was an ls engine ever available in this generation?

[j91z28d1]

I got a buddy that's looking for a tahoe and asked which ones came with an LS. not the direct injection LT. I guess he had a 2019 work truck, 2500 with an 6.0 LS based and it was bullet proof. the other 10 or so trucks were the LT and they all had engine issues at some point and were in the shop for months. he wants to avoid that, but also doesn't want the older nnbs.

I thought none of them did, but seeing has he had at 2019 truck, maybe there's a combo out there in suv form that had it? maybe a 2500/3500suburban or something?


figured it's worth an ask.

 

[strutaeng]

Umm. In the SUVs, only the 3500HD Suburban (L96 6.0 Gen IV/6L90e) in that generation, unfortunately. @Geotrash and @Bigburb3500

Express Vans 2500/3500 until 2020, same combo as above until replaced by the 6.6 L8T.

HD trucks as you pointed out. Until the 6.6 L8T gas engine came out whenever that happened.

Nothing in the 1500 chassis that I'm aware of. :-(

Maybe swap a 6.6 L8T and put a non-DI intake of the vehicle allows for that? I think Holey makes something like that. The 6.6 didn't have the Dynamic Fuel Management, but it's direct injected. Otherwise IDK. There's a guy here that swapped a 6.6 into a suburban (I think he eventually sold it tho.)

Sorry if I'm of not much help.

 

[swathdiver]

I got a buddy that's looking for a tahoe and asked which ones came with an LS. not the direct injection LT. I guess he had a 2019 work truck, 2500 with an 6.0 LS based and it was bullet proof. the other 10 or so trucks were the LT and they all had engine issues at some point and were in the shop for months. he wants to avoid that, but also doesn't want the older nnbs.

I thought none of them did, but seeing has he had at 2019 truck, maybe there's a combo out there in suv form that had it? maybe a 2500/3500suburban or something?


figured it's worth an ask.

Only the 2500s and 3500s used the Gen IV L96 in the K2s. If he wants a K2, budget for an AFM delete and transmission overhaul if not done already.

 

[Bigburb3500]

The 6.0 in the 3500 does not have any AFM. I’m not overly familiar with the LT vs LS differences but I did have an 01 2500 Suburban with the 6.0 and it was a great truck as well. The K2 3500 are not super readily available but they are out there.
I daily mine and it’s a great vehicle but a bit thirsty, avg about 14 mpg.

Not sure if this answers your question but here to help if needed.

 

[j91z28d1]

thanks for the replies. I wasn't getting anywhere searching Google because there's also a trim level LT and LS. where I was looking for the engine.

the LT engine is a direct injection and nothing like the old Gen 4 ls. but yeah, the 6.0 he had in that 2019 truck had no afm and he seems to think it had the Allison 8 speed in it. which never gave any issues, where I guess the normal 8 speed is different?

what's a K2? a different trim level? I Google it and get K22?

so there might be a 3500 out there in the combo he's looking for? and I'm guessing only a suburban not in a tahoe?

 

[strutaeng]

K2XX is just the body style/generation. Basically, the successor of the GMT900.

GMT K2XX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

He had the 6L90e on the 2500HD truck if it was gas. They never used the 8 speeds in the HD trucks as far as I know. They went from 6 speed to 10 speed on those trucks. 8 speeds only on the 1500 chassis. Go figure, I guess? (odd duck were the Express 2500/3500 vans that had a 8 speed mated to the 4.3 and baby Duramax IIRC.)

Yes, your friend is looking at a 3500HD Suburban only with that drivetrain. A Tahoe with that was never produced. Maybe he can swap one? That may be cool now that think about it...

 

[Bigburb3500]

K2XX is just the body style/generation. Basically, the successor of the GMT900.

