What Is The Worst Year Duramax Ever Made? EXPLAINED! 

What are your thoughts??? I know this video is going to make a lot of people mad I’M SORRY! Nothing but love everyone

I've had my LLY for 8 years and its been the best most dependable truck I have ever owned! 258k and I've only had to replace a leaking water pump.

I bought a new LBZ in May of 2006. 260,000 miles later it’s still going strong. Always has been bone stock. I use Lucus oil and fuel treatments. Engine belt pulleys, 4 giowplugs and new o-rings in the fuel filter base is the only repairs ever made on the engine. Best truck I could ever own.

The LB7 is a diehard beast. My 01 has about 270k on it right now. After upgrading to the stock SAC style injectors no more problems so far. They are supposed to help fix the injector issues. That pickup just does what I ask it to do no matter how hard or easy it might be. Its never left me walking. Thinking about updating to an LMM this winter but who knows the LB7 still purrs.

I’ve got a 2005 LLY and it’s been FANTASTIC! I’ve got 479,000 and it’s still going strong. Last year I replaced all the seals front to back, the front end and put in a larger transmission cooler and new radiator. People said I was crazy for dumping that much money into it, but it’s been a great truck for 17 years and I knew I then and know now I have many years of use left. I religiously change the oil when needed. I was very surprised to hear that my year truck fell into your “problem child” category. Love the channel and learning new stuff all the time. Keep it up!

I ran my LLY with no major issues for 290k miles with a Diablosport tune 95% of that time. I ran the original injectors the whole time until Feb last year. It was a solid, reliable truck. When the engine needed more than "just" injectors, I had a built LLY engine and built Allison (6-sp conversion too) installed to solve all the issues you mentioned here.

I have had my LLY FOR 2 years and put 70k on it with zero issues now she’s got 317k still runs like a top 🙌🏼

I've had my lb7 for two years now, was a one old man owner truck from Canada. First thing I did was subscribe to your channel and add a lift pump. Had wanted a Duramax for years and it was finally in my price range. Thanks for all the great content.

I have a all stock 02 LB7. I did have to change the injectors at 170,000 miles. But other than that, I've done nothing other than preventive maintenance. New belts, radiator flush, transmission flush with new filters, and rear. I now have 220,000 miles. And I can honestly say that I will never get rid of this truck.

True LLY’s the emissions restricted and the cooling stack was smaller. However trans cooler and do the very basic deletes and intakes like we do on all of them and the LLY decimates all over. Each one will have their issues. My old 04.5 LLY was solid and never had an issue the whole time I owned it.

I bought my first diesel about 2 years ago. LML. 2015 Denali. I bought that truck because of your videos. I have spoke with Ryans diesel performance because of your videos. Would love to upgrade the turbo to a 64MM because of how highly you speak of them, it just isn't in the budget yet. I did all the upgrades you had recommended. Did the full deluxe Y bridge from HSP, (orange for GM) fleece cp3k conversion, lift pump (air-dog 2 165 gph) pcv reroute, up and downpipes. Got a 4" exhaust because that's all i could get and what i think is a decent efilive tune, minimal smoke. I use the CTS3 monitor because of all your recommendations and honesty and being a military man. Currently want to pull the trigger on the kryptonite deluxe front end and ball joints because of you. I watch all your videos (every one), i respect you as a fellow american, a soldier, an honest mechanic and we have never met, but i trust you more then most human beings on this round twisting rock. Appreciate all you do, have sacrificed and all your wisdom and knowledge. Thanks for inspiring me on diesels and educating me. Just wish i had a little more money to get my truck exactly where i want it. 64mm RDP turbo, kryptonite front end and ball joints and HSP torsion bars and my truck will be everything i have ever wanted and you are the reason why. Those companies should endorse you for marketing. Thanks Truckmaster, and best wishes to you and your family.

There are no "worst" Duramax to own. It starts with good, better, best, bester, besterist, etc......

