L33 engine noise at start up
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L33 engine noise at start up alright so I’m looking into buying an L33 from a salvage dealer where I’m from. They sent me an lm7 by accident and so they said they pulled an l33 the same day for me to make up for the mistake but the guy said it has “piston slap” at start up and it goes away after 30 seconds or so. I’ve read up on old threads from 2005 and what not. I’m aware it’s most likely lifter noise but I’m curious as to anyone who has taken an engine apart that had apparent “piston slap” if the bearings had any irregular wear and if the cylinder bores were badly worn. My plan is to boost this engine so I’ll be taking it apart and prepping it for boost , new bearings if necessary, BTR cam , springs etc. long story short l33’s aren’t very easy to come by around here, they get around 1 per month and was wondering if it would be worth taking the “risk” on this l33 with apparent piston slap at start up. Thanks , I appreciate any input.
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they told me they would sent me the l33 for the same price ( exchange ) for the lm7, they sold me an L33 but sent the wrong one. There’s a guy selling an l33 online and he got it from the same place and the told him the same thing , that it “piston slaps “ at start up then it goes away.
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I’d like to stick with a gen 3 ecu because that’s what I have right now. Reason being I want an l33 is also for the heads. I guess I could go with a 05 or 06 6.0 iron with floating wrist pins but the heads aren’t the greatest.
If your rebuilding it, really doesn’t matter. L33 is a low production 5.3 HO, with great heads, gen4 rods, and flat top pistons. I put one in a suburban once, and it would move the boat very well. The blocks are sought after because they can go out .030” without issue. Having said that however, if your looking for big boost, an iron block might be a better choice.
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From: Central Cal.
Unless I'm mistaken, The Gen IV 5.3's all use 243/799 heads, the LH6.LH8, and LC9 among them. And if you want to retain the Gen III ECM have the crank reluctor switched. All this might be easier than sourcing a healthy L33.
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