03 Duramax Questions?

skidoo1156 · March 13, 2009

Looking at buying an 03 Duramax and had a few questions.

I was reading consumer reports and from what I understood they were saying to stay away from 03 Duramax Trucks... Not sure why so im wondering if there is any truth to this? What kind of problems did they have with the 03's, The guy just had the injectors replaces and i was reading a post saying that GM will cover them up to 200,000 miles?? By the way the truck is an 03 2500HD Ext. Cab Long Bed. It has about 92,000 miles on it. The guy is asking $15,000 for it. Is that a good price?

I just want to make sure I know what im getting into before I go out and spend the money!!

Thanks

Ryan

RonJ · March 13, 2009

I had a 2001, 2002, & 2004. The 2001 had several problems, not engine related. I traded it before the warranty ran out (3/36) Fuel filters should be replaced often (10,000 miles or more frequently). Do a search at dieselplace.com

98silvz71 · March 13, 2009

I don't have an 03 but the 04 LB7s are the same engine. I have had 2 problems. One was the injectors which I got replaced for free under the warranty you talk about, no problems. And the other was the Park/Neutral Safety Switch on the Allison. The old switch would get wet and stay wet for awhile causing the shifting to be more harsh, go into limp mode, and causing the gear shift selector in the dash to disappear. It was a $90 part and you can change it yourself with simple hand tools on the side of the transmission. I have had it for over a year now and have had only those problems. I haven't had it overheat like others have had bad luck with some of the LLY Dmax's (although I have never meet anyone with the problem before). And $15,000 sounds like a good price as long as it is loaded the way you like it. I paid that much for my LS Crew 4x4 with 132,000 miles. Would do it again if I had too. Love this truck.

BlackSilver · March 13, 2009

I had an '03 Duramax, worked it hard regularly pulling a 7-ton load cross country. The engine was a horse, with one shortcoming..... the original injectors were a week spot. Replaced them at 85,000 miles (under warranty) and ran the truck another 100K miles without problems. Last time I heard the sucker has 230,000 and still strong as new.

$15,000 seems a fair (but not outstanding) price.