Duramax Rebuild

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Bigdawg90

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Hey guys,

Truck is an 02 2500HD 6.6L LB7 with 315k. I picked it up last year from my FIL and he gave me a great deal on it. It’s in amazing condition.

Yesterday on my way home it started blowing an insane amount of white smoke. The engine cut and I made it to the side of the road. Thought it might be some water in the fuel as it had been idling awhile for my wife outside the in laws. I primed the filter, and it restarted fine. As I started to move it I got white smoke again. Luckily I was less than a 1/10 of a mile from my mechanic. My FIL thinks it’s a bad injector issue. He replaced them at around 150k. It was $8k to replace the injectors back in 2010 or so. It could be water in the fuel with that last cold snap as it was outside, blown head gasket, or bad injectors. My mechanic buddy said it could be north of 10k to replace the injectors on the LB7 because you have to basically tear apart the engine to get to them.

I’ve rebuilt several gasser engines, and done full year downs, but have never worked on a diesel.

I can get a full 6.6L rebuild kit for around $4.5k. It’s a tow truck for my trailers and isn’t super needed until the spring. I wouldn’t be doing any performance mods. Just straight stock rebuild.

How realistic is it to rebuild an LB7 diesel engine in a garage? I can do pretty much anything, and would rather save the money and get a full rebuild rather than just the injectors. Watching videos and reading about it, seems like it could be done, but I’ve learned my lesson about that many times. I have all the tools to rebuild a small block Chevy and Windsors, but am I going to need some kind of crazy diesel engine tools? If I break even on the job but end up with a ton of experience and new tools I’d do it. On the other hand if I need to spend $5-6k just in tools and still need a mechanic to finish it.

Need more experienced advice on this. YouTube makes everything look so easy. Lol
 

Bahick71

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If someone charges you 10k to replace injectors, it is a straight up rip off
It books at 8 hours per side, at $150/hour that's $2400 for labor.
You can buy injectors for $2000 or less
I wish I had no conscience and could charge people like that. A few years ago
I worked for a fleet, we were having factory remain long blocks, with new injectors
Installed out the door for $12k. I know prices have come up, but geez. So many
Shops out there are ripping people off, because the people don't know any different.
Take what the shop tells you and research it. Feel free to reach out to me if you like. I
Am a service manager at a diesel shop. I can help with labor cost, and parts cost.
Most shops want you to buy parts from them, because they jack the price so much
Parts for them is pure profit, most are doubling the price or more.
A long block would probably be a better option over rebuilding. If you are going
To hop on then building would be good.
 

Mr.Glock

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Pull it, tear it down. Might just be rings, might be an injector washed the cylinder walls down on one cylinder. Gonna have to tear it down anyways to fact find. But 315k is not much on that engine. What ever you do on the engine, when you get it done, get a half micron filter system on it. I put a secondary filter system on ever diesel I have ever owned. Clean fuel is the life of your injectors and pump.
 

Bocephus123

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Hey guys,

Truck is an 02 2500HD 6.6L LB7 with 315k. I picked it up last year from my FIL and he gave me a great deal on it. It’s in amazing condition.

Yesterday on my way home it started blowing an insane amount of white smoke. The engine cut and I made it to the side of the road. Thought it might be some water in the fuel as it had been idling awhile for my wife outside the in laws. I primed the filter, and it restarted fine. As I started to move it I got white smoke again. Luckily I was less than a 1/10 of a mile from my mechanic. My FIL thinks it’s a bad injector issue. He replaced them at around 150k. It was $8k to replace the injectors back in 2010 or so. It could be water in the fuel with that last cold snap as it was outside, blown head gasket, or bad injectors. My mechanic buddy said it could be north of 10k to replace the injectors on the LB7 because you have to basically tear apart the engine to get to them.

I’ve rebuilt several gasser engines, and done full year downs, but have never worked on a diesel.

I can get a full 6.6L rebuild kit for around $4.5k. It’s a tow truck for my trailers and isn’t super needed until the spring. I wouldn’t be doing any performance mods. Just straight stock rebuild.

How realistic is it to rebuild an LB7 diesel engine in a garage? I can do pretty much anything, and would rather save the money and get a full rebuild rather than just the injectors. Watching videos and reading about it, seems like it could be done, but I’ve learned my lesson about that many times. I have all the tools to rebuild a small block Chevy and Windsors, but am I going to need some kind of crazy diesel engine tools? If I break even on the job but end up with a ton of experience and new tools I’d do it. On the other hand if I need to spend $5-6k just in tools and still need a mechanic to finish it.

Need more experienced advice on this. YouTube makes everything look so easy. Lol
If you do it yourself let Lucito’s on mingo do the machine work the are fantastic
 

Bigdawg90

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I’m glad to hear it’s easier than what’s been sold to me. When I was doing research on tearing it apart, it didn’t seem like it was an insanely difficult job. Just hard to reach areas and bolts. Lots of “be careful to not lose this part” and “torque correctly here.”

Did the spark plugs on my wife’s 15 Tahoe. The last one on the back passenger side took longer to get out than all the others combined. Lol.
 

Bocephus123

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I’m glad to hear it’s easier than what’s been sold to me. When I was doing research on tearing it apart, it didn’t seem like it was an insanely difficult job. Just hard to reach areas and bolts. Lots of “be careful to not lose this part” and “torque correctly here.”

Did the spark plugs on my wife’s 15 Tahoe. The last one on the back passenger side took longer to get out than all the others combined. Lol.
you go through the wheel well
 

Ryan500L

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If you drove it long enough with a bad injector(s) it could have washed the rings out. Then it's a rebuild or swap out. But 8 grand is ridiculously high for injectors. I recommend taking it by auto diesel clinic on 59th and shields if it's still driveable. He's the best diesel guy I've seen in this area and is a one man shop. He works on my stuff and I trust him.
 

918evo

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I would balance test it with a scanner to figure out which injector is acting up and replace the four on that bank. Doesn't sound like you drove it long enough to mess anything up. I would use new Bosch injectors.
 

Bigdawg90

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So just got a call from the mechanic. He said the head gasket is blown and there’s a noise coming that makes them think there’s a piston problem. He suggested dropping in a new engine due to how much it would cost to replace the head gasket and the pistons. I don’t really like that idea. He said rough ball park for new engine is 15k. This is Same Day Auto repair in Sand Springs. I don’t really trust them too much. Just needed it diagnosed.

Anyone know anyone close to Tulsa. Got AAA premium so I can get it pretty much anywhere in 100 miles.
 

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