Engine advice

[iamdub]

This is true I guess. What are the odds of both lifters on the same cylinder being bad I wonder?

Virtually zero chance of both on the same cylinder. But, it just needs the intake side to be collapsed to make it read low compression. If the intake valve is closed as the piston travels down, it's not gonna inhale air. It'll the travel upward to compress whatever small amount of air it had in it, travel down, then back up to exhale that little bit of air, then repeat the process.

If OP wants to entertain it, he could pop off a rocker cover for a quick look.


*EDIT*
Just saw the @wsteele pretty much said the same thing.

 

[ukrkoz]

Thank you.
Yes, it's certainly a personal decision. As I said, take 20 years back - I'd DYI it. After all, it's just piece of metal. Unfortunately, back won't let me hang over the engine bay anymore. Short bursts, yes, just replaced ignition coil on my daily ride. But not to pull heads etc.
I may,. just may, have a mechanic that went straight to exactly that - pull heads and overhaul them. What crossreference with what my original guy said - it's common problem lifters and bad plastic trays.
I'll update how it develops. I have 2 thorns in my life right now, Tahoe is one of them. I just want to get it done. It's a nice truck, I want to enjoy it. Feels good.

 

[thompsoj22]

Thank you.
Yes, it's certainly a personal decision. As I said, take 20 years back - I'd DYI it. After all, it's just piece of metal. Unfortunately, back won't let me hang over the engine bay anymore. Short bursts, yes, just replaced ignition coil on my daily ride. But not to pull heads etc.
I may,. just may, have a mechanic that went straight to exactly that - pull heads and overhaul them. What crossreference with what my original guy said - it's common problem lifters and bad plastic trays.
I'll update how it develops. I have 2 thorns in my life right now, Tahoe is one of them. I just want to get it done. It's a nice truck, I want to enjoy it. Feels good.

Oh heck no! Sell it or keep it? An earlier post advised you to take it to a dealer " for accurate diagnosis" not for repair. You want everything that a tahoe is but without the cost of ownership, You wont even pay a few hundred for an "accurate diagnosis"? call a detailer and have it cleaned to sell and cut your losses now. It is likely even after you fix the engine you will complain about the next repair, I am a mech, I know your mentality, "I am not hacking" Get rid of it and stop buying vehicles that are sold as "mechanical" without the "back" to repair them yourself, "No disrespect intended" It is just to costly to rely on mechanics to do all the labor. SELL IT!!!!!!! SELL IT!!!!!!

 

[Jwedge]

Wow! maybe I just got lucky, I have a 2003 with a L50 Iron block and heads with 321k and I would jump in it and drive to Canada. Which I will do for the third time in June. I had always read that LS engines are "bullet proof".

 

[Jwedge]

oops L59 engine

 

[Summajet]

You can look at Lkq. They sell used motors and mileage varies.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I did a backflip when I blew my motor. Was so happy I could swap in a 6.0L then haha

As for your problem no idea. I think I saw some good ideas. Swap parts (ignition coil, injector etc between cylinders, not very hard to do that.)

Get a compression tester as well as a cheap bore camera on amazon. You can snake it into the cylinders in the spark plug holes. Lastly pardon my french effffffff AFM. It's great on paper but I don't like complexity, just more stuff to go wrong. If you get a new motor with it, make sure to change your oil religiously. I'm not sure if that's why they go wrong but anything to prevent that. If it is AFM you can fix it but I think you have to pull the heads (not too hard just a bit more of a job and $$).

If you rebuild the top of your motor, $100 head gaskets, $150 bolts, $300 head refurbishing / decking. Lifters will be about $200 for drop in LS7. Might as well buy a cam to go with it at that point although you'll have to tune. I paid $400 for my cam and another $250 for dual springs. I am tuning myself. Wideband O2 was $150 and software + programmer about $400. All labor done on my own. I'm guessing a tinge high but that's to give you an idea. Lastly, don't buy any Chinese knockoff lifter trays or any of that crap, make sure it's a reputable brand. Probably easiest to just call Summit Racing... And buy your cam, valve-springs, and pushrods from Roger Vinci (google him).

I think this is why they say it's easier to swap in a new motor. Labor isn't free unless you do it yourself, in which case you're welcome to PM me. However, if you do it yourself, you know it's (1) done right and (2) can build something AWESOME for a bit less than the shop and a vanilla motor.

That said, probably your best bet is to buy a motor from a junkyard. Try and get a 6.0L. Otherwise 5.3L motors are a dime a dozen. My 5.3L had 240,000 miles on it. Inside it looked brand new. Hardly ANY wear on bearings, pistons, cylinder walls. It was in VERY good shape. If only I'd not hydro locked it with fuel while dinking around in my garage.

