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5.3L long block

bp71k5

bp71k5

3/4 ton status
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Mar 31, 2006
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Location
Knoxville, TN 37922
Anybody got a good source for reman longblocks of the 5.3L variety in stock? My suburban is finally losing more fluids every week than I can put back in. Local shop wants $7k to replace it but looks like a decent long block is around $2-3k so I’m not sure I want to fork over $4k in labor so maybe doing it myself.
 
I have 2 autozone long blocks and 1 I beat the living snot out of and it takes it.

I got my 5.3 for 1800 and the 6.0 for 2100
 
Is it leaking oil everywhere? We parted an '03 Yukon that was a complete grease ball. The pan and rocker covers were the worse offenders. It had the original gaskets when we pulled it and did a little investigating. It was beautiful inside with 230K on it. The rear crankshaft seal housing can leak too.
I am just wondering if you could reseal it cheaper and faster.
I think that the worst part of pulling one out, is dealing with getting the wiring disconnected and out if the way nicely, with the least amount of damage. And if yours is spewing oil, then the mess is frustrating.
 
6872xtc said:
Is it leaking oil everywhere? We parted an '03 Yukon that was a complete grease ball. The pan and rocker covers were the worse offenders. It had the original gaskets when we pulled it and did a little investigating. It was beautiful inside with 230K on it. The rear crankshaft seal housing can leak too.
I am just wondering if you could reseal it cheaper and faster.
I think that the worst part of pulling one out, is dealing with getting the wiring disconnected and out if the way nicely, with the least amount of damage. And if yours is spewing oil, then the mess is frustrating.
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290k miles, leaking from rear main, oil pan, and a few other places. Using about 1 quart of coolant per month so assuming head gaskets are possibly on the way out. Also has a loud lifter tick when cold that never quite goes away. There's a chance I could pull it and rework it if the bores are OK, but its my wife's car and replacement speed is somewhat of a
concern.
 
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I suppose pulling the heads checking the bores and then rebuilding/replacing the heads might be worth a chance. Then I could deal with the oil leaks separately.
 
bp71k5 said:
290k miles, leaking from rear main, oil pan, and a few other places. Using about 1 quart of coolant per month so assuming head gaskets are possibly on the way out. Also has a loud lifter tick when cold that never quite goes away. There's a chance I could pull it and rework it if the bores are OK, but its my wife's car and replacement speed is somewhat of a
concern.
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That makes sense to get a replacement. I know that I have seen them with more miles, but I would lean more towards getting a replacement as well. The less downtime would be a factor in my mind as well.
There is a very good chance that the bores are good from what I have seen. The LQ4 that came out of my '01 with 280K didn't need bored when my buddy opened it up. The cam bearings were tired, though.
 
6872xtc said:
That makes sense to get a replacement. I know that I have seen them with more miles, but I would lean more towards getting a replacement as well. The less downtime would be a factor in my mind as well.
There is a very good chance that the bores are good from what I have seen. The LQ4 that came out of my '01 with 280K didn't need bored when my buddy opened it up. The cam bearings were tired, though.
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Now you got me thinking it might not be so bad to just rebuild it. Might be worth pulling it and inspecting really good.

It’s nuts right now, looks like I can sell the thing for twice what I paid for it.
 
Yes, the market is surprising.

I have seen several 5.3 engines with 300K ang even one with just over 400K.
The cylinders seem to hold up well. The truck that I bought was used for a concrete contractor who purchased it with 20K on the odometer. I gotnit from him at 280K when the oil pump O ring got too loose. It would take a bit to get oil pressure and the muffler rattled horribly, so he thought that the engine was almost done. Well, the cam bearings were definitely getting tired, the front one was just showing copper. The truck was serviced by a quick lube shop most of its life.
My buddy did a dingle ball hone, rebuilt the heads and new cam, lifters, bearings and such. Putting it into his '67 C10.
 
Leaning toward doing a rebuild now. Got a summit order building up. Anything odd that might be good to replace while I’m in there?
 
Lifter trays?
Check for a screen under the oil pressure sensor, remove or replace, depending on your preference. I have heard of both.

You may be planning on it already, but I would replace the lifters since you are pulling the heads.
 
6872xtc said:
Lifter trays?
Check for a screen under the oil pressure sensor, remove or replace, depending on your preference. I have heard of both.

You may be planning on it already, but I would replace the lifters since you are pulling the heads.
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Yep, plan to replace the cam and lifters. One of them is making a noise now. Don’t even know what lifter trays are. A rebuild manual on the LS platform is also in my cart. I’m assuming it’s not that different from a standard small block.
 
The lifter trays hold them in alignment. They can wear and let the lifters twist slightly and kill a roller or lobe. They aren't expensive. But you can only replace them with the heads off.

There are a few tools that help align the front and rear covers, which make the crank seal bores center up when installing the covers.
 
6872xtc said:
The lifter trays hold them in alignment. They can wear and let the lifters twist slightly and kill a roller or lobe. They aren't expensive. But you can only replace them with the heads off.

There are a few tools that help align the front and rear covers, which make the crank seal bores center up when installing the covers.
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are the lifter trays plastic or metal? I saw that the LS7 lifters can be used back in the vortec 5.7, lt1 5.7 and my old tbi motors with the factory castings for the roller cam spider... most of them are sold as sets with the LS7 trays
 
bp71k5 said:
Leaning toward doing a rebuild now. Got a summit order building up. Anything odd that might be good to replace while I’m in there?
Click to expand...

If time is a concern, and it needs sto go back into service quickly, i would lean towards buying a used motor, rebuilding that one while the vehicle still moves under its own power, and then do the swap, and then SELL the motor you are pulling out to recoup some of the funds.

either that, or the original plan of buying a reman long block and swapping - then selling your "leaky but still a runner" would be the fastest.
 
scouthead said:
If time is a concern, and it needs sto go back into service quickly, i would lean towards buying a used motor, rebuilding that one while the vehicle still moves under its own power, and then do the swap, and then SELL the motor you are pulling out to recoup some of the funds.

either that, or the original plan of buying a reman long block and swapping - then selling your "leaky but still a runner" would be the fastest.
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Wife just got into an accident with it so plans may be changing again. I’ll have to see what the damage is and decide. It still runs, maybe mostly cosmetic.
 
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