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Well, its has finally happening....

G

Grey Ghost

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South Central Texas (AKA "Heaven")
(I post this on the other website a lot of you frequent, but I'd like to get as much input as possible, so I'm putting it here as well.)

After close to 200K miles, I'm building oil level and bubbling coolant. Looks like major work and major $$$$ is in my near future.

Right now I know I need injectors, head gaskets, and I have been nursing the water pump and FPRV for a while. Could probably use a CP3 as well. The body and the rest of the drive train is in excellent shape.

Now I have to decide how far I want to go. Not trying to make it powerful (but a little extra wouldn't hurt :thumbsup:), I just want it reliable.

What would you do??


PS: Money does NOT flow freely for me. That is why I'm driving an 8 year old truck. I can think of PLENTY of things I'd LIKE to do, but I need to be practical and smart.
 
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If you can pick up a low mileage CP3 for a good price go for it, if it comes down to it and you can't afford the CP3 I wouldn't worry honestly. Do you think it's weak?

Sounds like you have a good plan.
 
Yeah, it's weak. At 150K we had it on the EFI live and it was not looking good then. Haven't got to check it out since then due to some computer issues. I hope to have those resolved before the truck goes under the knife so I know what I need.

Where would I get a CP3 for a "good price"?

I'm sorry for sounding so ignorant. I haven't spent a lot of time on the boards lately. The truck has been good (until now) and I spend most of my time in the OT section for entertainment.
 
Check all the forums For Sale section and you usually catch some decent deals on one. I've seen good ones from $150 to $400. If it's weak, better to do it now than later.

No big deal, we have a pretty sharp selection of members with a lot of knowledge on the Duramax. I personally know Vinny has pulled his apart and done several sets of injectors and on others, so he can be a big help answering any other questions you have about the tear down and replacement.
 
Thanks Jeff. I'm still undecided on tackling this myself or digging up the money to have it done. In reality, I really don't have the time, but I do believe I have the skill. There is a lot of mechanical background in my family. I have done 350s and tractors, but nothing like this.

I asked this question on the other board and will as it here as well: Who has the best deal on "a little over stock" injectors?
 
Better off going with new GM units.

I would give George (BIG DIPPER) a call as he sales honed injectors. A lot of folks have had good luck with them.
 
I would pull mine and have the tips done at www.gethoned.com but I still don't know about the leak. I mean, am I dumping that much fuel into a cylinder? Or do I have one with a cracked body that is filling my crankcase?

With exchange, gmpartsdirect has them for $182 each. Thats not a bad deal unless there is a hidden charge I'm not seeing.
 
Since your @ 200,000 I would replace the whole injector with new ones from GM. As far as honing, get some reviews of places before you have it done. A ban honing job can really mess up a truck.
 
BIG DIPPER, SOCAL, and a few others do good honed injectors. Avoid industrial injection at all costs is my advice though. How big are your HP plans? Stock injectors can support alot of HP with good tuning. Since I see you have an 02, I would also take this time to upgrade to the new style head gaskets as 01 and early 02's had the crimped gaskets that eventually fail(my 01's were leaking when I pulled it out to do my swap at 162K). And while the heads are off it would be a good time to re-seal the injector cups and use the new PERMATEX GREEN sleeve retainer loctite on them.
 
THEFERMANATOR said:
BIG DIPPER, SOCAL, and a few others do good honed injectors. Avoid industrial injection at all costs is my advice though. How big are your HP plans? Stock injectors can support alot of HP with good tuning. Since I see you have an 02, I would also take this time to upgrade to the new style head gaskets as 01 and early 02's had the crimped gaskets that eventually fail(my 01's were leaking when I pulled it out to do my swap at 162K). And while the heads are off it would be a good time to re-seal the injector cups and use the new PERMATEX GREEN sleeve retainer loctite on them.
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No plans for "big" hp. I will contact you offline for details on the other things you mentioned, if thats ok.

I'm going to be contacting an independent shop tomorrow that has a GM-trained Dmax tech working for them. Well, he is actually the co-owner of the shop.
 
If I were in your shoes I would only have them replace the injectors and at the same time have them remove and reseal the injector cups. It's taking a chance but that maybe all your problems in one. If the injectors are leaking fuel it will cause the CP3 to appear to be weak, add fuel into the oil and the injector cups will act just like a leaking head gasket. High mileage LB7's are know to have had the injectors replace and manytime this comprimises the injector cup seal in the head as it's only loctite and the injector hold down that keeps them in place.
 
Diesel Tech said:
If I were in your shoes I would only have them replace the injectors and at the same time have them remove and reseal the injector cups. It's taking a chance but that maybe all your problems in one. If the injectors are leaking fuel it will cause the CP3 to appear to be weak, add fuel into the oil and the injector cups will act just like a leaking head gasket. High mileage LB7's are know to have had the injectors replace and manytime this comprimises the injector cup seal in the head as it's only loctite and the injector hold down that keeps them in place.
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Original injectors. I suppose one could have popped loose? I though a loose cup would cause coolant-smelling exhaust? My exhaust is very rich in diesel. You can only really see it smoke at idle at night with headlights behind you. Upon hard aceleration I have black/grey smoke and is very visible in the daylight.

The fuel pressure has been low for about 70k miles. The fuel in oil just showed up about 8k miles ago, and I saw it puking coolant out the overflow about 2 weeks ago. I've been running with my cap loose for about 25k miles due to the water pump leaking (replaced @ 103k)

Are there any other indications or tests to do to determine if I in fact have a blown head gasket?
 
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