duramax questions!!!!

[IWantATurbo]

yea i never thought there would be a day but im thinking about getting a duramax!!!!

i have looked at 2 02's and an 03 and none of them so far have had a mpg gauge in them???? do any of them? and what year did they start if so??

the mpg gauge is a deal braker for me!!! if i can't look at it all the time i drive like a freek and my mpg sucks!!!!

what im really looking for is a 03 or newer dodge crew short box but thats hard to find in the $12000 max range!!!

im a ford guy but there won't be a 6.0 in my garage!!! and the 7.3 is to loud for me!!!!

 

[RW700]

i have an 02 and love it. Im not sure about when the mpg gauge went in. Check out dieselplace.com it a site like this and is full of info. I know those years had a problem with injectors but GM went to a 200,000 mile 7 year warrenty to help. So if its had injectors replaced you should be fine i have 170,000 miles and have not needed injectors yet (knock on wood). You can also do a vin check on that web site to see what history the truck has
I would say buy a dmax they are sweet. I like dodges too but the in side of the cab is way noisy. But if your going to be straight pulling heavy loads(10 ton) a dodge will be better. But just to cruz around and pulling a 4place trailer you cant beat the dmax
Check out that site and it will be able to answer any of your questions

 

[IWantATurbo]

did not even know there was a truck and trailer forum here!!!

 

[1000ccsummit]

have the ones you looked at have steering wheel controls. I though the ones with steering wheel controls showed at least the average MPG on the DIC

 

[AndrettiDog]

I know in 2003 the MPG's show up in the driver's display on the Duramax. Lots of other cool stuff too like the ability to tilt mirrors in reverse, easy exit seats (move back in park), stereo settings change for each driver, lock settings (honk, lights, both, neither)...stuff like that.

I know of a really sweet 2003 GMC Duramax crew cab SLT for sale. Mostly loaded out and very well taken care of. $18,500.

 

[hilinerider]

03 or newer slt (loaded) models have it, mid (sle) or base (lt) models don't

 

[Megadeth]

just fyi those MPG guages are usually off by at least 2-3mpg

 

[AndrettiDog]

just fyi those MPG guages are usually off by at least 2-3mpg

Not true. I have done the math by calculating the miles driven and the fuel consumed. The gauge in my 2005 Silverado and 2006 GMC Sierra have been dead on. Maybe your are right about other truck gauges.

 

[IWantATurbo]

thanks for all the info!!!

 

[vdo1948]

I've got an '03 SLE and it has the instant MPG, ave MPG and trip MPG. I think it depended not only on model but what packages/options you got with it. My son's '03 SLE doesn't have it. My experience with my MPG indicator; out of the factory it was pretty much spot on. After nearly 7 years and 120k miles it's now off by about 20%. Just keeps slowly getting worse. With a little mental adjustment you still know how well or poorly you're doing.

 

[IWantATurbo]

its in teh dash with the milage and trip info?

 

[1000ccsummit]

thats where mine was on my 03 and is on my 06. in both trucks the mpg indicator was very close until i changed up my tire sizes a bit. if you get EFI live to program it, i believe you can change it to display correctly with the size of tires you have

 

[IWantATurbo]

what kind of mpg did you get with teh 03 and now with the 06?

 

[AndrettiDog]

what kind of mpg did you get with teh 03 and now with the 06?

Step dads 03 does much better. He will see 20 or more on the flat highway. Good 16-17 around town if he isn't mashing on it. My 2006 is another story. I haven't seen 20 yet! I get about 15 or less around town. Many people tell me that I will see better mileage around 40K. I only have 34K now. One reason I never see good fuel mileage is that it is so much fun do drive that truck over the pass at 85+!

 

[diggler]

I have pulled 20 with mine, but that was a tank full going 68 the whole time, the key to getting good mileage with these things is to keep it below 2000rpm, but its damn tough there so fun

 

[1000ccsummit]

the 03 i had was a gasser, but my uncles 03 duramax did 20s on the highway and 16 or 17 in town.

my 06 duramax does 17 or 18 on the highway and 15 or 16 in town. i drive 80 on the highway though

 

[AKCoop]

The LB7 (pre 04.5) will usually get better mileage than the LLY or LBZ. The guage works good until you put a tuner , tires or other mods on it. Then it doesn't work very well. A tuner will give you better mileage unless you abuse the throttle.

In my opinion the guage doesn't do anything for you other than raise your awareness level a little. You will find with most diesel trucks your mileage will stay somewhat consistent regardless. So monitoring every small use of the pedal is pointless. I watch my EGT guage (quadzilla lcd display) way more than anything.

Also running #2 in the LB7 and LLY will result in better mileage. This new 5ppm crap will drop mileage, especially in the winter blends.

 

[coyoteman]

what kind of mpg did you get with teh 03 and now with the 06?

our last trip out west we took 2 dmax's, an 03-programmed and an 06-stock. fueling up at the exact same pumps my 03 used 1/2 gallon less per tank than the 06. I think we were getting 15-16 mpg at 80-85 mph, both with a snowmobile in the back, three guys and gear.

 

[ndmeathead]

one thing i like about the 03 04 is it actually has an instant mpg reading, my 06 just has an avg. mpg that is about 1 mpg at 145000 due to oversize tires

 

[Ford428CJ]

just fyi those MPG guages are usually off by at least 2-3mpg

I totally agree with that. Had one in our Tahoe and it was off.... I do it the old fashion way. LOL