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Buying a Suburban - 6.5l vs Vortec

Woody35 said:
im not advocating buying a gasser but those 5.7 vortecs are no slouches in reliablity for a gas engine. my neighbor who has 3 kids needed an extra vehicle so they bought a clean 1996 tahoe with 210k miles for 2k dollars. all it needed was a radiator and spark plugs and away it went. been running good ever since.
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The 350, 5.7L, is like a McDonalds cheese burger. Millions made. So simple that anyone can work on it.

The gas engine will take more punishment and abuse than the diesel. Parts are cheaper. Diesel prices are high and more MPG does not mean less cost per mile anymore. This is the only reason you look at a complicated diesel. In my case towing a 350 would get 6.5 MPG where the diesel gets 7.5-8 MPG but 20 MPH slower at times.

So the gas engine blows up at less miles than a diesel – I am not sure that is anything less than a rumor for light duty diesels. (Maybe for the Duramax generation stuff.) Forget to change the damper or overheat the 6.5 diesel once and you are changing it out for total engine destruction. Every repair is major and expensive vs. the gas guzzler.

Even replacement engine cost is cheaper for a 350. Try and find a rare 6.5 at a junk yard and they are propping the front door open with a good 350.

You can but a lot of premium grade gasoline for the cost of major repairs to diesels.

A better comparison would be the 350 vs. a 454. The underpowered 350 has to work hard all the time. A 454 will get better MPG until you push it hard.
 
Probably the best way to go moneywise would be a 350 propane. You get a cheaper parts, cheap fuel, good mpgs, and more power then gas.
 
WarWagon said:
The 350, 5.7L, is like a McDonalds cheese burger. Millions made. So simple that anyone can work on it.

The gas engine will take more punishment and abuse than the diesel. Parts are cheaper. Diesel prices are high and more MPG does not mean less cost per mile anymore. This is the only reason you look at a complicated diesel. In my case towing a 350 would get 6.5 MPG where the diesel gets 7.5-8 MPG but 20 MPH slower at times.

So the gas engine blows up at less miles than a diesel – I am not sure that is anything less than a rumor for light duty diesels. (Maybe for the Duramax generation stuff.) Forget to change the damper or overheat the 6.5 diesel once and you are changing it out for total engine destruction. Every repair is major and expensive vs. the gas guzzler.

Even replacement engine cost is cheaper for a 350. Try and find a rare 6.5 at a junk yard and they are propping the front door open with a good 350.

You can but a lot of premium grade gasoline for the cost of major repairs to diesels.

A better comparison would be the 350 vs. a 454. The underpowered 350 has to work hard all the time. A 454 will get better MPG until you push it hard.
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Wow. That's quite an indictment on the 6.5 Diesel. If this is all true, then why do any of us actually opt for a 6.5? Are we just dumb?

-Rob :)
 
Michaeljp86 said:
Probably the best way to go moneywise would be a 350 propane. You get a cheaper parts, cheap fuel, good mpgs, and more power then gas.
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I think you might be confused:rolleyes5:

Propane has less btu's than gas, therefore less power. Propane-fueled engines HP are de-rated from their gas counterparts.
 
WarWagon said:
1993 "Clunkie" Cash for clunkers escapee. GMC 4x4 Sierra 2500 6.5TD ext cab long bed. 4L80E reman. 4.10 Rear. DB2 Mechanical IP 1/3 turn high. Factory no kitty/soot trap! 4" exhaust. Turbomaster 14 PSI max. Kennedy 9 blade fan and clutch. HO water pump. Single 180 stat. Trax II 50 gal in bed tank.
Who needs all 8? Hits on 7 of 8 - rest blow into the crankcase. Engine oiled on the outside better than the inside!!! Soon... Military surplus 6.2 Repower. The vehicle the 6.2 came from was then BLOWN UP on the target range!
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:nopics:

Or at least this sig...:smile5:
 
wow, 93-99 gas 1500 Subs are a dime a dozen around here. They were so popular the used market is flooded with them. You'd have to work at it to spend more than $3-4k for one around here, and I see them for a lot less with miles on them. I would keep looking for a gas Burb cheaper than that one. Seems way high to me.
As for the diesels, they are super-rare around here. Almost never see them, sometimes they come up at a good price, sometimes they are real high.
 
buddy said:
Because it pulls harder and is more efficient when set up properly
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I knew that, thanks. I was being sarcastic, and was surprised by the lack of vitriol at the comment that a gasser is demonstrably superior to the 6.5. I'm still rather surprised that few people have jumped in to defend the 6.5!

