Chevy Silverado 4.8L - Crate engine or rebuild?

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

How's it running? My experience with those trucks is that everything else is shot long before the motor.... That motor should be good for 300k easy....

Yep. Keep driving it.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

Yep, keep changing the oil, and keep on truckin'. Ls motors are really well built and seem to go the long haul if cared for. I have 195k on my 6.0, and I am not even worried about replacing it any time soon. Uses zero oil, it is silent and runs 100%.

I had a 2003 Silverado with 4.8 motor, sold it with around 170k miles. The engine was absolutely like new in terms of performance, oil consumption, lack of noises or leaks, etc. It was almost spooky how new that engine seemed. Good gas mileage as well. Not the torquiest engine in the world but decent performance. Just not made for towing.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Just sold the 2001 Chevy to a friend. He asked if he could pretty-please buy my truck.

Over 260,000 miles. Outside of oil changes and spark plugs, the engine hasn't been touched.

At just under 250,000, realizing it still had the original starter and alternator, thought the brushes & bearings have got to be about gone. I removed both, had them rebuilt, and stuck them back in, just to make sure they wouldn't leave me stuck somewhere.

Been having fun with an older Chevy, with a 350. Thinking of tossing it out and sticking in one of the new Vortec engines. Guys who have done the swap all say way better performance, way better fuel efficiency.

I have a very low miles 5.7 Vortec engine I'd sell. Never been opened and in as-new condition. Bought it for a project and wound up not needing it. Let me know if you're interested, I'll deliver it to the PNW for you.

[yetibone]

358K is the furthest I've seen a 4.8 go before it got replaced. I really wished that GM used that level of engineering in the rest of their products. Although, my biggest gripe about the LS is the exhaust manifold bolts' heads popping off. GM could have used a different type bolt, WITHOUT THREADLOCK , and not made it necessary to remove the head to drill out broken bolts (the body's in the way on the last 2 at #7, and 8)

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Don't overheat it, keep an eye on intake manifold gaskets- if it starts using water, get it checked.

rjp

LS engines don't have a water riser built into the intake like old small blocks did, so there's no opportunity to drink water unless a head gasket goes. There's an external 3/16" balance pipe between the heads that feeds the throttle body heater, and a couple of little aluminum pieces that plug off the ports at the backs of the heads, and that's it. The only intake gasket problems are P0171, P0174 codes from gasket compaction, or, sometimes those are caused by a dirty/failing MAF.

[jcommin]

my vote: keep driving it. Unless this truck is so special it is worth a crate engine then I would go bigger too.

[Baz]

Just put a new rear bumper on her......mmmm nice and shiny new chrome!

I've replaced the starter once, 2 fuel pumps, and assorted body parts like tail gate handle and rear side door handle, brake pads, & shocks. I'm about to replace the pivot assemblies for the tail gate too. Gone through a few tail gate cables. And of course regular maintenance items, filters, fluids, grease, etc. Cosmetic stuff like seat covers, cattledog decals, etc. None of this of any great expense.

I love this truck and will continue to keep her maintained the best of my ability.

Sid, I agree about the 2500 being more plentiful but I like the 1500 because it sits lower in back and I do a lot of loading and unloading and prefer the lower stance.

Thanks again for all the input....keep on truckin'!

[sugarwood]

If you want to throw money at it, wouldn't it make more sense to replace stuff like the cooling system, wheel bearings, etc?

[aigel]

Another easy thing to do is pull a sample next time you change oil and send it in for analysis, such as Blackstone Labs. Specifically ask them to gauge the health of the engine in terms of miles left on it. They can give you very good input looking at the wear metals. It is on the order of $25 for the analysis with a free kit sent to you ahead of time.

G