I am thinking about buying a 2002 chevy 2500 with a duramax the dealer said that it had a allison tranny but the badges only say duramax could it have a allison or will it always say allison on the side if it has one  

i beleive the earlier d-max trucks still came with the allison even tho it didnt have the badge.  

The older duramaxs (2001-2005) had only "Duramax Diesel" On them they have the five speed Allison. The 2006s and newer have the six speed Allison.  

thanks for the info.  does any body know about any common problems the 2002 d-max has  

In 2001 they had a ton of injector but most those were fixed in 2002 but there are still some. In 2002 they changed the coating on the leaf springs in the rear so they sqeak when you stop or go over a bump. There are minor problems here and there like any truck. Each truck is different so its hard to tell. I'm a GM diesel tech so I see it all  

thanks again are the motors reliable and the truck has about 66,000 miles what is the avrege life  

I have seen LB7 Duramaxs last to 250,000 miles. The only thing i would make sure is in tip top shape is the Allison. I forgot to mention it but i have seen prolly four already this summer that have had gear lockup where they get stuck in one gear like around town or something and wont shift out of that gear or they get stuck in park or something. Yea the LB7 is a good motor with lots of power just make sure you watch your fuel mileage cause if it starts dippin means you got an injector going tits up.  

The lbz trucks last forever too. I own one.  

those allison transmissions are alot better than chevys but chevy still makes a pretty good tranny.