A friend of mine is the "proud" owner of a 2004 2500HD Chevy. Its a SuperCab, 4x4, with every option possible, including the Duramax/Allison combo. He bought this truck approximately 4 months ago and it has less than 3,000 miles on it. Today it smoked the turbo while he was driving to Parkersburg which is about 45 minutes away. After it smoked the turbo, the Allison followed. My other buddy told me that apparently the Duramax turbo has an oiling problem that lead to its demise, and once the turbo goes out, that affects the transmission, leading to its failure. Chevy's D-max is now 3 for 3 in my own personal experience. I have known two other people that have had it fail on them. I was wondering what everyone else's experience with these engines have been(wheter it be personal, or a friend having one. no friend of a friend stories please.)

 

ive had friends with quite a few problems but i have no personal experience cuz im not dumb enough to buy one.

 

Gee thats not many miles. Time for a Ford. Now dont give him a hard time about not having listened to you. JK. Let us know how his truck turns out. Everything should be covered by warranty. I bet hes not happy. This is the first time on this forum I have heard off this. We have several duramax owners on here. I guess even they arnt perfect.

 

Yeah I told him last year to get a Ford. "Hahahaha, I dont want a stinking Ford." -Exact words, LOL. Oh well some people never learn. I'll let you guys know what his feelings are now.

 

Every new truck will have problems, like this, even the new Fords

Tell the guy to get a pre 1988 truck and restore it it will have less problems the a new truck and cost a lot less.

 

The Co. I work for has always bought GM. I told the boss I didn't have time anymore to work on everyones chevy trucks, so he bought me a F550 for work - thinking he'd show me, because he believed that brand didn't matter. That they all break. So far, the little plastic piece that locks the clutch linkage to the clutch pedal has broke.

On his 02 Duramax/Allison a seal went on the fuel pump and flooded the engine with diesel, (common problem), the driving lights have burned out twice, (common problem - the replacement lights are ident. to turn signal bulbs, except they cost $8 more. They lasted the same amount of time.)

A sensor went out on the tranny, causing it to stick in low gear - 120 miles from home. A very common problem that also just happened to the 04 the company bought. The dealership doesn't even have to look at the truck to troubleshoot. I'd have thought someone would have figured out how to fix that in two years production.

There's been other warranty work that's happened to the trucks, but nobody is telling me about it, (I used the F550 to tow the bosses truck to the dealership last month - he wouldn't say why). I used to catch a lot of flak over Fords, but the guys at work have been pretty quiet the last year or so. Right now I'm working on a starting problem on the 92 GMC diesel. The boss wants me to reverse engineer the glow plug relay circuit and add my own timer - when I know the problem is they used steel nuts on the copper studs at the power side on the relay. Doesn't make good contact, and could be fixed with copper nuts or copper coat. Chevy guys just can't believe GM would cut corners on things that would leave them stranded. Fords will run rough sometimes and I tend to believe they run better that way..

 

Hey Howdy excellent post. You provided some insight on some problems that not everyone hears about but experiences in other brands.

 

I will let you know how my work truck does. 2005 C4500, Duramax/Allison.. I have a 200,000 mile warranty on it, so maybe I will get to see a warranty in action..

 

What? You got a new truck, and it ain't a FORD? I must assume that your employer paid for it.

 

I am a very loyal ford fan, but I have to call BS on this one.. Your tranny takes a dump because of a turbo failure???? There is no way in hell the two are related.
Ryan

 

hmmmm..someones got an alter ego.....think a darkerside has been revealed.. theres more to this than what appears on the surface....eh? theo????

 

Why did the name change? I likes the old title better.

 

I have sufficient Fords running around with my name on the registration, to be allowed to buy the occasional non Ford vehicle... I chose a Chevrolet this time, because the cabs on the class 4/5 trucks offered by Ford are too small for the application. I needed something wide enough to have a bunk in, for long distance travel, and the Kodiak is big enough. If it does indeed blow the engine, turbo or transmission, I have the 200,000 mile 5 year warranty to fix it with.. Five whole years, to figure out if I want to keep it... It will be interesting to have something that all the Ford guys think is a piece of stuff, after having driven a few hundred thousand miles in trucks the GM guys think are pieces of stuff. I woke up Wednesday morning, and found out i had an urgent need for a sleep able truck, so I got one.. (the soonest I could get an F650, would have been in 3 weeks, and it would have been very much more expensive..)

So, yes, I have been tempted by the dark side, but rest assured, there is no way, this side of hell, that I would ever buy a GM pickup truck. Or a GM car, for that matter. I took a look at the GTO - it is not my idea of a good car. I will wait until Ford brings out something impressive - they haven't done for a while, one must be coming out soon.

So, now, I have 3 Ford Pickup trucks, 1 Lincoln car, 1 TYM tractor, and a Chevrolet Kodiak.. I also have a mountain bike, and a wheelbarrow, neither made by Ford..

But, I do have a Ford Racing Jacket, and Cap.. I will wear them whilst driving the Chevy.

 

Thats what I was wondering as well

 

I sell parts for a chevy dealorship here in Idaho. I can tell you from experience that the duramax diesel no matter what year has alot of problems with thier fuel injectors. We replace them all the time. They are actually on national BO right now because it is such a problem.

Thank god I own a ford something built right.