3 miles and we get the truck towed by AAA to a safe spot. Once there I check to see if the truck will start. The engine starts right up and immediately smokes again. So I shut it down after only a couple seconds.
I call to a buddy (I'll call him "Joe" since that is his real name) who then loans me his brand new Dodge Cummins 2500 HD. (Now THAT's a friend!) and we make the trip up and back to the show.
So, here we are a week later. I just got back from the trip and checked the truck. It does crank slowly- no hydro lock. I checked the oil and there is no water in it. It is still black and not milkshake. But, the oil level is about 2 inches above the fill line! Did the non-firing cylinder(s) filled the crank case with diesel from a damaged injector? I will note that immediately after the initial brake down I checked the oil and it was at its normal level, so this must have happened over the week of sitting?
I know the truck isn't worth much on the open market but we have owned it since new and it is a member of the family - you know the drill: this truck brought pregnant wife to delivery room, carried the kids home from the hospital when they were born, took us on family vacations, dropped kids off at college 18 years later, over the years carried several of my dogs home for burial when they passed away...
So, I could use recommendations on replacing the 6.5 or repairing this engine. I have heard about the AM General replacement engine but I would like some advice from those of you who have more experience with 6.5 diesel engine replacements and/or repairs.
Sadly, the book value of truck is around $4,500 and a new engine is almost double that price.
Who do you recommend?
Thanks, NJSteve
P.S. Buying a new truck is out of the question with current economic conditions and daughter in college, etc.
If only I had a penny for every viewing of my old '72 T/A restoration thread on here and on the PerformanceYears site...104,814 + 1,990,194 pennies = $1,048.14 + $19,901.94 = $20,950.08 [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...ject#Post99416
Oh, and I only have two more days of my mandatory waiting period before I can get my truck towed back here from my buddies house 30 miles away... [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]