LS Engines
03-04-2019, 11:36 PM
#1
Teching In
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
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LS Engines Is there any other name for the LS engine? Out of the 4 national auto parts stores none seem to know what an LS is. I walk in asking for, e.g. a set of head gaskets for an 04 & up LS6. I get this blank stare and the next question is "What's it in?" Knowing it will do no good I toy with them and tell them it's in a 57 Chevy Bel Air. About half will start to look it up while the other half will immediately tell me their book doesn't go back that far! I then tell them it didn't come in the 57 chevy and that it is an 04 & later GM Engine (again). They then ask me "What did it come out of"? I tell them it came out of a Crate from GM! At this point they are lost and I'm frustrated. About 4 out of 5 auto parts clerks don't even know what an LS Engine is! OCCASIONALLY if the manager is around he will admit that he has heard of them but can't look anything up because there are no listings for any LS Engines.
I thought these were one of the most popular GM engines to date. They come in Family cars, Luxury cars, Sports cars, Lite Trucks, Motorhomes, Planes, Boats and I'm sure there are more out there that I'm unaware of. They're being snatched up for conversions quicker than GM can make 'em & we can wreck 'em! SO, why is the internet the only place you can find listings for an LS engine?
I thought these were one of the most popular GM engines to date. They come in Family cars, Luxury cars, Sports cars, Lite Trucks, Motorhomes, Planes, Boats and I'm sure there are more out there that I'm unaware of. They're being snatched up for conversions quicker than GM can make 'em & we can wreck 'em! SO, why is the internet the only place you can find listings for an LS engine?
03-05-2019, 05:17 AM
#2
Autozone and the aren't staffed by people who like cars generally. They staffed by folks working to pay bills and go school.
You've lucky, one of my recent visits I asked where are the car battery chargers located. The clueless kid asked for what type of phone. I said a charger for the battery in the car, it's not for a phone. Bewildered he said cars have batteries? He goes to phone charger rack. His manager tried not to laugh in the kids face and point to the far corner of the store. I couldn't help it and laughed at the kid. He followed me to the battery charges and had the look on his face of seeing an alien spacecraft or live UFO.
Too much smart phone & Facebook is bad for kids. It deprives them of life experience.
You've lucky, one of my recent visits I asked where are the car battery chargers located. The clueless kid asked for what type of phone. I said a charger for the battery in the car, it's not for a phone. Bewildered he said cars have batteries? He goes to phone charger rack. His manager tried not to laugh in the kids face and point to the far corner of the store. I couldn't help it and laughed at the kid. He followed me to the battery charges and had the look on his face of seeing an alien spacecraft or live UFO.
Too much smart phone & Facebook is bad for kids. It deprives them of life experience.
03-05-2019, 07:09 AM
#3
You could try telling them it's an engine from an '04 Corvette Z06. Most of the parts listings are arranged by vehicle rather than engine or other components so if they don't know what vehicle had that type of engine then they don't have a starting point to look up parts for it. Your other option is to buy from performance shops (like say summit racing) who know these things.
03-05-2019, 08:09 AM
#4
You could try telling them it's an engine from an '04 Corvette Z06. Most of the parts listings are arranged by vehicle rather than engine or other components so if they don't know what vehicle had that type of engine then they don't have a starting point to look up parts for it. Your other option is to buy from performance shops (like say summit racing) who know these things.
03-05-2019, 09:29 AM
#5
Indeed, parts store employees usually are not hotrodders nor car guys in general and don't really need to know much about vehicles whatsoever. They just need to know how to search the computer for a specific vehicle they're told and read the part numbers that pop up. I almost think the big box auto parts stores purposely prefer employees who don't know jack about cars. Seems that way anyhow for the most part.
It is nice though when there's a person behind the counter that you can simply ask for something very general (none vehicle specific) like a certain amount of 3/8" fuel line, 3/16" brake line or a car battery charger, and they know to just go to said product without asking for a specific vehicle and unnecessarily searching the computer.
It is nice though when there's a person behind the counter that you can simply ask for something very general (none vehicle specific) like a certain amount of 3/8" fuel line, 3/16" brake line or a car battery charger, and they know to just go to said product without asking for a specific vehicle and unnecessarily searching the computer.
