2007 Tahoe LT 4x4 5.3L gas 158k miles, how long do the engine's last?

[Yukon_]

It depends on the maintenance done since day one. But Generally could last up to around 300k - But there will be parts that wear out in that time frame. This is kind of an open ended question.

 

[iamdub]

With the spare PCM approach, do you have to go through the on/wait 30 secs, 10 minutes, 30 seconds, 10 minutes, rigamarole each time you swap it out?

The improved shift points sounds good as well, as my poor tranny is not all that happy around town, at certain speeds, in the lower gears.

I may give the Diablo unit a try. It seems to provide the most flexibility for me as I move down the road. My confidence to do the full AFM delete on the next motor would be greatly boosted if I knew for certain emissions were not going to have me slapping my head. Doing it all in SW ahead of time would be nice.

Not sure about the key relearn process. I'd think that when you do it once after receiving the new PCM, it'd be a one-and-done deal.

GM's shift tables are crap. The transmissions die an early death because of them. Those that do a lot of highway driving tend to get a more normal life from them. But, those in the city are screwed. The 6L80 has sloppy tuning as well, but is a huge improvement in itself because it at least has two extra gears to pick between for those odd low-speed, part-throttle scenarios. The 4L is limited and it either stays in a higher gear and lugs or drops one gear lower and revs out. There's no real happy medium and it's programmed to take the higher gear and lug more than rev out.

I had mine turned off in the sw for a couple of years then deleted it around mid-2020 with a mild performance cam, etc. Since it was already disabled in the tune, it fired right up after the mods. I just needed to get the tune optimized for the cam. No problems passing emissions. Although, I must say that we don't have the sniff test here- no probe up the tailpipe.

 

[wsteele]

Not sure about the key relearn process. I'd think that when you do it once after receiving the new PCM, it'd be a one-and-done deal.

GM's shift tables are crap. The transmissions die an early death because of them. Those that do a lot of highway driving tend to get a more normal life from them. But, those in the city are screwed. The 6L80 has sloppy tuning as well, but is a huge improvement in itself because it at least has two extra gears to pick between for those odd low-speed, part-throttle scenarios. The 4L is limited and it either stays in a higher gear and lugs or drops one gear lower and revs out. There's no real happy medium and it's programmed to take the higher gear and lug more than rev out.

I had mine turned off in the sw for a couple of years then deleted it around mid-2020 with a mild performance cam, etc. Since it was already disabled in the tune, it fired right up after the mods. I just needed to get the tune optimized for the cam. No problems passing emissions. Although, I must say that we don't have the sniff test here- no probe up the tailpipe.

Ultimately, that is probably where I am headed, with a real delete, but likely on a rebuild or reman. Right now things are running so well, I am just working to have my ducks lined up, so when that day comes, could be tomorrow morning, could be a lot of years from now, I know exactly what I want to do.

Here, I have never had anything other than a plug in to the ODBII port and some walking around with a mirror looking at the cats when they test me. In the station I have used, he has a tailpipe sniffer hanging on a hook, tied to a big roll around box, not sure who they use it on. I am assuming if all the readiness flags are green, my truck will pass emissions.

When I asked BB if I did their delete and tune, if my car would pass here in Idaho (they are up in Coeur d'Alene), they firmly stated they can't opine on emissions as their services are for off road only. I understand the legal and liability issues, so I didn't press them. It would be nice if someone here in Idaho had done a flash delete and could opine on their emissions testing experiences.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I tore down my engine at 240,000 miles. No joke looked like it could continue going perpetually. The weak point in these motors is the valvetrain but even that looked perfect. Granted mine was a 2001 with non of the AFM bs.

Mine didn't loose or burn a drop of oil. It did leak from the oil pan gasket when I got it. However, I think somebody changed that at some point and did a REALLY nasty RTV job on it. I cleaned that up. I also burnt out a water pump and replaced it. I think that was it.

I have another post on it, but I broke the motor myself. I hydro locked a cylinder, snapped a rod, and shot it through the side of the bock. if I'd not broken the block I'm convinced it would have kept running on 7 cylinders haha Granted I'd had to pull broken piston and rod out then disable fuel to that cylinder etc etc etc but I kind of wanted to try haha

INSANELY good motors. Don't doubt them.

 

[Brianltz]

I was wondering about how long these engines last?

This one has 158k miles and loses about a quart every 5-7k miles. Its had fairly regular oil changes, all with synthetic I believe. Switching from 5w-30 to 10w-30 synthetic today to try to prevent oil loss.

It does do a lot of towing long distance and in hot weather. Trans has been rebuilt. Rear diff rebuilt.

Just wondering about the engine and if there's any signs to worry about. It does have some slight ticking, so the valves will probably need to be adjusted at some point.

Thanks for any tips

2014 LTZ 5.3 with 154k oil consumption. Installed Range AFM eliminator, added one quart Marvel Mystery oil to crankcase and 8oz to gas at each fill up. Zero oil consumption after about 2,000 miles and at the end of oil change life. Dexos oil at last 2 dealer services. No claims at this point but something fixed it.

 

[drvrd]

I was wondering about how long these engines last?

This one has 158k miles and loses about a quart every 5-7k miles. Its had fairly regular oil changes, all with synthetic I believe. Switching from 5w-30 to 10w-30 synthetic today to try to prevent oil loss.

It does do a lot of towing long distance and in hot weather. Trans has been rebuilt. Rear diff rebuilt.

Just wondering about the engine and if there's any signs to worry about. It does have some slight ticking, so the valves will probably need to be adjusted at some point.

Thanks for any tips

My 97 Tahoe 5.7L towed about 200k of it's 306k life. In north TX weather.

 

[Chris North]

I was wondering about how long these engines last?

This one has 158k miles and loses about a quart every 5-7k miles. Its had fairly regular oil changes, all with synthetic I believe. Switching from 5w-30 to 10w-30 synthetic today to try to prevent oil loss.

It does do a lot of towing long distance and in hot weather. Trans has been rebuilt. Rear diff rebuilt.

Just wondering about the engine and if there's any signs to worry about. It does have some slight ticking, so the valves will probably need to be adjusted at some point.

Thanks for any tips

Hi. I have an 02 Yukon with 235,000 miles. Runs great. Had an oil leak about 50k ago and I switched to high milage 5w-40 oil and the leak stoped! Still going strong, slight ticking on cold startup but thats it. Love my Yukon.

 

[jj88]

I think I am going to add some Mystery oil to the engine oil. Although I do have Sea Foam as well. Either one I could put in for longer term cleaning. The ticking is not horrible.

It was purchased at 30k miles, and I assume it was taken care of well during that time. I would like to see if MMO will reduce the oil consumption over 4-5k miles. That would be encouraging. AFM disabler is $200 so going to wait on that. Thank you all for the discussion.

 

[Matthew Jeschke]

I did the lifter fix with spray can berryman cleaner. took valve covers off. sprayed one can each side of motor on the lifters (spray down pushrod and around).

buttoned it up... let motor sit for 24 hours while cleaner did its work.

then ran motor (idle only) 1 hour with crankcase cleaner.

I used sea foam. others swear by kano kroil. A cheap can of sea foam did it for me. added the whole can to crankcase.

I then immediately changed my oil. no more lifter tick. and I had about 225,000 miles on the motor when I did it.

Not sure if just crankcase cleaner would have worked.

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