Long story short:

I bent a connecting rod in my ws6 and need advice on what to do next...

Short story long:

I left my ws6 sitting out in some heavy rain one night. When I went to start it the next morning, the engine severerly (what I'll call) misfired and vibrated violently. It was bad enough to where I got out of the car to see if the transmission or driveshaft fell out of the car.. literally

When I got back in the car and tried to start it, it was as if the battery was dead. A buddy of mine jump-started it, but once it was finally running it was making a very audible rpm-driven ticking somehwere in the engine. Against my better judgement we limped the car home and begin looking at a few things.. I found two spark plugs that were loose enough to take out by hand and some condensation under my oil cap..

Unfortuantely this happened on a Sunday afternoon and I didnt have much time to look at it so I had it towed to a local shop..Before starting the motor anymore, both valve covers were removed and all the valvetrain inspected.. still same ticking noise after reinstall. Eventually, oil pan was removed and a noitcebaly bent connecting rod was seen on cylinder 6..

Which brings me to my original question... What to do next? Obviously I was not intending on doing a motor rebuild out of the blue but my options are limited.. Do I have the shop continue to tear down the current engine and rebuild what is wrong? Do I find a used short block assembly and frankenstein the two motors together? Do I buy a cheap car to drive for the next few months and slowly build a nice motor to swap in?

 

For reference the car is my daily driver.. a mildly cammed m6 ws6 that just hit 100k miles. My initial suspicion was that somehow enough condensation got into the motor to make it detonate and bent a connecting rod via hydrolock. It should go without syaing that I'm pretty upset with the entire situation so any help/input would be much appreciated..

 

I would try to find another Gen III shortblock, like an LQ9 or something and swap everything over.

 

op you have several options..it's a matter of money & time.

All of these will require pulling the motor & some machine shop time to inspect the block, no way around it (sorry)

Opt 1 - Rebuild (lease expensive) you will need to have the crank and the rest of the rods checked out. Make sure no other rods are on their way out. You can get used rods and have the shop verify that they are still in working condition and have them balance and hone the crank and rods for correct bearing size. Even if you get a "new" replacement rod the same will be required. I strongly recommend a hot tank and replace the oil pump & timing chain while you are here. The wash is to clean the block of any debris, the oil pump = same reason.

I've got a few spare rods if interested.

Opt 2 - Upgrade - either to new block like a 6.0 liter (LS2/LQ4/9)or stroker. Too many things to list.

Opt 3 - find a 5.3 block, all your LS1 stuff will swap over, you need to use the LS1 oil pan. You'll have a little lost in power but it's the closest and easiest , unless you acquirer another LS1 block.

 

he stated he pulled the oil pan and found a bent rod

 

Work a lot of over time and cut back on beer. Personally I'd try to upgrade to a 6.0. It can be bitter sweet but its the perfect opportunity to build one.

 

Yeah, I think it makes sense to upgrade one way or another since it has to be torn apart regardless. I'd like to be able to transfer as much stuff over as possible (cam, valvetrain, maybe heads, etc).. Unfortuantely this isn't something I was planning on doing at the moment so I'm not too familar with the similiarities between blocks. Let the research begin...

 

I'm currently in this process......I blew up my motor last November. Lucky for me I had been planning on upgrading and jumped on a LQ4 short block for $300 last spring. Had it in storage while I bought parts. Not going to lie, it can be a little difficult planning & purchasing over a period of time. You begin to feel like a squire chasing random nuts because what you like today may not be what you like in 3 months. I went back & forth between 3 different cams and took me several months to afford a set of 243's I'm on a budget so picking the right parts and knowing where/when to spend $$ wisely. I'm now down to a few gaskets and a couple of parts.

My short block is from a 04' Silverado 2500. The LQ4/9's you want are between 99'-04. These blocks come with the right crank (pre 99's have a shorter crank) and have 24x reluctor wheel (05'< come with 58x reluctor wheel). Knowing the reluctor wheel is important. Our PCM are 24x, you have a couple of options on dealing with 58x. You can have a shop remove and press on a 24x or for a couple $100 you can get a 58x to 24x kit (not cheap IIRC around $500) last option is to swap over to a 58x wire harness, pcm, and dash cluster (not even going to guess how much).

LQ4's have about 9.5. compression while LQ9's have about 10.4 (estimate). If you plan on going with FI you'll want the lower compression. You can up the compression several ways. Swap over pistons, mill the heads, swap to different heads...


All of the accessory drive (PS pump, alternator, water pump, tensioners, etc.) need to be swapped over. Also the alternator will need a new hole drilled and tapped in order to secure properly. You will also use the f body oil pan and LS1 engine mounts.


Now if you acquire a long block, not to worry, most of the stuff you can sell off on ebay to recoup some cost. Truck oil pan alone is worth $150-$190.



