Suprathepeg

I'm thinking of trolling the insurance auctions for a write off LS. How do I ID a 5.3 truck? I don't wanna waste my time with a 4.8.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Just curious why did you post this , in this section ? What exactly are you looking for first of all .

Suprathepeg

I'm looking to do a swap. Sry what section should I be posting in?

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

You can tell by the 8th digit of the VIN, but it varies by year, and I don't know the secret decoder ring, but you can probably figure it out at car-parts.com

Andrew

truckdoug

iTrader: (25)

bore scope is easiest. 4.8 has flat tops, 5.3's have a slight dish. on standard iron block gen 3&4 stuff anyhoo.

88bruce

8th digit of the VIN:

4.3: W
4.8: V
5.3: T
6.0: U
8.1: G

This is out of my 2003 Silverado owners manual. Apparently, the 5.3T was
the GenIII LM7, and the 5.3M was a GenIV with AFM.

Rocknrace03

look for the EPA emissions sticker on the hood/rad support, itll usually say the engine size

Nismo Kid

iTrader: (3)

These are great if the engine has never been replaced

VVVVVThis for 100% accuracy.VVVVV

Please see my 2nd post in this thread for 100% accuracy. Sorry for confusion

JoeNova

That's not 100% accurate. There were gen 3 5.3s with flat tops, and almost all gen 4 5.3s have flat tops.

sowbelle

VIN Z is a flex fuel 5.3

Nismo Kid

iTrader: (3)

I seemed to have left out a crucial part. Sorry here's the correct information.

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/48l-or-53l-engine-guide/

Use bore scope & check crankshaft part #. For 100% accuracy .

Nismo Kid

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for pointing out my mistake I forgot to add the crankshaft part number portion.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Ill ask again, what exactly are you looking for . Over the years there have many different 5.3s gen 3 , gen 4 , iron , alum , vvt , afm, dbc, dbw , ect ect.

Suprathepeg

I was gonna try and buy a wreck for the engine but I found a local wrecker that has a good selection of engines so I'm just gonna buy a setup from them.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Yes I understand where you going to buy from which is not important . But you still have not answered the question what do you want . Maybe you don't know , is that it . All we know is that you don't want a 4.8

Suprathepeg

I was looking for an 01-04 5.3 with a 4l60e. A 4.8 wouldn't be the end of the world but honestly why bother.

I honestly don't know exactly what I want. I know that I ultimately don't want to run cyl deactivation. I'm assuming a flex fuel would allow for some hot e85 tunes but e85 isn't as common here (Central Canada) as in the US so really a flex fuel isn't a deal breaker either way. Variable vlave timing would be cool but again not completely necessary. I'm assuming that I can modify a lot of those parameters with a tune or aftermarket ECU?

The wrecker has a 6.0 available but I'm starting to shy away from it only because of the cost and I'm leaning towards a lighter car so huge power isn't the end of the world.

It is ultimately going to go into a rat/hot rod of some sort.

omc8

iTrader: (7)

Well thank you for your honesty . I see you also started another thread yesterday considering a 6.0 vs 5.3 My suggestion to is you is hold off until you can research and learn more about LS engines. You need to determine what you goal is and your budget first off and what things are most important to reach that goal.

76larkman

well the L33 from 2004-2006 had a B engine code. Came in 4x4 1/2 ton trucks. I never seen one in a 2wd truck