I agree with you completely on the LML. I do own one, and I know it's on borrowed time. I also think that even with the amount of labor involved, CP3 conversion, Y bridge and LB7 up pipes, S&B intake, delete and EFI live. I think you can get a good dependable camper puller and solid daily driver. My biggest killer is the salt in Michigan eating my body

My dad has a 2011 lml, it’s over 300k miles with the stock cp4 pump

I had an LB7 2004.5. Replaced injectors, ARP Studs, valve cover, & manifold hardware. Beats using the torch a second time. Loved this truck!!! Sad that I sold it a few months ago. Need another LB7 for sure. Love the classic cat eyes look.

Good discussion, getting the issues out in the open and learning fixes and what to look for is important. So many turn key and go, not ever knowing what really is happening with there truck. Thanks for posting it Josh

I got 186,000 miles on my LML. I asked the dealer about it fuel pump issue. They told me to keep it above a quarter tank of fuel and by quality fuel… So far so good I think I’ll check in with a local diesel shop for an aftermarket preventative repair.

I have an LLY because the LBZs were way too expensive in the beginning of 2020 when I bought it. It is my first Duramax and I had watched a lot of your videos before buying it, so I knew what to expect. I put the big HSP bundle kit on it and it runs great. Had 195,000 when I bought it and it's coming up on 230,000 now. I tow a 7,000lb trailer all day every day for work. I never see the transmission fluid temp higher than 165

LML owner here, Head Gasket failure is a big one on these as well, just done mine last week with head studs, still have the stock cp4 282,000 on the clock, nervous as hell though lol

That's why I love my LLY so much. Its hated so much for being a duramax. Yet just the mouthpiece will save you. When I bought it and bought it home it over heated but with the HSP mouthpiece saved that and now I haven't seen the temp over 200 on a hard pull. My LLY has been a very solid truck and very reliable with 263k on the clock.

I started with a 05 LLY with 177k on the dash. It was taken care of it’s whole life. I currently have a 12 LML and plan to do a air dog lift pump. It sits in the garage most of the time unless I have to pull my camper or a heavy load. Haven’t had a issue with either. I plan to do some work under the hood to allow it to breathe a little better in time. Your videos are very helpful on gaining knowledge and save us viewers money with your install videos. Thanks!

I have a 2016 LML. Had an injector issues. Guy told me I had a cp4 failure and quoted me 20k to fix it. Got a second opinion on a hole and a prayer a few months later and turns out the guy lied. Went ahead and put on a cp3 anyway. Did the injectors. Got the truck back and had issues for the last couple months. The same injector went bad. Pulled it out and had it tested…passed. But noticed a wiring issue. Fixed that. Mail problem still present. Loosing fuel rail pressure under load. Gave up and tore the truck apart myself and found the pump hoses ran poorly and pinched. Re ran them and bam. I’m good to go. Lesson learned. Don’t Rely on just anyone to do your work.

I recently bought a 2016 lml as my first diesel 😂 I did a ton of research and did the cp3 conversion 2 months later. In those 2 months I had to replace the dpf so I just finished the new exhaust system. 4inch straight pipe thanks to your vids 🙏🏻

It’s crazy, I’ve bought both of those generations. My first duramax was an lly, owned it for a couple years, ABSOLUTELY loved that truck, sold it at a little over 260k miles, no complaints at all other than normal wear and tear on some parts. And now I own a 16’ lml, which I was well aware of the cp4 issue. Just sits in the garage now till I can buy the cp3 conversion kit from fleece

My brother bought lly 5-6 years ago knowing it needs head gaskets. So he got a deal. Fixed the gaskets and did a small tube and it’s been solid ever since. You should do a video what’s the best gen to buy on a budget

I bought my LLY with 134,000 and it had the S&B mouth piece on it already. I tow a 10,000 lb fifth wheel camper. After my last 1500 mile trip it start pushing coolant out the overflow. It now has 143,000 miles. I replaced the head gaskets using ARP head studs, Mahle gaskets and a new pair of HSP exhaust manifolds. I’ve never really had overheating problems to date. I also have edge tuner with EGT probe, air dog lift pump and Air Lift remote control air bags in rear. I love the truck- it’s still in close to brand new condition and I’m hoping for many good summers of camper pulling! I did install an 07 power steering pump with reman steering gearbox, fluid filter and cooler in the system as well, this made a huge improvement with brakes and steering, it’s really better than new now!

