grader6.5td
Member
Hey guys, its been a while since my last post, but you were all so helpful in the past I figured I would try again. I have the same pickup, 1995 K2500 Ext Cab, SWB, 4WD, Auto. I had installed an Optimizer 6500 a couple years ago and just moved everything from the old engine to the new one. Pickup has 4" intake, 3" Downpipe and no cat, S54 turbo, heath diesel hd fuel pump, duramax fan set up, and a quadstar multi position tune. It has a lot of other small mods.
I really havent put that many miles on this pickup since the engine swap. I work on a farm and have a company provided pickup. But I started driving this pickup more recently and while it starts and runs seemingly okay, its a bit of a dog. It seemed to me like the old wore out 6.5 ran better, it could actually burn rubber a bit, the new one can keep up with traffic but it doesnt tow great and my friend's stock 6.5 5 speed manual passes me when we were running around on the farm a while back.
I had contacted the guys at quadstar and they gave me several things to check out. I went ahead and did that, and then Michael had me send him a picture of the sticker that came on the back of my engine when I installed it. Turns out I was sold a Naturally Aspirated 6500, even after the seller was given all of my truck information and stuff. I had done a lot of business with the seller prior, so its a disapointment. Its been long enough now that not much can be done about the purchase, but I want to build it right and get it running well. It only gets 15 mpg and egts get higher than i'd like when going between Cheyenne and Laramie climbing the pass. It seemed like this really could be a major part of my issue.
I was told by Michael at Quadstar that the bottom end of the optimizers are the same, so I could go with different heads, or get the turbo precups installed on my existing heads. If I do this, Ill stud it while im in there, and maybe put some cometic head gaskets on while im at it.
Does this sound like a reasonable game plan? Do you guys think that the smaller precups would make that much of a difference in performance on my diesel pickup? Perhaps there are some other things that I need to address before I go tearing down my engine?
Thanks for anyone willing to share some advice!
-Grader
I really havent put that many miles on this pickup since the engine swap. I work on a farm and have a company provided pickup. But I started driving this pickup more recently and while it starts and runs seemingly okay, its a bit of a dog. It seemed to me like the old wore out 6.5 ran better, it could actually burn rubber a bit, the new one can keep up with traffic but it doesnt tow great and my friend's stock 6.5 5 speed manual passes me when we were running around on the farm a while back.
I had contacted the guys at quadstar and they gave me several things to check out. I went ahead and did that, and then Michael had me send him a picture of the sticker that came on the back of my engine when I installed it. Turns out I was sold a Naturally Aspirated 6500, even after the seller was given all of my truck information and stuff. I had done a lot of business with the seller prior, so its a disapointment. Its been long enough now that not much can be done about the purchase, but I want to build it right and get it running well. It only gets 15 mpg and egts get higher than i'd like when going between Cheyenne and Laramie climbing the pass. It seemed like this really could be a major part of my issue.
I was told by Michael at Quadstar that the bottom end of the optimizers are the same, so I could go with different heads, or get the turbo precups installed on my existing heads. If I do this, Ill stud it while im in there, and maybe put some cometic head gaskets on while im at it.
Does this sound like a reasonable game plan? Do you guys think that the smaller precups would make that much of a difference in performance on my diesel pickup? Perhaps there are some other things that I need to address before I go tearing down my engine?
Thanks for anyone willing to share some advice!
-Grader
