Thanks for all the helpful information!
2012 Chevy Silverado 3500
- Thread starter HangmanLI
- Start date
Check the engine hours vs miles.
That will tell you how the truck was used.
Diesel trucks don’t like to be short tripped around town.
That will tell you how the truck was used.
Diesel trucks don’t like to be short tripped around town.
The exergy valve (for the LML GM engines) and the Sinister Disaster Prevention Kit (DPK) for the powerstroke 6.7 were stopgap measures, invented in a time where full pump retrofit was not yet available.
The idea is that when the CP4 goes you still have a bad day (the truck is dead) but it saves your injectors, lines, etc. You're only out a tow truck and a pump replacement.
I've heard of people being "saved" by the modified exergy regulator, I've also heard of them not catching all the debris.
I did the regulator in my LBZ in under 4 hours including test drive and coolant refill. That's me, DIY, in my driveway, never done it before, on a stepstool and putting my wrenches on the driveway. The LML has more stuff (EGR piping) in that area but it shouldn't be much harder.
CP3 conversion is still the real answer.
Having recently been in the market, $8500 would be appropriate for a rusty 2012 duramax vinyl seat truck with a hole in the drivers seat and collision damage.
Glow plugs can be done one at a time through the fender well as they fail. It's not a big job. The plugs themselves are inexpensive. The truck is not dead in the water if it is down a few glow plugs. The durmax is the better (of the three) diesel trucks when it comes to cold starting anyway.
great, thanks for your opinion.
Can't say for sure on pricing as in the US it's tougher to find and market deleted. In 2021 I paid 2100$ Canadian for my 2017 Cummins. That was a Bully Dog tuner and full 5" turbo back exhaust. The EGR was inactive but left in place. Another local buddy paid 2200$ on his 2018 Cummins for one tune flashed on, pro twister resonator but EGR completely removed, this at a different shop. Another buddy just got his 2022 F350 done at the same shop as me. 2200 for one tune loaded and exhaust. He paid another 2200 to have thr EGR completely removed. All three of us had failed DEF pumps.
Different countries and such but perhaps it gives some insight for planning.
Different countries and such but perhaps it gives some insight for planning.
Years of EPA crackdown have made it difficult in the US and it is becoming increasingly difficult. Easier in Canada. Do you have a Canadian friend? Very good tuning was available before the crackdown. If your tuner has since gone out of business, you have no ability to retune, adjust, etc. down the road. The files you have are encrypted and options are limited.
The hard parts are straighforward. EGR blockoff plates and straight exhaust segments. Add mufflers and resonators to taste. Perhaps a cold side pipe. The tuning is the difficult part. Most of the overseas tuners are lacking in customer support for US clients and the longevity/reliability of the truck depends heavily on the quality of the tuning. This is where it pays to know folks in the local community. You aren't going to find a local tuner advertising delete services on the internet.
My truck is emissions compliant and I'm carrying spare parts in the camper to mitigate the most likely failures. That said, I know of a shop in the region that I could turn to. Last I checked it was over $2k for just the tuning.
There should be a lobbing effort to, at a minimum alleviate restrictions beyond a certain age. 10 years or 100 miles. My 2006 duramax was well tuned but those days are behind us. If the TCM, BCM, and PCM had survived the crash I could've migrated them to a another old truck.
Elect me and I’ll drain the swamp on day one.
As it stands, it’s getting harder to justify the extra cost of a Diesel in a pickup truck.
After three of them, 06 LBZ, 2011 LML and a 2018 L5P, my next one will likely be a 3500 crew cab long box with the 6.6L gasoline engine.
I can’t bring myself to buying a 1500 with start-stop and cylinder deactivation.
The 3L Diesel in the 1500s have a belt drive oil pump that requires the transmission to be removed to replace it every 200 thousand miles.
Definitely do an EGR and DPF delete, and CP3 swap. I did it all on my buddies 2015 LML, the CP3 swap wasnt hard just time consuming.
I don’t know anyone in Canada who could do this work. The truck is in an eastern suburb of Cleveland. Waiting for an offer from Ellen’s boss. It’s that CP4 that worries me the most. If we get it that is the first priority to convert to CP3. The delete and tuning can come later. Need somewhere who does excellent work. No vehicle inspections in Florida, unlike New York State.
Any mechanics affiliated with this forum in central or northern Florida? Or maybe Georgia?
Thanks again!
Are you saying this vehicle that we may be buying has been in an accident? Is this car fax info?
No, you should do carfax yourself to ensure mileage lines up. I’m not familiar with the LML but the older GM trucks can be cluster swapped…low mileage cluster on eBay, $100. Hours and miles on a ram can be changed with a $50 dongle. Doubtful for this truck since the owner wasn’t expecting to sell but you don’t know what you don’t know.
Suspicious that the truck doesn’t have DOT numbers given the proposed use history…unless the cars he hauled belonged to him.
I was saying that the market is much higher than $8500 if this is actually the fairy tale truck you/we want to believe.
If it’s been sitting for two years, that’s a concern. ATC makes a Nice trailer, which bodes well for how the truck was cared for.
Generally no, sudden and catastrophic. Trace water or debris in fuel is usually attributed to the failure. As I described CP3 failures are much more gradual, graceful, and with generally zero collateral damage.
On the other forum where you posted, several new members show up annually, "got towed to a dealer three states from home, they said my fuel filter was clogged but still won't start." A few spoiled cross country early retirement RV trips come to mind.
For many years the Ford CP4 trucks had a lower failure rate. It was largely attributed to the 6.7 using a lift pump. As those trucks have crept up in mileage, failures have become more common. GM made the problem worse with cover ups, blacklisted warranties, and recently they lost a class action lawsuit but only payable in certain states to owners that purchased from dealerships.
Then again, if the truck has made it 200k without failure you may not have trouble with it for some time. There was a viral video a few weeks ago of a Ford CP4 with documented 930k miles on it without failure. You'll just never know. The prevention is far less $$ than the cure and can be planned at your own convenience. Once some flat rate mechanic rips apart your fuel system and everything near it under the hood and hacks it back together just to put another flawed CP4 on it, the truck will never be the same.
Last edited:
Dupe
I’ve read a lot of posts about problems with contaminated fuel. And I’ve read posts about “hot shot” fuel additives to add lubricity. I’m assuming that should be used even if the injection pump is converted to a CP3?
Additives to help lubricity, injector cleaning, cetane, and/or water emulsification/demulsification are a good idea but overhyped by marketing. At $20 a quart, these companies can afford lots of marketing. There isn't any testing standard that says additives do what they say they'll do and don't increase smoke (soot) output, thus creating additional load on the emissions systems.
Archoil and Optilube got some recent good publicity via a recent youtoob shootout.
Additives to prevent gelling are another thing and necessary in cold weather to prevent parafins from precipitating out and accumulating at the filter.
Everybody has their own belief in fuel additives and says "I've been using XYZ and haven't had any problems." Yet, we don't know if the additive actually prevented any problems. If a component was going to fail, a tablespoon of some magic sauce diluted into a 30 gallon tank isn't going to stop it. Disclaimer, I run fuel additives.
Ellen’s boss owned those vintage collectable cars with his 35’ trailer. They had a home on Long Island and Florida
He wound up registering the truck in Florida. Because New York State wanted him to have a CDL license. But like I said, the truck is now in Ohio. That’s where his brother lives. He transported a couple of the cars to from Long Island to Chicago to be sold. And that’s why it’s in Ohio now. @ 35 minutes east of Cleveland
