Chevy and GMC Duramax Diesel Forum banner

new Duramax owner

1K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Woonie 
#1 ·
Well, after drag racing for almost 30 years and always having a 1500 with a gas engine and fighting poor gas mileage, no power and sway I finally did something I should have done a long time ago. My wife and I have been in the market for a DRW for a long time but could never find just the one priced right with all the options that we wanted. Last weekend a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD LTZ 4WD showed up at a little local dealership as a one-owner trade optioned the way we wanted. It did have 79K miles but the price was almost too good to be true. The truck is immaculate and we found out after a little investigation that we knew the original owner. After contacting him and getting our questions answered we pulled the trigger.









And this is what we tow and race:



I'm almost 50 and have never owned a diesel or a 4WD so there is going to be a learning curve for me. So far, from a little research, I've learned:

1. Use good DEF
2. Keep the fuel filter changed
3. Add Diesel Kleen to every fill up (or on a regular basis)
4. Use good oil and filter

Any other advice? I know I have much to learn and look forward to it.

Scott
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the DF, nice truck!
 
#3 ·
Welcome
 
#4 ·
...and the most important, don't put gas in it. Welcome to the forum...
 
#5 ·
Congrats! Nice looking ride.
 
#12 ·
Oh my goodness! What a truck! This is the first diesel and first 4WD that I've owned. I've towed for 30+ years with half ton gas trucks. Over Christmas my wife and I broke our new truck in right by making a 2,455 mile round-trip from East Texas to Detroit, Michigan to pick up a car. Towing our 24-foot enclosed trailer, with a car on board both ways, we averaged 9.1 mpg towing at mostly 70 mph with an 8,000 trailer/car. The power and comfort was beyond words. This is what we went to pick up:

 
#13 ·
That's a nice truck there.

There are a lot of things you could do to enhance the truck in one way or another but my suggestion would be to just leave it alone for a while. Especially until the warranty is gone. Keep reading on here and you will easily know what you want to do once GM is out of the picture.

Following a forum that deals in the thing you want to understand is a very good way to learn what you need to know. You are in the right place. Keep in mind though that most of us are a little fanatical. Some more than a little. You don't need to do every little thing others do.

One thing you may want to do right off is a PCV reroute. It seems that the combination of the soot in the EGR and the oil in the PCV create dramatic deposits on the intake systems of these trucks. Eliminate one of those two and the situation is much more reasonable. EGR is more involved and legally complicated. Once done it is hard to reverse. PCV on the other hand is pretty easy to do and easy to undo if need be.
 
#14 ·
Thank you! This is my first diesel so it's going to be a huge learning curve. I've been building, racing, restoring high-performance cars for 30+ years so it's in my blood I guess to jump in and change things. I agree with you 100% though and am going to resist that temptation to change anything on the truck. It's not my DD so the 17,000 miles left on the warranty should last awhile. I plan to leave it completely stock and do research during that time and once the warranty is out I would like to address emissions, the tune and exhaust. As I grow older the fanatical side of me is slowing going away so I don't plan to go nuts. We just really, really enjoy the truck as is and I plan to drive it when we can and love LOVE towing with it.

Scott
 
#15 ·
Lots of things that sound really good at 25 lose their luster by 50. There will be things that you will want to do but I think you have a good plan for now. Once the new wears off a little you can spice it back up with a little tuning and some mods. Do a little at a time and it will feel new forever. Enjoy.
 
#16 ·
welcome~
nice truck
 
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