I’ve got a 318k mile lml. All stock but tuned n delete. I heavy tow, do burnouts and all, she loves it.

I don’t understand, my dad had a LML and we were super hard on it and it only broke because he let his buddy use it and he didn’t turn the power nob down so it blew the head gasket Edit: after finishing the video, I’d like to note it DID have aftermarket lift pump and a lot of performance mods (k&n intake, tunes, strait pipe, etc.) so i guess that’s why it lasted forever My favorite story about it is when we were doing a telephone post load with it (it was a hotshot truck and daily driver) that was about 40 thousand pounds and he looked down and was doing 90 mph with the load whilst having plenty of pedal left 😂

I have a late year 2015 LML and my only worry is the CP4 pump , so I use a fuel additive every other fill up at the fuel pump. Next on the list is an Air Dog lift pump , thanks for the heads up on the Air Dog , and thank you for your service Truck Master!

I got a used 16 lml with 22k miles back in 2018, first thing I did was take it to dans for cp3 swap and dpf delete. 2024 approaching and she sits at 340k miles with 0 issues

I have a 05 3500 LLY..bought with bad motor..pulled installed a used one but before I put it in I did new head gaskets and studs..also aftermarket turbo mouthpiece and a welded water pump and all aluminum radiator..I own a small body shop and rebuild wrecks..I use it all the time to haul cars and it does great.. thanks for you videos and thanks for your service ...

I have a '16 LML. On the last road trip we took with the 5th wheel the DEL level gauge got stuck at 24%. Drove about 1200 miles before taking it to the dealer. They said everything was working properly and that the cause was either filling the DEF tank with the ignition on (I didn't) or "under rare driving situations, the sensors can go inactive even though there is fluid left. If this happens intermittently and the DEF countdown is on, it will cause the update to lock out." Cost me $80 for them to reset it. Other than that, the only failures I've had are: EGT2 failed (24K miles), DEF heater failed (41K), Lower oil pan leaked (53K) and the coolant overflow tank cracked (53K). The service manager said the most common failures are the DEF tank and the coolant reservoir. I installed an AirDog II-4G 100 gph lift pump because of your videos. Thinking about doing the CP3 swap. Even with those problems I love it. Thank you for the awesome videos and thank you for your service!

I own an lb7 and I love it. Just had to replace my Injectors, however that's the only major problem I've had with it in the past 20k of beating the snot out of it.

98,000 miles on my LB7. Bought new. she stills runs strong and I have no desire to go to a newer model!

God man I LOVE your vids! You, at least to me, seem like the ONLY guy who tells me everything i need to know. Not just bits and pieces. Peace brother!

I knew the lly was one of them I personally own one and it is the best thing since sliced bread, never had a problem in 17k miles towing every day keep up the videos love them!

I bought a really cheap LLY Duramax at the beginning of last year. I kind of assumed that the head gasket was leaking which it was. I think with knockoff brand head studs and all the gaskets stuff it was around 1000 or 1500 for all the gaskets and everything. Sad thing is I noticed one of the Pistons didn't protruded high as the others...

I have a 2005 and beat the dog piss out of the truck with a bigger turbo and a banks tune on it and never have any issues. I live in south Florida and never had a over heating issue even with when I bought the truck bone stock and towed 8000lbs at 75mph.

I love my LML all the way! I know the CP4 issue is catastrophic! She's a good truck and pulls I'm getting a CP3 and Air Dog coming in very very soon! 165K MI and counting!! Great video bud!!

