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Agreed. And, in this instance, I just chose to convey the opinions of GM's engineers.
I wonder if some of those same "opinionated" engineered all the problems that the new rigs are having.......I was actually looking at a new Z71 about 6-7 months ago and I did not like the attitude of the salesman and I walked. So glad I did.
You are not dreaming. They were called "seal savers" and were a PITA to install. Easy to bend during install if you did not have the patience of a nun. There were some reports of oil leakage past the collar and the balancer neck though. Best to just get a new balancer.
I thought I put one on a K5 back in the day. As a young poor lad (read used money for more fun stuff), I hammered on on a sb 350 balancer with a 2X4. Worked fine with no leaks.
100%. If you have some extra time, this book is a fabulous read:I'm not ruling them out, but the problems other than the lifter and/or push rod failures don't smell like engineering fails to me. They smell like budget cuts: Lower quality materials and workmanship on the electronics, trim pieces, etc. The slip-ups in the installations and assembly are concurrent with over-worked and maybe even underpaid employees being rushed to put quantity over quality.
I my mind, the engineers are saying "We can't do xxxx because it has a 30% chance of failing" while the bean counters are saying "If we rush out an extra 500,000 units a year, that 30% will affect an even smaller number of units in comparison".
...With the millions of leak-free LS engines pounding the highways since '98, I'd have to trust them on their crank seal design.