 

[Charles Bradley]

Hi all

here's the skinny.
I bought 2007 Tahoe, VIN option 0 8th digit, as "mechanical" from auction. 142000 miles. It's LT model with all blows and whistles for the year.
I paid $4100 plus fees for it.
Entire purchase was based on me having a mechanic, that I knew since his age 11, fix it for me.
And he flopped. Truck spent 2 months in his shop without being worked on. Who knows.
Anyhow. Now it sits in my property and I have a problem.
Starts and runs, you can drive it. Has misfire cylinders 5 and 6, low compression same cylinders. When gas added, only cylinder 6 keeps misfiring. My guy told me, it's stuck AFM lifters, that need to be replaced.
Maybe.
I found two more mechanics, they both say - it's faster and cheaper to replace engine, than to fuss with rebuilding this one.
I tried an online site to order engine, they turned out to be scam, canceled order. We do NOT have reasonably low mileage engines anywhere in the area. I am, now, fearing ordering anything else online.
Engines run anywhere between $2500 to $3500 low miles online with warranty.
Crate engines run about same.
They want $2000 to swap out engine.
With everything to be spent on it, I am closing on $10K-11K.
Silly may it sound, what would you do?
1. register truck, sell as mechanic special to, at least, recover most of my money? It's clean title, I can get title in a week.
2. buy remanufactured engine? I have no idea, if remanned engines are more to replace or same price, labor charge wise. Who then has quality and reasonably priced remanned engines? JAGs and such are out of question.
3. still, take a chance with another used engine from say, LKQ? Or, anyone knows a solid source for used engines? I am in Pacific NW.
I am looking for advice, not beating, I beat myself up just fine for this.
Thank you in advance. I am too old and don't have enough time available, to DIY. Maybe 10-20 years ago, not now.

Hey man! I bought a 2007 Chevy Tahoe LT on December 18th. Paid 9000$ for it with 164,000 miles. I had been hearing a fast clicking sound when I get on the freeway and I’m doing over 60mikes per hr. I have since spent around 3500$ in repairs and it runs great but still has that noise when on the freeway. Apparel you this vehicle and other chevy’s are known for having bad lifters. I’m faced with the same issue! Told a lifter job is around the 3000$ mark or higher better to buy and engine but I drive this truck everyday and as long as I do not get on the freeway it does not make the noise. Still deciding what my next step is. Already @ 12,600.00 since December. Not gonna give it away either!

 

[ukrkoz]

yes, I looked at LKQ. Used engine with less than 100K miles is same as 5 yr warranty remanufactured one. Something tells me, remanufactured one is better, than used one, with high risk of having exactly same problem down the road and do over. Also, as I had to cancel used motor order last week, after I found that they are basically scam, I am scared s-less to buy used online now.

Any word on Fraser? Any better options? I just can't get over Fraser's aggressive marketing and, when I called them to ask about shipping costs and core costs, guy sounded like he's fed up with talking to people....I just didn't get the right wiff from him..

 

[wsteele]

yes, I looked at LKQ. Used engine with less than 100K miles is same as 5 yr warranty remanufactured one. Something tells me, remanufactured one is better, than used one, with high risk of having exactly same problem down the road and do over. Also, as I had to cancel used motor order last week, after I found that they are basically scam, I am scared s-less to buy used online now.

Any word on Fraser? Any better options? I just can't get over Fraser's aggressive marketing and, when I called them to ask about shipping costs and core costs, guy sounded like he's fed up with talking to people....I just didn't get the right wiff from him..

I think Fraser is very interested in their fleet customers, not so much the individual sale. One thing in Fraser's favor is they offer an AFM deleted version of their reman's. They recommend that option to their fleet customers.

Another option is a GM reman. A little more, but gold medal warranty coverage.

https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19331650.html

Finally, maybe finding a quality shop that does a lot of GM work, who has a long standing relationship with their favorite reman shop. Then if warranty work crops up, the shop manager knows who he is talking to on the other end. Likely a lot less run around down the road.

One way to tell if they are a quality shop is if they lay out the options, based on detailed diagnostics, and not just say, "I am pretty sure it is lifters, better to swap engines..."

