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2004 Chevy 2500 diesel.

spectra bash

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So my question is my truck has 209788 on the odometer. Still very clean crew cab longbed. Need to do the injectors, I believe it’s about time for head gaskets. Tranny and diffs and transfer case gone through and some love to the front suspension. Should I get the work done or buy new 2500? Seems cheaper to go through this truck. Let’s here what you guys think.
 

spectra bash

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So my question is my truck has 209788 on the odometer. Still very clean crew cab longbed. Need to do the injectors, I believe it’s about time for head gaskets. Tranny and diffs and transfer case gone through and some love to the front suspension. Should I get the work done or buy new 2500? Seems cheaper to go through this truck. Let’s here what you guys think.
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23262264-9E51-48CF-991E-DC54BF4A7AF6.jpeg
 

c_land

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Do you have another truck to use?

Those trucks bring a lot of money for their age, especially right now. If I were in your spot and had something else reliable to drive, I would dump it and wait to buy another when the prices are more reasonable.
 

monkeyswrench

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At the cost of a new truck, I'd have to ask what the truck's purpose is. If it's a secondary vehicle, and occasional toy hauler, fix it up and keep it. Less spent than payments, or, if "baller status", that chunk of cash could be used elsewhere.
 

spectra bash

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At the cost of a new truck, I'd have to ask what the truck's purpose is. If it's a secondary vehicle, and occasional toy hauler, fix it up and keep it. Less spent than payments, or, if "baller status", that chunk of cash could be used elsewhere.
Would like to get a little pickup for work and keep it for the family with lance camper and towing boat. No more for just camping and vacation stuff. Wondering if I did the work how long she would last me.
 

Marios Metalworks

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Go through the old truck. You already maintain it well so why not invest in a basic teardown that’ll breath some fresh life into it. Plus side is you’ll have a vastly more simple vehicle to repair when something goes wrong down the road.
 

Flippindough

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Did you put a 06-07 front clip on it? Not a 04 hood and grill. I have 452k miles on my LB7 great truck and runs like a raped ape. Newer Bosch injectors should at least get 150k if not more out of them. Are you 100% head gaskets are out? If the upper radiator hose is hard in the mornings that is a sign they are out.
 

spectra bash

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Did you put a 06-07 front clip on it? Not a 04 hood and grill. I have 452k miles on my LB7 great truck and runs like a raped ape. Newer Bosch injectors should at least get 150k if not more out of them. Are you 100% head gaskets are out? If the upper radiator hose is hard in the mornings that is a sign they are out.
It is a 04 with LLY.
 

Flippindough

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Oh ok. LLY are prone for head gasket failure. Injectors not so much, but does happen.
 

06lbz

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Would like to get a little pickup for work and keep it for the family with lance camper and towing boat. No more for just camping and vacation stuff. Wondering if I did the work how long she would last me.
I have a friend who has an 05 lly did the head gaskets and trans around 300,000. Crank ended up cracking at 550,000 but the truck also had a turbo and tune on it. Truck now has a SoCal built motor with a compound kit.
 

ChrisV

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299,xxx on my LLY. Love the truck. Check in the injector balance to see how they are. No point in changing them if not needed.
 

spectra bash

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299,xxx on my LLY. Love the truck. Check in the injector balance to see how they are. No point in changing them if not needed.
Who would you recommend looking at it for injectors and head gaskets? I’m in the Long Beach area.
 

Joe mama

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my o3 still has weeping head gaskets. Been putting if off. Mine isn’t getting the hard hose just weeping between the head and block. Goes about 1k miles before it gets low coolant light.
 

ChrisV

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Who would you recommend looking at it for injectors and head gaskets? I’m in the Long Beach area.

I've personally never dealt with any shops cause I do everything myself. Buds diesel is pretty well know. So hit them up.

Also, you can get a Edge CTS Gauge and it will also tell you your injector balance. Great to have anyways. You could monitor everything pretty much.

As for the the head gasket. Park it overnight and check the radiator hose in the morning to see how firm it is. If its solid, head gasket is going out. Or losing coolant.
 

evantwheeler

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If you're going to dump $10k+ into it, I hope its priced right. What's the buy price?
 

port austin pirate

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just wondering if you have changed the mouth piece on your lly, if you havnt and do keep it, one of the first things they say to do is replace the turbo mouthpiece with the lbz or an aftermarket part, I used the lbz on my 05 lly pretty easy swap around 125 bucks and a couple hrs to swap and dont even notice it on Cal smog inspection. your truck looks good at todays prices Id think money ahead to go through it.
 

spectra bash

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my o3 still has weeping head gaskets. Been putting if off. Mine isn’t getting the hard hose just weeping between the head and block. Goes about 1k miles before it gets low coolant light.
I got low coolant last week going to river.
 

OLDRAAT

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Must be a 2004.5 with LLY. I only have about 110k on my 2005 and it's been good so far. Water pump had to be replaced around 90k due to the seal leaking. Keeping it till I wreck it or it rots away!
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AEA

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just wondering if you have changed the mouth piece on your lly, if you havnt and do keep it, one of the first things they say to do is replace the turbo mouthpiece with the lbz or an aftermarket part, I used the lbz on my 05 lly pretty easy swap around 125 bucks and a couple hrs to swap and dont even notice it on Cal smog inspection. your truck looks good at todays prices Id think money ahead to go through it.

What changes did you notice after swapping the mouthpiece?
 

port austin pirate

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Personally I did not notice any huge difference, however I drive pretty conservatively, you can see a very restrictive bend in the LLY mouthpiece and a much larger smoother bend in the LBZ mouthpiece, they say you get a power increase as well it cools the engine better due to airflow increase, One guy on the Dmax forum asked another what the difference was and the guy replied RUN FOREST RUN, sounds like if you put your foot in it more you see gains. hope this helps
 

Racey

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Call Kennedy about injectors, I'm not sure if they are available for the LLY motors, but if you can get the SAC nozzles on the injector.

If the truck is in good shape it's way cheaper to go through than buy new.
 

PlanB

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I have an 04 (bought later 03) LB7 2500 D-Max with 145K on it. It's been on 35's with a 6" lift most of it's life and it's been a great truck. It spends most of the time in the garage these days, but just replaced a transfer case recently and did injectors about 60K ago. We have a new Suburban on order, but the D-Max still comes out of the garage for heavier towing duties.
 

OLDRAAT

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just wondering if you have changed the mouth piece on your lly, if you havnt and do keep it, one of the first things they say to do is replace the turbo mouthpiece with the lbz or an aftermarket part, I used the lbz on my 05 lly pretty easy swap around 125 bucks and a couple hrs to swap and dont even notice it on Cal smog inspection. your truck looks good at todays prices Id think money ahead to go through it.

Did mine about 40k ago. Who designed the OEM LLY turbo mouthpiece should be shot. With or without a tune it smoothed out the off idle jerkiness and drivability. Hell, the original one blocked about 40-30% of the wheel diameter after the 90 deg bend.
 

Flying_Lavey

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Rebuild it and you have a truck that you KNOW the history on and can trust. Parts are still plentiful and cheap and those trucks still look great!

Did you put a 06-07 front clip on it? Not a 04 hood and grill. I have 452k miles on my LB7 great truck and runs like a raped ape. Newer Bosch injectors should at least get 150k if not more out of them. Are you 100% head gaskets are out? If the upper radiator hose is hard in the mornings that is a sign they are out.
2003 is when they made the change to the "angry eye" front end. '99 to 2002, then 2003 to 2007 classic.
 

ChrisV

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Put a kill switch on it too. These trucks are getting stolen a lot more often.
 
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