1997 6.5

D

darmaley94

New member
I know im on a gm tech section but are the 97 6.5s good? What problems do they normally have? How long do the last?
 
97 model year started the upgraded cooling system, that's about all I know. 97-2000 were the better years IIRC. How long they last has a lot to do with how you take care of it, not aware of any inherent problems with them that limits their life to a certain timeline
 
Cranks are kind of weak in them. If you don't turn them up they are probably good for 200K. Work them really hard or turn them up and they don't seem to hold up.
 
zstroken said:
Cranks are kind of weak in them. If you don't turn them up they are probably good for 200K. Work them really hard or turn them up and they don't seem to hold up.
Click to expand...

The cranks in them do break occasionally, but the blocks from 97-early 99 were much more problamatic than any of the cranks were. The main crankshaft problem is people not keeping an eye on the balancer. When the elastomer in the balancer goes bad, it allows the counterweight to move and it destroys the bottom end. 97-early 99 were the most problematic for engine failures, 92-96 had the most overheating issues. If it has a new short block in it, then the 97+ are pretty good. Plenty of people out there with well over 200K miles on them that work them day in and day out. They don't like high boost numbers(keep them under 12 IMHO), and are prone to high EGT's with the stock exhaust and turbo set-up. The 6.5 isn't a bad engine, but GM did a horrible job setting them up and created alot of the problems that many incurred with them. Also if it has a DS(electronic injection pump) remote mount the PMD/FSD out from under the hood and carry a spare in the glove box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top