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Hello from Saskatchewan

J_dude

J_dude

Well-Known Member
Messages
505
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1,632
Location
Southwest Saskatchewan
Hey everyone,

Can’t believe I only found this site now, looks like a lot of fun and a lot of good info!

I’ve owned my 1996 K1500 6.5 for about two years now, she’s an old farm truck that’s had a hard hard life and shows it, but she doesn’t let me down. Bought it from my brother, who owned it for maybe four years before that, and beat on it nearly as much as I do lol.

Just finished putting another rad in it (it had been swapped to the older style at some point, and was now leaking) and will be making my own TurboMaster soon. Also need to find a hydroboost unit that doesn’t leak... for now just trying not to use the brakes, which happens to also be a good way to increase fuel economy 😉.

Anyway, for now I’m just going to try to learn all I can, hopefully not the hard way haha.

Respectfully,
Jude
 
Welcome.
Tons of knowledge here for you to learn for saving money and getting the truck happier.

A few things to look at right away:
Harmonic balancer and the drive pulley in front of it. If the rubber is cracking or you can force it to move by hand- replace it asap. Block and crankshaft killer.
AC Delco or fluidampr ONLY! The Delco is good for 100,000 miles. The fluidampr is forever but costs a lot more.

Oil cooler lines. At any sign of seeping replace.
If they are old and crusty, replace them. When they fail all engine oil is gone in a couple seconds so obviously engine killer.
 
J_dude said:
Hey everyone,

Can’t believe I only found this site now, looks like a lot of fun and a lot of good info!

I’ve owned my 1996 K1500 6.5 for about two years now, she’s an old farm truck that’s had a hard hard life and shows it, but she doesn’t let me down. Bought it from my brother, who owned it for maybe four years before that, and beat on it nearly as much as I do lol.

Just finished putting another rad in it (it had been swapped to the older style at some point, and was now leaking) and will be making my own TurboMaster soon. Also need to find a hydroboost unit that doesn’t leak... for now just trying not to use the brakes, which happens to also be a good way to increase fuel economy 😉.

Anyway, for now I’m just going to try to learn all I can, hopefully not the hard way haha.

Respectfully,
Jude
Click to expand...

Welcome to The Truck Stop, Jude.
 
Will L. said:
Welcome.
Tons of knowledge here for you to learn for saving money and getting the truck happier.

A few things to look at right away:
Harmonic balancer and the drive pulley in front of it. If the rubber is cracking or you can force it to move by hand- replace it asap. Block and crankshaft killer.
AC Delco or fluidampr ONLY! The Delco is good for 100,000 miles. The fluidampr is forever but costs a lot more.

Oil cooler lines. At any sign of seeping replace.
If they are old and crusty, replace them. When they fail all engine oil is gone in a couple seconds so obviously engine killer.
Click to expand...
Thanks Will!

Been meaning to look at the HB, it’s been a while but I think my brother replaced it with a used one..? Yeah I better check that.

Oil cooler lines have already been upgraded to braided stainless.
Also the PMD has been relocated to the DS of engine bay, on the fender.
The more I read about these trucks the more I am finding out someone really meant for this truck to last, despite the abuse it has taken in its 567k km existence. Lots of the aftermarket fixes on her already, like the 9 blade metal fan. Just found out about that yesterday, had to go out and check which one I had and sure enough, it’s already got it.
 
Your better off to get the pmd out from under the hood.
Most here put it on the front bumper- maybe someone can post a pic of theirs for ya.
I recommend having 2 mounted there next to each other. Then get a connector and fill the back side with silicone. Once cured plug it in to keep connections clean. Then when you have to swap over- takes a couple seconds and you are back on the road. If you get one with the lifetime warranty- run on it and keep the older working one as the spare. Then in a few years when the lifetime warranty one dies- you drive on the old one while waiting for the replacement to arrive.
Having a spare pmd is like having a spare tire- simply a must for the ds4 set up.

Also: watch that coolant temp.
200f is ok
210 watch the gauge more than the road
220 pull over immediately and let it idle back to 200.
Heat is the #1 killer of this engine
 
Welcome @J_dude. take in all the advice these guys give you. I have learned lots from them and reading up here in the forum. these old rigs aren't as many around anymore but if taken care of will last a lifetime. years later down the road when all these newer ozone friendly rigs are all in the shop having major work done to keep them running, these old 6.5's will still be cruising along perfectly ;)
 
Here is some mighty good reading for the ultimate cooling system upgrade.
Welcome to the forum Jude.

