jdemaris 6.5 TD help!!!

Oil psi or water temp had not changed from what it had been running. I have approx. 300 miles on this fresh rebuilt engine and have not had any trouble with it til this. I done the rebuild myself and very comfortable that it was done right Lord knows I threw enough money at it.

I've not had time to do any diagnosis yet but have heard the plastic button rocker arm retainers were prone to breaking letting a rocker move out of it's position. Mabye grasping straws but I'm in desperate need of some good news. LOL

I realize this is a terribly general question but do you have any ideas?

I don't know what 6.5 you have. A few early turbo 6.5s were mechancially injected and are a lot different from the ones made 1994 and on (except for military versions). A pre-1994 that's skipping would have to have a mechancial problem. A 1994 civilian truck or newer could be electrical.

I don't have a lot experience with the later electronic turbo-6.5s -but am aware of all the problems GM had with them. 6.5 is basically the same engine as a 6.2 - just with a slightly larger bore and a lighter block (except the firt year 6.5s).

Anyhow it's a '95 truck with a '93 engine, mechanical injection and '97 cooling system upgrades. The original engine was toast when I bought it. So I acquired a '93 non-turbo version out of a van and built it then hung the turbo manifolds on it.

The 93 injection pump was checked and set for a turbo engine and corresponding injectors installed.

One would think with 2 engines at my disposal you would have at least 1 good head, WRONG!!! so both heads are new. I quit keeping up with it when the tally got to 3 grand so I've got to fix it I've got to much in it now. Thanks for your time.

6.2s and 6.5s - in general - will crack heads when the fuel is turned up too much - which makes the exhaust-temps go sky high. Big valve heads crack much easier than small valve heads. Some heavy-duty applications use small valves so there is more metal between them - to avoid the cracking. Something like a head off an 87 J-code 6.2 will have small valves and be more rugged than what your 6.5 came with. But, they are hard to find. You can buy the new Chinese heads for somewhere around $300 each. They are made for 6.5s but also work fine on 6.2s - my son just put a set on his 89 Suburban.

With your 6.5 - if you've got a turbo on it now - you really ought to have an exhaust temp gauge - and - make sure you don't run any boost over 10 PSI. The stock high-compression pistons will not work with boost over 10 PSI.

...Bob, fellow 6.5 diesel owner.