This thread is amazing! I’m doing the same exact thing on the same exact motor for the same exact truck as we speak! Thank you guys for all the help and info. I have a few questions also..I took my motor completely out just because I wanted it on the stand to do all the work. Is there anything special I have to do to the oil pan when reinstalling? I saw in another article somewhere they were drilling and tapping it in the corners. I’m ready to get mine back together asap and will continue to follow this thread thank you guys!
2007 Tahoe 5.3l AFM DOD delete thread
- Thread starter Taheezy_88
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iamdub
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The only oil pan bolts I've ever heard of people breaking are the two long and skinny ones at the back. They don't get torqued to nearly as much as the others on the rail.
Good catch! It'd suck to crack another pan.
iamdub
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I pulled mine to be easier to work on and to replace all the seals. All the covers- front, rear and oil pan are designed to work in concert with each other. Alignment is crucial and there are specs for it. Install the front and rear covers first focusing on being centered to the crankshaft. But, they also have to be "clocked" properly. Meaning, centered on the crank but not rotated any so that one side of the bottom edge is below the block skirt and the other side high. Otherwise, when you tighten the pan to the block, it'll hit that point of the cover that's too low and not sit flush. Tightening the pan bolt will try to bend the pan and it doesn't bend, it cracks. Inversely, if one side is too high, then tightening the pan bolts will pull down on that side of the cover, off-centering the crank seal which will make it wear unevenly and wear and leak much sooner.
I don't know anything about drilling and tapping the oil pan in the corners. The only oil pan drilling I know of is to drill out the rivets on the factory original gasket or drilling the pan to install a turbo oil return or drilling and tapping the drain boss to repair damage from over-tightening.
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Taheezy_88
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My cover is off. To realign the timing cover? Would unbolting balancer bolt be a step or working around it unbolting timing cover to readjust?
Okay yes I noticed the original gasket is riveted in so maybe that what they were drilling out thanks!
So another question..sorry to be high jacking the thread, but what are you guys doing as far as a break in procedure? Are we doing it? And if so, what kind of oil and lube do you guys recommend for reassembly and the break in period?
iamdub
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You don't have to unbolt it. They make tools to center the cover, both with the seal in place and without. The one that does it with the seal in place is basically the same outer diameter of the pulley where the seal lip rides, but the inside is machined ever-so-slightly larger than the pulley so it can slide on and off the crankshaft. I use the pulley, pressed on just enough to protrude past the seal, to center the cover. I apply very light pressure to the bottom so that the weight of the cover isn't pulling down on the seal. I eyeball the bottom of the cover so that it looks even then finger-tighten the bolts to hold it in place. Then I put a straightedge against the pan rail of the block and adjust the cover with very gentle taps until both sides are even, and not below the pan rail. There's a maximum height spec that the bottom of the cover should not exceed. I aim for flush or nearly-flush, but the centering by the crank usually has it higher than the rail by something like half a millimeter. If I did this more often, I'd definitely have the tool that centers the cover without the seal in place.
iamdub
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After an AFM delete, the only thing to break in are the lifters, cam and oil pump if that was replaced. I use whatever assembly lube I have on hand at the time. The lifters are manually primed then soaked for days, weeks or months (depending on how long I have them) in cheap conventional 10w-30 oil (Super Tech from Walmart). I pack the rotors of the oil pump with assembly lube to help with suction for priming. For pre-lubing and first start, I use the cheap 10w-30 and good filter. I run it through a full warm-up, then for about 10 miles. I change the oil, using more of the cheap oil and good filter for a few hundred miles, then change it with a quality full synthetic and filter and resume my normal 5,000-mile oil change intervals.
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Taheezy_88
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Anyone got the torque specs for the:
Rack and pinion?
Front crossmember?
Drive axle 6 bolts to differential?
Thx
Rack and pinion?
Front crossmember?
Drive axle 6 bolts to differential?
Thx
Yup, this is pretty much the same process I use.
New lifters sit in an oil jug with fresh oil for 48 hours, pump is primed with Royal Purple Tuff Stuff assembly lube. Once the motor is back together before the first start up i pull the primer port on the drivers side of the block and fill with the same assmebly lube.
Cam, lifters and oil pump were all happy, 50+ lbs of oil pressure at start up and no noise after about 10 seconds.......just the marriage of new parts getting to know each other.
Since my rebuild I have about 4500 miles on the motor and probably 20 runs on the dyno. All is good here.
