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The "restification" of a 98 6.5 TD...

Hmm one legged retarded newbie here checking in as JBs free spirit mathematician. "Two tested ok and four were wierd". Duh I got it, BJ ur engine blew cause u were missing two injectors!!!!!! Movin right on along to grounds, grounds, grounds gotta check them grounds! Yall ever wonder bout that woodchuck chuckin wood thing???? LOLOL :eek: Gotta run before BJ sics that giant mechanical spider on me!
 
next plans:

1. Financial recovery

2. Heath PMD (for the 7 year warranty as much as anything else)

3. Cooling upgrades (engine/transmission/axles/fuel/transfer case)

4. CAC

5. Body work - door handles, tailgate handles, z28 fender vents, frame, etc...

6. Interior work.

7. Miscellaneous tuning experiments

8. revisit on turbos and controls

7 and 8 kind of go together really....



Oh, I'm also keeping to this thread only from now on.

Please respect my wish peace and and quiet and do not troll here.

Thank you.
 
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Hmm one legged retarded newbie here checking in as JBs free spirit mathematician. "Two tested ok and four were wierd". Duh I got it, BJ ur engine blew cause u were missing two injectors!!!!!! Movin right on along to grounds, grounds, grounds gotta check them grounds! Yall ever wonder bout that woodchuck chuckin wood thing???? LOLOL :eek: Gotta run before BJ sics that giant mechanical spider on me!

Two were fine, three bled off pressure internally too fast for our liking, and the last 3 chattered at low pressure (as they should) but was a bit delayed. the last 3 pee'd slightly also, although Bill said it wasn't that big a deal as long as they chatter. One of the three was quite delayed on it's chatter (indicating shut off).

Bill never said I needed to replace them, but he seemed hestitant about thier behaviour so I replaced them on spec anyways....600 bucks was small potatoes at that point.

I was only exposed to Bill's knowledge for 5 days, but I learned an awful lot in those 5 days.

Had some good long talks about many things, some but not all 6.5 related.

Some on tuning, some on LSR, some on 1/4 mile stuff, some prevoius things he's built, some on turbo's, some on gassers, some on transmissions, some on retirement, some on work, personal histories, ethics, SAR, etc.......
 
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There has been a lot of good info in this thread in the past and I'm looking forward to some more. Glad to see you're doing well.

Don
 
Ive been away for a-bit being so busy with stuff at work. Finally read your thread on the trip last friday! Wow, cant believe how it dragged out. Major misfortune. Glad you finally made it to your destination. I live in New Woodstock, NY. Thats not too far from Herkimer! Would have been sweet to meet up! But i wouldn't have wanted to delay your trip anymore after that ordeal.
 
Work has come to a full stop on the truck.

It gets a new pmd from Heath so I can keep driving it reliably and that's it.

My debt load is too high after the engine change.

My fathers alzhiemers is in full blow knock down. He has been institutionalized and is at the stage where he has little left besides primitive motor response.

What little cash we have left is going to plane tickets to see him before the end comes, even though he no longer recognizes anyone anymore.

This bloody truck has been a very large part of pushing me right to the edge of insolvency.....even though it's running stellar right now and I still like the gmt 400 chassis, I slowly find myself beginning to curse under my breath the day I bought it.

I'm so upside down on it right now, I can't even sell it....
 
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well, the last of the cash to be spent on the truck went out today.

PMD isolator kit from Bill.

7 year waranty feels pretty good.

After a nice chat with Bill, I'm reasonably confident this one will last another 10 years or so. Maybe all the way out to 15 if the pagan gods of PMDs are smiling my way.

But, the truck is definitely done.

Done like dinner.

No more pouring thousands of dollars down the bottomless hole. It's gotta stop. It will stop.

Next optional thing to be done will be paint and body and that is going to be years away.

Only thing left that can possibly calf on the truck now is the 4l80E and I'm willing to bet it's got another 200 000 in it the way it runs and the abuse it's taken without a whimper lately....pretty much everything else has been replaced.

If the trans does calf, I'm parking the bloody thing for a good long while and going back to driving my 300M Special. Th camper can sit for a year or so while I decide to fix the truck or just light it on fire and replace it.

I'll probably keep fooling with tuning it. That stuff is already paid for with a hefty "G" and not using that would p!ss me off even more than I am already.

I'm sure loosing my enthusiasm for the truck really fast....If runs more or less flawlessly for a couple years or I just may grow a better opinion of it.....I'm cautiously optimistic, but only cautiously.....
 
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I think you'll be alright. I mean, you had a really crappy trip and HAD to spent a lot of money on the truck to get it home. But, on the other hand, you have now had your hands in almost every area of the truck and know what you're working with there. I really don't forsee many problems for you for the next few years.
 
...But, on the other hand, you have now had your hands in almost every area of the truck and know what you're working with there...

This is true....only thing I haven't had apart now is the trans, transfer case and steering box.

Yup, you read that right. I've even been into the front and rear axles......cleaned, inspected, measured and reassembled...
 
And even with all the money you've spent in maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to your GMC, I bet you are still a long way below what a similarly equipped new truck would cost you. Plus you've had the "joy" of doing 90% of the work yourself, so you know how it was done and more importantly that it was done right.
 
Think of it this way... by the time you get your mileage cheque, you will only be into it for half of what you think. You had to get it out there, anyway, so the fuel cost is like holidays. Except more exciting.
 
even if you were at home and did this in your own shop a new engine would still put you upside down in these rigs. Only 2 options IMO drive it into the ground and buy another or keep it up and enjoy the older truck bodystyle
 
And even with all the money you've spent in maintenance, repairs, and upgrades to your GMC, I bet you are still a long way below what a similarly equipped new truck would cost you. Plus you've had the "joy" of doing 90% of the work yourself, so you know how it was done and more importantly that it was done right.

True I guess. I'm into the whole shebang for about 17-18 000 ish right now. That includes purchase price.

I've had enough of that kind of "fun" with this truck for a good long while now...

Think of it this way... by the time you get your mileage cheque, you will only be into it for half of what you think. You had to get it out there, anyway, so the fuel cost is like holidays. Except more exciting.

Problem is, the engine sucked up the whole amount (and more) of my travel allowance. That was the allowance for BOTH vehicles combined. The "extra" money in the allowance was going to some of the expenses in the newly built house. One way or the other, the engine screwed me over. On top of that, I had to pop just under 5 grand in fuel for both vehicles to make it to destination. So chuck that on the debt pile also. The moas dash from ellensberg to gander was definitely NOT something I would call either a vacation nor exciting. It damn near killed me physically and took a good piece of my sanity with it also...

even if you were at home and did this in your own shop a new engine would still put you upside down in these rigs. Only 2 options IMO drive it into the ground and buy another or keep it up and enjoy the older truck bodystyle

True also. Although, I would be a lot closer to being able to pull a breath from the surface than I am now. It's forced us to look to a lower interest rate credit card to transfer some balances over to...

Not my idea of good financial planning. But the bloody truck has backed me into a corner with that...

As long as it keeps turnin' and burnin' I'll keep driving it.

One more breakdown will see it parked for a good long time though...
 
I dred the day i have to replace my engine again (if i ever do, *knocks* on wood), it was a lot of work for sure. Ive been dumping money into my Wrangler lately, my intercooler and turbo sit on the bench waiting for some finishing pieces for me to start the install.. Im currently in the same position as you however with my 4L80E, 230K of plowing since new, burnt brown tranny fluid in it. Still moves and tows for now..
 
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