Just broke into the diesel world in July of 2020 with an 02 LB7 with 290k on it. I've spent a ton of money on it because the poor thing was pretty much neglected mechanically. It's all stock minus a 4 in exhaust and I absolutely love it. Still needs a few things but I still love it. I just upgraded this week to an 06 LBZ with 128k on it. Bone stock, nothing done to it. I really like this truck but my heart is still loyal to my LB7 right now. Love the video thanks for posting. Any suggestions on which upgrades to do first would be awesome. Money is tight so budget friendly upgrades preferred

My 2009 LMM is the only one I have ever owned. I bought it new. I think it's fantastic. The only issue is glowplug failure and at 100,000 miles the EGR cooler. Which was expensive but it had to be done because I live in a emissions state. You made a honest review! Thanks

I have a 04.5 LLY with 270k. All stock including exhaust. It's a farm truck that works and has 26,000 lbs on the pin about 2.5 times a month, not to mention all the lighter loads. Motor hasn't been touched other than water pump and glow plug controller. Run synthetic oil and DON'T MESS with jumping HP! As for overheating problem...... clean your radiator! And I'm not talking inside the radiator.

LMM with EGR and DPF delete is an amazing engine trouble free since 2009 with proper maintenance. :)

05 lly bought in 2013 with 33k miles. now has 127k. I tow commercial fishing net (14k lbs) here and there and only gets above 200 when going up 6% or higher grade. completely stock and only issue I've ever had was a rocker arm bolt snapped. I live in the PNW so temps don't get to extreme. regular maintenance because I love her. best rig I've ever owned

Very informative and educational and I honestly figured the LLY and the LML were going to be mentioned. But Comifornia at 5.26 though 😂😂 love it God bless

In my opinion if you do a cp3 conversion on the lml along with a lift pump and full delete it will out last all of the other prior year duramaxes...each is there own...ive had all them besides the lly and the new l5p and the lml is my favorite

I really like your LMM build you have going. I’m in the process of rebuilding my LMM also , got carried away with timing and torched a hole threw piston number 6 haha . Those valve covers look awesome. So I was going to wire wheel and clean the factory valve covers to save some cost but they look so good. Maybe we could compare trucks some day. Nice work

Bought my LLY in 2012. 237K Stock. Removed EGR, added Lift pump, tuned, 5in MBRP, removed all EGR , added up pipes, down, exhaust, drivers exhaust manf, and changed y bridge, hot pipes and cold. Shimmed fuel plug. Its been a nice tow rig for my business. Had to change transfer case, and torque converter as well. Finally head gaskets went. Instead of doing them I went with a bottle of Blue Devil. It worked and I'm 3 years down the road and all still good. I'm at 300k now, and I think my LLY is awesome still. Long live the LLY! Hooah!

I own and enjoy an LLY. Honesty is the best policy, TM, and you are entirely correct about the LLY, but there are a number of things that can be very easily and relatively inexpensively done to mitigate the overheating issue. The S&B mouthpiece (better intake airflow) and Air Dog lift pump (better fuel flow) are just two of them, and should definitely be done as number one and two on the list as TM says. The third most important thing to do I will save for last, since it takes a bit of explaining. Here is a list of other minor fixes that all add up to completely address the remainder of the cooling issue in my opinion: Pull the check ball and spring out the fuel pump (better fuel flow), install an adapter for the large Cat 1R-0750 fuel filters (better fuel flow), if your truck didn't come with the towing package then upgrade your radiator to the heavy duty radiator that comes with that package (better engine cooling), install a "race valve" (prevent injector damage and limp mode), make sure the factory plastic air dams are present both above and below the cooling stack (better engine cooling) as these tend to get disposed of by hurried mechanics over time, and run an Edge tuner and install the "efficiency tune" (remove the lean factory fuel map). Now number three on the list which I mentioned above: cut a rectangular hole in the right side wall of the engine compartment facing the stock air intake and connect the air intake to the resulting hole. I used the nicer silver foil HVAC tape to bridge this gap, but you can use anything that works for you. The reason for this is to ensure you always draw cooler outside air into your intake while moving forward under load. When the engine cooling fan kicks in under a heavy load moving forward it disturbs the smooth airflow under the hood, which unintentionally changes where your intake air is primarily coming from. Instead of the cooling air coming mostly from around the right side headlights and off the right side of the grille opening, it changes to mostly coming from behind the cooling stack (radiator, intercooler, etc.) resulting in a "heat feedback loop" from the intercooler to the engine air intake. Forcing the engine to draw air from inside the right side fender skirting breaks this heat feedback, resulting in getting rid of the runaway overheating that this generation is known for under sustained towing. Some of these fixes are sort of pricey (the Edge tuner and the lift pump), but none are out of reach and all are very easily accomplished on your own in a shadetree mechanic setting. There are a couple of additional ways to reduce warm air into your intake which I can't mention due to reasons I am sure you all know, but I hope this list saves someone else some trouble. Any other ideas or criticisms would be welcomed, even though I am happily getting great service out of my pretty-much stock workhorse.

