If you are driving a heavy duty truck from GM or Chevrolet, there is a fairly good chance that you have a Duramax Diesel under the hood. These engines represent an extremely popular line of diesel engine products, produced by General Motors. Both GMC and Chevy heavy-duty trucks utilize these 6.6L V8 engines, which offer three-hundred-and-sixty-five horsepower, as well as six-hundred-and-sixty-five pound-feet of torque.
Second only to Ford’s Powerstroke, this diesel engine is well-reviewed and popular for a number of reasons. There are some fascinating facts behind this diesel engine, as well as something interesting historical tidbits. In other words, there is a lot under your hood, if you have a Duramax.
About The Duramax Diesel
The Duramax diesel was first introduced to the market with a 6.2L displacement. The 6.5L followed soon thereafter. Below are a variety of interesting pieces of information about the Duramax Diesel:
• The current 6.6L Duramax was first announced towards the end of ’98, as a collaborative venture between GM and Isuzu. The project was largely designed to create a viable improvement over the 6.2L and 6.5L, which had failed to find the degree of popularity that GM had been hoping for.
• At present, there are six versions of the Duramax 6.6L. The 7th is slated for release at some point in 2017. The versions produced thus far include LB7, LLY, LBZ, LMM, LML, and LGH.
• 7.8L and 2.8L Duramax engines are also available.
• If you are curious as to which Duramax is under the hood of your truck, finding out is as straightforward as checking out the 8th digit of your VIN number.
• The reason as to why there have been so many different versions of the Duramax is simple. Improvements have been made to not only embrace emissions, but to also take advantage of improvements that will allow vehicles to remain competitive.
• Contrary to popular belief, the aluminum cylinder heads of the Duramax do not cause a significant degree of problems. These cylinder heads have scored big in the reliability department over and over again.
• DEF refers to diesel exhaust fluid, which deals in the component known as urea. This element is crucial, in terms of allowing the SCR to transform nitrous oxides into comparatively safer elements. You may want to familiarize yourself with the Duramax LML Emissions System Overview.
• All Duramax engines include engine block heaters.
These are some of the basic facts you want to keep in mind.