GMT K2XX - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

He had the 6L90e on the 2500HD truck if it was gas. They never used the 8 speeds in the HD trucks as far as I know. They went from 6 speed to 10 speed on those trucks. 8 speeds only on the 1500 chassis. Go figure, I guess? (odd duck were the Express 2500/3500 vans that had a 8 speed mated to the 4.3 and baby Duramax IIRC.)

Yes, your friend is looking at a 3500HD Suburban only with that drivetrain. A Tahoe with that was never produced. Maybe he can swap one? That may be cool now that think about it...

6.0 with a supercharger? Can anyone say Tahoe SS??

 

[Bigburb3500]

But yes, @strutaeng is correct with the transmission aspect. 6L90 is a reliable one based on a lot of info out there.

There are no 6.0 Tahoes out there but you can find the 3500 Suburban LS and LT (trim models with options specific to each but LS is base model) as well as the previous generation Suburban 2500 with the 6.0 and same 6L90. The older 2500 Suburban (2011-2014 if I’m correct) are easier to find and as long as you get the latter years they have the 6-speed.

 

[j91z28d1]

ahh you're right, I was confused about the tranny. some of the new trucks in the fleet he says have the Allison tranny. the 2019 was the 6 speed.


thanks for the info. I can atleast tell him what to search for even it's it's a needle in a haystack. he's adhd as hell and. might walk into a dealer and walk out with God knows what haha. but at least I have it stright.


on a swap note it seems if you're going to pull the direct injection engine out, a cam swap and some upgraded push rods should fix most of the issues? new oil pump while there. put 2 catch cans on it and hope it helps with the intake choke?

ugh haha.

 

[Bigburb3500]

ahh you're right, I was confused about the tranny. some of the new trucks in the fleet he says have the Allison tranny. the 2019 was the 6 speed.


thanks for the info. I can atleast tell him what to search for even it's it's a needle in a haystack. he's adhd as hell and. might walk into a dealer and walk out with God knows what haha. but at least I have it stright.


on a swap note it seems if you're going to pull the direct injection engine out, a cam swap and some upgraded push rods should fix most of the issues? new oil pump while there. put 2 catch cans on it and hope it helps with the intake choke?

ugh haha.

I think if you REALLY wanted a 6.0 w/ the 6L90 in a Tahoe then you can source a truck with the blown 5.3 and a wrecked work truck with the 6.0. Proceed with swap. I don’t remember the guy’s handle on here who documented his 6.6 swap into a Burb but search for it, it’s a GREAT read! *he did sell it recently

Most of the guys on here who want longevity in their 5.3s or 6.2s usually just do a turn (Blackbear Peformance is supporter on here) to turn off the AFM. Trucks are pretty solid after that.

 

[strutaeng]

ahh you're right, I was confused about the tranny. some of the new trucks in the fleet he says have the Allison tranny. the 2019 was the 6 speed.


thanks for the info. I can atleast tell him what to search for even it's it's a needle in a haystack. he's adhd as hell and. might walk into a dealer and walk out with God knows what haha. but at least I have it stright.


on a swap note it seems if you're going to pull the direct injection engine out, a cam swap and some upgraded push rods should fix most of the issues? new oil pump while there. put 2 catch cans on it and hope it helps with the intake choke?

ugh haha.

Yep.

On the swap note, I was saying to swap the DI intake to a port injection ON THE 6.6 L8T...I was "thinking" that would be swapped into a vehicle that originally had port injection, but that may not be actually true?

But if you swap an L96, keep everything stock since that's still a port injection Gen IV engine ("LS" basically). The only trick would be the wiring and ECU because 2Kxx Tahoes were DI...but you could probably just do what GM did on tbe 3500HD suburban ECU/wiring, etc. You would simply be replicating the 3500HD Suburban engine into a Tahoe, which I don't think anyone had asked the question until this thread? It had never crossed my mind TBH. Edit: for that matter, ANY Gen IV engine would work here.

Either way, the transmission would probably be wise to keep or use the 6 speed, probably the heavier duty version.

