Calling GM6.5L Experts - Truck Revival Questions

Hey guys well I finally did it, I bought a Chevy 3500. It's technically not a dually but pretty close. A buddy was selling it for a price I couldn't refuse but have some questions and need your advice.

Here are the specs:
1993
Chevrolet
3500
6.5L Turbo Diesel



It's been sitting for a couple of years and just looking for your advice on what I should replace and what I should keep to get it running good. I'll hopefully have some pictures this weekend. It looks pretty bad and has a lot of spider webs inside from sitting under trees for so long. I was told it was running before it was parked. I'm going to do the basics of course but I don't know much about these trucks or even diesels.

Thanks for any help!

The fuel has probably started to grow fungus long ago. It's likely a bunch of sludgy crap by now. Hopefully the water in it didn't rust the crap out of everything including the tank, lines, lift pump, and who knows what else. Plan on a full cleaning of the tank, blow the lines out from front to rear, replace filter...

At least it's a 1993 so it has mechanical injection, so in terms of getting stuck with a 6.5 Turdo-diesel you could have done worse - 1994-up suck balls.

Richard

Thanks Richard I'll do that. So is it true from all the reading I've done that the 6.5L isn't a favorable engine to have in these trucks?

They lack power, reliability, and durability. If you're just gonna use it to tool around it'll be OK. If you start trying to mod it, or pull heavy loads with it, it's gonna asplode.

Richard

Aww, come on Richard, they ain't that bad. When they are ironed out they run pretty good. Don't expect more that 290HP out of them you would be just ukidding yourself. I think the mechanical versions are probably the most easiest diesels to work on. Not much that goes wrong with them as long as they are treated for what they were intended for. The electronic versions are just as easy to work on as long as the problem components are addressed. They don't have they power of a modded 7.3 or a 5.9 cummins but they do get good fuel mileage. At 290HP you should see 470 ft/lbs of torque and 18-20 MPG. Injectors are by far the cheapest of all diesels to replace. As far as big turbos and all the diesel mods the rest of the diesel world does will not gain you anything on these engines. They are just a simple light weight power plant. Keep it mechanically sound and it will last a long time. But making it fast.... NOT

I had one for years and had very good luck,they don't make a ton of horse power,but the do haul ok and get 4times more mpg's than the 454, 93through 95 are the best ones for start off with forsure, some fresh oil and a fuel filter change and go from there

Thanks for the advice guys, it's greatly appreciated!

I'm still cleaning it out, so far it looks like I definitely have an ant colony, spiders, and maybe a roach colony. I'll post pictures soon.

Just an update: I think I was lucky. The wiring was semi fubared, someone had installed an alarm system, amps and a cb radio. I removed everything, and then it would turn over but really weak. One of the battery terminals had a lot of corrosion on it so I replaced it too. After that she started right up and is running like a champ!

Make sure you check all the ground locations. They are more important than anything on a 6.5. Especially the one on the top of the frame behind the passenger side shock tower. This one may look good but disassemble clean, wire brush and reinstall. Get you some Dielectric grease.