Need help

[Geotrash]

Well while Im looking for someone to work on my motor issues Im stilll trying to figure out why I have no air blowing out the front vents. The indicator shows the fan is suppose to be going from hi to low but nothing is coming out. The ac compressor is clicking on and off and lines are cold but I get nothing in the inside. No air, no heat no nothing. Rear air blows low but not cold at all. I checked all relays and fuses and all appears fine. Im wondering if the fan blower just happened to go. SMH!!!

Fan motors on these are super easy to replace. And they're cheap as chips. Grab one from Autozone and put 'er in. Did mine in my 2007 a few days after I bought it in less than 10 minutes.

 

[swathdiver]

Well while Im looking for someone to work on my motor issues Im stilll trying to figure out why I have no air blowing out the front vents. The indicator shows the fan is suppose to be going from hi to low but nothing is coming out. The ac compressor is clicking on and off and lines are cold but I get nothing in the inside. No air, no heat no nothing. Rear air blows low but not cold at all. I checked all relays and fuses and all appears fine. Im wondering if the fan blower just happened to go. SMH!!!

Blower motor and resistor or the control head needs replacing. Need to put a Tech-2 on it to be sure.

Man, if I wasn't so immobile I'd rebuild your engine for you, whatever it needs. Dan up there does his own work but he was busy last time I saw him on here.

This is the kind of thing that motivated me as a teenager to pick up a wrench and do my own repairs. I was lucky to have a gearhead neighbor across the street to mentor me. First thing he said was to go buy a set of tools and a vise and so I did.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Ended up being the fan motor. Back in business. just dropped truck off to another mechanic that works on Tahoe's. Lets see what happens now.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Ok back to my motor. Had another mechanic look at my motor and he was recommended highly!!! He broke down the motor and he says the following. I basically need a head job. He said there was no damage to cam, and he took oil sample and said there was no metal fragments in the oil. With that being said this is the food list!!! We need both bank lifters, 1 push rod, both head gaskets, both valve cover gaskets, oil, coolant, both exhaust manifold gaskets, both Exhaust hardware, intake manifold gaskets. He says hes trying to source out the lifters from a cheaper source cause the deales want $90 each. Sounds like he know what hes taking about. He also has a tahoe that he swapped out the motor to an LS that is just sick!!!! Hes roughly saying about $1500 for parts and about the same for labor. Your thoughts please !!!!!

 

[iamdub]

Ok back to my motor. Had another mechanic look at my motor and he was recommended highly!!! He broke down the motor and he says the following. I basically need a head job. He said there was no damage to cam, and he took oil sample and said there was no metal fragments in the oil. With that being said this is the food list!!! We need both bank lifters, 1 push rod, both head gaskets, both valve cover gaskets, oil, coolant, both exhaust manifold gaskets, both Exhaust hardware, intake manifold gaskets. He says hes trying to source out the lifters from a cheaper source cause the deales want $90 each. Sounds like he know what hes taking about. He also has a tahoe that he swapped out the motor to an LS that is just sick!!!! Hes roughly saying about $1500 for parts and about the same for labor. Your thoughts please !!!!!

So, what actually failed? And why are lifters and one push rod being replaced? Did a valve contact a piston?

Also, how the hell are lifters $90 EACH?! You can get a set of 16 Chevrolet Performance non-AFM lifters for $376 from Summit. That's $23.50 per lifter. I know the AFM lifters can be around twice that. But, if you're going that far, why not swap the cam to delete AFM and vastly improve your chances of never having such a failure ever again? Also- don't forget new lifter trays and ONLY use Genuine GM ones!

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

I will run that question to him tomorrow on the AFM lifters and cam. He said they were GM parts from the dealer. Thanks for the info, the more info the better. Im at anyone mercy not knowing these things. THANK YOU!

 

[swathdiver]

Ok back to my motor. Had another mechanic look at my motor and he was recommended highly!!! He broke down the motor and he says the following. I basically need a head job. He said there was no damage to cam, and he took oil sample and said there was no metal fragments in the oil. With that being said this is the food list!!! We need both bank lifters, 1 push rod, both head gaskets, both valve cover gaskets, oil, coolant, both exhaust manifold gaskets, both Exhaust hardware, intake manifold gaskets. He says hes trying to source out the lifters from a cheaper source cause the deales want $90 each. Sounds like he know what hes taking about. He also has a tahoe that he swapped out the motor to an LS that is just sick!!!! Hes roughly saying about $1500 for parts and about the same for labor. Your thoughts please !!!!!

