After years of putting it off, i finally bought me an LQ4. Its out of an 05 Denali totaled with 150k. Not gonna go wild with it, just planning on complete teardown and inspection and as long as all is good, just hone it out and go with new bearings n rings. Of course a cam and head work (or LS3 heads). Has anyone used the edelbrock pro flo 4? I dont plan on using any of the factory wiring ecm or induction. Ive heard too many mixed reviews on the fitech and cant really afford spending holley money. With all the ups n downs and uncertainty over the last yr or so, im finally getting excited again about getting this thing going again.
CK5
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FINALLY pulled the LS trigger.
- Thread starter WALREC
- Start date
plenty of Proflow info and folks using it.
If me i would keep oem efi and have a tunner dyno tune it and go . Unless you plan to keep changing things all the time then a aftermarket wont be worth it in my eyes .
That said i love my pro flo 4 on my daily driver L31 vortec 350 . But wish i had just done LS and over drive trans swap all in 1 shot .
That said i love my pro flo 4 on my daily driver L31 vortec 350 . But wish i had just done LS and over drive trans swap all in 1 shot .
I'd keep the factory efi. It's a good system.
Thanks for all the quick responses. Well,, info i guess I could have included earlier is , i only paid 350 for the complete engine with harness ecm,, ready to go minus fuel delivery. I sold harness ecm and intake for 400. So i basically made $50 just to pick up an engine. Now i know i could easily replace the factory parts i let go of for less money but im sure this will not be the stopping point of the build on this engine. Besides, the edelbrock looks way cooler than factory and a whole lot cleaner engine bay.
I will be using the th400 thats in it. I have a bolt on yoke 400 out of an RV that will be using to build it when it goes in.
Just to share something that I witnessed.
I just put a Texas Speed cam in an LQ9 and installed it in an '01 truck. The cam bearings looked just fine with 228K on it.
The LQ4 that we pulled out of the truck had 279K on it with mediocre care. A buddy pulled it apart and it had some wear in the cam bearings, but not showing copper. The cylinders looked really nice so he did a quick hone and it putting it back together. New rings, bearings and freshened heads.
My point is, with only 150K on yours, it is probably in better shape than you think.
I personally would have kept the factory ECM and intake. After only a few adjustments on my truck with HP tuners, I am pleased that it is running so well so easily. We started it on the stock tune for the LQ4, and have only adjusted the idle rpm and added 2* of timing down low. Of course we shut off some factory things since other modifications were done.
For what I have invested in my engine and the PF4 in my '90 Jimmy, I haven't gotten the quick results from it like this '01 truck with HP tuners. The cost of HP tuners was high, of course, but we are also using it on another truck, so that came into play.
I just put a Texas Speed cam in an LQ9 and installed it in an '01 truck. The cam bearings looked just fine with 228K on it.
The LQ4 that we pulled out of the truck had 279K on it with mediocre care. A buddy pulled it apart and it had some wear in the cam bearings, but not showing copper. The cylinders looked really nice so he did a quick hone and it putting it back together. New rings, bearings and freshened heads.
My point is, with only 150K on yours, it is probably in better shape than you think.
I personally would have kept the factory ECM and intake. After only a few adjustments on my truck with HP tuners, I am pleased that it is running so well so easily. We started it on the stock tune for the LQ4, and have only adjusted the idle rpm and added 2* of timing down low. Of course we shut off some factory things since other modifications were done.
For what I have invested in my engine and the PF4 in my '90 Jimmy, I haven't gotten the quick results from it like this '01 truck with HP tuners. The cost of HP tuners was high, of course, but we are also using it on another truck, so that came into play.
Here's my take with the experience of a 5.3 swap and an 8.1 swap on my truck. (8.1's use the same pcm as the early LS stuff and function the same BTW)
If you stay fairly mild stock ecm and standalone aftermarket harness is a good way to go. Even with a cam and head work I think the stock ecm is good to run. Yes that would require some tweaking, but done right you shouldn't have to chase the tune.