 

[j91z28d1]

Yep.

On the swap note, I was saying to swap the DI intake to a port injection ON THE 6.6 L8T...I was "thinking" that would be swapped into a vehicle that originally had port injection, but that may not be actually true?

But if you swap an L96, keep everything stock since that's still a port injection Gen IV engine ("LS" basically). The only trick would be the wiring and ECU because 2Kxx Tahoes were DI...but you could probably just do what GM did on tbe 3500HD suburban ECU/wiring, etc. You would simply be replicating the 3500HD Suburban engine into a Tahoe, which I don't think anyone had asked the question until this thread? It had never crossed my mind TBH. Edit: for that matter, ANY Gen IV engine would work here.

Either way, the transmission would probably be wise to keep or use the 6 speed, probably the heavier duty version.

yeah, this was more just a longevity thing. no particular preference for a 6.0 ls over any of the direct injection engines except lack of dealing with di, afm and stuff. a full engine/tranny swap and get all the wiring to play nice wouldn't be worth the hassle in this case. thou a cool build

he does have hp tuners for other cars, so using it to disable afm would be simple enough. I thought there was more to making them reliable than that. like bending push rods and oil pumps failing? I haven't kept up to much with it thou since I have a older body style to try and keep running haha.

 

[Bigburb3500]

yeah, this was more just a longevity thing. no particular preference for a 6.0 ls over any of the direct injection engines except lack of dealing with di, afm and stuff. a full engine/tranny swap and get all the wiring to play nice wouldn't be worth the hassle in this case. thou a cool build

he does have hp tuners for other cars, so using it to disable afm would be simple enough. I thought there was more to making them reliable than that. like bending push rods and oil pumps failing? I haven't kept up to much with it thou since I have a older body style to try and keep running haha.

Others can chime in but the lifter issue is caused by the AFM so by disabling it, it reduces/eliminates most issues.

 

[j91z28d1]

Others can chime in but the lifter issue is caused by the AFM so by disabling it, it reduces/eliminates most issues.

yeah, in the older Gen turning off afm helped. but seems like long term they still fail and eat cams up. mine is disabled but haven't had to do a full delete yet. but only has 160k on mine. so it's probably coming

 

[Bigburb3500]

yeah, in the older Gen turning off afm helped. but seems like long term they still fail and eat cams up. mine is disabled but haven't had to do a full delete yet. but only has 160k on mine. so it's probably coming

I mean… 160k isn’t a lot lol. My 01 had 297k on it and lived a HARD life before it had catastrophic issues.

I think with AFM disabled the general consensus is the 5.3 and 6.2 are pretty reliable. General issues might still arise from use but nothing from a design stand point. Hope some others will chime in for you as I’m not a 5.3 or 6.2 expert by any means.

 

[JMH1980]

From what I've gathered, the issues with AFM are directly related to maintenance.

The maintenance schedule per manufacturer are 7,500 miles between oil changes.
Also being a GDI engine, it produces a lot more carbon buildup on the valves.
I've read many experiences that owners who keep oil change intervals at 5,000 or less miles, aren't have the issues that others are.
The big problem is that people are buying used vehicles and there's really no way to guarantee that proper maintenance was done throughout its use.
I'd even go as far to recommend having the intake valve ports walnut blasted every 50,000 miles as part of the maintenance schedule. It's ridiculous the amount of carbon buildup GDI engines produce. I get that it produces power more efficiently and uses less fuel to do so, but at what cost to the consumer ?

I bought my 2016 XL Denali used with 75,000 miles. Lifters failed at 77,800. Warranty covered the top end rebuild. They also replaced all 16 lifters and the cam. I immediately added an oil separator after I picked up the truck, as well as an AFM disabling device. Eventually I plan to do a full mechanical delete and have the heads blasted and gone through. So far so good, for now. (KNOCKS ON EVERY PIECE OF WOOD IN SIGHT)