 

[Streetlegal42]

Hi all

here's the skinny.
I bought 2007 Tahoe, VIN option 0 8th digit, as "mechanical" from auction. 142000 miles. It's LT model with all blows and whistles for the year.
I paid $4100 plus fees for it.
Entire purchase was based on me having a mechanic, that I knew since his age 11, fix it for me.
And he flopped. Truck spent 2 months in his shop without being worked on. Who knows.
Anyhow. Now it sits in my property and I have a problem.
Starts and runs, you can drive it. Has misfire cylinders 5 and 6, low compression same cylinders. When gas added, only cylinder 6 keeps misfiring. My guy told me, it's stuck AFM lifters, that need to be replaced.
Maybe.
I found two more mechanics, they both say - it's faster and cheaper to replace engine, than to fuss with rebuilding this one.
I tried an online site to order engine, they turned out to be scam, canceled order. We do NOT have reasonably low mileage engines anywhere in the area. I am, now, fearing ordering anything else online.
Engines run anywhere between $2500 to $3500 low miles online with warranty.
Crate engines run about same.
They want $2000 to swap out engine.
With everything to be spent on it, I am closing on $10K-11K.
Silly may it sound, what would you do?
1. register truck, sell as mechanic special to, at least, recover most of my money? It's clean title, I can get title in a week.
2. buy remanufactured engine? I have no idea, if remanned engines are more to replace or same price, labor charge wise. Who then has quality and reasonably priced remanned engines? JAGs and such are out of question.
3. still, take a chance with another used engine from say, LKQ? Or, anyone knows a solid source for used engines? I am in Pacific NW.
I am looking for advice, not beating, I beat myself up just fine for this.
Thank you in advance. I am too old and don't have enough time available, to DIY. Maybe 10-20 years ago, not now.

I’m going through the same thing, my Tahoe has set a year, dropped a #1 lifter so I pulled the head and spent 500$ putting new lifters on the drivers side buttoned it back up still misfiring but now saying multiple random misfires, so I started to junk it because engines are so hard to find close by, then I got on eBay and found a low mileage engine and lord’s will they say it will be here Wednesday, so you can find them on eBay for decent money just do your research before you buy it’s a gamble but hey give warranty’s.

 

[Joeltz]

Hi all

here's the skinny.
I bought 2007 Tahoe, VIN option 0 8th digit, as "mechanical" from auction. 142000 miles. It's LT model with all blows and whistles for the year.
I paid $4100 plus fees for it.
Entire purchase was based on me having a mechanic, that I knew since his age 11, fix it for me.
And he flopped. Truck spent 2 months in his shop without being worked on. Who knows.
Anyhow. Now it sits in my property and I have a problem.
Starts and runs, you can drive it. Has misfire cylinders 5 and 6, low compression same cylinders. When gas added, only cylinder 6 keeps misfiring. My guy told me, it's stuck AFM lifters, that need to be replaced.
Maybe.
I found two more mechanics, they both say - it's faster and cheaper to replace engine, than to fuss with rebuilding this one.
I tried an online site to order engine, they turned out to be scam, canceled order. We do NOT have reasonably low mileage engines anywhere in the area. I am, now, fearing ordering anything else online.
Engines run anywhere between $2500 to $3500 low miles online with warranty.
Crate engines run about same.
They want $2000 to swap out engine.
With everything to be spent on it, I am closing on $10K-11K.
Silly may it sound, what would you do?
1. register truck, sell as mechanic special to, at least, recover most of my money? It's clean title, I can get title in a week.
2. buy remanufactured engine? I have no idea, if remanned engines are more to replace or same price, labor charge wise. Who then has quality and reasonably priced remanned engines? JAGs and such are out of question.
3. still, take a chance with another used engine from say, LKQ? Or, anyone knows a solid source for used engines? I am in Pacific NW.
I am looking for advice, not beating, I beat myself up just fine for this.
Thank you in advance. I am too old and don't have enough time available, to DIY. Maybe 10-20 years ago, not now.

You have to pull the heads Then decide once you see whats wrong

 

[BG1988]

Yep, I have car-part bookmarked but, after I burnt myself with another website, promising low mileage with warranty (caught it on time and canceled) I am rather hesitant to trust online sellers. So you saying, car-part is decent?

https://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?userSearch=int&userPID=1000&userLocation=Pacific&userIMS=&userInterchange=>B>B@N&userSide=&userDate=2007&userDate2=2007&dbModel=15.27.1.1&userModel=Chevy Tahoe&dbPart=300.1&userPart=Engine&sessionID=13000000176787526&sURL=www.car-part.com&userPreference=zip&userZip=98092&userLat=47.2837000&userLong=-122.1091000&userIntSelect=2423650&userUID=0&userBroker=&userPage=1&iKey=

Also, no one ever mentioned to me that 6.0 can be swapped. Is that so? Will ECM take it? Or, it requires all the engine management related along? Presuming, everything else mounts fine?

4.8L too is a good swap no AFM



this is why i bought a AFM disabler my 6.0 has it..(been running it in teh free disable mode since 103k it's at 104700)

..or do a 4.8L swap with a 6 Speed Transmission when the time comes
which can do 18-20mpg which is equal to what i currently get

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

If you buy a pulled engine from a yard make sure it comes with the PCM. Might even be able to get the transmission with it too...

