[Jscallywagg]

Hey guys, I have owned Chevy trucks my whole life. This is the first Duramax and diesel I have ever owned. What do I need to know, keep in mind, maintenance, and keep in my truck for emergencies. My truck is a 2018 2500 Duramax LTZ. Thanks in advance

 

[Melonhead1102]

Welcome to the family, and nice ride. You'll enjoy it.

Some things to note:

Excessive idling is a no-no. Plugs your emissions equipment. Keep it to a minimum as much as possible.

Always tow with the towhaul button engaged. Even if it's a piddly little boat. You won't be losing out on anything by using it. I use it when I have a heavy payload in the bed of the truck too.

When towing anything other than small loads, you'll want to use the Manual option on the gear selector and push the + button to go to 5th gear. This will lock out 6th gear. It seems counterintuitive, but your truck will run better with a trailer when it is cruising between 1800 and 2200 rpm. The transmission temps will stay lower when you do this, and the engine won't lug, which will actually get you better economy when you're towing than if you try and let it pull at 1500 rpm. You can use the +/- button to change gears to keep the truck in the desired rpm range. It will shift up on its own to whatever gear you have selected and not go any higher.

You have a turbo brake, and it does a good job. I recommend using it when you are pulling. Your brake pads will thank you.

I highly recommend some sort of top coat sealant for the trucks. Keep it looking purdy.

Everyone has their own mantra when it comes to maintenance schedules. Start by using the truck's indicator for fuel filter life and oil life. When it says to change those, change them. Save a sample of the oil, if you are interested, and send it to somewhere like Blackstone Labs and have an oil analysis done. They'll tell you what condition it's in and if you should consider altering your change interval. With the fuel filter, I personally don't see a reason to change it any sooner than the truck tells me to, unless I'm experiencing fuel related issues.

If you don't know the general maintenance history of the truck and it has a lot of miles, it wouldn't be the worst thing you could do to replace all the fluids with fresh. Then you have a baseline for when they were all done.

The stock air filter is a pain in the @$$ to change, in my opinion. Be prepared to be mildly annoyed with it.

Things to keep in the truck are your normal items you would keep in any other vehicle. There's not much special attention needed for these trucks.

If you have any questions, it's probably been answered at least twice on this forum, so don't be shy with that search button at the top. They don't charge you extra for too many clicks. If you're having trouble finding the answer, go ahead and ask. A few people will complain about it being asked thousands of times, and a few people will actually try to help; just like any other online forum.

Again, welcome to the dysfunctional family, and enjoy the heck out of that sweet new ride.

 

[jharp]

Welcome to the club! Very nice looking truck you got there.
As has already been said, main things are to avoid excessive idling. I also make it a point to not baby the truck too much. Diesel engines love to work, and the new emissions controls need hard work to keep them in good working order.

A good thing to keep with you when traveling is a spare fuel filter, and the tools to change it out. I am not sure on the 2018's if you need a strap wrench for the filter or a 36 MM socket... best to double check. I also take the filter out of the box, wrap it in plastic wrap and seal it in a zip lock bag to keep it %100 dirt free - the fuel systems on these trucks is incredibly sensitive to dirt in the fuel.

Best of luck and again welcome to the club!

 

[ALLY Cat]

Welcome to DF! Lots of good stuff here...

 

[Boxer1200]

Welcome aboard. Congrats. Looks similar to my ‘19 minus the painted bumper. I’m a little over a year and 19K miles into mine and still really enjoy it.

I’ll have to try the tow method above. Pulling a 12k fw I’ve just been letting it do it’s thing in auto unless there’s some serious hills. The Allison is too slow there to figure out what it needs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Melonhead1102]

Welcome aboard. Congrats. Looks similar to my ‘19 minus the painted bumper. I’m a little over a year and 19K miles into mine and still really enjoy it.

I’ll have to try the tow method above. Pulling a 12k fw I’ve just been letting it do it’s thing in auto unless there’s some serious hills. The Allison is too slow there to figure out what it needs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

These trucks LOVE 2000rpm when towing, especially with that much weight behind it.

 

[jeremyschultz]

That's an interesting concept Im going to have to explore. I pull a 8K travel trailer, and have never used the tow mode. it doesn't seem change how the truck pulls with such a light load.

 

[Melonhead1102]

Always always always use the towhaul mode with a trailer behind it.

 

[hotbeerjosh]

Welcome to the family, and nice ride. You'll enjoy it.

Some things to note:

Excessive idling is a no-no. Plugs your emissions equipment. Keep it to a minimum as much as possible.

