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2001 chevy 3500 bus 6.5 turbo help

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kentonbeckman

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Howdy y'all, I'm in south Florida and need a proper mechanic. I have some crazy rattling noise that just got worse today....need to find a shop or at least a shady spot at an o'riley asap.. thanks
 

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Welcome
Need more info.

More details on where at in Florida- there is a guy that knows hummers well there which is same engine. And most likely same transmission.. Also might be a person or two near ya that wrenches on them.

Or if your ok to diy, we need more details than just n no oise that got worse. If you can make video and put kn Youtube then put w link here - we can see and hear what’s happening
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm presently in Hollywood fl. I am not sure how to do a YouTube video, the noise was an intermittent rattle, grinding. Now it's much louder and more consistent. Problem started after the serp belt flew off . I replaced the obvious bend pulley and belt tensioner, the idler pulley. It seems like it has to be power steering pulley, vacuum pump , alternator pulley or maybe harmonic balancer or crankshaft pulley....I feel dumb because I know it's not a major issue since there is no functioning problem. I'll try and figure out making a YouTube video and posting here. Really just want a good mechanic that can deal with this and do a good one over on the bus, so I have peace of mind taking a coast to coast trip. Thanks everyone
 
So with the engine cold you can remove the belt and start the engine. Just dont run it more than a minute or two since the water pump is not working without the belt. If the noise is still there it is not one of the accessories & need to track it down from there.
If the noise is gone, you know it is a belt driven accessory.

Turn the engine off and try turning each of the pulleys by hand. Hopefully you can hear or feel something wrong with one of the components. If not, put the belt back on and CAREFULLY do the stethoscope trick with a screwdriver and listen to each component to identify which it is. Example:
 
Thank you !I'm going to try and take care of it once the rain let's up. While I'm fixing this issue. I was going to put on an aftermarket fan and a few other simple upgrades while I'm greasy. Any advise about making this 6.5 better would be appreciated. It looks like I was getting around 10 to 13 mpg on my 2000 mile trip from Fargo north Dakota to Miami fl....I was going 65 to 75 alot of the way. Not sure the optimum speed for best mileage yet...also any advise greatly appreciated
 
Biggest problem is keeping it cool. 210* is temp limit 220* is park it until it cools off. Do not use electric fans as they've been proven not to provide enough air. I'm using an electroviscous fan clutch that is controlled by engine temps instead of hot air going through the radiator to engage a normal viscous thermal fan clutch. It does require the spin on water pump though. It also has an override switch so I can anticipate the big hill coming up and get it engaged even sooner.
 
You can spin the accessories by hand and "feel" for a bad bearing. Visual inspection of the belt drive rubber damper on the crank AND the Harmonic damper on the crank is a good idea. Chunks missing or cracking is BAD. Get a new GM parts as Dorman is a short life crankshaft buster. The vacuum pump is known to lock up and throw belts.

Aftermarket fan ... How do you feel about sending some random "Not enough CFM" fan to the scrapyard along with the blown engine it didn't cool? It's bad enough the early years OEM 6 blade fan and useless clutch was sent to the scrapyard by the dealer under warranty often... Electric fans are AC booster fans: They do not move enough air alone to keep a 6.5TD cool, PERIOD. 10,000 CFM isn't enough: I tested a 10,000 CFM 19" clutch fan fan from something else that didn't have enough blade pitch and ran hot towing a load to Lake Havasu.

Fans that work are the Duramax fan and the 1998+ 9 blade steel fan. Without going crazy the Kennedy Diesel low temp clutch is the best upgrade you can do. You didn't say what year yours is, but, a spin on water pump solves a balance flow issue with the passenger side of the engine running hotter.

If your fan clutch is over 5 years old: it's done. They loose 200 RPM per year and are End Of Life at 5 years old and 1000 fan RPM down.

Cooling and MPG. A bigger turbo that isn't so restrictive will reduce the amount of heat trapped in the engine, amount the fan runs at 75 MPH, and increase MPG. In depth here. Several other turbo's are now out there since I published that article.
 
My 2000 K3500 with auto trans and 4:10 gearing gets 18 at under 70 MPH and iirc the RPMs is about 2200.
Leroy Diesel also sells an up rated coolant pump that I’m going to be trying after I get a coated radiator from Twisted Steel Performance.
 
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