Chevy Truck

Hello Everyone,
I'm stuck and want to get some advice. I have a 2007 Chevy Classic 3500 and for the most part it has been a solid truck. Today however we were on our way to San Antonio and my check engine light comes on. I just happen to be by a Chevy dealership. The guys come out put the tester on and says everything looks good. So we get back on the road and it start to act up again. Same code. Fuel Rail/Pressure to low. So I find another dealership in Waco and they replace the fuel filter. We get going again and the code comes back again. Lucky I had my little tool to reset the code and keep driving. We come home drop off the trailer and I get back on the highway and nothing. This only happens when going up hills and it is hot and towing. As anyone had this problem?


I also want to get your opinion. I am going to look at new trucks tomorrow. I'm going to look at ford and chevy. If you were to buy a new one which one would you buy. The ford does not use the fuel rail system and their EKG or something of that sort is easy to fix on the newer models if that does go bad.

Thank you,
David

A loaded question that will start a very long thread with people touting the trucks that they currently drive. Your problem may be as simple as a $15 set of o-rings for the fuel filter head or as expensive as a new CP3. If you are looking for a new truck someplace like Consumer Reports is an unbiased beginning.

Have you seen the new diesel in the Fords? Internal exhauset and twin turbos. Look at it on youtube. Pretty interesting. I prefer the Ram myself.

Owenfamily said:

Hello Everyone,
I'm stuck and want to get some advice. I have a 2007 Chevy Classic 3500 and for the most part it has been a solid truck. Today however we were on our way to San Antonio and my check engine light comes on. I just happen to be by a Chevy dealership. The guys come out put the tester on and says everything looks good. So we get back on the road and it start to act up again. Same code. Fuel Rail/Pressure to low. So I find another dealership in Waco and they replace the fuel filter. We get going again and the code comes back again. Lucky I had my little tool to reset the code and keep driving. We come home drop off the trailer and I get back on the highway and nothing. This only happens when going up hills and it is hot and towing. As anyone had this problem?

Thank you,
David

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I had that problem with my 2007 LBZ.
Seems that the problem happens when the truck is under load. Like pulling a trailer.
I had to take it in while traveling and wound up stranded in PA while they installed a new high pressure fuel pump. A $2,700 fix.
That fixed it for a while but then I started getting the error code again.
I did some research and found that those codes were caused by a worn/weak pressure relief valve on the fuel rail. A $35 fix.
I bought the part, didn't install it, and wound up buying a RAM.

Peace
Dave

I would not only research which truck to buy, but also the service department!! I found that some of the regular maintenance items like and oil and filter or a fuel filter can be quite costly. I found one dual line dealership, Ford and Ram, a fuel filter change was $190.00. The filter over the counter in the same dealership was $54.00. I was paying $185.00 for oil, oil and fuel filter change at my previous dealer.

I was in a bit of a rush this morning when I was writing the first response and when I went to post it I hit the wrong button and it went away so I posted shorter version. What I wanted to suggest is that you visit some of the Duramax web sites such as Diesel Place and search your particular issue. You will find many who have had the same or similar issues and their research and fixes. My guess is, as mentioned above, it is something simple and much less expensive as a 60K new truck. But if that is where you would rather be then Consumer Reports or some of those sites will be helpful.

And I can tell you that I would not go anywhere near some place that charged $190.00 to change a fuel filter

If you're used to Chevy's it will be hard to adapt to another brand, IMO. You might want to look around for a good used Duramax, that's what I did. In Texas there are a lot of used Dually's around. If you do decide on another Chevy then I would look at a 2011 or newer. In 2011 Chevy beefed up about everything on there trucks and added the LML Duramax engine. I had a 2005 Duramax and now own a 2011. The difference is night and day, although the new LML does use DEF, a minor inconvenience. I'm sure Ford's 6.7L diesel is a fine engine, but I would stay away from the 6.0 and 6.4 Fords. I discovered that on the 6.4's you have to remove the entire cab to get at some of the engine areas, a cost of $500.00 right off the top. Good luck.

