George B
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Probably the one I have to change...The drivers side one I forget which front or back is a real pita, even with the 02 socket
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Probably the one I have to change...The drivers side one I forget which front or back is a real pita, even with the 02 socket
Denso. My AcDelco OEM units had "denso" stamped right on them.Should I bother with the genuine GM sensors or just go for the Denso units on RA? I recall reading that Denso made them for GM anyway.
Its the B1S2 thats a bastard. The driver side is easy. Then sensor comes with a new push pin clip so don't waste 30 minutes trying not to break the stock one like I did, only to open the damn box and see it had a brand new one already installed...Probably the one I have to change...
I have done 2 with the ARP bolt, never had an issue.This last time i did, and i got the alignment of the belt pretty good.
Hard part is that the pully has nothing to bottom out on.
I went with the arp balancer bolt this time, and it makes alignment even harder.
No real difference between a brand new balancer and the old one either.
I might end up going back to the oem bolt, that one seems to have some built in sealant that might prevent the balancer from spinning?
Super weird design imo.
Do I remember you doing something to the oil passages in the top end or was that something or someone else? My memory isn’t what it used to be. Im just wondering out loud here, thinking if you did that it might be part of the problem if it’s causing oil starvation elsewhere.yeah i did just the thrust bearing and it burned it out again.
since then i also bypassed the trans oil coolers after attempting to get a before and after pressure reading.
Was never able to confirm for sure due to a short oil pressure gauge hose, but i did notice i'm getting more transmission/engine breaking with the coolers bypassed.
I also was able to reverse flush some metal from the transmission cooler when i disconnected it, so i'm feeling pretty good that it's the issue...
I left it there, decided i was done and needed to get outside and do things for the remaining part of the summer.
getting back to it now, plan is to pull the pan and see if the crank looks ok, or if i see more damage than last time.
Plan is to roll a new (probably the original used 5.3 thrust i have) thrust bearing in to place to see if it burns it out.
If it looks good, then i'll roll a fresh bearing into place and run it.
If the engine gets pulled, i'm installing a transmission pressure gauge (probably a perm install like i did to my vette).
Transmission pump will probably get replaced for good measure.
and all new bearings, and possibly new crank.
I'm hoping i don't need to go that far.
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Do I remember you doing something to the oil passages in the top end or was that something or someone else? My memory isn’t what it used to be. Im just wondering out loud here, thinking if you did that it might be part of the problem if it’s causing oil starvation elsewhere.



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...I do recall that my oil pressure started going weird during engine break-in when trying to do an engine breaking cycle down a hill.
rpm went a little too high, but i ran with it until i saw the oil pressure fluctuate a little.
My issues probably started right around that time...
...On one hand,
If it comes apart, i can lower the compression a little more.
(it's like 10.32 right now)
on the other hand, the engine runs great as is, throttle response is quick even with a cobbled together tune.
No real noticeable pinging, even with that low octane fuel i had in the tank.
Probably because of the tight quench...
So, if the engine comes apart, i'll loosen the quench, and lower the compression slightly with that...
Per my lil calculator, it drops it to 10.25 with the different gasket.
I don't really want to change the current setup, just make it work.
Low-end is fantastic, it's the perfect cruiser.
I also ran the 6.2 timing table for a quick run before the issues started, it's "OMG" good.
I'm worried if i lower the compression and loosen up the quench, i might lose some of that awesome low-end power i got.
(Sorry you got morning Chris thoughts/rambling)
If you take the piece off, you will see the indentations for the camera, the mount and the holes, or where they should be. They were fused in with melted plastic, no screws. I used RTV on my replacement panel and it still changed the view a little from the original position.Y’all remember the airbag issue/seat position sensor I’ve been trying to figure out for the past month? Well i finally gave in and took it to the dealership. So apparently somewhere in the harness there’s a shortage. Go figure.
On another note. When i get my truck back I’m going to install this rear view mirror with camera myself. The rear camera is going where the oem camera is going under the tailgate. Should i just drill the camera directly or there or make so kind of plate to put the camera on, then mount under the tailgate.