-Rob :)
 
I agree that gassers are a dime a dozen. Have you gone and looked at any of the ones that are listed for under $4000? I have looked at several and most have some issue or hig miles. $4-5k is what I see the market price for mid miles, clean, no issues vortec sub. A little higher for low miles.

I also understand that sbc are a heck of an engine; cheap, reliable, parts everywhere, yadda yadda. Ever since I got my '89 6.2l, I feel in love with these diesels (even with its head gasket isssues). Could i get better value out of a vortec? Probably. Am I the guy that likes to have what 80 billion other guys have? Not really. I like these diesels and feel I have a good mechanical understanding of them. In the scope of things, this is a really small purchase (5K) and I am not going to stress about if I could have done better. If it is what the seller claims it is, zero rust, very clean body and interior, rebuilt trans, new brakes, and a host of new engine parts I will have a great starting place if it ever needs a rebuild.

Now that I am most likely getting a '96 6.5l Sub, lets talk about that. My first thing I will do is get the pmd on the bumper and find a backup pmd.
 
TurboTahoe said:
I knew that, thanks. I was being sarcastic, and was surprised by the lack of vitriol at the comment that a gasser is demonstrably superior to the 6.5. I'm still rather surprised that few people have jumped in to defend the 6.5!

-Rob :)
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I thought you were right except for this.

buddy said:
Because it pulls harder and is more efficient when set up properly
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The only way I see the 6.5 being cheaper to run then a 350 is in towing with high fuel cost.

Detroit Dan said:
wow, 93-99 gas 1500 Subs are a dime a dozen around here. They were so popular the used market is flooded with them. You'd have to work at it to spend more than $3-4k for one around here, and I see them for a lot less with miles on them. I would keep looking for a gas Burb cheaper than that one. Seems way high to me.
As for the diesels, they are super-rare around here. Almost never see them, sometimes they come up at a good price, sometimes they are real high.
Click to expand...

Same here, Im surprised at how many diesel burbs I see in the $10,000 range and they sell too. The owners must have known they are rare because they took such good care of them. Same with the yukons and tahoes. A diesel burb or tahoe kept in tiptop shape is probably a very good investment. I bet if Dmax burbs come out that would hurt the price of the 6.5 burbs.
 
my 6.5 diesel truck gets better mpg than my Camaro that is almost half the weight, lower to the ground, and 99% more aerodynamic. Thats driving my truck hard most of the time vs driving the 350 sensibly.

The car may match the highway mpg of my truck on long trips, but I could have the truck loaded with 1000lbs of people and 1000lbs of gear and get the same mileage.

In town the 350 just guzzles gas near idle in stop and go.

Now put that 350 in a truck, maybe stock programming is weaker is not meant for performance but I cant imagine it getting better MPG than my Camaro in a chassis that weighs twice as much.

That and a crate 350 isnt really any less than getting a nice rebuilt 6.5
 
The reason I took the vortec out of my 97 truck was because it was a gas hog,10-11 around town and 14 highway. Also the vortecs have there own problems like wet dist caps and leaking intake gaskets,and then the rod bearings go ,also a few of them will stick the exhaust valves on a long pull,I just repaired one that must have stuck open to long,since it was bent,there is a tsb on the valve issue. It seems some suburbans with the vortec 350 are geared too high,they don't run like the trucks and tahoes. I was looking for a Diesel burb but they are hard to find in our area,so we bought a tahoe for $900 which is going to get a 6.5. Fuel pumps go bad all the time also for the vortecs, especialy the plastic canister type.
 
My boys and I leave tomorrow morning for a camping trip. The seller of the '96 suburban is meeting at the campground. Hopefully he will leave with my pos camry and I leave with a nice new-to-me 6.5l suburban and a lot less cash. If it happens, expect pics on sunday. Wish me luck! :D
 
Mikey von said:
My boys and I leave tomorrow morning for a camping trip. The seller of the '96 suburban is meeting at the campground. Hopefully he will leave with my pos camry and I leave with a nice new-to-me 6.5l suburban and a lot less cash. If it happens, expect pics on sunday. Wish me luck! :D
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Just be carefull......meeting anyone who knows you're carrying a substantial amount of cash, always makes think twice.

Good Luck.
 
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