New head bolts. If keeping AFM, must replace VLOM with new one as it is SOP and usually the cause of lifter failure.

5 angle valve job gives decent power increase in these motors.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

I just called the local dealer Carl Black and they have the lifters in stock. It takes 8 active $40 each and 8 non active $75 each. Thats better then $90 a piece!!!

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

So, what actually failed? And why are lifters and one push rod being replaced? Did a valve contact a piston?

Also, how the hell are lifters $90 EACH?! You can get a set of 16 Chevrolet Performance non-AFM lifters for $376 from Summit. That's $23.50 per lifter. I know the AFM lifters can be around twice that. But, if you're going that far, why not swap the cam to delete AFM and vastly improve your chances of never having such a failure ever again? Also- don't forget new lifter trays and ONLY use Genuine GM ones!

Well After giving the mechanic some ideas he came back with a much cheaper price for the lifters. $920 for the lifters oppose to getting them from the dealer at $980. Big difference after I told him I can get them from the dealer. So at this point we are looking at about $1,200 in parts. So this is what he is doing from what he told me. 1 push rod was bent so he's replacing that. $5 each for push rods. Im figuring since he has it apart why not change all the push rods, exhaust manifold gaskets $30, anti freeze, oil, filter, full head gasket kit $195 he says all gaskets and seals come in the kit, 4 lifter buckets $52, and lifters $240 for 8 and $680 for 8. Total for parts around $1,222. He stated around $1,500 labor for everything. Plus hes putting new plugs and wires in so im thinking $3k for the whole job

 

[Geotrash]

Well After giving the mechanic some ideas he came back with a much cheaper price for the lifters. $920 for the lifters oppose to getting them from the dealer at $980. Big difference after I told him I can get them from the dealer. So at this point we are looking at about $1,200 in parts. So this is what he is doing from what he told me. 1 push rod was bent so he's replacing that. $5 each for push rods. Im figuring since he has it apart why not change all the push rods, exhaust manifold gaskets $30, anti freeze, oil, filter, full head gasket kit $195 he says all gaskets and seals come in the kit, 4 lifter buckets $52, and lifters $240 for 8 and $680 for 8. Total for parts around $1,222. He stated around $1,500 labor for everything. Plus hes putting new plugs and wires in so im thinking $3k for the whole job

That's a lot of money for lifters. I'm running Chevrolet Performance LS7 lifters in my 2012 (AFM deleted) and they're quiet and reliable. Lots of guys run the Morel 7717 lifters as well. Both brands will likely run 300K miles without issues.

As @iamdub said, why not just delete the AFM system completely? You're doing 80% of the job already. The remaining 20% is a new cam and tune to turn off AFM in the ECM. Do that, and you'll never have another problem. The money you'll save by buying Morel 7717 or Chevrolet Performance LS7 lifters will just about pay for the cost of the cam.

At a minimum, I strongly recommend taking @swathdiver's suggestion and get a new VLOM (valley cover that has the control valves for the AFM system). As it was likely the cause of the failure to begin with. I don't recall - were you experiencing any signs of below normal oil pressure before the failure?

 

[iamdub]

I just called the local dealer Carl Black and they have the lifters in stock. It takes 8 active $40 each and 8 non active $75 each. Thats better then $90 a piece!!!

It's still not ~$23.50/lifter. Does he HAVE to use parts from the dealer only? IMO, Summit is a very reputable supplier. I believe the part number for the AFM lifters is 12698946, and they're around $50 each.

Are you absolutely opposed to deleting AFM? All that's needed is a cam, non-AFM valley cover (much cheaper than that upgraded VLOM you need) and a tune, which is about $60 if you mail your PCM to here.

I'm still concerned why that one push rod is bent. Things had to have had an ill-timed jam for that to happen, and some internal damage could've resulted. You don't wanna find out about this after it's reassembled and running again.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

That's a lot of money for lifters. I'm running Chevrolet Performance LS7 lifters in my 2012 (AFM deleted) and they're quiet and reliable. Lots of guys run the Morel 7717 lifters as well. Both brands will likely run 300K miles without issues.