I just finished building a 6.6L and I have close to 200 miles on my build. No noises or anything. I however didn’t reuse anything except my oil pan. Everything is new. Block crank rods the whole nine. My build when finished tuning should make around 750ish to the wheels.I did some oil passageway matching and flowing in the block.
Matched the pan to the block as well.
This last attempt, i also added some oil flow passages to the thrust bearing surface
that was per the instructions from the manufacture of my mains (mahle iirc)
I also have the high-pressure high-volume Melling oil pump (low pressure spring installed).
if anything, it has too much oil flow/volume.
One thing to note, oil pressure is nice and above 40psi at hot idle with a fresh main.
when the thrust surface starts to get worn, i notice the hot oil pressure starts to dip under 40psi.
but i can nearly pin the pressure gauge over 4krpm.
And even with the updated valve cover, and the 3/4in valve cover spacers.
I still get some oil in the catch can.
but only when the oil pressure spikes during a run.
Leading me to think i'm either flooding the heads with oil, or more likely it's spraying up and making it into the pcv.
Also noting that the high flow pump warning was included in the cylinder head manufacture instructions (AFR).
They mentioned that it's possible to flood the valve seals unless the heads were flowed for oil return.
No information on how to do that, however comparing the stock 799 heads they looked like the oil return was a tad better.
And on that, i did modify the lifter trays to help with the oil return, I didn't go crazy as i wanted to keep some oil in the trays.
but they have a path to balance oil between the lifters, and a quicker return path pointed in the center of the block.
In theory, it looked like a good idea.
If the engine comes apart again, i'm going to dump the high flow pump.
And probably go back to an unmodified tray setup.
I do recall that my oil pressure started going weird during engine break-in when trying to do an engine breaking cycle down a hill.
rpm went a little too high, but i ran with it until i saw the oil pressure fluctuate a little.
My issues probably started right around that time, i also had my engine breaking cut to near nothing right about then as well.
blaming that for the trans cooler passageways since engine breaking seems to have returned...
I haven't looked at flow paths in the 6l80, but it's a thing in the 4l60's.
Mostly it's that trans fluid gets cut off to the rear clutches or something along those lines.
I sorta want to pull the engine apart, it would be nice to see how it's doing...
I did get a good look at the cylinder bores from the underside view, and it looks fantastic.
Nice oiling, all cylinders look good.
I also have a spare set of head gaskets on hand.
I ran with a .037 quench instead of the safer ".040".
On one hand,
If it comes apart, i can lower the compression a little more.
(it's like 10.32 right now)
on the other hand, the engine runs great as is, throttle response is quick even with a cobbled together tune.
No real noticeable pinging, even with that low octane fuel i had in the tank.
Probably because of the tight quench...
So, if the engine comes apart, i'll loosen the quench, and lower the compression slightly with that...
Per my lil calculator, it drops it to 10.25 with the different gasket.
I don't really want to change the current setup, just make it work.
Low-end is fantastic, it's the perfect cruiser.
I also ran the 6.2 timing table for a quick run before the issues started, it's "OMG" good.
I'm worried if i lower the compression and loosen up the quench, i might lose some of that awesome low-end power i got.
(Sorry you got morning Chris thoughts/rambling)
Also, for anyone that builds engines might know if this is a problem
My crank has what i felt was a rough crank polish.
it's probably like 400-600 grit.
Then i used "race" bearings (tri metal).
the coating pretty much completely came off of the bearings.
still has the soft surface underneath.
I don't see any real thickness change, so i don't think it's an issue.
Just looking at my oem bearings, the coating is still there.
The crank seemed to also polish with the oem bearings.
My crank surface has no change...
I'm wondering if i needed a high polish on the crank for those race bearings.
Or am i just overthinking things?
Could that super-duper-mega-pressure-and-volume pump be sucking the sump dry, causing momentary loss of pressure that somehow affects that thrust bearing? Off the top of my head, this doesn't make sense since the lifters and all above get and lose pressure first. Still grasping at straws here.
