2013 Escalade ESV DOD full delete becoming rebuild

[skpyle]

Ideally the whole inside will be covered with a gold hue ... Which is normal. Sludge is from extended oil changes, as well as excess blow by.... Also frequent short trips without letting the oil heat up contributes. Hard to completely avoid it.

Understood. In my ownership of 4 years and 50,000 miles up to failure point, I changed the oil every 5000 miles with Mobil 1. 95% of my driving is highway, 30 minutes +. I installed a catch can within a few months.

However...PO(s)? I have no idea. And based upon what I am seeing inside this engine, I don't believe it was good.

It will be better from here on out.

 

[rdezs]

Many people follow the oil change interval has displayed on the dash. Big mistake if you want an engine to last. 5,000 miles is the longest I would go, which would be the type of driving you do mainly on the highway. If I commuted less than 20 miles and it was all in town, stop lights and such.... I'd be changing every 3,000 miles.

 

[skpyle]

Many people follow the oil change interval has displayed on the dash. Big mistake if you want an engine to last. 5,000 miles is the longest I would go, which would be the type of driving you do mainly on the highway. If I commuted less than 20 miles and it was all in town, stop lights and such.... I'd be changing every 3,000 miles.

I completely agree with that. I go out to 5000 miles because of the highway driving. My other vehicles get their oil changed at 3000 miles. Oil is cheap. Engines are not.

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Front cam bearing looked quite good, for an LS.

L94 camshaft with incorrect M20 removal bolt.

#5 intake lobe is trashed. Lobe to the left looks none too good, as well.

Rear main seal was not leaking.

OEM plastic 'barbell' is out, never to return.




More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Back up a little bit to when I was originally starting to disassemble the top end.

Driver's side valve cover was very varnished underneath.

Driver's side valve train and cylinder head were varnished as well.

Passenger's side valve cover was not as varnished underneath, but still pretty cruddy.

Same with the passenger's side valve train and cylinder head.

Engine valley and timing chain area were, you guessed it, varnished.

Common theme here...







More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Back up a little bit to when I was originally starting to disassemble the top end.

Driver's side cylinder head combustion chambers did not look terrible.

Passenger's side cylinder head combustion chambers did not look terrible, either.

Driver's side rocker arms, stand, and pushrods. Passenger's side looked the same.

Driver's side lifters and trays. Passenger's side looked the same.

AFM vs non-AFM lifters.





More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Had to remove the radiator fan assembly for clearance. These fans appear to the be 2nd Design 5-bladed rimless. My Escalade doesn't have RPO K5L 'HD Cooling Fans'. However, my limited research says Escalades came with the 700W fan motors.

This is the only markings I could find on one of the radiator fan motors. I am ordering replacement 700W motors.

I disconnected the front drive shaft from the front differential, but did not have any kind of room to remove it. I ended up completely removing the front anti-sway bar assembly, mounts and all, for clearance. (Service manual probably would have told me to do this, if I had read that part...)

I was a little paranoid about my engine hoist damaging the nose of my Escalade. Hence the layers of cardboard and yoga mats.

My engine hoist would only reach in far enough to hit the second hole in from the front on the engine lifting plate, not the middle one. That caused it to lift with the back tilted down. Didn't cause any real issues.
When I put the engine back in with the nose removed from the vehicle, I could have used the middle hole. But I did not think about that until after it was done.





More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Rear cam bearing did not look terrible.

Crankshaft main cap bearings did not look very good. Debris had definitely run through them.

Crankshaft #1 main journal.

Crankshaft #2 main journal. Sorry for the blurry journal, my camera focus and I don't always get along. Journal has scratches.

Crankshaft #3 main journal. Thrust surfaces looked better.





More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Crankshaft #4 main journal.

Crankshaft #5 main journal. Also, rear main seal surface. Which didn't look awful to me.

Crankshaft plucked from its home.

Main bearing #1 in the block.

Main bearing #2 in the block. Sorry it is blurry, there are scratches.






More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Main bearing #3 in the block. Thrust surfaces looked good, though.

Main bearing #4 in the block. Significant scratch on this one.

Main bearing #5 in the block.

Crankshaft connecting rods #1 & 2 journal. Not as nice as I had hoped. #s 3 & 4, 5 & 6, and 7 & 8 looked pretty much the same.

All 16 connecting rod bearings did not look so good.



At this point, my intent was to send the crankshaft out for inspection and see if it would clean up with a polish. Yes, I know. I was naive.




More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

These two photos are representative of the thrust and non-thrust sides of all 8 cylinder bores. Not all had the same level of scratches.

All 8 rods and pistons disassembled.

At this point, my intent was to clean the pistons in anticipation of hopefully reusing them with just a hone on the cylinders. Again, naive.

I pressed all the OEM roller bearings and trunions out of the rocker arms.

More later...

 

[SpareParts]

I ran into a couple scratched cylinders and worn piston's also. Ended up bored and new piston's.

 

[Marky Dissod]

CATCH UP:

Had to remove the radiator fan assembly for clearance. These fans appear to the be 2nd Design 5-bladed rimless. My Escalade doesn't have RPO K5L 'HD Cooling Fans'.
However, my limited research says Escalades came with the 700W fan motors.