As @iamdub said, why not just delete the AFM system completely? You're doing 80% of the job already. The remaining 20% is a new cam and tune to turn off AFM in the ECM. Do that, and you'll never have another problem. The money you'll save by buying Morel 7717 or Chevrolet Performance LS7 lifters will just about pay for the cost of the cam.

At a minimum, I strongly recommend taking @swathdiver's suggestion and get a new VLOM (valley cover that has the control valves for the AFM system). As it was likely the cause of the failure to begin with. I don't recall - were you experiencing any signs of below normal oil pressure before the failure?

Oil pressure was perfect. Only a ticking was noticed after a pop was heard.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Well received truck back yesterday and its like brand new. He said there was no damage to the lower end, no metal shavings in the oil but does recommend replacing the oil pump. He also recommends changing the oil again in about 500 miles. One push rod was bent to sh@@. He did all new rockers, valves, lifters, plugs wires, head gasket kit exhaust manifold gaskets, new head bolts, new ex manifold bolts and all that was mentioned in thread. He also replaced starter that was giving me problems, replaced my stabilizer link bushings, stabilizer bar bushings, oil and coolant flush and recharged ac. $1,391 parts $1,900 labor. Grand total a wapping $3,291. Truck is for sale! LMAO! Thank you fellas for the guidance!!!!

 

[Geotrash]

Well received truck back yesterday and its like brand new. He said there was no damage to the lower end, no metal shavings in the oil but does recommend replacing the oil pump. He also recommends changing the oil again in about 500 miles. One push rod was bent to sh@@. He did all new rockers, valves, lifters, plugs wires, head gasket kit exhaust manifold gaskets, new head bolts, new ex manifold bolts and all that was mentioned in thread. He also replaced starter that was giving me problems, replaced my stabilizer link bushings, stabilizer bar bushings, oil and coolant flush and recharged ac. $1,391 parts $1,900 labor. Grand total a wapping $3,291. Truck is for sale! LMAO! Thank you fellas for the guidance!!!!

Thanks for following up and I'm glad it's back in your hands and on the road. Did he replace the VLOM?

 

[mattbta]

That pushrod looks like one I bent on a 3-2 miss-shift in my first LS1...back in 1998..lol. Those things were notorious for doing that with novice manual transmission drivers when under high rev conditions. Well, allowing the novice to do that.

 

[FasterBass]

That pushrod looks like one I bent on a 3-2 miss-shift in my first LS1...back in 1998..lol. Those things were notorious for doing that with novice manual transmission drivers when under high rev conditions. Well, allowing the novice to do that.

Direct experience here. I totaled my dad’s 1979 BMW 528i with a LS1/t56 combo. Thought i was hot shit getting on the highway and moneyshifted straight into a guardrail. To be fair, that was already a hairy car but I was wayyy too confident.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Thanks for following up and I'm glad it's back in your hands and on the road. Did he replace the VLOM?

I dont believe he did "Geo"

 

[Geotrash]

I dont believe he did "Geo"

Okay, that's unfortunate as that is a probable root cause of the problem, as noted in several responses to your posts. Fingers crossed for you.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Hi guys I'm back, Well the motor lasted a month and has been back to the mechanic 3 times since then. He fixed it two more time changing the same rod 3 times and we are dead once again. Now reading back into the post there was recommendations to do the DOD but it wasn't done. Yeah I regret it now knowing what the hell DOD is. When he worked on the truck the 3rd time he did replace the VLOM which worked for about 2,500 mile but it didn't last long. he recommended me to an LS specialist and he gave me the run down on getting the motor done the right way. Doing the DOD delete and changing the cam and everything else for about 8K. Im already in the whole 4,500. I was in the process of selling it when the ticking started during a test drive with a buyer and that f23k my day up. I would like to just replace the motor with something with low miles instead of messing with this damn motor. Can anyone suggest a reliable place I can get a used motor that I can just swap out. I cant spend 8k for a motor for this truck.

 

[FINALTOUCHFRI]

Any mechanic local members in Orlando?