I am very sory to bug you guys...and I know you probably hear this all the time, but here is my situation.

I have a 2001 2500 qc short box GAS 5.9
it has 276'000 km on it

A buddy of mine is selling his truck. It is the exact same as mine but with a diesel. I know he has taken good care of it but heres the thing. It has 340'000 km on it.

My gasser never gives me any trouble and is very easy to maintain where as i am not as familiar with diesels but i have heard they cost much more to maintain.

I drive 70 km a day to and from work (mostly highway) and make 6-8 2000km trips home per year. I also haul my 5000lb (dry weight) fw a bunch in the summer. (I usually put on about 50'000 km a year)

My question to you is - from a purely economicalpoint of view- is this a good idea.

PS. all our shop vehicles are cummins and i love the diesel but i am trying to be practical because i am basically buying the same truck with just a different engine and if the maintenace is going to kill me i will just keep my gasser.

 

there will be less maintence. fuel filters and standard fluid changes. there are no spark plugs, rotors, caps or spark plug wires to change. while towing you will get better mileage and of course have a vehicle that will last longer and hold its value better. I say go for it and dont look back.

 

ANOTHER VERY QUICK QUESTION

In the winter when it gets cold (very cold) I have noticed on our shop cummins that even once the engine has warmed up if you have the heat on high it will actually start bringing the temp down to the point where the air stops being warm. (this is during idle and city comuting)

It seams like the engine just does not create enough heat. Is this a common problem with diesels or is something just wrong with our shop truck?

If it is normal how do i get around it? Would a fast idle switch solve that problem?

Again I am sorry for the dumb questions, i don't know much about diesels other then i drive our shop truck alot and like it.

 

Diesels cool down at slow speed, but you can put the jake brake on to help with that or maybe a winter front, if your pulling all the weight you see a differance in fuel used, I was pulling 6000 pounds every day and was getting 14 MPG, where my 5.3 was getting 8 or 9 with the same load.

 

my truck will do the same thing, if i have it up to normal operating temps and let it idle for 15 minutes it will cool down to where it blows warm air out. thats just the way they are, i think diesel dosent burn as hot as gas, and the idle RPM's are alot lower so with both of those added up will bring you down in temp while idling...

my $.02...... buy the truck, be happy with it, and love it forever because thats what it will do to you