Now the most important advice I can offer - know what your skill level is. Meaning are you able do the rebuild yourself and know it will work properly & safely. Engine builds require certain tools and techniques. If you are doing it to learn make sure you have someone that knows how to build a LSx motor. Otherwise you're wasting your money. Example the rear and front plates have to be aligned correctly or you'll have oil leaks. If you plan on using arp bolts for the connecting rods they'll need to be resized by a machine shop or you'll have bearing issues. The crank and new rods will need balancing which means a shop will need to do it.

I'm having a shop get mine to a short block for 2 reasons. One for all that I just stated (only because I don't have all the tools) and the 2nd is because I had shoulder surgery 2 weeks ago, I can't lift a coffee cup let alone torque a main cap. Machine shop prices very, mine is quoting me $700 for hot tank, crank balance (needed because I'm swapping over to LS2 pistons/rods), main's line hone, measure for correct cam and crank/rod bearings, hone the cylinders, and build it to short block.

 

Thanks for the response, thats a big help in itself.. If I'm lookin to go slighlty bigger cubes is there a reason I should go lq4/9 vs ls2? It will be built by a reputable local shop but since its currently my only car, I'm kinda rushed time- and budget wise. Will most likely by a cheap DD so I can build this properly over the next few months

Although my intentions for this car were to keep it a heads/cam car, this is one of those sh***y situations that ironically forces me to reconsider, so although i wouldnt rule out FI i still think i want to keep this build all motor.

 

Being on a budget the lq4/9 are cheaper and more plentiful than an ls2..sucks sometimes you have to put more money in a build than you were planning on..just hang in there and build her right and you wont regret it..just plan out what you want and can afford and take your time. Im currently building a forged 370 out of an lq4 and as long as i hunt for good deals it will not be too expensive. Heck after selling the intake, exhaust manifolds, and the old 350 tbi out of my truck the motor was paid for and more.

 

Are there good places to start looking for blocks apart from junk yards and the classified section? Im a little skeptical of used engines cause you never know the history of them, but like I mentioned I'm pushed for time/money on this so i need to start checkin as many resources as possible.

 

What is your budget?

 

That's a great question... Unfortunately I havent been saving up money for this nor did I intend on doing a motor rebuild out of nowhere, so this whole thing has taken me off guard. With that said, however, I do want a solid/reliable motor to go back in so I don't want to cut too many corners.

Ideally, I'd like to stay (well) under 5k for this.. I know this isnt going to get me a top-notch bullet proof motor, but I think this should get me a reasonable set up (someone correct me if I'm completely off here)... As I mentioned before, if I'm gong to be spending this kind of money I'd like to upgrade somehow, opposed to just replacing the ls1 block as-is. Whether that means stepping up to a 6.0 block, force feeding a 5.3 block, or just beefing up a 5.7 block is still unknown, but I have to do it in a timely/cost-effective way (I know, I know..just like everyone else in the world building a car).

I guess what this translates to is that unfortuantely I can't afford to buy a brand new 402 short block and piece together everything; I really need a quality used block from somewhere (unless someone knows of an outrageous deal somewhere).

HELP!

 

From personal experience over the years, I learned that getting a built shortblock is wiser and cheaper at the long run than any used motor. Your $5k budget is very reasonable and your shortblock is the core of any decent build.
Shop around, get written quotes, with brand names used in detail.

 

After some more thinking and researching I'm really beginning to lean towards a 6.0 (most likely lq9 unless someone recommends ls2).

What kind of price am I looking at for a newly assembled shortblock - (something decent, not a top notch forged race motor) or does it make more sense to buy components individually and have the shop complete the build?

 

Lq4 or LQ9 no doubt about it. Awesome power to be had out of the 6.0s and some 243 heads. You can find full motors with everything you need but obviously you don't need much because its the same generation as the fbodies for under 1 grand all day long. I wouldn't bother doing anything fancy i would just get it and inpsect it throw a cam on it with some 243s and enjoy it.

 

You can find 347forged shortblocks for $3000 to $4000 and more. I just browsed a bit and I found SDPC for $3600, TSP for $3400......
Do some research.

Keep in mind that 6.0 Iron is heavier, will need upgraded heads etc.. to optimize.

 

I found a lq block.. is there any reason I shouldnt go ahead and make it a 408? Im not too familiar w/ strokers but it seems like now would be the right time to do it..

What am I going to be gaining/sacrificing vs just keeping it a 6.0? Or should i just keep it a 6.0 and put the saved money towards some heads or something else?

 

Bumpin it.. need some input, I have to make a decision within the next week or so.

 

Id prolly just do the 6.0 and get some 243 heads. Being on a budget the 408 can get expensive