What's your thoughts on the Duramax?

Stupid Chevy, this week I had to replace BOTH OEM batteries on my 2006 Duramax. Buyer beware!

Love my 2002 Dmax pulls my 5th wheel just fine had new injectors at 82,000 miles and with only 87,000 miles plan to tow for years to come. I know a few owners of that year with 350,000 miles on them.

Me Again wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

donn0128 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

falconbrother wrote:
What's your, knowledge, thoughts, experience, on the GM Duramax diesel?

It's good but I would stay away from the LMM due to lacking def on the emissions side.

As for the LP5 it's a completely new design that has had some bumps along the way.

The LLY was infamous for overheating. It was GMs first attempt to up HP from the LB7 and was a disaster when towing heavy.

But it’s an easy fix and if someone is shopping for an old truck, a good condition lily, needing a little retrofit work is as solid as any of the era and better than a 6.0 Powersmoke.

But you still have a 5 speed tranny.

I may be wrong but I believe the competition only had 4 speed automatic transmissions that were not as strong as the Allison.

Had an employee traveling with his young family to Iowa towing a smaller TT his truck 03? DMax overheated needing major repairs. So he was in a bind and bought an early 07 Classic older body style no emissions. Kinds sucked for him!

Grit dog wrote:

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Well, the Dmax is the ONLY diesel out of the big 3 that hasn’t changed displacement or been scrapped for an all new engine. That says a bunch. Apples to apples, the Dmax gives up nothing to any of the others, year by year, save for the Cummins being simpler for some repairs and the Cummins still being very arguably the longest lasting internals.

The Cummins 6.7 is not ALL NEW.

Quote from Allpar.com "Nearly 40% of the new engine’s parts were carryovers."

I was referring to the Cummins with “changed displacement.”
Not saying it’s a bad thing just supporting the fact that the Duramax is one of the longer running engine platforms out there.

"Changed displacement or been scrapped for an all new engine" comment is what I was responding to.

The late model ones are great
As good as anything out there

Grit dog wrote:


I was referring to the Cummins with “changed displacement.”
Not saying it’s a bad thing just supporting the fact that the Duramax is one of the longer running engine platforms out there.

It depend on what you consider a platform. If it is displacement only, then yes the Dmax has stayed the same. But if you are referring to the turbo, block, internals, and other specs, then no it has not been the same.

Only small changes have been added between 2001-2009 like the addition of VG turbo the the LLY and different intake piping with lower compression ratio in the LBZ. However, the LML had changes to the block, pistons, connecting rods, main bearings, fuel pump, injectors, and oil pump. The new L5P also has a different block, crank, pistons, connecting rods, main bearings, camshaft, head, fuel system, turbo, and a few other things.

The overheating fix for the LiLY was/is easy and the 5 speed Alli gives up nothing when towing compared to the 6 speeds. 6th is not for towing anyway.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Grit dog wrote:
Well, the Dmax is the ONLY diesel out of the big 3 that hasn’t changed displacement or been scrapped for an all new engine. That says a bunch. Apples to apples, the Dmax gives up nothing to any of the others, year by year, save for the Cummins being simpler for some repairs and the Cummins still being very arguably the longest lasting internals.

The Cummins 6.7 is not ALL NEW.

Quote from Allpar.com "Nearly 40% of the new engine’s parts were carryovers."

I was referring to the Cummins with “changed displacement.”
Not saying it’s a bad thing just supporting the fact that the Duramax is one of the longer running engine platforms out there.

I have the LMM with 123k miles on it. It still tows like a beast (10k fifth wheel) with very little work put into it. I had a Nissan Titan Pro4x before this truck (with a 5.5k trailer). The Titan was a capable truck but the Duramax is much better.