Just found this channel 09/03/24. I've got an 04 LB7. My brother bought it in '05 w/20K on it. Used it as a service tech truck until 2015 w/455K on it. I bought it from him and it now has 527K on it and runs great. Only complaint I have is the cost of fixing it when it needs repairs. Right now the rear adapter plate is leaking coolant. $1,200 labor and additional for parts.

380000+ on an LLY, owned it since 150000, never had overheating problems, and have not done head studs. Did do injectors and hard lines and turbo inlet. No blowby, no headgasket leaks, and no rust. Does have a lift pump, HSP kit, and other choice mods. If this is the worst, I'd love to see better!!

I've only ever owned one duamax, my current 2008 LMM is absolutely amazing, it's at 500 000 kms and she's still as powerful as the day I bought her 14 years ago. HOT+2 PPE chip (never went over stage 2) and I drive her like she's stolen. Absolutely amazing truck, it's a tank, and work in the oil patch so she's beat up on the daily.

Have a 02 with 300k on it! Been a great truck, bought when it was three years old. 3/4 of it's miles are pulling 12,500 and down trailers. It's on 2ed set of inj. but with mild tune, turbo and air up grades that's it!

I've had an LLY and an LML. Both of them were better to me than my L5P debacle. I'm done with stock emission era diesels, GM's anyway. Although I realize the LLY had issues I didn't realize they were severe enough to get it ranked as a generation of Duramax that you wouldn't want. And actually my LML wasn't too bad to me. I had all the junk ripped off of it when I got it to make it usable. After that I towed a lot over the road and had good performance until about a quarter million miles. Then it burnt a hole in a piston. I replaced the piston, installed a new fuel system and got another 90k miles out of it and traded it off for the dreaded 2018. Worst mistake I ever made....period. I think a D'd LML with some forged Mahle pistons and a CP3 would be the bomb! But I know what the video is getting at, which engines are bad out of the box, without spending a ton of time and money on them. They can all be upgraded and made to be solid, except maybe the L5P.

I was actually gonna say either LLY or LML. They're the only two generations I've driven honestly since my step-dad has a 2005 ZF6 LLY and I have a 2012 LML. His LLY always over heated like you stated, water pump issues, and pulling with it just wasn't satisfactory at all. The LML was my first truck, bought it at 18, an the first year of owning it I spent 12k just FIXING it. My second year only about 2k, and ever since deleting it, it's been running strong as hell.

100k in trucks in the driveway, snaggletooth on the bottom hell yeah brother

I like how you show the FACT the pictures of the small pieces of metal, what ever on, taken out parts. FACT pictures speak louder than words. My two baby's are Detroit's, a 8-71 & 3-53 meany meany Hours on them. They are my two play toys. The power I have in the 8-71 when I go down the road is unbelievable.

I have a 2011, 2015, 2017, 2021 and I can tell you that I had nothing but headaches with my 2011gmc sierra 3500hd. From Def fluid to water hoses.

