2005 Silverado Duramax 2500 know problems?

The LLY in 2004/05 had overheating problems when towing heavy. It was fixable supposidly.

I never had any overheat issues in 160K miles of use with my dw 3500. Sold it 2 years ago. That is not to say it did not happen. As noted, probably fixable as my 96 6.5td overheat issues were to, with newer year parts.

Only thing I wished for, was 4.10 gears and the 6 sp auto. But the 4.10 gears were not an option, nor are they today!. I do not need 3.73 gears with a .81 od for the amount of driving I do on the freeway at 60 mph be it towing or empty.

marty

donn0128 wrote:
The LLY in 2004/05 had overheating problems when towing heavy. It was fixable supposidly.

I forgot to mention that it really isn't for towing, but it might on rare occasions. It's really just a work truck for him, but I appreciate the heads up.

No known problems with that truck and especially with what your son wants it for. Obviously, you do not know for sure what kind of maintenance the truck actually had etc but lack of usually can be seen somewhat.

Our ordered new in 2004, built in March, 2004.5 CC LB 4X4 Chevy D/A is getting close to 170K and never had anything other than tires and one set of front brake pads needing repair, replacement or be fixed except for 2 replacing 2 burned light 1157 bulbs and one headlight bulb over the last 11 years. Just normal oil, air, and filter changes. Truck is still very tight with no rattles and not one speck of rust and we live in Michigan where they salt the roads in winter. His perspective truck has all 2 sided galvanized exterior body panels including the bed and box. 2005 was the exact same truck and D/A drivetrain as our 2004.5. Our truck has only been used for towing our Carriage Carrilite 5th wheel (12,840 lbs scale weighed loaded to travel) or tour TT or our 11'4" Lance TC as we have other vehicles we use when not RV'ing. Never overheated eith even when climbing to over 10,000 feet in the west in the hot summer towing the 5th wheel. A very small percentage ever claimed or reported overheating but some bashers like to spread the BS thick to make it sound like the sky is falling. The fix was cheap and easy even for those who did have or claim overheating.

Certainly not going to sell or part with ours as why would we? Drives & handles like new, and still looks new inside and out plus gets great fuel economy as it's before all the pollution stuff was mandated, very quiet running, and tons of power. Outstanding truck and many reports of them having 1,000,000+ miles on them now with the same engine and Allison tranny without any engine repairs or rebuilds done! What more could you ask for?

Check for coolant leak near oil filter. I had a leak for several months on my 2006 and I would get low coolant every couple of months. Added less that a quart each time and the light would go out. Found a drop of coolant that would hand on and above the oil filter. Never enough to drip onto drive way. Was told it was a cooler leak. Supposedly it was where it bolted to the engine and there was a replacement gasket. Could have been the cooler itself that did not have a replacement gasket.

No over heating issues for our 05 with a combined weight of 22920 lbs.

chevman

I would be more concerned about the brake and fuel lines the Duramax Allison combination is a excellent choice. The overheating problems on the few trucks during heavy towing situations can be dealt with

Problems?

#1. KMart shocks. (easy fix)

#2. WalMart engine oil cooler lines. (easy fix)

#3. WalMart tranny cooler lines. (easy fix)

#4. KMart sector shaft. (easy fix)

As far as the heating issue goes it was VERY few and far between. The ones that did heat were a pretty easy fix with a new turbo mouth piece. The ones that those did not fix you can do a V2 mod.

Towing or not it will be a nice truck.

I bought an 05 LLY new, & only put 72,000 miles on it in the 10 years I owned it. Was an awesome truck, pulled my 14,000 lb 5th wheel effortlessly. Only put front wheel bearings, shocks, & regular maintenance in it.
That being said, GM had issues with crimped headgaskets on the LLY engines that is not a matter of if they will go, it's a matter of when. They redesigned them when the came out with the LBZ engine in 06. With 122,000 miles on the truck your looking at it may or may not have had the headgaskets done. It is a very expensive job if you can't do it yourself, $5000+ dollars if you go with ARP studs instead of regular head bolts, which I would recommend.
The transfer case on all the classic body trucks from 01 to 07.5 had an issue called pump rub where a clip on the pump will wear thru the transfer case, and if you don't catch it before it happens you will lose all the oil & will need a new case. There are numerous places that sell a kit to replace the faulty GM parts to eliminate this from happening.
The over heating issue happens to all the LLY trucks if you pull heavy up grades in hot climates, if your not in a hot climate, or don't pull you may never see this, mine never overheated once, but I don't live in a hot climate. It was another engineering issue that was mostly improved on the LBZ.

donn0128 wrote:
The LLY in 2004/05 had overheating problems when towing heavy. It was fixable supposidly.

A VERY FEW LLYs had overheat problems.
GM Service records indicate fewer than 1% had the GM Service fix applied.
This was to install the LBZ air cleaner (drawing cool air from under the fender instead of hot air from behind the rad) plus a reflash of the computer.)
To the OP - I wouldn't worry about it!