Always tow with the towhaul button engaged. Even if it's a piddly little boat. You won't be losing out on anything by using it. I use it when I have a heavy payload in the bed of the truck too.

When towing anything other than small loads, you'll want to use the Manual option on the gear selector and push the + button to go to 5th gear. This will lock out 6th gear. It seems counterintuitive, but your truck will run better with a trailer when it is cruising between 1800 and 2200 rpm. The transmission temps will stay lower when you do this, and the engine won't lug, which will actually get you better economy when you're towing than if you try and let it pull at 1500 rpm. You can use the +/- button to change gears to keep the truck in the desired rpm range. It will shift up on its own to whatever gear you have selected and not go any higher.

You have a turbo brake, and it does a good job. I recommend using it when you are pulling. Your brake pads will thank you.

I highly recommend some sort of top coat sealant for the trucks. Keep it looking purdy.

Everyone has their own mantra when it comes to maintenance schedules. Start by using the truck's indicator for fuel filter life and oil life. When it says to change those, change them. Save a sample of the oil, if you are interested, and send it to somewhere like Blackstone Labs and have an oil analysis done. They'll tell you what condition it's in and if you should consider altering your change interval. With the fuel filter, I personally don't see a reason to change it any sooner than the truck tells me to, unless I'm experiencing fuel related issues.

If you don't know the general maintenance history of the truck and it has a lot of miles, it wouldn't be the worst thing you could do to replace all the fluids with fresh. Then you have a baseline for when they were all done.

The stock air filter is a pain in the @$$ to change, in my opinion. Be prepared to be mildly annoyed with it.

Things to keep in the truck are your normal items you would keep in any other vehicle. There's not much special attention needed for these trucks.

If you have any questions, it's probably been answered at least twice on this forum, so don't be shy with that search button at the top. They don't charge you extra for too many clicks. If you're having trouble finding the answer, go ahead and ask. A few people will complain about it being asked thousands of times, and a few people will actually try to help; just like any other online forum.

Again, welcome to the dysfunctional family, and enjoy the heck out of that sweet new ride.

So I should excess idling including letting it warm up in Kansas winter? Because my 19 has 22k on it and I at least let it warm up 10mins every morning since Ive owned it (since new). Even on warmer days it gets at least 5. Usually 10. Its what I did with all my previous diesels.

 

[Melonhead1102]

I think you're fine only doing the 10 minutes, but if you can help it I'd cut that down. The newer diesels warm up quicker than their predecessors, and you're actually likely doing more harm by letting it warm up. The theory is that it warms up quicker when the motor is under a load, so you'll actually have fewer cycles with the motor not at op temp by driving reasonably than if you idle it up until it's a little warmer.

Let me know if my rambling didn't make sense. My brain is a little fried this afternoon.

 

[hotbeerjosh]

					I think you're fine only doing the 10 minutes, but if you can help it I'd cut that down. The newer diesels warm up quicker than their predecessors, and you're actually likely doing more harm by letting it warm up. The theory is that it warms up quicker when the motor is under a load, so you'll actually have fewer cycles with the motor not at op temp by driving reasonably than if you idle it up until it's a little warmer. Let me know if my rambling didn't make sense. My brain is a little fried this afternoon. Thanks. Do most of you all use the engine block heater? I probably need to start.

 

[Melonhead1102]

Mine is still cut off. I've yet to make the appointment to get it replaced under warranty. I dont really need it with how quickly the truck warms up compared to older models.

 

[HeavenlyLB7]

Get a lift pump. And keep extra filters in the truck. Keep an extra stock fuel filter in their until u do the lift pump. Use an additive with EVERY single fill up. 99% wont do it because its an extra expense, because its an extra 2 minutes of work. If u buy it by the gallon, its only pennies per tankful. I would bet my 650hp duramax doing this will absolutely make your objectors live longer, give you better mileage and only take 30 seconds to do. I believe your fuel system is the most important part of all maintenance duties. 99.8% of diesel owners womt actually do it every tank, but the .2% that does has a cleaner fuel system and assurance of longer lasting injectors. Some places you can take small shortcuts, your fuel system is not one of those places. And never shop for the cheaper diesel. But from a high volume dispenser, preferably a heavily used truck stops. Most importantly, even more impoortsnt than yhe fuel system, enjoy your truck. Have fun with it, it can handle it

 

[HeavenlyLB7]

Mine is still cut off. I've yet to make the appointment to get it replaced under warranty. I dont really need it with how quickly the truck warms up compared to older models.

I think its more to keep it warmed up while sitting overnight in cold westher to prevent the full from gelling up. Not so much to warm it up for Driveability. Not really needed if your temps never go below 25°fahrenheit