2.8 Duramax: Love it or Hate it?

There are some problems with the settings at the beginning, but the speed is good, especially on a wide track is easy to accelerate. But there is one thing that is very dependent on oil. My friend took the same and just poured universal oil, but not here it was, constantly puffed and the speed dropped significantly, so it is necessary to pay attention to the oil and in case of what to choose specifically for it. I stopped at the Valvoline Premium Blue 8600 ES SAE 15W-40, because it has not yet had problems with speed and so on. But here it is necessary to look individually, considering the mileage and so on. So you can read about the best oil for duramax carfluidsexpert.com/top-5-best-oil-for-duramax/ and compare it with your car, so as not to complain about bad speed and so on. I have so far gone this way, because there are no problems with it, I am absolutely satisfied with the ride.

Burgess159 said:

After reading through a number of different posts and comments on numerous topics, I have found a common theme. And perhaps you get this with any vehicle, I'm not sure. I wouldn't think you should get it with a brand new one however.

But that common theme is either; you absolutely love your truck and have had no issues with it after a couple of thousand miles, or; you absolutely hate it, or are at least very frustrated, and have had numerous issues within the first thousand miles.

My question is who has a good one and who has a bad one. Also, when did you buy your truck and is a Chevy or GMC. And if you have problems with it, what are they. Thanks.

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Burgess159 said:

After reading through a number of different posts and comments on numerous topics, I have found a common theme. And perhaps you get this with any vehicle, I'm not sure. I wouldn't think you should get it with a brand new one however.

But that common theme is either; you absolutely love your truck and have had no issues with it after a couple of thousand miles, or; you absolutely hate it, or are at least very frustrated, and have had numerous issues within the first thousand miles.

My question is who has a good one and who has a bad one. Also, when did you buy your truck and is a Chevy or GMC. And if you have problems with it, what are they. Thanks.

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I must have a good one. Going from a 99 F250 Power Stroke extended cab the need for a diesel was a must but no longer needed the massive size. I bought a 2017 mini Duramax GMC Canyon SLT long bed. I still pull my 27 ft toy hauler camper with no issues and with much better fuel economy than the power stroke empty and without a trailer. Best truck I have ever owned hands down! First week I owned it I took a weekend trip across Pa from Philadelphia to Erie, a total of 842 miles round trip on one tank of fuel and getting an average of 41.2 mpg. I have had no major issues with it and only a very few minor things like the fuel guage not working intermittently at times and the wifi doing the same thing. Generally just shutting the truck off and restating it resolves the issues. I have since installed an additional 45 gal gravity fed fuel tank in the bed and am now capable of at least 2000 miles between fill ups, Best mod I have ever installed.
Now I get to choose the place and price of fuel while traveling and camping. Don't miss the old Power Stroke or the daily up keep of the rusty Ford truck woes. I totally love my GMC Canyon and look forward to getting more than the18 years I got out of the Ford.

I’d say your odds of having a “good one” are pretty high. I’ve visited a lot of forums on the baby max and I would venture to guess that the number of bad experiences as a percentage of total vehicles purchased and in service is a fraction of a percent. Think about how many of these engines are out there every day humming along (like mine 😎) and it’s got to be tens of thousands of them!

I think in the grand scheme of things it’s reasonable to expect some number of defects and I don’t have specific data to validate my theory but I believe this configuration is not excessively unreliable if operated and maintained properly.

Just my $ 0.02 worth! I have a 2019 ZR2,with 20k miles and so far not a hitch. I pull a 21’ center console fishing boat and average 20 mpg which is 2x what I got with my gas Silverado.

Dave

i have a 2018 i bought new as a left over last november. i have had to replace one of the duramax emblems on the hood (was slightly corroded) other than that is has been PERFECT. i get 32 mpg unloaded and towing a open 3 rail motorcycle trailer it gets 25 mph and with a 18 ft enclosed (loaded with motorcycles) i get 18 mph.towing a 20 ft featherlite aluminum loaded with a car and motorcycles it gets 15 on flat land and ironically in the mountains i get 18 mph. i think the reason of better mpg in the mountains is it has so much torque it doesnt downshift much and then once over the mountain it free wheels down ,there by giving great mileage. i have been in the mountains 3 times now(22,000 miles on it now) and every time i get great mileage towing in the mountains. the truck is also very comfortable on long trips, i just got back from a 2,800 mile trip to boston from florida round trip could not be more happy with this truck. i have a gmc duramax dualie we bought new . this canyon is a great all around truck with great mileage. the dualie only gets 13 mpg empty or loaded so we only use it for heavy loads now.only thing i dont like about it is the location of the 4 wheel drive switch, i hit it fairly often with my knee when getting in and out. also the light switch next to it get hit as well. luckily it dings when not in the automatic lighting position.

