2007 5.3 year compatibility

[petethepug]

That’s cool your son is interested in the motor. Let him be there at 1st crank over. When my dad looked at the I-6 200cid in my 65 mustang that had suds in n the oil, he said, we’re buying some pistons son. At 17 I acquired the skill to open a manual and rebuild almost anything. An awesome gift from my dad.

 

[j91z28d1]

I've often thought if our 2007 6.2 L92 gave up I'd find a 2010-2014 4.8 L20 to replace it. We have no need for the L92 power and would like to run 87 octane with its lower compression.
L20 doesn't have AFM, does have VVT(good), is FlexFuel compatible(good), and an iron block(good).
I think we could plug & play this swap with a tune, and keep our existing exhaust, wire harness, ecm, tcm, bcm, 6L80, etc.
If power was lacking I'd install a turbo kit .

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018...ormance-bore-stroke-cylinder-heads-cam-specs/

I actually really like this idea. especially with the 6 speed to get it moving. I bet with a good throttle map you wouldn't even notice 95% of the time.

I don't think my gas pedal has been to the floor in the few years we've had it. my 96 has the 350 and I've never felt like it's under powered. without looking I bet the 4.8L ls makes more power.

 

[donjetman]

I actually really like this idea. especially with the 6 speed to get it moving. I bet with a good throttle map you wouldn't even notice 95% of the time.

I don't think my gas pedal has been to the floor in the few years we've had it. my 96 has the 350 and I've never felt like it's under powered. without looking I bet the 4.8L ls makes more power.

I haven't floored any of our drivers either:
07 Yukon 6.2
02 Corvette 5.7
07 FJ Cruiser 4.0
12 MKX 3.7
51 Chevy PU w/catless gen4 5.3

I've had many drag race cars. If I want to go fast I head to a track

 

[j91z28d1]

I can definitely say when I was a kid I drove to fast like everyone else but the more time I spent at a track the more boring and annoying daily driving became and I lost interest in racing around town.

that said, I do pull the c6 out from time to time and spin the tires on some back roads. but even than in town around the cattle that is traffic, I just putt around and put it back in the garage.

there's a saying in the sport bike world that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

 

[donjetman]

I can definitely say when I was a kid I drove to fast like everyone else but the more time I spent at a track the more boring and annoying daily driving became and I lost interest in racing around town.

that said, I do pull the c6 out from time to time and spin the tires on some back roads. but even than in town around the cattle that is traffic, I just putt around and put it back in the garage.

there's a saying in the sport bike world that it's more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow.

I too did a lot of stupid stunts in my youth and somehow came away unscathed

My fastest drag car (see my Firebird avatar) 7.50 @ 182mph in the 1/4 mile, 1.08 sixty foot time, 4.85 @ 143mph in the eighth mile. This equates to a 0 to 60 mph time of .85 seconds.
And, I piloted 4 different jet airplanes for a living for many yrs.

So today (at 66 yrs old) hot rodding our drivers just doesn't do anything for me

It's all relative

 

[iamdub]

I too did a lot of stupid stunts in my youth and somehow came away unscathed

My fastest drag car (see my Firebird avatar) 7.50 @ 182mph in the 1/4 mile, 1.08 sixty foot time, 4.85 @ 143mph in the eighth mile. This equates to a 0 to 60 mph time of .85 seconds.
And, I piloted 4 different jet airplanes for a living for many yrs.

So today (at 66 yrs old) hot rodding our drivers just doesn't do anything for me

It's all relative

Preach. My work van that I drive 5-7 days a week is a Ford Transit 150. The 3.7 NA V-6 and 10-speed is surprisingly peppy if driven just right. Still, you have to calculate your moves well in advance when merging, shooting a gap, etc. After driving that van 1300+ miles a week, I'm fairly content with the performance of the Steel Hippo when I finally do drive it.

 

[petethepug]

Haha, steel hippo! We call ours the loaf.

 

[tjoyce81]

A lot has been said already and your questions here have been answered. But, unless there is major internal damage, your LMG can be reused. At 352K miles, I would absolutely do a full rebuild, upgrading where desired (including deleting AFM). I wouldn't just replace the cam or timing chain or whatever broke. It's sure to need bearings and rings. This would be the longer route so if you wanna get it back in operation ASAP, swap in another engine, either a good used or rebuilt one. You can do whatever mods to it before you swap it in.

Dropping in a 6.0 or 6.2 to have a plug-and-play (or near it) upgrade would be fun, but you gotta consider the transmission. It's adequate behind the LMG, but will be stressed behind the HP/TQ of an upgraded engine.

Thanks for that info. I rebuilt the transmission, installed 'the beast' sunshell, along with a corvette servo, upgraded frictions, upgraded pistons (blue seals), new thrust bearings, sonnax reinforced input drum, upgraded boost valve, a transgo kit (orange box) - and probably a few other things I forgot.

IF I decide to put a 6.0 in, I didn't think of the tcu adjustments, so thanks for that.

 

[tjoyce81]

First, THANKYOU ALL for the wealth of information I gained on this thread. I am not familiar with the LS Engine - or all the computer stuff, but an engine is an engine. Having rebuilt several Northstar Cadillac engines, as well as racing stuff - I'll figure it out eventually.

Well, here is what happened. About 50000 miles ago, I replaced the oil pump, along with the timing chain - chain tensioner - cam and crank sprockets. I used Melling parts (from rock auto).
Seems the chain tensioner failed (completely gone on drivers side), causing too much slack and the chain broke. Engine gave no indication of this, and ran pretty good until chain broke.