03-05-2019, 09:42 AM
#6
This is why projects are so much fun. Try finding a special u-joint. Most of my local parts houses did not not even know what a 1310 u-joint was. let alone how to look up a 1310 to 1330 conversion joint. and it is a part that did not come factory in anything that i am aware of so that was not even an option. Once i found the part number online, one of them actually had two in stock.
and as stated above, most parts stores do not staff car guys, but rather anyone who will show up. There are two small local chains that know their stuff, and they are my first stop if they are open. But they work bankers hours, so are generally not open when i am working on a car after work and need parts.
and as stated above, most parts stores do not staff car guys, but rather anyone who will show up. There are two small local chains that know their stuff, and they are my first stop if they are open. But they work bankers hours, so are generally not open when i am working on a car after work and need parts.
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03-05-2019, 10:53 AM
#8
TECH Resident
Learn how to find your own part number or learn what the engine is supposed to live in. If you don't do one of those then you should just bring it to a dealership where they have a chance of figuring out what the engine is.
03-05-2019, 11:02 AM
#9
ModSquad
iTrader: (6)
Yup. Those guys...for the most part...know how to say 3 things: Year? Make? Model? You have to walk in knowing what your particular engine came in (year, make, model) or your asking for blank stares and frustration on both sides of the counter.
03-05-2019, 12:15 PM
#11
i used to work at auto zone. there are 2 types of employees in this expertise, the kind that want to learn how to work on cars so they apply to run a computer and pull parts, or the kind that think they know how to work on cars, and love to think that lucas is the first thing you should try when you have a check engine light cause the injectors are clogged, followed by if it was my car thats what i would try first. i always do what above is mentioned, because its also apart of the price shopping, find the correct part number online, since you are tech savvy enough to join a forum, and if you want it that day find it on their website to confirm for yourself its the right fit. just cause you say 4 cylinder, doesnt mean they didn't accidentally click 6 cylinder and was the another trip to the store.
03-05-2019, 12:51 PM
#12
Look I'm not trying to defend the worker but to be fair...it's long past 1972 where you could walk into a mom and pop place and say I need HG for a SBC and have them basically be on the shelf when an SBC was probably in a third of the total cars sold that year. There are small differences between all the LS's, even within your LS6 if memory serves the head bolt design changed in one of those years.
The computer systems look up the parts by year/make/model, because there's hundreds if not thousands per car.
The easiest thing to do is either give them the GM part number directly, or tell them the car it would have been in from the factory.
It's kind of asking a lot to expect a parts counter monkey to remember an '04 LS6 was in a Z06 Vette or CTS-V when he probably drives a 20 year old Honda.
The computer systems look up the parts by year/make/model, because there's hundreds if not thousands per car.
The easiest thing to do is either give them the GM part number directly, or tell them the car it would have been in from the factory.
It's kind of asking a lot to expect a parts counter monkey to remember an '04 LS6 was in a Z06 Vette or CTS-V when he probably drives a 20 year old Honda.
03-05-2019, 02:37 PM
#14
I worked in parts departments for many years back when the catalogs were physical books and eventually converted to microfiche. It was a (low paid), low stress, mostly enjoyable experience for someone who was into cars (especially with the employee discounts). We even had interchange catalogs that would tell you what parts from other makes and models would fit. These days, there is an ASE parts certification program but it seems that few parts suppliers actually hire based on certification. I bought the certification guide and sample tests because I may want to do that part time when I retire and I found that most of the questions were fairly easy for a knowledgeable car person but some of them were really quite challenging.
Of course the frustration can go both ways. I once had a customer drop a window regulator on the counter when I was working at a Toyota dealer. I didn't recognize the design so I asked what model of vehicle and got the usual "it's a red two door about 5 years old". So I asked him to go back out to the car and get me the VIN. He came back with a VIN that did not fit the Toyota coding so I went out to see the car myself. It was a Honda Civic. I told him that we don't carry Honda parts at a Toyota dealer and his response was "Why not? They're all Japanese."
Of course the frustration can go both ways. I once had a customer drop a window regulator on the counter when I was working at a Toyota dealer. I didn't recognize the design so I asked what model of vehicle and got the usual "it's a red two door about 5 years old". So I asked him to go back out to the car and get me the VIN. He came back with a VIN that did not fit the Toyota coding so I went out to see the car myself. It was a Honda Civic. I told him that we don't carry Honda parts at a Toyota dealer and his response was "Why not? They're all Japanese."
