Buyers Guide for 04 Duramax

[JPolen01]

Who has/had one of these? Going to check out an 04 with 270k on the clock. I know it's a lot but it will be used as our tow rig to and from the track 7-10 times a year.

What do I need to look for? I'm going to check the transmission for any slipping, brake lines, rear springs, look for a 5th wheel. It looks pretty clean for the price they are asking. Also going to ask about injectors/filter.

I'm going to do some quick research tonight, but figured somebody on here has some knowledge.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Injectors and headgaskets are the big issue like I told you. Also have the transfer case checked for pump rub. Brake lines may need to be replaced if rusty. Duramaxs are a big MEH before 06 when major changes were made.

In my personal opinion anything under $20k should be a Ford 7.3 with $ for a trans rebuild. $20-$35k should be an 06-07.5 GMC LBZ, $35k+ 11+ Ford, 12+ dodge.

[SlimKlim]

Just a quick note on the 7.3Ls, we had one for over 10 years and put 150k on it. Great truck, but for the love of god, when the temps drop below 30* plug that bitch in. It was the worst truck about cold starting. We had it at snowshoe one time and it was so cold out that the fuel gummed up in the lines while we were driving it. We had to roll it out of the road, walk home and get it towed in the morning. I think we tried to plug it in at the top of the mountain and let it sit for a day, but it wasn't enough, so we called another tow truck to take it to the bottom of the mountain, and the guy stuck it in his workshop and threw a few logs on his wood stove to finally thaw the goddamned thing out.

My dad was so pissed off I thought he was going to trade it in on a Chevy out of spite. After that we just started keeping it plugged in in the winter and it wasn't really an issue, although on single-digit mornings it's not a bad idea to let the glow plugs cycle a few times.

[fiveoh2go]

Great truck, but for the love of god, when the temps drop below 30* plug that bitch in

That applies to pretty much any older diesel (pre-'00 or so) with some miles on it. Sounds like your dad may have filled up with some less than quality fuel with a tad too much water in it.

We have 'em all at work (Cummins in the walk-in trucks, PowerStroke in a van and F250, Mercedes in the Sprinters, and Duramax/Isuzu in a box truck) and they all have had issues starting this winter with it's extremely cold temps...and all of them sit inside a (somewhat) heated warehouse.

[Senor_Taylor]

Yeah, the 7.3 isn't too easy to start in the cold, but I've never had anything that bad. My dad didn't even start plugging his in until about a year ago.

[SlimKlim]

Sounds like your dad may have filled up with some less than quality fuel with a tad too much water in it.

Well it was West Virginia.

[JPolen01]

Thanks guys. Supposedly it is a 2 owner truck, but they have no service records. Hopefully the carfax will have some records to see if injectors/filters have been done. I'm gonna ride out and check it out tomorrow.

[Goodspeed]

No service records in 270k miles.....lolwut....

[JPolen01]

No service records in 270k miles.....lolwut....

It's at a Kia/Honda dealership. I'm sure they didn't regularaly service a diesel and if the owner didn't keep a binder of records it's not that shocking.

[Goodspeed]

Well, regardless I guess the first maintenance you'll do is all of it on a 270k mile truck, I just thought it odd that nothing was kept - you'd almost have to go out of your way to discard records if things were kept up. Carry on.

[HAULN-SS]

Just a quick note on the 7.3Ls, we had one for over 10 years and put 150k on it. Great truck, but for the love of god, when the temps drop below 30* plug that bitch in. It was the worst truck about cold starting. We had it at snowshoe one time and it was so cold out that the fuel gummed up in the lines while we were driving it. We had to roll it out of the road, walk home and get it towed in the morning. I think we tried to plug it in at the top of the mountain and let it sit for a day, but it wasn't enough, so we called another tow truck to take it to the bottom of the mountain, and the guy stuck it in his workshop and threw a few logs on his wood stove to finally thaw the goddamned thing out.

My dad was so pissed off I thought he was going to trade it in on a Chevy out of spite. After that we just started keeping it plugged in in the winter and it wasn't really an issue, although on single-digit mornings it's not a bad idea to let the glow plugs cycle a few times.

This. I was just there this weekend in mine and I had to get a jump on Sunday morning. The rest of the weekend was fine but I thought it was gonig to drain the battery trying to start Sunday. I never had a problem once it was already started though, but I kept it plugged in on any cold days this winter I thought I might be driving it.

[HAULN-SS]

FYI I've had some thoughts of selling mine depending on what I do with my camper this year. I'm not 100% sold on the idea, but I had thought about updating to something a little newer. I have full service records since new, and have added a 6.0 trans cooler, did the valve cover gasket job, all new speakers + touchscreen sony, tires have <10k on them. Kinda depends on when you're looking to buy as to whether anything could work out.

[JPolen01]

PM me on what you got (I forget) and what you're looking for. We are looking for something soon to tow the race car to NASA events. Can borrow a truck for the first event or two but we are looking for something sorta soon.