Having already sold your stock ecm and harness isn't a bad thing. I bought my harness and ecm from Howell and haven't had any issues and they set the base tune for my combo. That included turning off vats and some of the other stuff like post cat O2 sensors.
If you know what you are doing with the tuning the Edelbrock could work for you, but it can be overwhelming if you don't understand what to tune and why.
It all comes down to your ability and what you want to do with it.
If you stay fairly mild stock ecm and standalone aftermarket harness is a good way to go. Even with a cam and head work I think the stock ecm is good to run. Yes that would require some tweaking, but done right you shouldn't have to chase the tune.
Having already sold your stock ecm and harness isn't a bad thing. I bought my harness and ecm from Howell and haven't had any issues and they set the base tune for my combo. That included turning off vats and some of the other stuff like post cat O2 sensors.
If you know what you are doing with the tuning the Edelbrock could work for you, but it can be overwhelming if you don't understand what to tune and why.
It all comes down to your ability and what you want to do with it.
Any 6.0 I'd change the cam bearings.
The factory bearing may look just fine. But can walk out and start hitting lifters.
They have a split in them from how they're made. Which can sometimes allow them to get loose. My engine machinist said they see it a lot in 6.0's.
The aftermarket bearings don't have that slit. And end up tighter in the block.
The only other thing I'd say, if this is your first LS, is there's a couple hundred bucks in tools you'll want/need. Most expensive being a good torque wrench with an angle setting. 2/3 of that engine requires torque angle instead of the good reliable old click.
The LS valve spring compressors, that bolt into the head are a life saver too.
The alignment tools for the front and rear covers can be done without, if done right, but aren't that expensive if you do buy them.
The factory bearing may look just fine. But can walk out and start hitting lifters.
They have a split in them from how they're made. Which can sometimes allow them to get loose. My engine machinist said they see it a lot in 6.0's.
The aftermarket bearings don't have that slit. And end up tighter in the block.
The only other thing I'd say, if this is your first LS, is there's a couple hundred bucks in tools you'll want/need. Most expensive being a good torque wrench with an angle setting. 2/3 of that engine requires torque angle instead of the good reliable old click.
The LS valve spring compressors, that bolt into the head are a life saver too.
The alignment tools for the front and rear covers can be done without, if done right, but aren't that expensive if you do buy them.
What makes the 6.0 different from the 4.8 and 5.3 in the cam bearings? I ask this because I know of a 6.0 in a truck with 550K on it, no documented major engine work, I have a 4.8 with 300K on it, never been opened up, and a 5.3 with 230K, still stock. I would think that the use and maintenance of the engine could be a big factor. And I would think that the engine in a SUV wouldn't get flogged as hard as a truck engine.
I have seen a '10 5.3 with copper showing in the front cam bearing that hadn't walked a bearing. The company didn't want the truck down any longer and they did a DOD delete and put it back to work.
No idea. All I know is when I took my lq4 apart, I had a cam bearing that was out in the lifter area getting beat up.
I went looking on line for cam bearings and found a bunch of talk about it happening in some of the forums.
Then when I took it to the race shop for block machining, they said they seen it quite often in 6.0s. maybe they don't get a lot of 4.8-5.3 in there being a race shop .
But the forum stuff I read seemed to mention 6.0 more also.
Myself, I'm not afraid of a 250k LS either. (No idea what mine had..?) But it sounded like it's more common than I had thought.
I went looking on line for cam bearings and found a bunch of talk about it happening in some of the forums.
Then when I took it to the race shop for block machining, they said they seen it quite often in 6.0s. maybe they don't get a lot of 4.8-5.3 in there being a race shop
.But the forum stuff I read seemed to mention 6.0 more also.
Myself, I'm not afraid of a 250k LS either. (No idea what mine had..?) But it sounded like it's more common than I had thought.