03-05-2019, 03:03 PM
#15
Autozone and the aren't staffed by people who like cars generally. They staffed by folks working to pay bills and go school.
You've lucky, one of my recent visits I asked where are the car battery chargers located. The clueless kid asked for what type of phone. I said a charger for the battery in the car, it's not for a phone. Bewildered he said cars have batteries? He goes to phone charger rack. His manager tried not to laugh in the kids face and point to the far corner of the store. I couldn't help it and laughed at the kid. He followed me to the battery charges and had the look on his face of seeing an alien spacecraft or live UFO.
Too much smart phone & Facebook is bad for kids. It deprives them of life experience.
You've lucky, one of my recent visits I asked where are the car battery chargers located. The clueless kid asked for what type of phone. I said a charger for the battery in the car, it's not for a phone. Bewildered he said cars have batteries? He goes to phone charger rack. His manager tried not to laugh in the kids face and point to the far corner of the store. I couldn't help it and laughed at the kid. He followed me to the battery charges and had the look on his face of seeing an alien spacecraft or live UFO.
Too much smart phone & Facebook is bad for kids. It deprives them of life experience.
03-05-2019, 07:16 PM
#16
I worked in parts departments for many years back when the catalogs were physical books and eventually converted to microfiche. It was a (low paid), low stress, mostly enjoyable experience for someone who was into cars (especially with the employee discounts). We even had interchange catalogs that would tell you what parts from other makes and models would fit. These days, there is an ASE parts certification program but it seems that few parts suppliers actually hire based on certification. I bought the certification guide and sample tests because I may want to do that part time when I retire and I found that most of the questions were fairly easy for a knowledgeable car person but some of them were really quite challenging.
Of course the frustration can go both ways. I once had a customer drop a window regulator on the counter when I was working at a Toyota dealer. I didn't recognize the design so I asked what model of vehicle and got the usual "it's a red two door about 5 years old". So I asked him to go back out to the car and get me the VIN. He came back with a VIN that did not fit the Toyota coding so I went out to see the car myself. It was a Honda Civic. I told him that we don't carry Honda parts at a Toyota dealer and his response was "Why not? They're all Japanese."
Of course the frustration can go both ways. I once had a customer drop a window regulator on the counter when I was working at a Toyota dealer. I didn't recognize the design so I asked what model of vehicle and got the usual "it's a red two door about 5 years old". So I asked him to go back out to the car and get me the VIN. He came back with a VIN that did not fit the Toyota coding so I went out to see the car myself. It was a Honda Civic. I told him that we don't carry Honda parts at a Toyota dealer and his response was "Why not? They're all Japanese."
03-06-2019, 05:10 AM
#18
I shop at O'reilly if I buy local and go on their web site and look up my own parts and print out a shopping list. They love me and I don't have to worry about them giving me the wrong parts. Before my LS swap Id walk in and ask for a part for a 68 Camaro or a Chevell or what ever I knew would fit. One day the kid said man you have a bunch of cool cars. I buy most parts from Summit or Amazon.
03-06-2019, 07:41 AM
#19
I shop at O'reilly if I buy local and go on their web site and look up my own parts and print out a shopping list. They love me and I don't have to worry about them giving me the wrong parts. Before my LS swap Id walk in and ask for a part for a 68 Camaro or a Chevell or what ever I knew would fit. One day the kid said man you have a bunch of cool cars. I buy most parts from Summit or Amazon.
03-06-2019, 08:22 AM
#20
The more control amazon takes of the online market, the higher their prices will go. They put smaller online shopping stores out of business constantly by either buying them out or setting their prices so low to take them out. Once competition dwindles their prices go on quite the rise. I've noticed this often lately, many things that use to be cheap, their prices are on the rise.
We are lucky to have so many places to look, so look and try to shop elsewhere other then the massive online giant amazon to keep it that way. Keep other online stores in business. It's the same logic that applies to our local stores and businesses.
We are lucky to have so many places to look, so look and try to shop elsewhere other then the massive online giant amazon to keep it that way. Keep other online stores in business. It's the same logic that applies to our local stores and businesses.