There are a couple different computers, keep an eye out for that. I think the cabless throttle body signals a bit different computer / harness

Otherwise if you customize you need a custom tune.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

 

[iamdub]

Wow! maybe I just got lucky, I have a 2003 with a L50 Iron block and heads with 321k and I would jump in it and drive to Canada. Which I will do for the third time in June. I had always read that LS engines are "bullet proof".

If your '03 has iron heads, someone swapped them from an older engine.

LS engines are tough as nails and the Gen3 (which you have) is the most reliable factory variant of the SBC. While GM upgraded some design and parts in the Gen4, they added AFM. This was the first iteration of it and so it came with "first year" problems, hurting the acclaimed reliability. I "bullet proofed" my Gen4 about a year ago.

 

[Geotrash]

I "bullet proofed" my Gen4 about a year ago.

Same. And it runs strong and sure now, and I have complete confidence in using it to haul the family and our camper anywhere we want to go. Loving that stage 2 cam and the power that came with it, too. I appreciated your posts and guidance along the way, so thank you!

 

[Ben Prokop]

Hi all

here's the skinny.
I bought 2007 Tahoe, VIN option 0 8th digit, as "mechanical" from auction. 142000 miles. It's LT model with all blows and whistles for the year.
I paid $4100 plus fees for it.
Entire purchase was based on me having a mechanic, that I knew since his age 11, fix it for me.
And he flopped. Truck spent 2 months in his shop without being worked on. Who knows.
Anyhow. Now it sits in my property and I have a problem.
Starts and runs, you can drive it. Has misfire cylinders 5 and 6, low compression same cylinders. When gas added, only cylinder 6 keeps misfiring. My guy told me, it's stuck AFM lifters, that need to be replaced.
Maybe.
I found two more mechanics, they both say - it's faster and cheaper to replace engine, than to fuss with rebuilding this one.
I tried an online site to order engine, they turned out to be scam, canceled order. We do NOT have reasonably low mileage engines anywhere in the area. I am, now, fearing ordering anything else online.
Engines run anywhere between $2500 to $3500 low miles online with warranty.
Crate engines run about same.
They want $2000 to swap out engine.
With everything to be spent on it, I am closing on $10K-11K.
Silly may it sound, what would you do?
1. register truck, sell as mechanic special to, at least, recover most of my money? It's clean title, I can get title in a week.
2. buy remanufactured engine? I have no idea, if remanned engines are more to replace or same price, labor charge wise. Who then has quality and reasonably priced remanned engines? JAGs and such are out of question.
3. still, take a chance with another used engine from say, LKQ? Or, anyone knows a solid source for used engines? I am in Pacific NW.
I am looking for advice, not beating, I beat myself up just fine for this.
Thank you in advance. I am too old and don't have enough time available, to DIY. Maybe 10-20 years ago, not now.

Did you try pumping in Marvel mystery oil straight into the head with an aquarium pump? I can give more details but there are videos online you can surely refer to for help on how exactly. I’ve brought back nearly/seized motors this way and got lifters smooth and steady also! Worth a shot for the $20 pump and $60 in mystery oil $3 bucket and a day of waiting after ... obviously new plugs and coils have already been considered I’m sure so it’s worth a shot

 

[RET423]

Sell it as is and cut your losses, I am certain that engine has many great miles left in it but you will never get your money back by paying someone else to fix it unless you drive it.

An AFM delete with hard parts is cheap for a diy'er and possibly one head repaired (worse case scenario) and you have an engine ready to deliver 200,000 more miles of great service, someone who can get their hands dirty will want it for sure as these are awesome rigs.

 

[iamdub]

Same. And it runs strong and sure now, and I have complete confidence in using it to haul the family and our camper anywhere we want to go. Loving that stage 2 cam and the power that came with it, too. I appreciated your posts and guidance along the way, so thank you!

Happy to be of relevance!

 

[BHF Automotive]

Personally, I'm a big fan of swapping in the 6.0L. Super easy swap, if you pay attention to a few details. I have swapped a 6.0L into my 01 Tahoe out of an 05 Express Van and just finished swapping one into my 99 Silverado out of an 05 Denali. No need to swap the ECM. Just swap over your old intake/injection/emissions from your existing rig onto the transplant motor. You can have the ECM reprogrammed if you like and there are potential performance gains to be had there, but it will function just fine without.

BTW. You mention you are in the Pacific NW. Mind providing a little closer location? Might have an interest in purchasing from you, if you decide to sell and, of course, if I can get my wife to play along. She has been saying she wants to upgrade the 01 Tahoe to something newer, but whether she will still want to make a change once I find a good option is anyone's guess. LOL.