Another 6.2 for 5.3 swap going on.

[ls1frc]

You can tell if you have no oil pressure just from the sound the engine makes. Very clear what lifters sound like with no oil pressure.

 

[bottomline2000]

Getting the Y pipe out is a pain. I had to drop the sway bar down and support the transmission and transfer case while I dropped the transmission support. As I was getting the pipe down I could hear something rattling inside. I thought maybe I found the nut I lost before.

When I pulled the pipe out from under the car I could see right away there were issues with the catalysts on both sides. I tipped it up to dump the nut out. Um...

This stuff poured out.

Closer look you start to see some structure.

Yep. That used to be the honeycomb catalyst. Note that I didn't break these up. Both sides were shattered into crumbs and were blocking the pipe. I ordered the new Y pipe before I took this out but it'll be days before it comes. Meanwhile I'm going to finish hollowing this pipe out and put it back in place to examine what I did to the engine.

I've got this lump sitting in my basement. I have to figure out what I'll do with it.

Having seen the blockage I now have a better understanding of what happened to my old engine. The AFM might not be the culprit. The blockage pressurized the block and blew the oil out any way it could. That turned out to be into the intake manifold where it exacerbated the issue by further blocking the catalyst.

probably not much wrong with your 5.3. probably just need the valve seals replaced from the system being pressurized. that would cause blue smoke at start up. either way..it's cool to see someone do this swap..

 

[PatDTN]

You can tell if you have no oil pressure just from the sound the engine makes. Very clear what lifters sound like with no oil pressure.

I agree and I'm thinking I'll drive to the auto parts store to get a new sensor rather than use the one from my 5.3. The 5.3 was subjected to the same pressurization as this one. I think that might be what made this one fail.

 

[PatDTN]

So I went out and bought another pressure sensor. I now understand they sold me the wrong one last time. The correct one was $60 as opposed to the $15 or so for the one they gave me last time. I haven't put it in yet but I've put on over 100 miles. Cruising on hills that used to cause downshifting and fighting to keep my speed as set - not an issue at all now. No shift, no sag in speed. I can't imagine what this would be like if I bumped the new motor up some.

 

[ls1frc]

That's great to hear. The sluggish low RPM torque is what irks me about driving the 5.3 the most. Struggles up hills.

 

[PatDTN]

That's great to hear. The sluggish low RPM torque is what irks me about driving the 5.3 the most. Struggles up hills.

The tuning isn't done yet but I noticed when I eased on the gas to accelerate it just smoothly shifted back one gear and rolled! I suspect just tuning alone will help a lot.

 

[PatDTN]

Got my new Y pipe and it's different! The downstream end on my original is another ball type connection with a band that locks the pipe to a flex section. The replacement that just came has a two bolt flat flange. I haven't crawled under yet to see if the flex section is connected with a similar flange at its downstream end but looking around amazon they don't show what I have. I made the bad assumption that the image just wasn't right.

 

[Geotrash]

Got my new Y pipe and it's different! The downstream end on my original is another ball type connection with a band that locks the pipe to a flex section. The replacement that just came has a two bolt flat flange. I haven't crawled under yet to see if the flex section is connected with a similar flange at its downstream end but looking around amazon they don't show what I have. I made the bad assumption that the image just wasn't right.

Ugh...I hate when I do that. Bummer man - hope you can find a way to either adapt it or get your money back.

 

[ls1frc]

Yeah you got the old style Y-pipe. They changed to the ball type around 2009 IIRC.

 

[PatDTN]

Mine's a 2009 and yeah searching for a 2011 shows the style I have including the extra cat at the downstream end which the one I got doesn't have. Those are at least $100 more. I wonder if a good muffler shop can cut and weld on the end I need? Is that going to be the only difference? Will this one fit with just a change to the connection?

 

[PatDTN]

Well I don't know the real answer to the question above. I talked to a muffler shop who said he'd do the swap for $150. I considered what I thought it was going to take and decided that was a deal. Rather than drop the transmission support and knowing he needed to use part of the old one he cut the old one up to get it out.

When he tried the left side of the new pipe it didn't clear the transmission. As I type this I realize the pipe probably fit nicely with the 4L series but mine is a 6L90. In short he ended up chopping up the new pipe and welding it back together quite expertly. The fit is nice but I ended up paying $250 for all that work.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Well I don't know the real answer to the question above. I talked to a muffler shop who said he'd do the swap for $150. I considered what I thought it was going to take and decided that was a deal. Rather than drop the transmission support and knowing he needed to use part of the old one he cut the old one up to get it out.

When he tried the left side of the new pipe it didn't clear the transmission. As I type this I realize the pipe probably fit nicely with the 4L series but mine is a 6L90. In short he ended up chopping up the new pipe and welding it back together quite expertly. The fit is nice but I ended up paying $250 for all that work.

He should've honored the $150 charge. Not your fault he underestimated--maybe on purpose too--the job. When I give an estimate for a job and it's more work then I thought--I eat it. It's my fault. I can't in good conscience go over the estimate I gave the guy.

 

[PatDTN]

He should've honored the $150 charge. Not your fault he underestimated--maybe on purpose too--the job. When I give an estimate for a job and it's more work then I thought--I eat it. It's my fault. I can't in good conscience go over the estimate I gave the guy.

No, he went only on the information I gave him on the phone. It would be nice if he knew about the differences between the two models but even this group didn't toss that out as a possibility.

 

[PatDTN]

Took my Tahoe back for the tuner to finish. I thought I'd fill up with regular so I could run that. Unfortunately it seems the LS9 cam foiled me. Under light throttle it pings and he couldn't tune that out. He took out a bunch of advance so when I get my second tank of high test he'll adjust.

On the other hand when I punch the gas it's violent! I did not expect this big an improvement.

 

[ls1frc]

That's so good to hear that the swap is worth it. Its a shitload of work and risk.

 

[PatDTN]

That's so good to hear that the swap is worth it. Its a shitload of work and risk.

On dry pavement at 30 mph I punched it and kicked on the traction control.

 

[ls1frc]

That's awesome. That's all I wanted from my truck. I was so disappointed when it still couldn't break traction even after cam/headers in the 5.3.