Some of the LLY overheating problems can be avoided by regularly disassembling the cooling stack and pressure washing out the rads. I've seen a few that I was looking to buy the truck, and the owner had paperwork for recently doing head gaskets, and you'd look through the rad, and it's like 90-95% blocked. The truck already has a somewhat undersized cooling system, so having it blocked only magnifies the problem. LB7, you forgot to mention erosion under the injector cups issues that present as head gasket problems. I had to redo the job on dad's truck due to that problem. Dad bought Edelbrock heads that eliminated the cups as replacements. The LB7 injector longevity issues can be fixed long term by going to a SAC style injector. I was talking to a diesel shop about the LML pump issues. He told me that the issue was not helped by a lift pump. He said that they sent a bunch of failed pumps for metallurgical testing after they blew up (not just the gm ones, but the Ford ones from the 6.7 as well), and the tests showed that the metal was incorrectly formulated and improperly heat treated. Improper heat treating was causing the wear, which caused the failures. He said that lift pumps and additive didn't seem to have any effect on the problem. But opinions are like buttholes. Everyone has one. Those are just my opinions.

If you could do a CP4 to CP3 install that would be great. You do your installs from a garage mechanic POV and it makes life so much easier

3 minute mark, I'm guessing the LML, largely because of the CP4 pump.

2015 LML Duramax. CP four pump exploded at 250,000 miles. Replaced everything and converted to CP three for $10,000.

Glad to know you feel the worst isn't lb7. Had one given to me and it's been sitting for 6+ years. Haven't had the chance to touch it yet but have been looking forward to getting it on the road

My 2006 Crew Cab ZF6 has the LLY engine code but like you said it’s simply a detuned LBZ. A couple upgrades with some tuning and now she runs extremely well. Good content bud keep it up!

Having owned LLY, LMM, LML and now LBZ, the LBZ is my favorite, then the LMM followed by the LML and lastly the LLY. Every duramax is badass though.

I am currently looking at a 2016 3500 Danali dually. 155,000 miles. What do I need to know? I have been a Ford guy my whole life and I am coming off a 6.0 powerstroke, so I am not looking for another diesel with a bunch of issues. Any info will be helpful

Just as every other model you compared there are things to be corrected to have a great motor. I corrected the issues on my lml and will put it up against any other Duramax out there.

The LLY was not an issue for my dad he had two of them. they never overheated or had head gasket issues. we now have a LML that hasn't had the fuel pump explode.

Great video Josh. I own a lly and love it. I’ve had it for about 7 years. When I was looking for a diesel I knew about the lb7 injector problem so I got the lly. I didn’t know about the head gasket issue. Of course I had to replace them. I’m now starting to do some small upgrades after learning more about them from your videos. Thanks so much and keep making the videos.

We have an 04 lly. 346,000 miles. It's basically a ranch truck. We have a small ranch (20 acres and lease 140). All stock, but my younger boy, who is a mechanic, thought it was chipped. It's not. We bought it used from our local shop which at the time was dealer. We bought it in 08 with 107,000 miles. We lost the transmission at 295,000 miles and transfer case was already melted. $5,500 for transmission rebuild and replacement transfer case at the local transmission shop (a performanceshop). Our duramax is comparable to the 454 I had built and I put into my 69 Chevy 4x4 3/4 ton. I love my truck. It pulls awesome and excellent fuel mileage but it sucks off road. My 69 is much better off road. At home feeding in winter, when the duramax can no longer get into the pasture the 69 still can in two wheel drive.

Lb7, lly, and now I own an lbz. Out of the 3 the lbz definitely runs like it wants to go go go. Lb7 somewhat similar, for some reason my lly just felt the most timid

I have an 05 lly I bought new... It now has 647000 miles... One alternator and a new transfer case ...best truck I ever owned... But I have done nothing to boost the power...