I purchased mine August 2019. It is approaching 22k miles. It sux as a daily driver. It is so underpowered that I didn’t drive it. I’ve owned 4 Powerstrokes but wanted the fuel mileage and towing capacity of this lil Duramax. I nearly wrecked it twice while waiting for a break in traffic to turn left. I complained to the Dealer shop manager of the dead pedal. I canceled the extended warranty I bought. I did purchase a throttle response electronic device from Hike It. This almost got rid of the dead pedal and is now kinda fun to drive for low end response. Still no high end power. When passing a semi you better make sure nothing is coming bc the truck has no balls! If I still own it in 6 months I’ll probably tune it. It’s Dealer serviced. I’ve never experienced a regen? I pull a 24’ 4,080 lb camper trailer and I get 10 mpg. It goes through DEF when towing. I figure I don’t tow enough to go back to the full size truck. I need to add a transmission fluid cooler. Owner's manual doesn’t tell you what high trans temp is! I like the truck but it’s a dog!

RickW said:

I purchased mine August 2019. It is approaching 22k miles. It sux as a daily driver. It is so underpowered that I didn’t drive it. I’ve owned 4 Powerstrokes but wanted the fuel mileage and towing capacity of this lil Duramax. I nearly wrecked it twice while waiting for a break in traffic to turn left. I complained to the Dealer shop manager of the dead pedal. I canceled the extended warranty I bought. I did purchase a throttle response electronic device from Hike It. This almost got rid of the dead pedal and is now kinda fun to drive for low end response. Still no high end power. When passing a semi you better make sure nothing is coming bc the truck has no balls! If I still own it in 6 months I’ll probably tune it. It’s Dealer serviced. I’ve never experienced a regen? I pull a 24’ 4,080 lb camper trailer and I get 10 mpg. It goes through DEF when towing. I figure I don’t tow enough to go back to the full size truck. I need to add a transmission fluid cooler. Owner's manual doesn’t tell you what high trans temp is! I like the truck but it’s a dog!

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The problem with the "Pedal Commander" type devices is they give the feel of livelier response with smaller pedal inputs, but make it more likely to overmodulate the pedal, which sends you into the dreaded "dead zone" even easier than without the device. I experienced this a few times when I had a Pedal Commander and before tuning it. Like you, I was left hung out to dry when I really wanted to go. Not good.

The lazy pedal response and "dead zone" are not turbo lag, they are smoke limiting EPA tuning and "torque filtering". Our turbos are tiny and they don't lag. If you are willing to tune it and toss your power train warranty out the window (not a small consideration), all that goes away, replaced by immediate and linear response. By that I mean a little at the pedal immediately gives a little, a lot of pedal immediately gives a lot, the pedal has a 1 to 1 response, as it should be.

I am pleased with the GDE tune on my truck, have had it for 50K miles now. Nowadays, thanks to the EPA, they can only sell their "compliant" tune. As an existing customer I bought the compliant settings for $50 so I could take it in and pass emissions, as the original settings disable emissions monitors, and the garage is required to plug in and check for them where I live. I also finally answered the pesky recall card from GM and had the updated ECM settings flashed at the dealer.

As a result, I have driven GDE's pre EPA settings, the stock settings (home from the dealer) and "compliant" settings, and there is not much difference that I can tell from performance standpoint between GDE's pre EPA settings and their compliant settings. The stock settings are awful, feeling like a farm implement in comparison to the responsive turbine like GDE settings.

Fixing the sloppy stock transmission settings to shift early and firmer in combo with the engine tune gives the 2.8 a nice effortlessly responsive feel. The stock trans settings slip too much and over rev the engine, and that is pointless as the 2.8 is not a revvy engine. With a tune and a solid trans settings, the 2.8 can move out nicely. It is not frenzied fast, but it has a good locomotive feel to it, punting itself forward and easily keeping up with harried slow and go traffic while barely breaking 2K RPM in the process.

Speaking of locomotives, here in Colorado in the mountains and at high elevations, everybody else in naturally aspirated cars tends to be in my way as it surfs that fat wave of torque. Hills don't exist, high elevation barely matters. Choo choo!! Get out of the fast lane little wheezy car...

