Trailblazer SS

[DanStokes]

Nope, not a fan. It seems that somewhere around 100,000 the oil pumps cut loose - not acceptable in my world. I don't think they ALL do it but enough that the engine supplier says they have it happen all the time.

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

I own 2 LS motors, a 5.3 that I beat like it owes me money in my H3 Hummer, and a 6.0 in the Denali. The 5.3 has 155,000 miles on it, the Denali has 198,000 miles on it... both have great oil pressure and both run like new with no blowby or any plug fouling at all. I think that person was selling you a load of the stuff they make at feedlots. Of course, if they sold you motors from cars that rolled over.... just sayin'

I was at an auto accident once where neither car was going anywhere but on a tow truck - one car, a Subaru, was idling and I went to turn it off when the driver said she wanted to keep the car warm while waiting for the ambulance. The motor stopped itself eventually.

[Dan Barlow]

Have two brother in laws with 5.3 suburans (2004s) and a son that had one like it . All over 200,000 miles .

[irsa76]

And here I am remembering doing warranty claims on 5.7 LS1s for spun bearings and piston slap with less than 20,000 km on them.
Granted these were all '98/99 build engines, just before GM stopped claiming they weren't rebuildable!

[Deaf Bob]

Again, I need to chat with the 2 derby guys who run the 5.3's. Intakes to run carbs and front cover to run dist set up.
They both do well.. Their cars stop long before their motors do..

[Russell]

I have heard of others loosing oil pressure. One said they cut it off quickly and they were able to replace the pump and keep driving it.

I have heard the newer ones with cylinder deactivation have problems.

my 2003 2500 with 6.0 has 223k has a tick but seems to be good. The 2002 suburban with 160k sounds ruff on cold start and leaks / uses a lot of oil.

[DanStokes]

This pic may not look a whole lot different from yesterdays' pic but the engine is now bolted to the trans and sitting on its mounts so tomorrow I can start hooking stuff up. I did figure out how to install the engine then the left mount and exhaust manifold - not easy but for sure the best way to handle this installation. If I was doing a manual for this installation I'd catalog every step which would make this job a lot easier for future installers. Chugging along.



Dan

[Huskinhano]

Dan, you're a better man then me! I'd probably be going crazy by now. No wait, I am crazy. Never mind

[DanStokes]

I dunno about "better" but I DO have tenacity - or as my Dear Mom used to say, "unbelievably stubborn"!

Dan

[DanStokes]

Not quite ready to turn the key but closer:

First, a look at our driveway. We've been trying to forget this stuff as it's been over 14 years since we lived in Michigan. I was still amused at the driving habits of the locals as they faced serious snow for the first time since 1989.



Back to the SS:

First, a bit of info on LS injector O-rings. It turns out that there are 2 sizes depending on application. The one on the left is an old one from the SS (I don't know if you can see that it's a bit chewed up), then the new Fel-Pro with the box behind it so if anyone needs them they have the PN, and then one of the O-rings from the Corvette which is obviously bigger in cross section. You can NOT get the rails in with those fat O-rings but it slides right in with the new Fel-Pros.




The next few are for my brother Dave. He asked me to show him how I do a butt splice in electrical wire and we never got around to it while he was here. I had to switch polarity on these wires so it was a great chance to document how I do it. No doubt there are as many ways to do this as there are guys doing it but this has worked for me.

First, split the wires into a couple of "legs" so you can intertwine the legs and sort of lock them together. (Full disclosure - these wires were so such a small gage and I had a pretty short length to work with so I was able to just wind them together).




The yellow wire wound together and soldered. The little point sticking out at the right of the pic is simply snipped off before I shrink wrap the joint.





The shrink wrap is, of course, on the wires before soldering (how many times have I forgotten THAT step!). Here I've pulled the shrink wrap down and will hit it with the heat gun. What you can't see is that there is a tail from a tie wrap under the black shrink wrap to reinforce the joint. Soldered joints can be pretty brittle and this helps support them - I've never had one of these joints fail.



And where I left it tonight. The wiring is pretty much all hooked up minus the alternator and battery that aren't in place yet. I've also bolted stuff on (note the big bracket in the left side of the engine) and generally getting much loser to starting it up.

[DanStokes]

Recovering from a screw-up, partly mine and partly GM's.

Because I left the AC compressor in the car I should have installed the lower AC bracket bolts in the bracket before I dropped the engine in place. Well, I didn't this time (did it right on the first install - oh, well.....). Fortunately, GM cleverly left an access hole in a chassis brace so you could just slip that bolt right in there. Unfortunately, they left that hole in the wrong place, at least for this engine. Following are the pics:

The improperly placed hole.



It's about 1 1/2" or so too far forward so I moved said hole.



And a little fine-tuning: (note the blip on the left corner of the inside plate). The bolt head opposite the blip is the offending bolt - it lines up nicely but the camera angle makes it look a bit off.


And all painted. with chassis black. I don't think there's any significant structural compromise.



As I left it tonight. Alternator is on and wired, the idlers are all on as is the belt.



And all the plug wires are in place.




Has anyone pre-lubed an LS? That's coming up soon and given our oiling issues I really want to pre-lube it.

Dan

[silver_bullet]

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/238432-how-hell-do-you-pre-lube-ls1.html

wondered about this myself....

[DanStokes]

A little Internet searching turned up a solution. There's a plug under the left front head that I think I can get to. Replace the plug with a fitting and I can use my pressure cooker-based pressurization pot (last seen in my Mercedes build thread) and it should be fine. I don't plan to fill the oil pan thru the pressure pot though evidently some folks do. As long as I have oil pumped into the engine I think all will be fine.

BTW, there's no way in the world to get to the oil pressure sender in this chassis as it's under the cowl. So the plug gives me an alternative.

Dan

[DanStokes]

Getting pretty close. I'll need to pick up a fitting at the Parker Store on Monday so I can pre-lube the engine and then I can hit the key! I've been happy to do this for Casey but I'll also be happy to get it back to him so I can get on with my other projects - I still have a big turbo to fit on Mutt and some wiring to sort out on the Volvo.

As I left it today: (The observant will note that I'm charging the battery "just to be sure").



A little repair: This broke as I was carrying it back down the stairs from the mezzanine. It probably didn't matter but I could so I did.


And a touch of chassis black.



I have a few little piddly things I can do tomorrow and hopefully Monday will be prime the oil and hit the key! I'm feeling good about this one.

Dan

[silver_bullet]

fingers crossed here.....