You know what, leave my lly alone. 😅

Lml owner here, my trucks been a money pig, but made me lots of money also. I’ve done Fleece cp3 10mm, 68m RDP turbo, 60overs, Ybridge kit from Wherli, lb7 up pipes, 3” down pipe, Ppe manifolds, New Heads, and 625 head studs, Wagler Assembly. Built trans, 5/8 lines, air dog and sump. Full Kryptonite front end, Ppe Forged tie rods. Lowered 2&1/2 “ This Truck has had all body work done as I’m up North and Rot is serious up here. It’s a work truck model that I’ve been slowly getting around too doing the interior when I find what I won’t from pick and pulls, I love my sleeper. She makes north of 800hp. She doesn’t really smoke unless lugged down, but with the RDP I got plenty of Air and cleans up and Spools fast. My tuner is awesome too me, and has gave me no issues in the last 12 years of using him. Trans shifts great, and he got it locked down with the pump and the 68. I love her.

i picked up a lb7 last year and it was all stock. ive worked on diesels (mostly cats, cummins and internationals) for the last 14yrs so i knew what i was getting into, also helped watching alot of your vids. after about a week of having it it started to haze pretty good so i got a set of stock injectors( who the hell has $4k sitting around for a set of 30 overs or higher?) and went to work. it was a mess, someone or someones had already been in there and replaced the injectors once and did a shit job. i did this all after just having covid so i was a little slow to get things completed. after a fresh set of injectors, injector lines, the airdog 4g 165 and a ppe race fuel valve the and a delete of the stock fuel filter and housing ny fuel issues where fixed. i love my truck and honestly dont plan on ever getting rid of it. yeah some of the parts are stupid expensive but cheap in comparisson to its sibilings. also less to fail as far as emissions.

Spot on with the LML….I own a 2015 and had the fuel pump blowup on me on New Years Eve 2019 leaving me and my family stranded….Guess it was a forecast of what was to come in 2020. I was informed that it would run $12k - $15!! Fortunately I had 500 miles left on my warranty and skated away with $0 out of my pocket. I am unsure of which pump was installed, but being the dealer mechanics and it being under warranty I’m assuming it was the same pump. I looked into installing the new upgraded pump from a non dealer shop and was informed that it would be about $6k…..Thank You for reinforcing what the private shop informed me about the fuel pump……guess I better start saving for the new pump!!

I've got a LML and I absolutely love it

The LLY was a highway only engine. It had not enough torque to pull a fully loaded horse trailer up a steep mountain dirt road but the LBZ had enough torque. The LBZ was much better than the LLY when we're talking about what RPM the torque was at.

Alright, if you going to beat up the lml then you need to post a how-to on replacing the CP4. Just saying.

I had an lml. It was trash. Expensive trash. Sold it 2 days ago. And yes, it had to be trailered out of my driveway. Its the last diesel I'll buy. No truck should require that much money on aftermarket parts just to make it function. I need a truck to make a living, not to spend my living on.

253,000 miles on my ol 04.5 LLY and still running strong. Only issue I’ve had with it is couldn’t keep a transfer case in it. 3 in a years time. Other then that it’s done everything I’ve asked of it and more

Love the honesty. Unfortunately all 3 manufacturers use the CP4 pump. I bought a bunch of 6oz plastic bottles and filled them with diesel lubricant. I keep them in the back seat and pour one in at every fuel stop.

OK ... a bit jelly over here in France (but a Texan) with your "Duramax" beauties and some great info here ... thanks for that. But given the prices over here are 3x what you pay back home, guess I'll stick with my old 2000 2.4 TD Toyota HiLux with factory lockers that get me places in the Alps that my off road buds that have far, far bigger/powerful engines, lift kits, etc. cannot go. And do keep in mind my fuel prices are inverse to yours ... Diesel is 30-40% less than "Gas" ... big dif when paying $8 a gallon for E98 gas for my C6 Z06 Vette ;). Again, thanks for the summary for when it comes time to repatriate (post Brandon).

