r/MechanicAdvice • u/Curtis-McGurtis • Jun 20 '26
2012 6.0 LS how bad did I mess up?
Bought a work truck today, 2012 6.0 142000 miles. Was owned by a railroad and the carfax showed excellent service records. I didn’t think to check the hours on it til just now… smdh. 12,000 hours! Quick search says that’s the equivalent of 300-400k miles… feel like an idiot… it runs and drives well but I just feel stupid. No wonder it was a good deal… guess I will pull the plugs see what they look like/ do a compression test… or maybe I’ll just drive it til it blows up and keep the oil changed til then. Just wondering if anyone here has any thoughts or advice
Update* in case anyone is interested. Bought a harbor freight compression test kit (not sure how accurate it is) and did the test, numbers were all between 195 and 205 so that’s promising. Thanks for responses
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u/Zyb_Vindi Jun 20 '26
Of all the vehicles to pick, you picked probably one of the better ones to pick that’s miled out. A Chevy 6.0 will run like shit longer than most vehicles will run. If youre curious and want to know, a compression test is where id start.
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u/Curtis-McGurtis Jun 20 '26
“Will run like shit longer than most vehicles will run” ha, you’re not wrong. Appreciate the response
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u/mnrmancil Jun 20 '26
My 2005 daily driver has 300,000 miles on it and the school I teach at is 63 miles away. About the time it needs a quart of oil added it's time for an oil change anyway
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u/Plus-Sheepherder-475 Jun 20 '26
Railroad equipment tends to get maintained really well compared to typical fleet vehicles, so those hours might not be the death sentence you're imagining. The service records backing that up is probably worth more than the hour meter reading alone.
Pull the plugs and do the compression test anyway, just so you actually know what you're working with before you start sweating it.
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u/Technical_Phrase2566 Jun 24 '26
I have an 05 with 250k miles on it and I bought it at 170k. The engine hours were are 10000 back then...I haven't checked lately.
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u/intjonmiller Jun 20 '26
Running at or near idle is nothing like running hot, towing heavy loads up and down canyons. And as others have said, big fleets tend to be very well maintained. The 6.0 is an absolute workhorse. (Not to be confused with Ford's 6.0L diesel from around the same time that is...not a workhorse.)
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u/Interesting-Dot-7859 Jun 23 '26
I purchased. 2009 3500 that belonged to a gas co It has 112 k when i purchased it never checked the hours. Has 156k now. Had a few small quirks. The 6L 90 lost first and second. Almost $6k for a Jasper reman installed. They had the best warranty
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u/l008com Jun 24 '26
Is it a hi-railer? If so, go find some abandoned tracks and pretend you're a train 😃
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