What Should I Expect?

[Bowtie_Beast]

I don't really know anything about diesels, but have an opportunity to get one pretty cheap. It's a 1995 Suburban, loaded with the 6.5TD and just over 200k.

What kind of mileage would you expect? Any issues I should look for? What are maintenance costs compared to a gas engine?

Thanks for your input!

[Ranger]

I've always heard that the 6.5s were dogs and prone to breakage...I was gonna get a Diesel Blazer a while back with the 6.5 but all the old mechanic friends I had instantly said "DON'T DO IT".

[L29er]

my dad had a few 6.5s they were not to impressive for power, i belive they had 290hp and 510ft/lbs torque or something like that, best mileage e ever got was 24mpg hwy, injection pumps were a problem and had a long warranty but i do know that it is no longer applicable, (long time ago) plus my dads second one cracked the block and broke a head once, and apparently that was fairly common. BUT if you wanted to convert a Duramax into there, that is a fairly common practice, and just a dam sweet idea!

[plowking]

I have a 95 6.5. They have had injection pump,pump mounted driver and the oil pressure sensor can go bad,causing lift pump not to pump fuel up to the filter and injection pump. Newer models of 6.5 have the upgraded high volume water pump and a double thermostat housing to run cooler. Mine has new heads recently but won't supply fuel to the injectors,nocodes,so takes a while to figure what's wrong. It gets 18 miles per gallon or better. It has 190-210 horsepower. I have since bought a 2500 HD gasser and if I can get the 6.5 running, it is going to be my plow truck,dump runs. The pmd on the 6.5 should have the PMD relocated onto a heat sink ,the transisters creat a lot of heat and can get damaged in their original location. plowking