These are the only markings I could find on one of the radiator fan motors. I am ordering replacement 700W fan motors.

Some of the people who upgrade to the Escalade's 700W fan motors overlook the upgraded alternator that should go hand in hand with them.

 

[skpyle]

Some of the people who upgrade to the Escalade's 700W fan motors overlook the upgraded alternator that should go hand in hand with them.

That is a very good point!

For my Escalade, I installed a new GM 220A alternator and much bigger charge cable back in December of 2023.



Thanks!

 

[skpyle]

I ran into a couple scratched cylinders and worn piston's also. Ended up bored and new piston's.

I ended up there as well.

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

In a bit of OCD, I used my (dull) engraving tool to mark all 16 rocker arms so I could put them back where they came from. This one is '3 I'. (And promptly forgot when I reinstalled the rockers later. )

Flexplate looked good. No cracks, corrosion, or damaged teeth. Handily, GM stamped the flexplate with 'ENGINE SIDE'. As if they knew I was an idiot.

Accumulated oil crud in the transmission bellhousing is from the leaking seal at the oil cooler line block. Transmission front seal was not leaking.

I posted this photo earlier, but wanted to point out where I drug a finger tip through the residue in the bottom of the pan. Nothing came up.


At this point, the transmission was loaded into my little truck and carried to a local shop for overhaul.




More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:


With the rotating assembly, oil pump, cam, and timing components removed, I finished stripping the engine block.

One of these motor mounts is not like the other...

Removed both knock sensors and the CKP sensor.

Removed large coolant jacket threaded plug (in the sunlight) and the smaller oil gallery threaded plug (in the shadow of my hand). Both of these are on the left side of the engine block, towards the front.

Removed the small coolant jacket threaded plug on the right side of the engine block, above the CKP sensor bore. Sorry for the blurry photo.

Removed the small oil gallery threaded plug above the oil cooler line block on the left side of the engine block.





More later...

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Removed the oil gallery cup plug at the front left of the engine block with a...

...long piece of steel tubing through the same oil gallery from the left side of the back of the engine block.


At this point, the engine was stripped as far as I wanted to go with it. I loaded it into my little truck and carried it to my machinist for inspection. My intent (still naive) was that the cylinders could be honed and the cam bearings did not need to be replaced. Also, I had read that on aluminum 6.2L blocks, it is a big pain in the rear end(can't curse on TYF) to replace the cam bearings and have them aligned properly. I wanted to avoid that if possible.

As well, I took the crankshaft to him for inspection. I was still hoping the journals could be polished, but not as confident after seeing their condition.

However, I have been using this machinist for almost 20 years now. I trust him.


I started cleaning hard parts in my parts washer. I am running PSC 1000 solvent from Tractor Supply in my parts washer. It does a great job of removing oil and crud. And absolutely nothing to oil varnish. I had to soak the parts in my enameled stew pot of 20 year old carburetor dip. You know, the good kind that makes your skin tingle. A couple of days soaking in that removed most of the oil varnish. I was able to use red scotchbrite pads by hand to lightly scuff away the remaining varnish.

Main caps, main bolts, and rocker arms. My machinist needed the main caps and bolts to do main bearing clearance checks with the new bearings.

Connecting rods and caps, piston pins and circlips. I was still intending on reusing the pistons, pins, and circlips.
Look closely at the big ends of the connecting rods. Tell me what you don't see anymore...





More later...

 

[Marky Dissod]

it is a big pain in the rear end (can't curse on TYF)

Every kid I've ever met in my life looks for any excuse to fill in the blank or edit the error whenever a word is missing or insults intelligence.
The word you were looking for is either
wrecked 'em ... or 'einous.

 

[skpyle]

CATCH UP:

Note the identification markings on the connecting rod and its cap.
I dutifully recorded each set of markings and which connecting rod it went with. That way, I could get the caps matched with the rods and the rods with the pistons and cylinders.

Zoom in on the big end of this connecting rod and cap. Notice anything? The identification markings are GONE!

I had thought the markings were laser etched, or something of that nature. Early in the cleaning process, brake cleaner did nothing to them. Turns out soaking in the carb dip and parts washer did.

For a brief moment, I was afraid I was going to have to purchase 8 more connecting rod assemblies. Then I remembered that LS rods are fractured. Meaning each cap shares a unique mating surface with only its matching rod.
I carefully test fit each cap to each rod, and eventually identified which cap went to which rod. Luckily, it was pretty obvious if a cap fit properly or not.

Once I matched all 8 rods and caps, I cleaned the old rod bolts in the parts washer, then reinstalled them in the caps. The old bolts would keep the caps matched with the rods. So I wouldn't have to do this again.



Alright gentlemen, the above is an example of how I play on a forum. I post what I do. ALL of it. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I will show you all my mistakes. I have nothing to hide. I was in the Navy, I have thick skin. Being hassled on a forum for making a stupid mistake does not faze me. If me posting my mistake later helps someone to NOT make that same mistake, then it is worth it.

Because there are more mistakes coming...




More later...