What would be the benefit of lowering the CR and loosening the quench? Maybe a slightly larger window for a degree or three of timing at most. There's just no difference in that .003" extra piston space or 7 tenths of a point of compression to bother pulling the heads. Unless you have it apart for something else and those are the gaskets you have on hand. If those are your true CR numbers, you wouldn't even notice the difference.
It certainly has no relation to your thrust bearing woes.



I just finished building a 6.6L and I have close to 200 miles on my build. No noises or anything. I however didn’t reuse anything except my oil pan. Everything is new. Block crank rods the whole nine. My build when finished tuning should make around 750ish to the wheels.
If the surface on the polish is rough or turned the wrong way the crank journals now have like a circular saw blade effect on the bearings. It has teeth going into the turn instead of laying on the turn. This will most definitely eat up a bearing.
Think of like sharpening a knife. The tip rolls on the opposite side of the sharpened side right? Now has what we call a burr. Same applies to crank polishing. The burrs still exist after polishing but you need them to be roll over on the rotation not against the rotation.
There are tons of videos online that show this in great detail.
This is why when shopping around for machine shops you need to be mindful of experience and word of mouth not lowest price. Just making a statement. Don’t read into it.
I hope you get this fixed.

#2 thrust bearing, i never ran the engine at a very high RPM, and the only oil pressure fluctuation i noticed was at hot idle.
And that was when i would pull the filter to check it, gut feeling told me it might be getting plugged.
For compression and quench,
I agree, No benefit for the lower cr and loosed quench.
I don't want to change it.
If it lowered a bit more, I might have a chance of running regular gas.
but it's not enough to make a difference.
So I'm hoping to avoid pulling the heads.
+ I have 60$ worth of brand-new coolant in that engine.
I'm sure I could catch most of it in a 5-gallon bucket, but here is hoping I don't need to pull the engine.
I also installed the heads with brand-new clean surfaces, I really don't want to mess with it.
Now if i wanted to change the camshaft for something more AFR head friendly (to make use of the flow a bit more), then it would be a good opportunity to do that.
But i really like the way it runs right now...
I also have those 1.8 ratio roller rockers i would have to factor any added lift to the 6.2 camshaft I installed.
(iirc i still have more wiggle room for even more lift if i did that)
Word on the cam swap. I’ve done it twice like that, once in The Beast and I didn’t have to pull the blower or heads. So much easier.Yours has a #2 thrust bearing? We might've found your problem. lol
Even the stock LMG, at 9.6:1 compression, benefits from 89+ octane. At least, during hot weather. If you lowered the CR of your 6.0 to something more suited for ~87, you'd lose a lot of the peppiness you have now, even with the tune optimized.
You can change the cam without removing the heads by removing the rockers and spinning the cam a few times to push the lifters up into the trays, then sliding dowels (5/16" works fine into the oil galleys to hold them while you swap the cam. Since you already have your rockers removed, you could slap on them 1.8s. Just be sure of your geometries. Oh, larger than stock cams tend to sacrifice small amounts of low end for mid-and upper-RPM power. That's just physics. They need a higher SCR to achieve a net DCR to make up for the losses. So, keep your CR and quench where you're at, unless them 1.8 rockers put you in the PTV danger zone.
Holy sh*t that salt gets everywhere. I don’t have that problem here but I did find out about pulling that weatherstrip many years ago when I removed the side trim on the windshield in order to paint it. That looks like it’s gonna be a challenge to fix but at least you caught it before it’s too late.Check your Drip Weatherstrips fellas!
The top portion is just friction fit, you can pull them up and clean under there and put them right back, wish I'd known this years ago.View attachment 357711View attachment 357712View attachment 357713View attachment 357716
The only thing I could do from home quickly was to grind away the bad stuff and paint over it. Should buy a few more years. Eventually, a new section of drip rail will have to be fabricated and welded in.Holy sh*t that salt gets everywhere. I don’t have that problem here but I did find out about pulling that weatherstrip many years ago when I removed the side trim on the windshield in order to paint it. That looks like it’s gonna be a challenge to fix but at least you caught it before it’s too late.