Need Some Advice on Duramax Repairs..what makes sense

[rbefarm]

Hi all,

New here obviously and I could not figure out anywhere else to put this question. I apologize if it's in the wrong place and am OK for the mods to move it wherever it needs to go.

I found this forum on a search. I have a decision to make and I want to make an intelligent one so I hope you all won't mind.

I have a 2003 Duramax that was new in 2002 so it's 11 years old. It has been a wonderful truck, very reliable, good mileage, reliable, and I'm quite fond of it. It has about 230 k miles on it. We use it to pull a large/heavy livestock trailer and do general farm related work with it. I put maybe 20,000 miles on it a year now. I absolutely cannot do without a heavy duty truck.

For a few months I've noticed more smoke than normal...looked white to me. I have a good mechanic and he had me run some 911 through it but that did not help. I continued to use the truck and it's running fine for now but wanted to find out what is going on. Yesterday they did some tests and found that it's 95% likely that my injectors are going bad. There is fuel in my oil. The repair costs for 8 new injectors is estimated at $2500. I'm a bit stunned to say the least.

My mechanic and I had a talk this morning and he's going to be absolutely certain by using the GMC testing equipment he has to borrow from a friend to make sure it's not a fuel line leak before we are 100% certain it's the injectors. His comment to me was to ask if I really want to put $2500 into a truck of this age and miles and then possibly have another expensive repair coming at me in the not too distant future. His point was that an injector pump is another $2500...transmission, etc...Ouch...Good question...

My finances are not great...we're stable but finally in a position to have a little extra income but still not a lot of extra money to put into a new truck payment and I can come up with the repair money for now...but I don't have a lot of reserves. I can see the pros/cons of doing it both ways. Unfortunately, I can't imagine being able to buy another Duramax and will probably have to settle for a V8 2500 HD instead...and having a lot of trouble finding real towing info on what these newer gas powered trucks can really do. God, I love this old truck but I don't want to throw good money after bad.

So, I'm asking for advice from other Duramax owners on what you would do. What are the odds that this older truck will run another couple of years without needing more major repairs? I found out last night that the injectors are an issue in the older Duramax trucks....are there any other weaknesses I should know about?

I figured out for a trade in my older truck is probably worth about 9,000. It has some body damage related to the farm work we've done with it so it's not sharp even thought mechanically it's always run well.

Thanks!

 

[OregonDMAX]

first of all welcome!

if you made it 230k miles on one set of injectors then omg hats off to you, they are known for having problems and usually go out wayyy sooner. i basically have the same truck and have done them twice, once under warranty and i still have the truck its worth keeping and repairing in my opinion.

good fuel filtration means everything in the world to an early duramax LB7 truck.

 

[DBUSHLB7]

You are correct, the "LB7" (01-early 04) Duramax has issues with the injectors. For multiple reasons they will fail and fail different people at very different points in time. The issue is real and undoubtedly yours need replacing. The injection pump may or may not need replacing but dont panic. Members on this site can save you a lot of money on genuine Bosch reman injectors, and if needed a CP3 (injection pump).

I personally encourage you to keep with your Dmax as a gasser just won't compare for what you use the pickup for. Consider yourself fortuneate that your injectors lasted as long as they did, that kind of mileage on the original set is unheard of.

 

[DBUSHLB7]

Let us know where you are located and we can continue to help you find help a bit more local to you

 

[rbefarm]

Thanks Oregon! Well, I guess I took good care of it then. I always tried to keep up with the maintenance even though I don't work on it myself. The mechanic says the newer injectors are better than the older ones so these ought to last a while.

Do you have that many miles on your truck?

 

[rbefarm]

I'm in Suffolk, Virginia, not far from Norfolk/Hampton Roads area.

Thanks again!

 

[DBUSHLB7]

Thanks Oregon! Well, I guess I took good care of it then. I always tried to keep up with the maintenance even though I don't work on it myself. The mechanic says the newer injectors are better than the older ones so these ought to last a while.

Do you have that many miles on your truck?

I am on my 3rd set of injectors at 183k miles lol. At least two sets were done on warranty thank goodness. The genuine Bosch remans you need will have upgraded internals i.e. chrome ball/seat that are supposed to improve longevity. Jury is still out on confirming this as fact. The argument is often made that the location of the injectors (underneath the valve covers) is a big problem and probably so...the late 04-current models all have external injectors. I will send a link to this thread to some of our reliable supporting vendors so hopefully you can get a price quote a bit more quickly.

 

[DBUSHLB7]

Here's a great source for OEM/genuine Bosch parts. Some of the supporting vendors on this site can sell you Merchants products and possibly save you money.

http://www.merchant-automotive.com/stocklb7injectors.aspx

 

[RPM Motorsports]

Search this forum for "Lly swap", it might be a good option for you. There is a yard in Eugene with an LLY that I have been eyeing for a while..

 

[durallymax]

Sounds like you have a decent mechanic. However a Cautious mechanic sometimes can be a bad one, other times they can actually be a good person and looking out for your best interests. I know, rare in todays world.

