I got a full 2004 express for $500.
The odometer is 250,000kms.

Compression is damn near perfect. Haven't started it yet and someone robbed the starter and what not.

My boss swears I shouldn't bother rebuilding it(using it runs good) and just throw it in the c3, I think I should buy an engine rebuild kit(about $650) and redo it.

What's your take? Rebearing,ring and seal it. Or slap it in.

 

Don't half-way it. Either full rebuild with premium pistons and rings and balance or leave it as it is. This prevents paying twice.

I would use a bore gauge to check for bore taper. Basically ring wear will make the bore barrel-shaped, wider in the middle than at the ends. If its within a half-thou of true then and it holds compression I would not even bother with re-ringing the pistons. If its worn out then do a full rebuild with a machinist shop and all that.

 

What about just a rebearing then? Or even then all or nothing?

 

If they are still good, I would re-use the bearings. No need to replace what isn't broken.

 

Was just thinking ahead. I'm leaving my job and won't have access to a 2 post to pull the body down the road to pull the engine. So I guess I full build.

Not sur how these engines usually are around 250k kms( 150k miles). Assuming maintence was done

 

My pull out LM7 had 210,000 miles. When I recently did a cam and TEA heads, the cylinders still had cross hatching, it doesn't burn oil and runs great.

 

Good to know. I work on these things daily but have never stripped into one. I deal with all the ambulances which tend to push 400k kms when they get rid of them.

I'll just do a gasket set then since it's easy and not expensive and paint the engine up. Will also give me a better idea of the engine quality, it's been sitting for 8 years.

Next is see how the transmission is and if it's all good then 500$ for the van was a steal haha.


Question - the 5.3l starters will fit the lq4? Even though the nunber of teeth are different? I jsut need a starter to get it running for now. And I glcsn get a bunch of free ones for 5.3

 

All LS starters are the same size wise. But the early LS engines had a smaller mounting pad on one side and required two different length bolts. Newer LS starters have the same length pad on both sides of the starter. I don't get anything special. I use NAPA so if the starter fails I can get a new one at no cost.

 

Spacing of the teeth must be enough to mesh together between the 2. Every 6.0l starter has 11 teeth, and every 5.3l starter has 9. I've looked at many years and many brands on the parts site. They all list as 11 and 9. If they mesh they mesh. Thanks.

 

150,000 miles is nothing on that engine if it’s had any kind of service, not ran hot or low of oil. I would do rear main seal and cover gasket for sure. I have been in several with near or slightly over 300,000 miles with minimal bore wear.

 

Well got the van to the shop and unloaded. Scrap yard guy said it's mine for a bottle of rum. Even better.

 

Does it still have the oil filter on it?

 

Only thing it's missing is the starter alternator, and throttle body. Some dash pieces and seats. Which w/e.

Got a Tb, getting a starter Friday, going to get it running do a comp test. If all is well I'll use hp tuners to delete the vats.

What else should I delete while it's still in van?

 

Cut the filter open and check to see if there is any metal in it.

If not, I don't see any reason at all to rebuild it.

 

If it aint broke then don't fix it.

 

Holy crap, I misread the first post as 250k miles instead of km. At 250,000 km, it would have had to suffer severe abuse to even think of needing a rebuild. I have bore scoped my old silverado motor back when it only had 220k miles and it had crosshatch on the cylinder bores. I was just making sure nothing came out of the Whipple that had started to get a little bearing rattle. At over 340k miles it still runs fine, just with the new Whipple head unit I put on at 220k miles.

 

Got it running today, someone robbed the starter, alternator, TAC module, throttle pedal and throttle body. Went to the junk yard today and grabbed everything i needed(except the alt).
Disconnected the fuel line and turned the key on nice brown sludge lol. Built a new line to a test pump i slapped into a jerrycan and it flashed right up.

Very slight stumble(could be old fuel still in the rails, i never ran it for long due to no belt), only codes are for Alternator and evap. Next is chuck in my test alternator and get a belt and actually run it to temp. But so far thing sound ssmooooooth

 

Got a random alternator from who knows what. Sets codes but it works lol, slapped on a belt. Got it to temp. Thing runs like a top. No ticks, no knocks no stumbles.
Cant drive it due to every brake line being blown, but it does drive forward and backward.

Ran about 30 mins until i saw the temp start climbing, found out why it was at the scrap yard. Heads are blown. Turned my tester immediately. No big deal. Easy fix once i cut the cab off. Later this week I will drop the oil and cut open the filter to see if there's any other surprises. Based off the sound of it running I don't think there's anything else.

 

This isn't true. The 6.0 starter is slightly longer than the 5.3 starter. The 9 teeth vs 11 teeth isn't an issue. I'm assuming it's because the shape of the teeth are designed to mesh correctly with the flywheels and flex plates.