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Starting problem

That motorhome of @Leekeeler's looks very similar to Jody's. His was DS4, side mount turbo (I know, we had to pull the doghouse in the dark, at night, in a gas station parking lot right off an exit on I-80 somewhere in the middle of freaking nowhere Nevada, so Jody could unplug the harness from the failing PMD, plug in an extension harness from Heath, snake that out the doghouse, replace the cover, then plug the extension into one of Bill's new style PMD's mounted on his skid plate heatsink, which we laid down in front of the copilot floor heater outlet so that it would have some air flowing over it). Jody's is a P3x series chassis and I assume so is Lee's.

If you remember from Jody's broken rocker leading to a new motor thread, Peninsular built a custom set of headers/up pipe assembly to center mount the Peninsular turbo and a custom down pipe. There was also a TON of room (like two feet) between the front of the radiator to the grille to put an intercooler on Jody's.
 
Leekeeler said:
Thanks for all your replies. I will check all the cables and connection closer and clean everything good and if next step needed and will pull the starter and have it checked before I order a new starter. Sure do understand about the local chain automotive stores. I was really surprised at some of the inferior parts i recently got from NAPA. They had been our go to store until a few years ago.
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Anymore, when calling NAPA, My go to store, I always ask, What are the options. the counter person then will give a rindown on whats available, I choose from the options. 🤷‍♂️😹
 
I completed doing a thorough cable inspection today a found nothing needing replaced, all good lead spacers, I think they were replaced a while back. Pulled the starter and took it down to local rebuild shop and found the solenoid was shot. Decided to let him rebuild mine versus getting a new one no knowing where it may have come from. He is an old timer, and has been rebuilding for years. Decided that the Power Master was a little overkill for me. I am near 80 so I am sure this rebuild of my original starter will be a lifetime warranty for me. I am not a gear head and was not aware that there were options for a better turbo and have not heard of any of our club members talking about. This coach was made here in Oregon so there are many around here, more gas than diesel. I have had 20 of them parked in my pasture for a rally several different times over the years.
 
@Leekeeler so, is there a Trek Club in FMCA? I know back in the early '70's there were several different Clubs for various makes of motorhomes, like for GMC, Bluebird Wanderlodge, Winnebago, Pace Arrow, etc.
 
Also, @3bals (Jody) his is a Trek, also. It was originally from Oregon, was owned by CruiseAmerica as a rental motorhome before being sold to somebody in California, who then later had it listed by some broker. I know when Jody found it, it was at a dealership in Reno, NV. Very nice, clean unit. I liked how a queen bed lowered down over the pilot/copilot seats from the ceiling, made for a very roomy motorhome for its size with a lot of social space in the livingroom/kitchen.
 
There is a couple things you might check out. First would be the harmonic balancer. When they go bad on these engines, it breaks crankshaft and cracks main webs in the block. Deteriorating rubber is the clue.

knowing you have fuel pressure from the lift pump all the time is important because without the pressure it will ruin the injection pump much quicker. The engine will run without it as safety design so the engine can’t stall at high speed loosing power steeriand power brakes.

keep the temp down under 220 all the time, 210 should be redline.
 
Leekeeler said:
I completed doing a thorough cable inspection today a found nothing needing replaced, all good lead spacers, I think they were replaced a while back. Pulled the starter and took it down to local rebuild shop and found the solenoid was shot. Decided to let him rebuild mine versus getting a new one no knowing where it may have come from. He is an old timer, and has been rebuilding for years. Decided that the Power Master was a little overkill for me. I am near 80 so I am sure this rebuild of my original starter will be a lifetime warranty for me. I am not a gear head and was not aware that there were options for a better turbo and have not heard of any of our club members talking about. This coach was made here in Oregon so there are many around here, more gas than diesel. I have had 20 of them parked in my pasture for a rally several different times over the years.
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This engine is RARE in a motorhome. Further most other turbo diesels were not set up from the factory as bad as GM did with the undersized turbo on this engine. This is why swapping out to a more appropriate turbo is exactly "uncommon". The group that put the ATT on the market is where I learned Motorhomes did better with the ATT. I posted the power and MPG results I got when towing with my 6.5's. It's stunning to get both: more power and MPG.
 
WarWagon said:
This engine is RARE in a motorhome. Further most other turbo diesels were not set up from the factory as bad as GM did with the undersized turbo on this engine. This is why swapping out to a more appropriate turbo is exactly "uncommon". The group that put the ATT on the market is where I learned Motorhomes did better with the ATT. I posted the power and MPG results I got when towing with my 6.5's. It's stunning to get both: more power and MPG.
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And of course when the 6.5 in Jody's Trek barfed a rocker arm/shaft, he wound up going with a Peninsular performance 6.5 rebuilt motor with a custom centermount Borg-Warner S200 series turbo on it.
 
The factory turbos on these machines are smaller than any I've seen on trucks. Size is a big issue because of space available. I don't think an ATT will fit. Maybe a GM-3 with mods will fit on the side mount. My bigger turbo is mounted at the rear of the engine with custom stainless headers.

I had starting issues too and found a cable that was corroded inside of the insulation. To help overcome the issue until I found the problem, I would use the momentary switch on the dash to connect the house batteries to the chassis batteries to help start it.

I belong to another forum that is specific to Treks, called trecktrax.com They are pretty good about providing help on Trek issues, but I think this forum is better suited towards the 6.5 itself.
 
3bals said:
The factory turbos on these machines are smaller than any I've seen on trucks. Size is a big issue because of space available. I don't think an ATT will fit. Maybe a GM-3 with mods will fit on the side mount. My bigger turbo is mounted at the rear of the engine with custom stainless headers.

I had starting issues too and found a cable that was corroded inside of the insulation. To help overcome the issue until I found the problem, I would use the momentary switch on the dash to connect the house batteries to the chassis batteries to help start it.

I belong to another forum that is specific to Treks, called trecktrax.com They are pretty good about providing help on Trek issues, but I think this forum is better suited towards the 6.5 itself.
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I also belong to the tretracks group and have been since it origin. I agree there is not a lot of information on the 6.5 but a great forum for a trek owner. I agree there is little room to install a larger turbo, of anything can be done if the $$$$ arenot limited.
 
You may be able to fit a Holset HX35/40 hybrid (a big improvement over the GMx turbo series) or a CKO HX40ii on there with enough clearance to the dog house. But @3bals is the expert here on this forum on Trek-specific turbo upgrades.
 
If you can get a tape measure in there to show clearance.
Or copy the centermount how 3bals did his. The custom stainless exhaust was pricey Im sure. But turbo van/hummer manifolds accomplish most of it. Then just the up pipe & flange combo piece, and new down pipe to the existing. Oil feed hose is easy.

@3bals , how was your oil drain line ran? I can’t remember. Heck, I might copy yours for my new centermount turbo when I kill my gm6 that drains back at the valley.

Moving that much weight and air- a better turbo is Guaranteed to improve mpg and pay for itself.
 
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