How do I figure out exactly what ls engine I have?

 

If it's stock and untouched, the numbers on the corners of the Heads narrow it down fast. If it's still in the original vehicle that's even better..

 

If you have the original factory Powertrain Control Module (PCM) that was mated and factory married to this motor, you can pull the Vehicle Identification Number and decode it to discover it precisely. HP Tuners or PCM Hammer can do this file pull from the PCM.

Rick

 

Brethren,
New Guy To LS Motors, Old Guy For when they Had Points & Plugs.

But My Question Is : My motor has Cover To Cover My Coil packs ,So Which Side Has the Oil Fill Cap ?

Thx,
Baldy

 

Gen 3 LS motors have the oil filler cap on the passenger side, front of the head, through the valve cover. The dipstick is midway down the passenger side of the motor. What year is your motor?

Rick

 

If you're looking at it in the car, front passenger side you'll see the cap on a filler neck in the Valve Cover.

 

Brethren,
Thanks For The Tip. Motor Installed This Year
Baldy

 

Check the numbers on the corners of the Heads

 

First- What makes you think it *NEEDS* to be gone through and redone? You seem to be talking about what amounts to a basic stock freshen-up without any upgrades- why? Is something known to be wrong?

You mentioned -

1. cam bearings are something you could do yourself fairly easily, and the tool is cheap to rent and fairly affordable to buy.
2. Same with rings- If you're planning on just slapping a new set of rings in it and reusing the factory pistons, that's something you can do yourself fairly easily- you'd just need a ring pack, a ring file, and the right size dingleball hone to deglaze the cylinders.
3. What do you mean by "main caps"?
4. Gaskets are easy.
5. What are you hoping to get out of a crank polish?
6. You didn't mention rod and main bearings, line boring, checking the cylinders for straightness and/or honing, checking and potentially milling the deck surface, going over the heads and potentially doing a valve job, guides, decking the heads, swapping out the oil pump and lifters while it's apart, adding an upgraded cam/pushrods/valvesprings setup, etc.

What I'm getting at can badically be TLDR'd into 3 things:

1. Are you sure it actually *NEEDS* to be redone?
2. If all you're after is a bare-minimum freshen-up, you can do that yourself
3. If you're already going to be spending the money to have a machine shop go through it and do a rebuild, now would be the time to do some upgrades- gen 4 or some forged rods, better pistons, sending the heads out to be checked, cnc-ported, and milled, upgrading to a better oil pump, getting an aftermarket cam, a set of new lifters, and an adjustable timing set and having the shop degree it in properly for you... Or, if it's all in good shape, you could use your engine as a core to buy a pre-built shortblock, and get a set of nice aftermarket heads.

 

Totally in the wrong thread guy...