Electric Fan clutch

So for those who want accurate fan clutch engagement this could be for you. I know on my 96 the fan clutch has never engaged the entire time I've owned it. Living in cooler climates does have it's advantages. I even tried modding the spring to no avail. This clutch will only work with the spin...
www.thetruckstop.us
 
Will L. said:
Your better off to get the pmd out from under the hood.
Most here put it on the front bumper- maybe someone can post a pic of theirs for ya.
I recommend having 2 mounted there next to each other. Then get a connector and fill the back side with silicone. Once cured plug it in to keep connections clean. Then when you have to swap over- takes a couple seconds and you are back on the road. If you get one with the lifetime warranty- run on it and keep the older working one as the spare. Then in a few years when the lifetime warranty one dies- you drive on the old one while waiting for the replacement to arrive.
Having a spare pmd is like having a spare tire- simply a must for the ds4 set up.

Also: watch that coolant temp.
200f is ok
210 watch the gauge more than the road
220 pull over immediately and let it idle back to 200.
Heat is the #1 killer of this engine
Click to expand...
Oh boy I like that idea, I have a spare in the center console but having it mounted beside the other one definitely would make it easier to swap. Thanks for the tip!
Also, where does one get one with lifetime warranty?
 
MrMarty51 said:
Here is some mighty good reading for the ultimate cooling system upgrade.
Welcome to the forum Jude.

Electric Fan clutch

So for those who want accurate fan clutch engagement this could be for you. I know on my 96 the fan clutch has never engaged the entire time I've owned it. Living in cooler climates does have it's advantages. I even tried modding the spring to no avail. This clutch will only work with the spin...
www.thetruckstop.us
Click to expand...
Thanks MrMarty, I’ll definitely give that a read!
 
J_dude said:
Oh boy I like that idea, I have a spare in the center console but having it mounted beside the other one definitely would make it easier to swap. Thanks for the tip!
Also, where does one get one with lifetime warranty?
Click to expand...
I run 2 extension harnesses up under the hood. One from each pmd. Much easier to change under the hood than down in the snorkel holes.

I got in trouble one evening because I got down and switched the harness from one pmd to another in the bumper.

We were going somewhere that she didn't want me to be dirty for and whatever I had in the Suburban at the time to keep clean wasn't there.
 
jrsavoie said:
I run 2 extension harnesses up under the hood. One from each pmd. Much easier to change under the hood than down in the snorkel holes.

I got in trouble one evening because I got down and switched the harness from one pmd to another in the bumper.

We were going somewhere that she didn't want me to be dirty for and whatever I had in the Suburban at the time to keep clean wasn't there.
Click to expand...
Ahh yes that is a very good point, although maybe not a likely situation in my case as I rarely use this truck for anything but work, she’s really just my “beater”.
 
J_dude said:
Oh boy I like that idea, I have a spare in the center console but having it mounted beside the other one definitely would make it easier to swap. Thanks for the tip!
Also, where does one get one with lifetime warranty?
Click to expand...
He is a vendor here.

You can find them other places as well, takes some looking. But I believe in supporting our vendors because they pay to keep this forum alive instead of us paying for access.
And sometimes our vendors have the best pricing anyways.
 
on the PMD subject, I have the extension harness and the PMD mounted in the drivers side hole in the front bumper (fins facing forward) I removed the resistor that's in the PMD connector and placed it in the end of the extension harness up at the engine. this way I don't ever have to worry about pulling out the resistor from the old failed PMD to install in the new one. if you haven't heard of the resistor, it's a tiny circuit looking thingy that slides over the pins inside the PMD connector. it must be there or it can cause a no start situation. older pre '96 (94 - 95 OBD1) trucks will run without them for a while usually taking around 50 key on - off cycles for the computer to look for it. the 96+ newer trucks iirc will not start almost immediately after plugging in a new PMD without the resistor in place.
 
Stoney said:
@J_dude welcome to TTS. I see the guys have made you feel at home. It's a great group here and more info than you could ever believe.
Click to expand...
Thanks Stoney, boy have they ever! I’m really liking the friendly community feel, haven’t really found that on any of the other forums I’m on, y’all really make a guy feel at ease.
 
dbrannon79 said:
on the PMD subject, I have the extension harness and the PMD mounted in the drivers side hole in the front bumper (fins facing forward) I removed the resistor that's in the PMD connector and placed it in the end of the extension harness up at the engine. this way I don't ever have to worry about pulling out the resistor from the old failed PMD to install in the new one. if you haven't heard of the resistor, it's a tiny circuit looking thingy that slides over the pins inside the PMD connector. it must be there or it can cause a no start situation. older pre '96 (94 - 95 OBD1) trucks will run without them for a while usually taking around 50 key on - off cycles for the computer to look for it. the 96+ newer trucks iirc will not start almost immediately after plugging in a new PMD without the resistor in place.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip, I’ll have to do that when I move my heat sink down to the bumper.
 
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