If you can find a competent mechanic/dealer, it will be cheaper to fix the truck. If you are tired of you Chevy and want a new one, you'll find that all the HD diesels have their problems and substantially all the problems you are likely to incur center around "stuff" manufactures have put on their trucks to meet EPA mandates, specifically EGR's and shut burners. (DEF is more of an annoyance and doesn't usually require expensive engine repair.) Manufactures have contributed to their truck's problems by not pushing back against the EPA and further by unnecessarily competing with each other to increase horsepower and torque beyond what is reasonably needed to pull what we all are pulling.

All that said, I would not rule out a new Ram. Ram has been redesigned, and I've been told has the best interior of the three. Also, arguably the Cummins engine is the best among the three. But, Ram's have a reputation for weak transmissions. Ford has a nice interior, solid transmission and very good build quality. The new Ford scorpion engine is a beast and thus far has not experienced the same degree of problems that the Navistar engines had. You know about Chevys. A good place to look for reviews on all these trucks is The Fast Lane Truck (tfltruck.com)

If you do get a new truck, I would suggest you strongly consider the factory hitch package that Dodge and Ford offer. Dealer cost on this option is a little over $300, and its neat not having rails in you bed. You will need to get a hitch specifically designed for whichever truck you get, but you don't have to buy them through the dealer. Chevy doesn't offer this option.

Disclosure: I currently drive a 2015 F350 and have had a (1999) Ram 2500.

Every brand seems to have it's share of issues, I would not rule out a new Chevy or GMC. Just upgraded to a 2013 GMC from 2004, it is sweet. Like someone mentioned before, lots of trucks in Texas, especially West Texas where there are a lot of oil field workers. We ended up driving to LaMesa, TX, and found a good deal. BTW there all of "the big three" dealerships in LaMesa, with a population of only 9350. 80% of their lots are full of trucks. We used cars.com to aid our search, since you can make it narrow down what it shows you by selecting specifics (3500, 4x4, dually, crew cab, red, etc.) I called all dealerships to verify they had the truck being advertised. Some had them, some did not.

I can't help but laugh when I read a post like "Rams are noted to have weak transmissions". Where's the proof? This might have been the case back in the early 2000s but certainly not anymore. They're as good as any. There were things that I had problems with on my previous Ram but the transmission wasn't one of them. Any of the current batch of H.D. trucks would be a good choice....Don

Everyone has their favorite, and the opinions to back them up. I've had both good and bad Chevy, Ram and Ford. Think the most important thing is to look at each and how they fit your specific need.

I have owned both Ford and Chevy recently and I wouldn't hesitate to buy either again. Sold the last Chevy with 186K trouble free.

So far the weak links in my 2015 Chevy Silverado 2500HD is the stereo . . . and the windshield!

All else is good!

My previous truck, a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500, had 164,000+ miles on it when I sold it last September . . . still had the original tranny, motor and exhaust!

In the last year I have owned both a 2013 Ram 2500 4x4 and now a 2015 Ford F350 FX4. Im not brand loyal. I have even looked at GMC's, but where I live the dealers would not budge on pricing or trade. With this said I do think the Ram interior is the best looking of the 3. The new GMC's really nice also. The reason I traded from a Ram to a Ford was that the Ram suspension was extremely rough or tight how ever you want to look at it. When I test drove the F350 is was like riding in a cadillac. Got tired of feeling beat up after a days drive! Just my experience.

jam20ster said:

In the last year I have owned both a 2013 Ram 2500 4x4 and now a 2015 Ford F350 FX4. Im not brand loyal. I have even looked at GMC's, but where I live the dealers would not budge on pricing or trade. With this said I do think the Ram interior is the best looking of the 3. The new GMC's really nice also. The reason I traded from a Ram to a Ford was that the Ram suspension was extremely rough or tight how ever you want to look at it. When I test drove the F350 is was like riding in a cadillac. Got tired of feeling beat up after a days drive! Just my experience.

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X2 on the ram interior awesome truck on the inside ! With that said the ram has the best interior of the big three but I have to say the fords have the best looking exterior and Chevy just trying to keep up lol JMHO ⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️⛄️

Our '13 GMC 3500HD has not had problem one. Pulls hard and the exhaust brake is great. Buy what you want.

I'm not allowed to talk about new trucks in front of my chevy. But, since he's not around, I love the new ones, any of the three would make me very happy.

There are three great things about my 2009 GMC. 1) it doesn't use DEF, 2) it pulls my rig like it's not there, and 3) it's paid for


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