The CP3 is only $900. I could see it being $2,500 with labor, but if he only wants to charge you $2,500 for injectors he must not charge much for labor because $1,800 is a decent price on all parts, fluids and injectors then book time is 12hrs.

 

[rbefarm]

durallymax..my mechanic is a neighbor and he does work out of his own garage. He's quite good though and he is trying to keep the costs down as much as possible. He's also very capable and an honest guy.

I'll check out the parts link and look up a LLY Swap. Never heard of it but I'll check it out.

 

[durallymax]

durallymax..my mechanic is a neighbor and he does work out of his own garage. He's quite good though and he is trying to keep the costs down as much as possible. He's also very capable and an honest guy.

I'll check out the parts link and look up a LLY Swap. Never heard of it but I'll check it out.

Thats good then as long as he knows the difference between a 350 chevy and a Dmax haha.

Partszoneonline is the cheapest place for LB7 injectors and Oregon Fuel injection has the best pricing on CP3's. Both places sell genuine Bosch remans.

I see no need to spend the money and go through the hassle of an LLY swap. The LB7 is just fine.

 

[RPM Motorsports]

Thats good then as long as he knows the difference between a 350 chevy and a Dmax haha.

Partszoneonline is the cheapest place for LB7 injectors and Oregon Fuel injection has the best pricing on CP3's. Both places sell genuine Bosch remans.

I see no need to spend the money and go through the hassle of an LLY swap. The LB7 is just fine.

Because of his milage and what he's going to spend, the Lly swap makes perfect sense. Less then 1/3 the milage he has on his motor, and will run him less then $1k more..

 

[JoshH]

If you go through with the injector repair, I would make absolutely sure he uses good quality parts (Bosch preferably). $2500 for parts and labor sounds incredibly cheap. He won't have much room for labor at that price unless he plans to use really cheap parts. I'd also recommend he reseal the injector cups and replace all the O-rings on them as well as the return line seals. I've done quite a few sets, and I can tell you it is a very involved job. If he hasn't done LB7 injectors before, it will probably take him at least a full day to do it right and maybe even 2 depending on how careful and thorough he is. If I were you, I would fix it. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Big Block 88]

Like Josh said be ABSOLUTELY SURE your mechanic knows what he is doing, be positive he isn't one of those guys saying I worked on a cummins once 10 years ago so I know what I am doing.

My 03 is the a perfect excample of the worst that could happen (minus catastrophic failure) 2 brand new set of injectors ruined due to faulty install by the dealer. Now going to do the 6th set soon.

230k miles to these trucks is not alot if taken care of, there are alot of us approaching and exceeding 300k miles with no tranny issues or bottom end issues. I guess its up to you what you think your truck is worth, there are alot of people willing to put the money in it if you arent...

Me and my pops did the 4th set of injectors and got a bit over 100k on them. The job wasnt hard but it is very involved and time consuming. I won't be doing it this time I am happy to pay somone to do it for me.

 

[rbefarm]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll definitely talk more to the mechanic. I know he has a diesel mechanic who works for him and they certainly seem quite competent from the bit I've done with them. I know the right questions to ask now also. I'll let you all know how it turns out.:thumb:

 

[Hoojs12840]

I would at least go to a couple dealers and see what a new one will cost you. If your trucks worth 9k and you have $2500.00 you essentially have 25% of a new truck. You could get a brand new duramax work truck crew cab for close to 40-43k. (Not sure if you are looking for reg, ext or crew.) they had some huge rebates the first of the month.

Anything will run forever, it just depends how much time money and aggravation you want to put into it. I would say at 230k, you've hit the point where it's more cost effective to replace. What you save in repair cost and lost deprecation the next 5 yrs will cover much of the monthly payment.

 

[matt78]

Fwiw, my brother in law bought a used 5.9 that had just been "gone through", well 5000 miles after he bought it the engine went by by, and the place that fixed it didnt do a real good job for the money he spent. So my point is I would make sure whoever works on it is a good mechanic because these trucks get expensive.

 

[blk smoke lb7]

I would keep it and fix it,for what the monthly payments cost you you can do a lot of repairs for that.We just did injectors for another member on here for 2500 and it is a lot of work for that kind of money.Ive seen the stealership get 4500 for injectors and labor.

X2 on sealing the injector cups while they are in there,its a lot of work to go back in and reseal and the bad part is if they start leaking they can mimic a bad head gasket and you don't want to go thru changing headgaskets if it was only a cup not sealed.

 

[Big Block 88]

I would at least go to a couple dealers and see what a new one will cost you. If your trucks worth 9k and you have $2500.00 you essentially have 25% of a new truck. You could get a brand new duramax work truck crew cab for close to 40-43k. (Not sure if you are looking for reg, ext or crew.) they had some huge rebates the first of the month.

Anything will run forever, it just depends how much time money and aggravation you want to put into it. I would say at 230k, you've hit the point where it's more cost effective to replace. What you save in repair cost and lost deprecation the next 5 yrs will cover much of the monthly payment.

I beg to differ, 230k on a well cared for diesel is NOT a lot of miles. An LB7 with out he other emission crap that the lly and newer trucks carry will go for a long time. 230k to a diesel is like 100k on a gasser so do gassers
need replaced at 100k?