Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives 2003 Chevy 2500 Duramax w/ auto: Any good???

Found a nice 2003 Chevy Duramax 2500 with 250K miles. Are these trucks solid (engine and tranny)? Any issues I should consider before buying?

Thanks,

Jordan

Go here and look around, lots of answers. Good luck!
http://www.duramaxforum.com/

There was an overheating problem with the duramax for a couple of years, I think 2003 might be in that group, but I'm not sure. Something to look out for.

Thanks.

Yes theyr'e solid. Find out if the injectors have been replaced. Go to Dieselplace.com and duramaxdiesels.com and post any questions you have.

You're right, you don't know. The '03 engine is an LB7, they had no overheating problems. The '04.5 and '05 were LLY and a few people had overheating under some circumstances. My LLY has never overheated.

Wow. Searching the net, looks like these engines have had some serious problems.
Primarily injectors, but also tranny problems with the Allison. I'll have to take a close look at this truck.

Actually no, they haven't had "serious problems." Many 01 and 02 injectors needed replacement at 90 to 100k miles. Still, I know a whole bunch of guys who drive/dragrace/sledpull with LB7's (pre-'04.5) and love them, they think it's the best engine. The LB7 has no cat convertor and a different turbo.

Tranny problems? Don't know what you mean by that. The Allison is a really good transmission and in '03 it was way better than what the others were offering.

Given its nine years old your almost guaranteed to have problems.

Not true.

Your best bet would be finding a low-mileage 2006. That would get you the LBZ engine and the six-speed Allison 1000 tranny.

The LBZ is arguably the best-of-breed.

I owned one for several years and it was a total winner.

Dieselplace.com is indeed your finest source of information.

God Bless,

Steve

I agree with that. Mine is a 2006 with just 45,600 miles on it. No particle filters or any of that crap, just the egr. So far no major engine problems except for a replaced egr. Also the transmission lines leak and the steering shaft clunk which I had fixed. Maybe mine does not have enough miles to tell about long term durability. Time will tell.

I must say it is one beast of a truck as far as towing.

Cosmetically, the truck is almost perfect. Rubber is near new. It has a nice ARE shell. Its the extended cab model, HD, leather seats, LT 4wd. Custom aluminum wheels. The dealer is asking 13,999.00. As I said, it has 250K miles. What do you experts think of that price? If the engine checks out, I was gonna offer $12k. I just need to get 50-60K good miles out of it. I'll be doing some light towing.

The dealers on drugs with that mileage.

I just sold my 06 LBZ with 85K on it for $26,000.00 Those 2006s are sought after and I had several guys in a sword fight to get mine. You will not find one cheap.

My 06 crew cab dually ran me $22,500 with 108k for mileage.

Love how it rides and towing with it is great!

That's ok but not a particularly good deal. Not with 250K miles. Also look at the seats...with that many miles the stock driver seat will have torn stitching along the edge. Realize that a used shell isn't worth that much if you're selling, about 1/2 or 1/3 of a new one. To get an idea about prices check the ads in a few forums. Also look online at ebay and craigslist. Shop around.

Thanks everyone for the advise.

way too high priced for those miles


look out for


injectors

high pressure fuel pump

ball joints

wore out CV shafts and joints

The truck, unless alot of money has been plowed into it and I would need to see receipts is basically shot at that point IMO.

That's complete nonsense.

ymmv, but I havent had a Dodge or Chevy go a 100k without plowing money into let alone 250k.
Many of the components on GM vehicles have a engineered life of 100,000 miles. I know this because I worked for a tier one supplier to GM.

It's amazing how much expertise there seems to be on things when the folks doing the talking don't own them.

I got 220,000 miles out of the first generation of LB7 injectors.
Both thermostats were replaced at 220,000 miles.
Both jounce bumpers were replaced at 216,000 miles.
I replaced the water pump at 195,000 miles due to leaking at the weep hole.
I replaced 1 upper ball joint at 184,000 miles.
I replaced the rear pinion seal at 61,000 miles.

I've had the truck since new in Feb 2002. 150,000 of those miles were in the first 4 years of ownership. I've been running a Diablo Sport Predator 85HP tune for nearly 200,000 miles and had no Allison related issues.


Otherwise regular maintenance by me and no huge amount of parts thrown at it.

I just did an entire front end including steering box, tie rod ends, ball joints, pitman arm, idler arm etc on a 06 LBZ with 85,000 on it.....
The injectors are a well known and documented issue.

\

So you did a front end on an '06. BFD. Doesn't mean they're trouble prone, it just means that one had problems. And injectors AREN'T a well known issue with anything after LB7. Working for a supplier at one time hasn't made you very knowledgeable.

