I HATE GM diesel/gas trucks!!! I gave away a rust free half ton with sentimental value. It seemed I'd spend $1000 on electronics, only to need to do it again next month. That was a 1997 I bought new. Nice truck, a pleasure to drive, but it was $1000 dollarin' me to death. Seth nagged me into buying a 1996 turbo diesel 3500 with utility body & hydraulic tailgate. It was rust free, low mileage. It was going to be the generator truck, stocked with parts & tools for generator repair & service. Years now, more effort has been spent on getting the truck to run, than generators. It's always some mysterious problem! Seth was driving it home in April, it died. He called me. We are standing beside the road testing what we could think of, when our mechanic friend drove by. He said, "I think I know what it needs." Minutes later he offered an electronic component. We plugged it in, the truck ran! Seth drove it home. Next morning, he called; "Come get me." We hauled it to a specialist in old GM diesels. He diagnosed the injector pump, sent it off for a rebuild. With the injector pump "rebuilt" it has sat there for weeks & weeks. Today it was finished! We picked it up on the way to a job 20 miles beyond. I suggested I take it & start toward home. He could take my truck & repair the generator 20 miles farther. He wanted to give it a test, so we both drove to the job. On the way home, it died. Couldn't reach the garage by phone 5:05 PM. It sits beside the road waiting its fate tomorrow.
Usually, it's the PMD. If it's still mounted on the pump, the heat soak is (has) damaged it. Not all relocation kits are of quality, nor are all PMDs the same quality. Bit of info on it... https://www.dieselplace.com/threads/reference-material-pmd.39436/
That post is full of broken dreams and promises. I can smell the disappointment. I hate that rig, too. And, I don’t even own it. Sorry about your troubles. It’s not like it’s easy to find a replacement at the moment.
Diagnostics on the PMD... https://www.accuratediesel.com/nostart.html
I appreciate the sentiment. Seth talks at length of the problems with Ford diesels since the 7.3. I say GM has as many problems but ALL on my truck.
Willie B. It may be easier and less expensive to convert it to a DB2.
I'm not sure of much about it. I write checks. My son is the one in tune with all that is the 6.5. It had a relocation of some three or four letter electronic item. There is one man with a reputation of familiarity with these engines. He's 50 miles away. He's had it months now. He said injector pump was bad, sent it off for a rebuild. There is a solenoid valve on the inlet to the injector pump, last night it seemed to be getting 9 volts trying to start with two healthy batteries cranking enthusiastically. I have no knowledge of the many controls that electricity has to pass through to get there. The edge of a busy highway seems not the best place to learn. The mechanic isn't answering his phone & "mailbox is full". We or he will haul it somewhere this morning.
I used to have a ‘98 6.5 and relocated the PMD/FSD over on the fender using one of the ribbed heat sink kits but i had to extend the wire harness a couple of feet to do it. Sometimes when it stalled, i would just pour cold water on it and it would start right up and run good until the next time. I only used the Stanadyne modules and would usually get 2 or 3 years before they went bad again. I always kept a spare one in the truck so i could change it if i had to. Sometimes the optic sensor in the inj pump goes bad but mine was usually the PMD