One of the few remaining 6.5 HD trucks at my work.

[Will L.]

Was in the shop picking up my 03 f150 gasser (what are they doing tto me- did I make someone mad? Haha) when I walked passed this one. Spoke to a mechanic there that used to work on 6.2 hmmwvs in the Army that was also a customer of mine there when I was the Mac tool guy. He is Not a diesel guy, not Chevy guy, and never touched a 6.5 yet. He says “ 6.2 wasn’t bad, just low powered but not bad compared to gas at the time. Why does everyone hate on the 6.5?” Just refreshing to have someone with a fair opinion of the old days.

Thought some of you might want to see a pic of a rig with under 100k and all stock except the bed and the cone racks they bolted to the front bumper.
Imagine no one has ever altered a single wire Or aftermarket part from stock yet...


There is a utility bed one I could get pics of if anyone cares to see.
I have driven the utility bed one, fair weight on it. Amazing how slow it is stock turbo, exhaust, tune, etc. All the others I am used to driving do so much better, I sometimes forget how much the modifications help.

 

[WarWagon]

Why does everyone hate on the 6.5?” Just refreshing to have someone with a fair opinion of the old days.

Simply put: "Because the 6.5 as shipped deserves it! Specifically in context of the 90's when the 6.5 came out." There are no less than 2 redesigns to solve the major problems and GM cast is a throwaway engine unlike a rebuildable 350, 454, Cummins 12 valve, etc.

The 6.2 wasn't that great vs. gas engines of the day. Nothing was that great in the 80's. The Glow Plug controllers and glow plugs were their downfall if the bean counter crankshaft survived. Snapped crankshafts and other 6.2 'wannabe a 5.7 Oldsmobile Diesel hand grenade like failures' forced GM to offer 100K mile warranties on the 6.5 to sell them. VW diesel rabbit 4 bangers also had glow plug problems and then the "SNAP!" timing belts they and other gassers used. After that poor diesel fuel filtration that all OEM's made us suffer.

The 1980's emissions on gas engines and things like GM's coil in cap HEI disaster combined with leaded gas going away... Getting Octane back up without lead caused lots of vapor lock light volatiles to be used on engines with engine driven mechanical fuel pumps and carbs. What could possibly go wrong? Dumb electric carb TBI with in tank fuel pumps started the 90's and eliminated the vapor lock that plagued the 80's. Troublesome emissions with limited technology the 6.2's didn't have to meet many of would be the sole reason it could be more reliable than gas engines.

Starting the 90's is where gas engines reliability walked away from the unreliable you are going to walk PMD crack prone overheater asthma attack turbo strangled 6.5. Compared to the 80's: today's fuel injected gas engines simply start nearly turn key for over 100K miles without adjustment or tune ups.

Our 90's fleet experience with the 4.3L V6 1/2 tons had most engines lasting 250K with failures as an exception in the tough unpaved dusty oilfields. The pickups were done around this odometer reading with the bodies and other non-powertrain items used up. When it rained there were more snapped axels from getting stuck in the mud than engine failures in total.

We take for granted the resources available to us today via the internet to keep our rigs running and overcome the design flaws. Back in the 80-90's you were on your own with the limited flow charts GM and other OEM's had to put together. Only fleets with experience could get better luck from knowing how to prevent problems early before it destroyed the engine.