Thoughts of the 2004 Chevy duramax dually?
 

Thoughts of the 2004 Chevy duramax dually? Any known issues?

Injectors

Injectors and the cost associated with replacing them and you can't buy them new. You pay new price for factory refurbs.

If you can find a good tech at the dealer that will help you get a warranty set shortly before the engine falls out of warranty would be very helpful and cost saving.

Stay on top of that fuel filter and find a lower micron then the factory one. Stuff gets by it and it causes problems. And that water sensor at the bottom sux. It does not work worth a hoot based on my experience with some water in the fuel.

I could not believe what got past my filters in the past. Other than the shift patterns, the injectors are the only real issue I have with the truck. I've put 145k on mine since bought new in 04.

You can buy injector nozzles from aftermarket outfits like Dynomite Diesel and others. They come in hp ratings so you can get 40 to maybe 150hp nozzles. As for fuel filters I use Wix in my Dodge. To separate water from the fuel the Airdog 150 fuel pump and bypass oil filter will get that job done. They're expensive but well worth the money.

Are you looking to buy the truck or do you already own it?

I have a lead on a very clean truck with low miles. From everything I read the injectors are the issue. This is the case with all diesels. The duramax appears to have the least amount of problems over the big three. Maybe I am wrong.

What does a set ov injectors and installation cost? Can I do it myself if I am fairly handy?

IIRC, GM extended the warranty for injector issues to 200K, with no time limit. Also, ACDelco just came out with a new fuel filter (TP3012) p/n 12633243, for all Duramax's 01-09.
200% increase in service life and greatly improves removal of emulsified water (the major contributor to fuel system issues)

My mechanic brought me one, but haven't changed it yet. $39.18..........

On my 03 GMC just replaced all 8 under warranty at 145K miles. They have extended coverage on the earlier Duramax motors to 200K miles/7 years for injectors. I had not had a single issue until the injectors starting leaking. Motor has 6500+ hours on it and other than fluid changes/filters that has been it! The injectors are expensive (few hundred each X 8). GM covered the job and changed the oil as part of the recall/warranty. It has been 6months/12K miles since it was done with no issues.

Are those still used in my 07 classic?

No.......the early Duramax's had defective injectors. The problem was corrected by 2004ish. Your classic has injectors but not the ones that were failing prematurely.

Joe - if the deal is right, I would pull the trigger. As others have said, the injectors are under warranty. You can't go wrong with a Duramax. I've got about 78k on my 05 and have only had one problem with the #7 injector plug (not the actual injector) which can be remedied with an ice pick! Other than that, no problems.

Is it a LB7 or a LLY duramax, in 04 they changed to the newer generation Dmax mid year. The LB7 has the injector issue. I have an 04 LLY with no issues>

so you guys are saying these rigs have a 7 year 200k warranty on the injectors from the orginal in-service date?

Jim is right, so far I think the LLY version is the best because it has the injectors with a more accessible location and it does not fall under any of the emissions crap. Perhaps the LBZ falls under that too can't remember now.

Regarding your warranty question -

Yes, GM originally provided a 100 thousand mile engine warranty on driveability not including anything like exhaust and pm type stuff.

However, due to the known injector issues and probably to prevent them from having to go through the process of getting them redesigned, they simply upped the "engine only" warranty to 200 thousand miles.

I do not however remember what the age limitation is but there is one... But I think it's getting harder and harder to get the warranty service. I hear where they are paying out percentages and the owner pays as well based on some sort of proration. This part may not be fact.

The real issue with the LB7 (first generation Duramax) is that at dealer price, you're looking at about 350 per injector plus around 2100 for installation. It makes for a repair bill somewhere near or around 5 or 6k last time I priced it out. That was at my dealer with guys I know. Others on the board may say I'm high or in some cases low... That was normal retail pricing on replacing all 8 of them.

And who would tear down that far and only replace 2 or 3? The labor is the same no matter how many depending on how you look at it.

It's a great truck and a nice engine but like all the other trucks in its class, it comes with issues.

Can't tell you how many guys I've known with certain year Fords where they were simply stranded on the side of the road with brand new trucks. Vacations ruined etc.

Chevy, Ford, Doge, pick your poison. They all have problems and they all have good service lives if maintained.

That's my understanding. I've also heard they're trying to find ways not to cover under warranty, ie..previous tuner usage.
But, and I may be wrong, only the newest version (after the LBZ) has the capability to tell on you for having a tuner. The ECU stores that info even if you remove it and return to stock settings before taking it in.

Can't speak for every tuner package out there but don't buy the ads from SuperChips that say you can put it back to stock.

What SuperChips doesn't tell you is that even on an older Duramax (2001-mid2004), it does put everything back EXCEPT it resets the key cycle count. So I would have had a 3 year old truck with 5 or 10 cycles stored. That's one of the ways they used to catch people if there were very few tell tale signs.

However, my info on SuperChips is a few years old. They may have figured that out now I don't know.

With my experience on computers, I don't believe for one second that someone somewhere could not prove that I had a tuner if they really wanted to prove it. It comes down to how smart and experienced the guy is if he's trying to verify aftermarket usage. Just my opinion.

Thanks for the help guys!