So, wondering now - WTF caused the new tensioner to fail like that after just 50000 miles?
Bad parts?

Is there a better chain tensioner set up? Like the ones i see for the LS3? pt # 12588670?

 

[Geotrash]

First, THANKYOU ALL for the wealth of information I gained on this thread. I am not familiar with the LS Engine - or all the computer stuff, but an engine is an engine. Having rebuilt several Northstar Cadillac engines, as well as racing stuff - I'll figure it out eventually.

Well, here is what happened. About 50000 miles ago, I replaced the oil pump, along with the timing chain - chain tensioner - cam and crank sprockets. I used Melling parts (from rock auto).
Seems the chain tensioner failed (completely gone on drivers side), causing too much slack and the chain broke. Engine gave no indication of this, and ran pretty good until chain broke.

So, wondering now - WTF caused the new tensioner to fail like that after just 50000 miles?
Bad parts?

Is there a better chain tensioner set up? Like the ones i see for the LS3? pt # 12588670?

Wow! We've seen a few cases of broken timing chain guides on these engines, but it's pretty rare. My guess would be a bad part, but Melling usually makes pretty good stuff and is a Tier 1 OEM supplier to GM for timing components, lifters and oil pumps. All the same, it's the reason I used the bowtie style tensioner when I reassembled my L94 after the cam swap.

 

[strutaeng]

Yikes! Not good when timing chain breaks! I tore down an LQ9 that had a timing chain broke and it also had bent pushrods and bent valves, along with a spun main bearing. Engine was basically thrashed.

Have you pulled the heads yet?

I actually thought Gen IV had a timing chain dampener (?) , not a tensioner (?) but I admit I'm not an expert on Gen IV engines.

 

[tjoyce81]

Yikes! Not good when timing chain breaks! I tore down an LQ9 that had a timing chain broke and it also had bent pushrods and bent valves, along with a spun main bearing. Engine was basically thrashed.

Have you pulled the heads yet?

I actually thought Gen IV had a timing chain dampener (?) , not a tensioner (?) but I admit I'm not an expert on Gen IV engines.

Have not pulled heads yet. But if you look close, the cam stopped turning just after tdc on #1 - so, it will be interesting to see what maybe (or may not be) bent.
I replaced the OE tensioner and chain just because I was in there - cus I replaced the oil pump chasing an oil pressure issue (which had nothing to do with the pump). Point being, this gen 4 engine had a tensioner from factory. After seeing this, I will not install a tensioner - I will install the dampener.

 

[strutaeng]

Have not pulled heads yet. But if you look close, the cam stopped turning just after tdc on #1 - so, it will be interesting to see what maybe (or may not be) bent.
I replaced the OE tensioner and chain just because I was in there - cus I replaced the oil pump chasing an oil pressure issue (which had nothing to do with the pump). Point being, this gen 4 engine had a tensioner from factory. After seeing this, I will not install a tensioner - I will install the dampener.

Thanks for keeping us updated and background.

So out of curiosity, what was the cause of your low oil pressure then?

And I just reread your initial post about the reluctor wheel not turning...did your crank...break??? I'm really curious about that part.

 

[j91z28d1]

Have not pulled heads yet. But if you look close, the cam stopped turning just after tdc on #1 - so, it will be interesting to see what maybe (or may not be) bent.
I replaced the OE tensioner and chain just because I was in there - cus I replaced the oil pump chasing an oil pressure issue (which had nothing to do with the pump). Point being, this gen 4 engine had a tensioner from factory. After seeing this, I will not install a tensioner - I will install the dampener.

I always worry about replacing parts cause I'm there. it's hard not to, but I've seen things fixed until they are broken so many times.

either bad parts, or just bad luck. it's always annoying.

I broke a crank once right behind the timing gear. it was at hi rpm, but it bent every single valve over and jammed it into the head. hopefully yours is way less drastic than that one was.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@strutaeng Does a broken timing chain cause a spun main bearing?

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@tjoyce81 I’ve heard of that being a concern but until now it was more of a legend, this is my first time seeing it. Glad I used the LS3 dampener

I look forward to seeing the rest of it

 

[strutaeng]

@strutaeng Does a broken timing chain cause a spun main bearing?

I've thought about the sequence of events in my case and I think no, but I really don't know for sure. Probably, if engine ran low on oil, all these things can happen almost simultaneously in a very short time.

Certainly, a broken timing chain is never a good thing :-(

You always hear guys "thinking": did my engine jump timing? when they can't get it to start. I always think in my mind, if that was the case, you'd have bigger problems. I'm talking LS and similar engines. You are right: not a common failure, but over decades of use and literally millions and millions of miles combined, any failure is obviously possible.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

@strutaeng I hear you, discovering a broken timing chain and a spun bearing does widen the scope of repair

 

[petethepug]

I see a preloved 3/4 or wun ton 6.0L L96 Silverado 380 hp (not the Express van lower hp version) floating into the engine bay of your future. All the signs are there.

 

[strutaeng]

I see a preloved 1/2 or 3/4 ton 6.0L L96 Silverado 380 hp (not the Express van lower hp version) floating into the engine bay of your future. All the signs are there.

Those different HP ratings are due to different tunes; the engines are mechanically the same.

Typically, manufacturers "derate" HP in the heavier gvwr chassis to help with longevity. Often they'll simply hold back the maximum RPM to achieve this.

The L96 was never installed in a 1/2 ton BTW.