The Denali threw in the towel today

[Jjdenali]

Well at 225,000 miles the ol 6.2 lost a lifter or a cam lobe this morning. I'm going to pull it tomorrow since the kids are with their mom. Might as well freshen it up and put a cam in it. Any recommendations on cams? Small preferably since my fiance will still be dailying it. I might change the converter while the engines out. My ears are open to any and all recommendations or opinions , this is the first ls engine I've ever taken apart. Lots of duramax, Cummins and powerstroke experience but fortunately I've never blown up an ls before.

 

[undy]

At 225K miles I'd do nothing other than a full rebuild. Probably low oil pressure was a major contributing factor to the wiped cam. Your solution will do little to fix the problem, IMO.

 

[eagle-co94]

No better time than now than to drop a cam in it. I don't have any specs to recommend though. If you're not going to get much benefit from driving it then maybe just dropping in a low mileage motor from a wrecked truck would be easier and quicker.

 

[Jjdenali]

At 225K miles I'd do nothing other than a full rebuild. Probably low oil pressure was a major contributing factor to the wiped cam. Your solution will do little to fix the problem, IMO.

I don't think you read my post correctly. I'm pulling the engine it's going to get rebuilt.

 

[Jjdenali]

No better time than now than to drop a cam in it. I don't have any specs to recommend though. If you're not going to get much benefit from driving it then maybe just dropping in a low mileage motor from a wrecked truck would be easier and quicker.

I get to drive it from time to time. Honestly she wants it faster lol she wants it to keep up with my truck but I told her it wouldn't be very streetable if it made enough power to out run my truck. I'd really like to force some air into it but it's just not in the budget right now.

 

[David Paul]

I know where your coming from. Rebuild with a mild street cam and headers. The hard part is done with the motor out. Anything you do after will icing on the cake. When it's done you'll be glad you did.

PS, no charge for helping you spend your money, that's what we're here for.

 

[Countryboy07]

Completely get rid of the AFM crap. That is probably what caused your issue. Cam, rockers, long tubes, and a tune and you'll be all set.

 

[Jjdenali]

Completely get rid of the AFM crap. That is probably what caused your issue. Cam, rockers, long tubes, and a tune and you'll be all set.

Already have the long tubes and tune. Going with a custom grind cam and new rockers

 

[Jjdenali]

Already have the long tubes and tune. Going with a custom grind cam and new rockers

Maybe a stroker if the budget allows

 

[08grey]

No AFM on the 6/2

 

[Jjdenali]

No AFM on the 6/2

No afm but vvt yes

 

[Countryboy07]

No afm but vvt yes

Learned something new. Sounds like it will be a beast when done

 

[Jjdenali]

Learned something new. Sounds like it will be a beast when done

I hope so....

 

[Denasty08]

I had a broken valve spring a while back and decided to do a cam swap as well. I went with a comp cams vvt cam stage 2 and longtubes. I didn't want to put a bigger stall in which the stage 3 & 4 required. I will definitely tell you the power gains are very noticeable. The 6.2 really pulls hard through the rpm range. The stock cam seems to stop making power over 5k and the new cam just keeps going. You will be very pleased with a new cam!

 

[Jjdenali]

I had a broken valve spring a while back and decided to do a cam swap as well. I went with a comp cams vvt cam stage 2 and longtubes. I didn't want to put a bigger stall in which the stage 3 & 4 required. I will definitely tell you the power gains are very noticeable. The 6.2 really pulls hard through the rpm range. The stock cam seems to stop making power over 5k and the new cam just keeps going. You will be very pleased with a new cam!

I just took the short block to the machine shop yesterday. The number 2 cam bearing was toast. It hadn't spun yet but wasn't far from it. I hope the block is OK. I haven't decided yet which route I want to go. I love the benefits of the vvt but I'm worried about the oiling issue that caused this problem I'm having right now. I may go with a standard cam and delete the vvt. I did decide to go ahead and put new rings, bearings, cam bearings, oil pump etc. Probably a set of full roller rockers and I'm seriously contemplating putting my buddies fabricated mid rise Ls3 intake on it just to see. I can always switch back to the L92 intake later.

 

[Denasty08]

I kept the vvt just for ease of things. I made sure to get the cam phase limiter though with the new cam. Definitely a good call on a motor with that many miles to replace everything, cheap insurance to protect your investment. Who do you plan to have tune it after you're done?

 

[Jjdenali]

Probably black bear.

 

[Denasty08]

Probably black bear.

That is who tuned mine. They did a great job and they will help work through any issues that you might find. Very easy process in my opinion.

 

[Denasty08]

I forgot to add IF you do go with a comp cams vvt cam make sure you read the Tech Bulletin.

http://www.compcams.com/Base/pdf/156 to 189 core.pdf

I almost missed this little bit of information. There is 2 different cam cores they use. You need to reference what cam phaser part number you have to get the right cam core.

 

[Jjdenali]

I forgot to add IF you do go with a comp cams vvt cam make sure you read the Tech Bulletin.

http://www.compcams.com/Base/pdf/156 to 189 core.pdf

I almost missed this little bit of information. There is 2 different cam cores they use. You need to reference what cam phaser part number you have to get the right cam core.

I read that. I've been immersed in L92/Ls3 material for weeks now lol