I am the original owner of a 2006 Silverado 3500LT with 6.6 turbo duramax, that I actually ordered and had built to my wishes. The truck has 133,000 miles and extremely well maintained and taken care of. Never hauled anything heavy other than my 40hp Case tractor 4 hours on one weekend each year to work up food plots. Never hauled 5th wheel or travel trailer, or pushed it close to it's abilities. In 2010 at 73K miles, GM paid to replace turbo. Never had issue and truck was in for general maintenance when they said turbo needed to be replaced.
Three weeks ago went to start truck and heavy white smoke rolled out exhaust! Tried to go forward and put truck in garage and it barely moved and chugged to go 25 feet. Smoked so bad and so I smelled smoke and wasn't typical diesel or oil smell. Excuse my ignorance, I have no mechanical ability and terminology may be inaccurate. Anyways, called an talked to a mechanic I know and he said sounds like fuel injectors. I tried again to start and move truck and was worse than before, so had it towed to diesel specialty shop expecting fuel injectors to be issue. After few days the shop called, and it is a highly acclaimed shop, and they said coolant is getting into engine and smoke is coolant burning. They said EGR cooler needs to be replaced. I gave them okay and few days later they called and said no it isn't EGR cooler, they pressure tested it and checked EGR valve and both are fine, BUT only other coolant would get in is the head gaskets. After asking several questions, like it this common..."no", have other tests been confirmed like gas combustion in radiator..."yes", is there any other options..."no". Reluctantly gave okay to go forward with head gaskets, what other options do I have. Few days later garage calls and says "you have to come see this! and call Chevrolet and get them involved". I already had called Chevrolet about anticipated head gaskets, and they argued that it is past warranty, and they would only consider doing something if it was at Chevrolet dealer garage and not independent garage. So, I went and looked at the engine block, and the diesel shop said they have heard of this rare issue but never seen it. There were gouges and scratches across the face of the cylinder block that you could feel and engage with your finger nail. I'll try to send pictures. The scratches the garage said were from poor workmanship at factory and should have never been put in a vehicle and expected gasket to seal. The shop said they could not refine and mill down enough of the marks and only option is new engine. I called another independent mechanic to go look at truck, and he said same thing. The defect was obviously from manufacturer defect of either dull milling blade, or milling picking up some metal or something in the process and digging into the cylinder head. And there is no way it could be corrected. He too said he heard of this issue a long time ago, but never seen it. I now paid to have truck towed to Chevrolet dealer in hopes they will see the poor milling, and correct the problem by putting in new engine. High hopes I know. My question is, has anyone heard or seen this before? What was the outcome if anyone has dealt with this, especially 11 years later and warranty expired. If I would have used the truck to pull a 5th wheel over the mountains out west or in Tennessee headed to Florida, the problem would have occurred a long time ago I suspect. Only because I have not pushed or tested the engine to extremes, or to what it should be able to handle, is the reason it just now failed. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening.
Three weeks ago went to start truck and heavy white smoke rolled out exhaust! Tried to go forward and put truck in garage and it barely moved and chugged to go 25 feet. Smoked so bad and so I smelled smoke and wasn't typical diesel or oil smell. Excuse my ignorance, I have no mechanical ability and terminology may be inaccurate. Anyways, called an talked to a mechanic I know and he said sounds like fuel injectors. I tried again to start and move truck and was worse than before, so had it towed to diesel specialty shop expecting fuel injectors to be issue. After few days the shop called, and it is a highly acclaimed shop, and they said coolant is getting into engine and smoke is coolant burning. They said EGR cooler needs to be replaced. I gave them okay and few days later they called and said no it isn't EGR cooler, they pressure tested it and checked EGR valve and both are fine, BUT only other coolant would get in is the head gaskets. After asking several questions, like it this common..."no", have other tests been confirmed like gas combustion in radiator..."yes", is there any other options..."no". Reluctantly gave okay to go forward with head gaskets, what other options do I have. Few days later garage calls and says "you have to come see this! and call Chevrolet and get them involved". I already had called Chevrolet about anticipated head gaskets, and they argued that it is past warranty, and they would only consider doing something if it was at Chevrolet dealer garage and not independent garage. So, I went and looked at the engine block, and the diesel shop said they have heard of this rare issue but never seen it. There were gouges and scratches across the face of the cylinder block that you could feel and engage with your finger nail. I'll try to send pictures. The scratches the garage said were from poor workmanship at factory and should have never been put in a vehicle and expected gasket to seal. The shop said they could not refine and mill down enough of the marks and only option is new engine. I called another independent mechanic to go look at truck, and he said same thing. The defect was obviously from manufacturer defect of either dull milling blade, or milling picking up some metal or something in the process and digging into the cylinder head. And there is no way it could be corrected. He too said he heard of this issue a long time ago, but never seen it. I now paid to have truck towed to Chevrolet dealer in hopes they will see the poor milling, and correct the problem by putting in new engine. High hopes I know. My question is, has anyone heard or seen this before? What was the outcome if anyone has dealt with this, especially 11 years later and warranty expired. If I would have used the truck to pull a 5th wheel over the mountains out west or in Tennessee headed to Florida, the problem would have occurred a long time ago I suspect. Only because I have not pushed or tested the engine to extremes, or to what it should be able to handle, is the reason it just now failed. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening.
