Here's my problem in short:
The work truck (only work truck) started to have a temperature issue at stop lights. The heater would stop working when stopped at low idle, but be fine on the road. I thought that was a little strange, so looked into it further. I didn't start the engine, but opened the radiator cap and I had air pressure in the tank. Not good I thought. Talked to a local guy who has done a lot of diesel work in the area who actually worked on this van before I got it. He told me that it was nothing to worry about, if it's not smoking, you're okay, it's a 14:1 engine anyway. At that point, I think I wrote off the rest of that conversation as he added his commentary about his dislike for the 6.5.
Yesterday I had temperature fluctuations while going down the roadway. This told me that I must be getting air bubbles in the thermostat housing and unable to get the flow through the coolant system. I got to the job site and popped the hood. The air was now coming out of the overflow hose at a steady rate. So, I let the pressure off of the system, and did my work. On start up and idle before leaving, now I had smoke and burnt coolant smell. So, I limped it home very carefully, parked it in the drive way and relieved the coolant pressure on shut down so no coolant might push it's way back in the cylinder.
So, diesel friends, here's the $64,000 question:
I like my 6.5. You've known I've liked this for a long time, so I'm not ready to through it under the bus yet. Everything else seems to be tight and right. I've put 14,000 miles on it since I've gotten it, and no other problems.
This is my grand question: This is a business vehicle. My only business vehicle and it's not only costing money to repair, but it's lost revenue to boot, because I'm backed up with work. This isn't a "let's have fun rebuilding it" play toy, it's a get the job done vehicle. So, I have a business decision to make here. I've either got to fix this and get it on the road or find another rig. I can get this fixed (by someone other than myself) but I want to make sure I know about all the "What-if's" before throwing money at something and then finding it needs more (increasing down time, lost revenue and expense.)
I know you guys are gonna tell me to tear everything apart and fix it even if the crank broke on it. I just need some input on if you were in my shoes what other things to consider on these. Like checking the webbing on the bottom end etc. I was considering injection pump age etc too. At 147k on the clock, I don't want to start playing around under the hood a lot. I need to get in and go at all hours of the day and night. I don't want to go through a whole lot to find she's scrap yard material in the end. I think she's got good life still, but I like to bounce this off others first before making decisions that end up having a lot of dollar signs attached to them.
Thanks for your input!
The work truck (only work truck) started to have a temperature issue at stop lights. The heater would stop working when stopped at low idle, but be fine on the road. I thought that was a little strange, so looked into it further. I didn't start the engine, but opened the radiator cap and I had air pressure in the tank. Not good I thought. Talked to a local guy who has done a lot of diesel work in the area who actually worked on this van before I got it. He told me that it was nothing to worry about, if it's not smoking, you're okay, it's a 14:1 engine anyway. At that point, I think I wrote off the rest of that conversation as he added his commentary about his dislike for the 6.5.
Yesterday I had temperature fluctuations while going down the roadway. This told me that I must be getting air bubbles in the thermostat housing and unable to get the flow through the coolant system. I got to the job site and popped the hood. The air was now coming out of the overflow hose at a steady rate. So, I let the pressure off of the system, and did my work. On start up and idle before leaving, now I had smoke and burnt coolant smell. So, I limped it home very carefully, parked it in the drive way and relieved the coolant pressure on shut down so no coolant might push it's way back in the cylinder.
So, diesel friends, here's the $64,000 question:
I like my 6.5. You've known I've liked this for a long time, so I'm not ready to through it under the bus yet. Everything else seems to be tight and right. I've put 14,000 miles on it since I've gotten it, and no other problems.
This is my grand question: This is a business vehicle. My only business vehicle and it's not only costing money to repair, but it's lost revenue to boot, because I'm backed up with work. This isn't a "let's have fun rebuilding it" play toy, it's a get the job done vehicle. So, I have a business decision to make here. I've either got to fix this and get it on the road or find another rig. I can get this fixed (by someone other than myself) but I want to make sure I know about all the "What-if's" before throwing money at something and then finding it needs more (increasing down time, lost revenue and expense.)
I know you guys are gonna tell me to tear everything apart and fix it even if the crank broke on it. I just need some input on if you were in my shoes what other things to consider on these. Like checking the webbing on the bottom end etc. I was considering injection pump age etc too. At 147k on the clock, I don't want to start playing around under the hood a lot. I need to get in and go at all hours of the day and night. I don't want to go through a whole lot to find she's scrap yard material in the end. I think she's got good life still, but I like to bounce this off others first before making decisions that end up having a lot of dollar signs attached to them.
Thanks for your input!