My own truck - '04 LLY with 130K miles. Water pump replaced at 65,000 miles, that's it.

Dodge maybe, I haven't owned them and have no experience. But Chevy trucks, complete nonsense. Even my old beater '94 GMC gas truck with 225K and countless miles on jeep trails, no front end problems ever. Other than brakes, I've replaced 2 starters (last one at 215K), one front wheel bearing at 212K, and an alternator at 220k.......that's it.

Yep the first generation LB7 injectors have been a known issue since 2002. Bosch has revised then numerous times. I had the most problematic generation (generation 1, no revisions)of injectors and only managed to get 220,000 miles out of them before smoking at idle began. Otherwise, no complete front end or much of anything else suspension wise even running oversize tires for nearly 150,000 miles. My suspension gets thoroughly checked yearly. The OEM shocks wore out quickly but they were replaced with Bilsteins and no problem since.

No. 1 problem with any common rail injector is poor fuel quality and lack of good filtration.

Chevy uses better factory filtration than what Dodge attaches to the Cummins, but both should have an additional 2 micron filter installed and use quality filters.

I'm not disagreeing with you there. I've been running CAT 1R-0749s, in addition to the OEM which has been revised numerous times, for approximately 160,000 miles. It may not be the single holy grail contributing factor to injector life but it doesn't hurt. Another issue with HPCR is entrained water in fuel. Additives, either emulsifiers or demulsifiers, take care of that problem. Water is incredibly destructive to injectors operating at high pressure.

Expectations vary I guess. If its acceptable fore you to plow several grand into a vehicle with less than 100K on the odo you deserve what you get. BTW the same truck also required all for calipers replaced and all four abs wheel sensors and I only owned it for roughly 30k. I knew the previous owner and he had some minor issues with as well.

Your making the assumption this is my first rodeo with a GM truck vehicle. It aint and despite getting option one price I will not buy another. My wifes 09 Acadia was the final straw.

Yeah......expectations vary. I just did the '04's brakes at 125,000 miles....rear pads needed replacing, fronts were only about 1/2 worn. Just about everyone gets that much or more from those brakes and I know guys who've gone a lot further than that. Awful good for a 3/4t heavy duty, 7000lb truck. Your truck was a turd. It happens.

You sound like a troll or a know nothing. Get a different kind of truck, that's what you should do.

Its not just one truck and not just one rodeo. Its a pattern with the dodge and GM vehicles I have owned over the years.
If your happy with your GM trucks stuck with em. I havent been and wont buy another.

Unfortunately there's not one of the big 3 that you're guaranteed even a trouble free 75-100,000 mile truck


They continue to get more expensive, but also cheapen them up at the same time.


Injectors (good fuel & filtration will cure most issues)
Front Ends (hit & miss)
Transmissions
Emissions
List goes on and on, total crap shoot

I cant comment on Ford, because I have never owned one.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. 125k on my 2002. Injectors at 85K, water pump at 100K, Right carrier bearing in rear end, put in a full bearing set. Just checked the breaks, about 1/2 worn out. I change the oil every 10K using Mobil 1 at which time it is 1 quart down.

With the cost of new trucks being what they are, I will repair what is required to about 300K, then it's decision time.

Curious which Mobil 1 you're using and how you came to the 10K mile oil change interval?

Hopefully Mobil 1 turbo diesel or Delvac 1..

Sorry, that would be Delvac 1, 5-40. Why 10K? I had the oil analyzed at 7500K, was good to go. Did it again at 10K and was still good. Just could not go any more. 10K is now my program. I might add I use Balwin filters exclusively.

In addition, I drove a 84 Camaro 280K using Mobil 1. Changed the oil around 10K, no engine issues. Needed a clutch at 120K, traded it when things started falling apart around the running gear.

I ran Delvac 1 to 10k in my Cummins diesel powered dodge, but only 7500 in my LBZ Duramax, which had a egr valve.

Cool. I run Delvac 1 in mine but I settled on 9,000 mile intervals based on my UOA results attained over the last 200,000 miles. I use either ACD or Baldwin oil filters in conjunction with an Oilguard bypass oil filter.

I own a 2003 chev Duramax, have replaced injectors (warranty), power window motors both doors, 3 front wheel hub assemblies, brakes, pitman and the black box? On the side of the tranny!

The worst thing about my truck is what they call 'frame beaming' between 60-80kph it bounces like your driving on washboard! GM swears its normal...they will never sell me another truck. When I bought it new it rode like a caddy at all speeds about a year in it started bouncing....if the one you looking at has any wobble don't assume it's a tire out of balance!!

BTW-just hit 255k