Ezrider_92356

i just sold my 96 ford 250 powerstroke and bought a 2001 gmc sierra 2500hd with 90k miles with the 8.1L votec and Alison transmission so far the truck runs drives and shifts great but i do have an issue with the fuel gauge cutting out randomly it seems to do it most when the tank is nearly empty but its doing it every time i drive the truck it is kinda annoying when the gauge jumps to empty and the low fuel light comes on. the other issue is sometimes it does not start the first time you crank it over but will fire the second time perfect. iv had it do it both on warm and cold starts.

here are some pictures of my new truck

JK23112

Good truck! I know you better have some oil company stock, though. LOL!

How long did you have your Ford Powerstroke & how many miles were on it? I know those things take a licking and keep on ticking.

Cpb200

wow nice like the truck
it will last u a long time

Ezrider_92356

i had the power stroke for 3 years and put almost 80k miles on it in that time sold it at 243k miles it still ran and drove good when i sold it power train was sold but starting to get some rust and needed a new set of glow plugs had a power steering leak and a couple other small things. but wouldent have hesitated to jump in that thing and drive it anywhere i took it on a 5k mile trip pulling a trailer less than a month before i sold it.

as far as fuel cost with the 8.1 yes im looking at higher fuel cost but between the increased cost of diesel per gallon 14 quart oil changes and increased parts cost as well as lower initial purchase price on a gas truck i think long term they will probably come out similar. for the cost of replacing a set of injectors on a diesel you can replace an entire gas motor. i suppose time will tell on that.

when i was shopping i had it narrowed down to two trucks one was this truck and the other was a 02 ford superduty with a 7.3 with 190k miles for the same price as the GMC. however my main reason for selling the ford was high millage so i picked the truck with 100k less miles on it.

Ezrider_92356

well i have put about 500 miles on the truck now sense i got it. i must say i really like the truck. so far fuel millage is a little worse than i had hoped for. 9.5 city and 10.5 highway and the highway trip was 250 miles of mostly open 2 lane highway winds were 40mph with gusts up to 60 (not exactly ideal conditions for good fuel millage) i think im going to go ahead and put new spark plugs in it the owners manual calls for spark plugs at 100,000 miles but it cant hurt to change them a little early.

running the gm additive threw 2 tank fulls now the fuel gauge seems to be a little better but still is not working 100% hoping to put a new fuel filter in on Monday. iv had a 5.4L Triton torn apart in the shop at work just about got it finished so i should be able to open up some room sometime Monday to pull my truck in and do a few things to it.

JK23112

That 7.3L Powerstroke sourced from Navistar was probably the best one they ever made - at least up until this "new" for 2011 6.7L version. Ford now makes the "Scorpion" turbodiesel in-house instead of getting it from Navistar. That new 6.7L is supposed to be a beast, with almost 400 horsepower and 780 lb/ft of torque right out of the showroom!

I am not surprised that you are only seeing slightly better than 10 mpg with an 8.1L gas V8. Get used to it! My 1/2-ton Silverado gets 15 to 19 mpg and mine is only 2wd and my engine is just a 5.3L. Nontheless, I like the truck and plan to keep her for awhile.

A diesel engine used to pay for itself quite quickly in years past, but the dynamics have changed somewhat because of the higher price of diesel fuel (in relation to unleaded gasoline), more costly maintenance on the oil-burners and the narrowing of the gap in overall miles per gallon. All of the emissions control crap on newer diesel engines has caused their miles per gallon to dip significantly.

We replaced our International 4700/4900 straight trucks (using DT466 & DT530 engines) trucks with new Sterling Acterras (Cummins ISB and ISC engines) in recent years. Most went from 7.5 miles per gallon down to about six - primarily because of the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) mandated by the EPA. Of course, these are much heavier trucks than are pickups, but the same thing has happened to smaller diesel engines as well.

I'd say that a diesel is really better if you drive a lot of miles or carry very heavy loads. Otherwise, a gasser might be more suitable. You probably won't get 300,000+ miles out of a gas engine used for work day in and day out. Diesel trucks typically have heavier-duty transmissions, axles and electrical systems as well.

All that aside, I think your 'new' GMC will be a great truck!

Rock642

Same here at years of driving a Frontier I glad to be back to Chevy!

RacerX

Bro, if your fuel gauge is wonky and sometimes you have hard starts this may be symptomatic of the problem fuel sending ***'y plus pump. The fuel level is set by the sending unit in the tank and the float may be stuck or free all over the place. Cant hurt to put in a new pump and sending unit to start your travels off right.

Ezrider_92356

i drive a lot of miles with a lot of heavy towing. most of my towing miles i get re-embarrassments for fuel and a small amount for repairs. the majority of repairs end up coming out of pocket for me.
when searching for a new truck i had it narrowed down to two choices a 02 7.3L super duty and the GMC they were within $500 of each other on the price but the 7.3 had 190k miles the GMC had 90k miles. so the fact that alot of my towing highway miles the fuel is re-reimbursed closes the gap even more on the diesel vrs gas debate. 13k was the high end of what i could afford for a new truck so both were options, either a low millage gas motor or a higher millage diesel although the diesel engins do last longer things like balljoints bearings axel seals and all other chassis related things don't last any longer. so an 8.1L wich is a big gas motor with diesel like power, low millage and a super clean truck is what i picked. although fuel millage is not highest priority for me i would like to see 12 running empty on the freeway. 10-11 towing my 20ft bay liner boat would be nice as well, only towed the boat once so far with it and it was only about 40 miles round trip so not enough to check the millage.

our fleet trucks at work are almost entirely fords, mostly 7.3 power strokes with 1 5.4L and 2 v10's mixed in. the 7.3L is an awesome motor but i would not buy a ford gas motor, im just finishing up replacing a head on a 120k mile 5.4L truck because it blew a spark plug it got helicoil and then it blew that out leaving a hole too big to do anything with. every trition motor we have ever had at work has blown out at least 1 spark plug. if you get the coil packs wet they are junk. one blew a radiator hose and it took out 4 coil packs when the hose blew. 1 v-10 had 2 burt valves at 140k miles. the ball joints seem to be another weak link on the super duty front ends and recently have been replacing quite a few wheel bearing assembly's.

i did test drive a few v-10 trucks as well as a lot of 7.3L trucks most of the 7.3L's were well used and the owners thought they were made of gold. (maybe they are i surely wouldn't even consider a 6.0-6.4l) all the v-10 trucks were just plum worn out even with low millage no pep some had misfires really left a sour taste in my mouth. the newer diesels are so boged down with emissions crap they struggle to get much above 10mpg as well.

Ezrider_92356

i agree with you, for the dealer to fix it they wanna throw some magic potions at it first and see if it goes away before they take care of it for me, if i have to leave for any long trips before they fix it i may just grit my teeth cash in my change jar and go get a new pump/float assembly and put it in myself for piece of mind. the $319 bill for a new pump seems steep though.