100% agree with your opinion on LB7s. I did replace the injectors after they died on me.... and they were BAD, like pulled out of a junkyard bad. Funny thing is I had to replace the FICM a few months latef because it lost that rubber plug on the top, and got water inside damaging the electronics. Fun fact: it is impossible to get a replacememt plug. Also intalled an airdog, and I know you disagree, but i left the front filter installed with an extra Cat diesel 2 micron filter. Now I'm working on the other weakness of the engine, like the bad placememmt of the turbo oil feed. Thanks for all the how-to videos!

I have a 2014 LML with just under 82000 miles. Dreading a CP4 failure. Hoping to get 100,000 miles out of it before doing something that shouldn't be talked about. But it needs to lose some weight, if you know what I mean. I definitely don't have the money for fixing a catastrophic CP4 failure. This is my first diesel and didn't know all of this back in 2013-14 when I bought it.

My first duramax was an lly and I had TONS of problems out of it, got rid of it and got a 2008 lmm with only 90k miles on it and I couldn’t be happier with it

Between a LML and a LLY I would go with the LML. Full delete and CP3 swap it and rock on. I am planning on after the new year getting a LMM. It will be my first Duramax but I’m pretty familiar with them.

You are spot on regarding the LML. My pump failed at 82,000 miles while on a road trip. Took Hennessy GMC 3 MONTHS to repair it. Warranty covered the $10,376 tab.

I think your totally on target. Lbz/lmm for the win!!!

Just recently Bought my first diesel, 2015 3500HD Denali with 72k at a price I didn’t want to pass up. Thanks for the info on the LML 6.6. Looks like next year will be plenty of upgrades.

Love all the duramax’s!! My favourites are the lb7 (I own one and so do all my buddys I’m probably biased) and the lbz!

I have a 2006 lly completely bone stock with 180,000 miles. It’s clean.

I almost bought LLY as my 1st diesel but I went with an LBZ instead Because the LBZ was a one owner fully loaded truck With a 149000 miles

As a technician, I would steer clear of any Duramax myself. It's an absolute spaghetti bowl of fuel lines, hoses, and misc crap ran all over the motors which makes repair very labor intensive. I am doing an LML replacement right now due to a broken crankshaft which is apparently pretty common in all Duramax generations due to the firing order causing too much crankshaft harmonics. I prefer Powerstroke and Cummins myself.

I was nervous coming into this video, then I was relieved and then curious. I just bought my first Duramax and am no longer that big of a fan of Dodge. It's an 08 LMM that's only been deleted and well taken care of (one owner type of thing). And now I'm left hanging... what are the issues with the LMM's? Just did some front end work and need to fix some minor leaks but what should I look for or fix before anything major happens! I'm really digging the videos! I wish I had the bling to keep up with you on your LMM build!

No drama here - I own a LLY and know about the potential head gasket and overheating issues. Yeah buying a used LLY can be risky. Just do your homework. I have updated the turbo mouthpiece, installed PPE manifolds and up pipes, HSP Y-bridge, upgraded the downpipe, and added a 5 inch exhaust. It's a beast and I feel good about managing the potential issues now. Next up is the lift pump. Thanks for all of the excellent videos - I was not very mechanically inclined, yet managed to do all of that work based on your excellent instruction.

2011 was actually the 1st year of LML. I own one

The only thing that's ever been done to my LMM other than oil changes and fuel and air filters is changing the glow plugs. A couple of them were drawing too much current and turning the check engine light on. It never failed to start no matter how cold but was annoying as hell so I had a set of glow plugs put in.

Love your channel brother… thank you for your service!!!

I'm second owner of a LB7 I bought in 2008. Before I purchased it the original owner had two injectors at 89,000. One injection pump, 3 fprs, one transfer case, two broken Allisons, I ZF6 swapped it. The odometer stopped working at 288k ten years ago and I have no idea what the mileage is. My old Duramax is still more reliable than my 17 Rubicon with 70k miles.