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My new to me 1999 CC Dually

wheels87k5

wheels87k5

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Goddard, Ks
1999 Crew Cab, 3500 454 Vortec w/172,000 miles, 4l80E 2WD Dually.

The motor has 10 collapsed lifters. The previous owner had started working on it. He removed everything down to the lifters and decided it wasn't fun any more. I bought it for $1300 delivered to my driveway. It could end up as a parts truck when I'm done with it. I'll know more after working on the motor.

Plans: Install a new set of lifters and gaskets, and see if it runs at all. Supposedly it ran good except for the lifter clatter. It hasn't really ran much for the last 2 years. The previous owner picked it up to hopefully get it running good again and use it for a daily driver and hauling on his farm. But with all the farming he has to do he doesn't have the time and wanted it gone. So I stepped in and I'm going to try to rescue it to a certain degree.

















 
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I'd buy a camshaft too--its not often you can get away with throwing new lifters on a used cam and have it pan out well--also the "collapsed" lifters might have been noisy due to flat cam lobes,not from them collapsing...usually both the cam & lifters get wiped out together too..unless they are roller lifters,flat tappet cams eat lobes fairly often...(I think todays motor oil has much to do with that)..

I bought an engine once,a 350 that had several loud lifters--I decided to try an old trick an old mechanic showed me before tearing it apart to put in a new cam & lifters...

I used a can of carb cleaner spray,shoved the "straw" into the push rod oil hole with the engine idling after putting oil deflector clips over the rockers so I wouldn't get splattered with oil--after a few seconds of spraying the lifters went silent,all but a few,and those cylinders had rocker arm studs that had started pulling out of the head..

I beat them back down with a hammer and drilled a hole for a roll pin to keep the stud from pulling out again,re-adjusted the valves,and it ran quiet and good again..I fully expected that engine to need at least a new cam & lifters...it actually ran decent even with the lifters clattering and the reduced valve lift,but after that it ran much better..
 
They are roller lifters. I still need to do more investigating and look at the cam. Previous owner says that the cam still looked good but I need to be the judge on that. The motor could probably use a complete rebuild but it will not be done by me. If the cam checks out ok then I'm going to do the lifters and gaskets and see how it runs. If it runs good without any issues or noises then I'll sell the motor as "Running with 172,000 miles....can drive and hear it run". If it still has issues then I'll sell it as "Needing Rebuilt". Either way, I don't need it. But they sell quick around here.

I have another 454 Vortec on an engine stand. It only has 81,000 miles on it. It will get new oil pump, new timing chain, new gaskets. If necessary, it will also get new cam and lifters. This is going in my 87 K5. Along with the 4l80E tranny and radiator.

So much to do before BB17. But I'm trying my best to make all this happen with all the other chores I have going on.
 
beags86 said:
What's with the front end not being right?
Crashed?
Click to expand...

No, not crashed. The chevy grill was broken in several places so they replaced it with a GMC grill. From examining the truck there is no damage to the front end. Just a different grill. The old chevy grill is in the bed.
 
Ok.....now I'm confused. I know that's not unusual but read on.

I checked out the collapsed lifters and found that not only were they collapsed, but missing some metal. Let me explain further. The lifter is held together with a type of wire clip. This clip holds the cap in place. The cap is what the push rod sits on. Under the cap is a small disc. Very thin. Some discs were missing pieces on the sides of them. I cleaned up all the sludge inside and around the lifter valley and even found some pieces of the disc with a magnet. I know that some of the pieces had to make it to the oil pan. The cam actually looked very good but I didn't remove it so I can't guarantee it until I do.

I did some research and found some ways to remove the sludge from the engine but I wasn't satisfied with what could happen in the end so I decided that I would remove the oil pan and do a thorough cleaning. There is enough room to actually remove the oil pan without lifting the motor. I removed the drain plug on the oil pan and was very surprised at what came out ....................................First was about 3 quarts of antifreeze.:eek: It looked like it was coming out of a newly opened jug. Second, as the antifreeze was finishing, it was turning red like transmission fluid.:eek: That came out for about 2 quarts. Third, was the oil. It would run out thin, thick, glob, thin, glob etc. :doah:

Was this a way of flushing out the sludge? Some kind of remedy? What would the oil pump look like?

I am in the process of tearing out the motor and when I get the block on an engine stand I will get some pics of whats under the oil pan. This could get ugly. Not a total loss by any means but give me a break. What were they thinking?

When I removed the radiator hose the block was still full of antifreeze so I don't think it has a bad gasket or cracked head. And the transmission looks to have plenty of fluid so this is what makes me believe that it was suppose to be a type of flush.

This may be the icing on the cake as to making this a parts truck. I could sell the heads, if they are in good shape. Maybe sell the truck as a rolling chassis or trade it for a gun or some tires for the K5. Who knows.

Pics in the future.
 
anti-freeze + bearings = bad stuff. prob got in when someone just pulled the intake and didnt drain the coolant system . if the oil was oil and not milk i wouldnt think to much of it yet.

red atf ? ? ? who knows.

clean all the best you can . get running if no noises and fixed then flush it .

old school flush i have used a lots of others including the old guy who told me the trick .

sub 1qt of engine oil for 1qt of dex/merc atf NOT type-f tho . drive 1k miles and rechange the oil . atf has a 5wt to it and HEAVY detergents to clean up slime . i did this on a old v6 i had the valve covers off. i did 3 oil changes this way . after the 3rd it was clean coming out . i pulled the valve cover again and WOW it was like new inside .
 
Years ago there was a nitrocellulose based "flush" you could add to the oil that supposedly made all the coolant mix in with the oil and allow it to be drained with the oil,it was used after a head gasket blew often..not sure if its still available,or where you'd get any now,google search might bring up a lead...

Last engine I saw that had nice green prestone come out of the oil drain plug hole ,then oil,years ago,was a 307 a friend was going to sell me cheap,that had only 38K on it,in a '73 K5 that was totally rotted to death..

We had a 3 hour battle to extract the truck from behind a snowbank in his yard,he had plowed snow up in front of it--we finally got it to break free,and dragged it with a chain up onto the snow bank,and we climbed under it to start taking off the exhaust pipes,converter bolts,etc--but figured we'd best drain the oil first..

We were both severely bummed out to see anti-freeze come out of the sump...it turned out the truck,which had no top on it,was rotted enough to let the firewall sag back towards the seats,and that opened the throttle plate on the carb some--ice and snow had built up on the air cleaner lid,and when it melted in the sun,the water dripped right into the intake--filled the #7 cylinder full,it had a huge crack in it..:(
 
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