• Welcome to The Truck Stop! We see you haven't REGISTERED yet.

    Your truck knowledge is missing!
    • Registration is FREE , all we need is your birthday and email. (We don't share ANY data with ANYONE)
    • We have tons of knowledge here for your diesel truck!
    • Post your own topics and reply to existing threads to help others out!
    • NO ADS! The site is fully functional and ad free!
    CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

    Problems registering? Click here to contact us!

    Already registered, but need a PASSWORD RESET? CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD!

P400 In The '95 K2500

Why coat the oil pan?

Perhaps it was a bit overkill, especially if already running the TriboDyn engine oil, but a huge part of this build was anything to dissipate heat. Same reason the rods were coated, having one explode on me led me down the "better safe than sorry" route. I use the truck for work and semi- regularly tow 10k+ behind me, and there are some long steep pulls here in a region carved out by glaciers. So anything in the name of cooling was done like the oil pan. I gotta say, I really notice the difference from the heads being coated in winter, the truck barely has any heat, it almost runs too cold.

Speaking of the rods, @Twisted Steel Performance do you have any side by side pictures of stock 6.5 rods and P400 rods? The P400 rods are a huge upgrade, fracture broke fitment and forged if memory serves correctly
 
And here's the inside of the block where the rod trashed the base of the cylinder. Block is completely useless as a result. I haven't looked extensively for cracks, but first glance didn't see any. The balancer on the engine was way past due for replacement, so this is one theory as to how things grenaded as bad as they did. The engine was from a 1999 K2500, not the original 1995. I had bought the '99 with 190k on the clock, and about 10k later hydroplaned on a patch of ice 100 yards from the farm and bent the frame hitting a few trees. But the engine was still good and I kept the truck in the hedgerow. The 1995 lasted barely a year before locking up, learned the hard way to not push too much boost from the stock turbo. This was all before I was a member on here and really didn't know anything about the 6.5 in general. So the '99 engine went into the '95 chassis, and lasted a few years until blowing up. This is why I spent the extra funds on a new engine and put in the upgrades I did. Tired of stuff blowing up on me and wanting something to last me a while and be reliable. I know reliable and 6.5 aren't usually placed together without an "un" in there, but this is the classic example of sticking with the devil you know

IMG_1004[1].JPG


IMG_1005[1].JPG


The camshaft got pitted up too, whole engine got trashed unfortunately
 
Ok so once the engine bay was cleaned and the engine was put back together, it was time to put her in! Chris was kind enough to put on his painter's hat and give the engine a spray of Eastwood low gloss black.

He also installed the water pump and the DS4 IP from the blown engine. I should be converting to a DB2 this spring, just wasn't in the cards for this build

No pictures of it either, but I also sprayed a can or two of Eastwood's internal frame coating. Not sure how effective a product like this is on an old hidden surface, but figured it was better than nothing


Little blurry but here's the engine about ready to go in with the exhaust manifolds on. I had custom 1/2" hydraulic hoses made at a shop, cheaper than a stainless kit and much more robust in my opinion

IMG_0115.JPG


Drops in real easy with no front clip or fender in the way :)

IMG_0117.JPG

Here's a picture of how the hydraulic hoses have to be routed- one above and one below the motor mount to clear. They're a lot thicker than factory or stainless lines. There is some vibration and they're not secured against anything like the factory setup so I check periodically for wear, but never really have to be concerned with a blowout

IMG_0134.JPG


After that it was time to celebrate with a strong beverage

IMG_0122.JPG
 
The next part of the build up was pretty easy. Gotta say that a 19mm flex head flare nut wrench is a must have for removing or installing DS4 lines. And it cost five bucks!


Also for the manual transmission folks a 15mm regular wall deep socket is essential for securing block to bellhousing. There are a few spots where only this socket will work in tightening down the bellhousing studs

Everything else on the engine is pretty much 13 or 15mm

IMG_0140.JPG

Finally got around to drilling out the upper IP fitting for the DS4

IMG_0143.JPG


Yep it's a P400 😍

IMG_0144.JPG

Compliments of @Twisted Steel Performance 🤘

IMG_0146.JPG
 
Last edited:
As mentioned earlier, all new power steering components (save the gearbox) were installed. Before you toss your old pump, make sure the new one fits! As you can see the new pump had incorrectly sized studs. I was thankfully able to pull the old studs off with an impact and re-use

IMG_0166.JPG


The 92-95 and 96+ use different power steering pulleys. As those who have tried know, if the pump has the factory solid body pulley installed, there is no way to remove the pump from the power steering pump bracket without first removing the pulley. After getting frustrated with the stripped out pulley puller rental from Advance Auto, I trashed the original pulley removing with my 3 jaw puller.

The new replacement pulley that is listed for all truck years is an upgrade in this regard: It has spokes instead of being solid, which means you can remove or install the pump with the pulley on as the bolts will fit between the spokes.

However, pay attention to the serp belt setup and have at least one other pulley in the system mounted. This is how far my pulley had to be pressed on in order to be in the same plane with everything else. Had I just snugged it down flush it would have been way out of alignment and not worked at all

IMG_0169.JPG
 
On that open end flare nut swiveling wrench, I thought, might be good to have one of those. Got one coming.
I think that the are on a closeout special. $4.04 a wrench.
If anyone else wants one, might jump in and grab it.
thank You for the heads up on that wrench.
 
On that open end flare nut swiveling wrench, I thought, might be good to have one of those. Got one coming.
I think that the are on a closeout special. $4.04 a wrench.
If anyone else wants one, might jump in and grab it.
thank You for the heads up on that wrench.

How much was the shipping on your order? I punched in two wrenches and they wanted $16 for the slowest shipping method.
 
How much was the shipping on your order? I punched in two wrenches and they wanted $16 for the slowest shipping method.
Yup, thats what it was. I figured best to just jump on it now.
We do have a store here. I could have had it hauled into the store. I just dont know about the management in this store. I used to be able to go in and purchase a half a dozen or a dozen bolts, nuts or washers at a time. Last trip into there, it was the whole bag or nothing. I had to choose nothing and go to the ace store where they charge quad what I had been paying at fastenall. 😩 so then instead of buying extra like I always did from FA, I now just purchase what I need.
 
Call to see if they have one in stock or order one. They usually get stuff within 2 days. They don't stock much.
I did the register before I could put in the order. After doing that and entering The store here, according to the zip code, it said not in stock at this store. It then asked if I wanted it shipped to this store.
 
Looking back at the invoice.
The wrench is $4.04, the shipping is $12.49 brings the total to $16.53.
I believe that if I went to NAPA or Oriellys and bought just a combination box/open 19mm, it would cost that much, so I was not bashful about paying the shipping.
The wrench is coming from out of Indianapolis In.
 
Back
Top