2008 Chevy Tahoe 5.3L Engine "Upgrade"

[Jacktharippa]

Evening and Merry Christmas everyone,

Looked for several hours for a similar question, but couldn't find any.

My vehicle is a 2008 Chevy Tahoe with 110,***. While road tripping to Florida, my engine began to have very rough idle, plugged in the ole' trusty code reader and found a cylinder 6 misfire code. Swapped/replaced coil packs, short ignition cords and found 6's spark plug was coated in oil and that cylinder had low compression (40psi). Replacing/swapping did not fix the issue, but the new plug doesn't have significant oil. This was the extent of my abilities while on a road trip (at folks house in Palm City, FL with only the tools I thankfully brought)

I brought it to the local Chevy dealer and they say all 4 piston's need work on the even/passenger side (6th piston side) and recommend doing all 8 at the same time. They quoted me $3000 in labor + parts cost...and this is after stating they will be charging an additional $300 for their compression test(?seems very high for a test that took me 15 minutes). Due to the lack of specifics of the actual issue and horrible customer service, I'll be picking up my rig in the morning and bringing it to my folk's shop for a second opinion.

Assuming they are indeed correct, I will be replacing my vortec 5.3 instead of the endless fixing game. I've found crate 5.3l's online for $1,400-$2,000.

Started looking at options for replacing the 5.3l vortec:

Quoted $6000 dealership + crate engine (Hahahahaha)

Quoted $2000 labor + crate engine from parents shop (seems reasonable)

But, I believe I'm totally capable of swapping it. I've swapped calipers, wheel bearings, lifted two cars, most belt accessories, etc. Watched several videos of the swap and it doesn't seem too difficult, just a longer project. It appears I will only need a engine lift.

Any have advice on the project? Recommended places to buy 5.3s in the $1500-$2500 range? Are there any other engine models that swap well with the 5.3?


Thanks so much!!

 

[Vgreid]

How is it running now, after new plugs and so on? How much oil have you been burning? I was headed down a similar path, but surprisingly, my motor seems to have been salvageable. I never did a compression test tho, and 40 psi, is well, really low.

Anyways, here is my link, some of the things I did might be worth a try before throwing big $$ at it, especially if it is running ok.

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64622

 

[HUMBL57]

I would agree, try a lot of other options as posted in his thread above before condemning your 5.3 all together. You would have to confirm that the low 40 psi compression test was due to piston rings and not valves leaking. What did your other cylinders test at compression wise when tested in the same manner? A plug thats not firing correctly won't take very long to get fuel/oil soaked and look real bad, possibly worse than it actually is IMO

 

[ezdaar]

JY 5.3 pullouts under 100k miles are less than 500$.

All you need is a 5.3 longblock and transfer your accessories over.
Any competent mechanic can do this in less than 6 hours easily.

2k labor is insanely high.

 

[tallguyturbo]

Sounds like the exact same thing I went through...trip to Florida and all. (Broke down on the bridge in Jacksonville)


Here's a copy/paste from another thread explaining my "fix":

I too experienced "low compression" on #6 (lifter eventually failed, stealer recommended engine replacement). Instead of buying the dealer a new yacht, I took the hot rod approach. Went to Tick Performance, bought all the AFM/DOD & VVT delete kits, did a ton of maintenance work (head gaskets, oil pump, timing chain, etc), mildly built the heads, upgraded the cam, installed long tubes. Cost me roughly 1/3 of what the dealer quoted me to replace the engine. Now my Tahoe sounds like a race car and has brought joy back into owning this thing.


I worked with Martin @ Tick Performance to buy all the parts for the "build". Their located in Mount Airy and are one of the best (if not the best) GM performance shops in the country. Nothing but positive experiences from them on my end.

Parts list:
AFM/DOD delete kit
VVT delete kit
LS7 lifters
Brian Tooley Valve Springs
SNS Stage 1 Cam
New pushrods
New OEM Head bolts
LS2 Timing Chain w/ tensioner
OEM Head Gasket kit
LS6 Oil Pump (I think I bought the ported one, but can't remember)
Pacesetter Long Tube Headers
Borla ProXS 40359
New Plugs
New Plug Wires
All accessory belts
Other small parts/various gaskets (Valve Cover gaskets, etc)


You don't have to do the VVT delete, I just went that route because 1.) Tick has a solid lineup on proven non VVT cams & 2.) more new parts I won't have to worry about anytime soon.

I'd estimate this a solid two days worth of work. Maybe three. Don't forget you need to get the ECU tuned as well. If I could do it again, I'd add a stall and shift kit to the parts list.