RickW said:

I purchased mine August 2019. It is approaching 22k miles. It sux as a daily driver. It is so underpowered that I didn’t drive it. I’ve owned 4 Powerstrokes but wanted the fuel mileage and towing capacity of this lil Duramax. I nearly wrecked it twice while waiting for a break in traffic to turn left. I complained to the Dealer shop manager of the dead pedal. I canceled the extended warranty I bought. I did purchase a throttle response electronic device from Hike It. This almost got rid of the dead pedal and is now kinda fun to drive for low end response. Still no high end power. When passing a semi you better make sure nothing is coming bc the truck has no balls! If I still own it in 6 months I’ll probably tune it. It’s Dealer serviced. I’ve never experienced a regen? I pull a 24’ 4,080 lb camper trailer and I get 10 mpg. It goes through DEF when towing. I figure I don’t tow enough to go back to the full size truck. I need to add a transmission fluid cooler. Owner's manual doesn’t tell you what high trans temp is! I like the truck but it’s a dog!

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This is so different than my experience with my 2017 that it sounds like a different truck. Granted I have never owned a Powerstroke so I am not coming from that background but I am constantly amazed at the guts this truck has, on its own or towing my 4500# trailer. And even towing that trailer all over the mountainous west, it averaged just shy of 21 mpg and I am routinely in the 31-33mpg range for the empty truck. It is GDE tuned which boosted mileage about 10% but, still, 10mpg? I expected a significant increase in DEF use after the tune but that didn't happen, it's not enough that I have been able to quantify it but definitely not anything more than a 10% increase (I expected 25% or more).
Either you have a lead foot and keep that truck floored all the time or something is wrong with your truck.
The performance and fuel efficiency of the truck are stellar IMO, it's the longevity that concerns me; the dreaded wrist pin failure, etc. It'll be a sad day when I have to give up this truck, favorite vehicle I've had.

Considering the size of the motor, I am totally amazed by my truck.
If you are trying to turn left at a busy spot do this….. Left foot on the brake, right foot on the throttle, bring the rpm up just a bit. When it’s clear to go let off the brake and give it throttle. No dead pedal.
Or get it tuned. A tune will totally eliminate dead pedal.
The issue with passing power is that high rpm doesn’t make power with these trucks Like a gas vehicle.
I am a total idiot behind the wheel. I am very aggressive. I pass constantly.
I am totally in love with all that low end torque. No downshifting on hills. Rolls along at low rpm and barely touching the throttle. I hope it lasts forever…
I have had mine sideways, long burnouts. It’s a blast to play with. I have to keep telling myself to stop or it might blow up. So far so good.
Since owning this truck I totally hate gas engines……… Hate them.
Hope I didn’t jinks myself…….

Coloradorob said:

If you are trying to turn left at a busy spot do this….. Left foot on the brake, right foot on the throttle, bring the rpm up just a bit. When it’s clear to go let off the brake and give it throttle. No dead pedal.

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One thing I would add to this because I used to do the same thing before I was tuned. The one thing I noticed and what I thought was the most dangerous part of the dead pedal was what I'll call the recovery time when you let off the pedal and then stab it again. When I would make a left turn I'd accelerate to get across the street as I was turning and as the turn would tighten I would roll my foot off the pedal and then want to stab back into it. What this left me with was being partially in the lane and with a dead pedal with traffic closing behind me. I found that when you are stalling the RPM up to make a quick dart out into traffic you have to commit to it and not roll off the throttle half way thru the turn. If you are accelerating into traffic, keep accelerating or you'll be left with what feels like an eternity for the truck to respond again. Many times before tuned I had people honking at me as I waited for the pedal to respond again and accelerate. Now with the tune my biggest problem is giving it too much pedal and the tires spinning. When towing, don't try to accelerate too hard or you will find the tires chattering and engaging the traction control, that never happened stock, not even in the rain.

I have to agree with all the above, tuned is the only way to fly. I tuned mine with 1000 miles on the clock because I almost got hit twice trying to jump into traffic during rush hour. After those two experiences my thought was well $1000 is the cost of admission to find out if it fixes my hatred. The driving experience is a night and day difference compared to the non tuned vehicle. Like stated above it's gonna suck some day when the small diesel is not an option for us all after the useful life of these are used up.

I have to remind myself not to abruptly stab the throttle quickly (even just 1/4 throttle) off the line because of the tire spin and traction control light yelling at me. It's so much more enjoyable to tow and daily drive that I really love this truck. I get into the wife's highlander and hit the smallest inclines and it will drop down a gear or two and high REV. My truck with the GDE tune and trans tune will just power up and down everything in 6th gear like it's a flat road. It's just so much more civilized and peaceful to long haul in.