LS engine general questions
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2019
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
LS engine general questions 1)
With the LS engines, what makes them different sizes other than stroke, for example, a 4.8 to a 6.0. Are the blocks the same and they are bored out from the factory and or stroke? Or are the height and widths actually different from one to the next? If the height and width dimensions of the blocks are the same I have trouble understanding why they cast them with Liter designations on them.
2)
I have been seeing a lot of youtube videos showing cam swapping that the timing chains are loose and this makes me very nervous about these engines. Is this normal even on
new timing gears and chainswithout and with chain tensioners or is this just on donor engines like sloppy mechanics style swaps?
With the LS engines, what makes them different sizes other than stroke, for example, a 4.8 to a 6.0. Are the blocks the same and they are bored out from the factory and or stroke? Or are the height and widths actually different from one to the next? If the height and width dimensions of the blocks are the same I have trouble understanding why they cast them with Liter designations on them.
2)
I have been seeing a lot of youtube videos showing cam swapping that the timing chains are loose and this makes me very nervous about these engines. Is this normal even on
new timing gears and chainswithout and with chain tensioners or is this just on donor engines like sloppy mechanics style swaps?
1) They’re all V8’s from the factory so the only other way to increase displacement is with bore. The blocks are similar enough that a lot of internal parts will interchange, however, max bore sizes will vary, so you can’t really bore a 4.8/5.3 block to a 4.125” bore like the 7.0L block, for example. There are ofher differences between the years, such as revised sensor locations, head bolt lengths, and cam bearings between the Gen 3 and Gen 4 blocks.
2) Loose chains are normal. It doesn’t seem to be a problem as the occurences of LS timing sets jumping a tooth seem to be pretty rare.
2) Loose chains are normal. It doesn’t seem to be a problem as the occurences of LS timing sets jumping a tooth seem to be pretty rare.
TECH Resident
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 926
Likes: 18
From: Central Texas
If you are really worried about the timing chain slack several companies offer dampers to take up the slack. From the 4.8 to the 6.2 the only engine with a different stroke is the 4.8. The others are sized by the bore. Have fun..
