Advice for bolt-on replacements for Engine swap

[m1949]

I'm about to swap out a tired LQ for a new LS364/450 in my 06 Escalade and would like some advice. Let me start by saying the goal is to have a fun, reliable daily driver. I want to go ahead and replace any bolt-ons that may likely need replacing in the next 3/4yrs/50K miles. The engine has new manifold, rails, injectors, water pump, oil pump etc.. I plan to replace coils, plugs (plug suggestions please) and wires, starter, alternator, knock sensors, A/C compressor, clutch and drier. It has a fairly new K&N cold air which I'll keep. Radiator replace or flush? Should I replace the power steering pump? We are doing a 2/3 drop with belltech kit and will do the suspension and steering at the same time. Anything else?

 

[Rocket Man]

How many miles are on the vehicle and thus the components? Trying to outguess things that may or may not happen in 3-4 years is difficult but if the radiator has more than 150-200k which I assume it does, I would definitely replace it because it likely has an internal trans cooler which if that fails it can allow engine coolant to get in the trans which will destroy it. Most of what you’re replacing can be done with the engine in the vehicle. I would be looking at things that can only be done with the engine out like rear main, the barbell, maybe torque converter in the trans, engine mounts. The oil pickup tube and oil pump o-ring would be easier to do before you install the engine too.

 

[m1949]

Thanks for this advice. The car has 170K miles. Just finished having the trans rebuilt so everything should be good there. Thanks for the tip regarding the radiator. I did not know the trans cooler is located in the radiator. I'm putting in new oil pressure, knock and O2 sensors, plus new evap valve and canister. The engine is a 6.0L rebuild from GM performance, so I'm assuming all the internals are new. But I don't know if they used a plastic barbell. I'll check and if its plastic will replace it. You mention engine mounts. I've read here of people using H2 engine mounts on Tahoes and Yukons, because they seem to hold up better than OE mounts. But I haven't read anything about engine mount failure issues on older Escalades. Should I stick with OE engine mounts of consider going with Hummer mounts? Thanks again. Would welcome any other suggestions.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I'd also think about replacing the stock flex plate--if it hasn't been done already.

 

[Rocket Man]

Thanks for this advice. The car has 170K miles. Just finished having the trans rebuilt so everything should be good there. Thanks for the tip regarding the radiator. I did not know the trans cooler is located in the radiator. I'm putting in new oil pressure, knock and O2 sensors, plus new evap valve and canister. The engine is a 6.0L rebuild from GM performance, so I'm assuming all the internals are new. But I don't know if they used a plastic barbell. I'll check and if its plastic will replace it. You mention engine mounts. I've read some here of people using H2 engine mounts on Tahoes and Yukons, because they seem to hold up better than OE mounts. But I haven't read anything about engine mount failure issues on older Escalades. Should I stick with OE engine mounts of consider going with Hummer mounts? Thanks again. Would welcome any other suggestions.

The H3 (not H2) engine mounts are recommended for the 07-14 models that have fluid-filled ones as OEM. Although the 00-06 usually don’t fail I would still replace them since they’re fairly inexpensive, and you might as well do the trans mount too. OEM is what you want for this year.

 

[m1949]

Thanks. I am planning on all new engine and transmission mounts. BTW, is there any advantage is buying "gold" grade GM parts? I notice they are replacing professional grade with Gold. Don't know why, probably just a marketing ploy. But the alternator and some of the other parts we are buying offer "gold" grade at slightly higher prices. I think the alternator was $10-20 more than OE. Their explanation is the material and quality exceed OE parts, but they don't give details. Any thoughts?

 

[Rocket Man]

OE is their top of the line, followed by Professional which is now gold, then Advantage which is now silver. If you’re paying more than OE prices for the gold line something is wrong. And don’t ever buy the silver line, it’s cheap for a reason.

 

[iamdub]

Thanks. I am planning on all new engine and transmission mounts. BTW, is there any advantage is buying "gold" grade GM parts? I notice they are replacing professional grade with Gold. Don't know why, probably just a marketing ploy. But the alternator and some of the other parts we are buying offer "gold" grade at slightly higher prices. I think the alternator was $10-20 more than OE. Their explanation is the material and quality exceed OE parts, but they don't give details. Any thoughts?

"Gold" and "Silver" are the new labels for what was known as "Professional" and "Advantage". They're just levels of aftermarket parts bearing the AC Delco branding. They're NOT what came on your vehicle from the factory. That's AC Delco Original AKA "OE".

Using suspension parts an example, AC Delco would use Moog parts in their Professional/Gold boxes. Moog is generally known as "good" aftermarket parts, but they might not be as good as OE. You might get 50K miles out of a Moog hub bearing or tie rod end whereas you can just about bank on OE easily lasting 100K. For the Advantage/Silver line, they'd use parts primarily focused on price rather than quality. These boxes would contain what the parts store sell

 

[m1949]

Thanks. So different from OE but not necessarily better than OE. Good to know.

 

[iamdub]

Thanks. So different from OE but not necessarily better than OE. Good to know.

Basically. There are some things that are an improvement over OE, though. One example is the blue Moog sway bar and end link bushings. OE is rubber, the Moogs are a type of plastic. They're not polyurethane. They're really cheap but are a great upgrade.