My 2001 Tahoe LQ4 swap saga (lots of pics)
 

First off, i want to give a HUGE thanks to Shawn and Colin for the help... without you guys, this swap would have never happened :bigthumb:

So, Saturday morning Shawn and I showed up at the shop to start on the engine swap. There was a crispness in the air, the weather was beautiful and we had a wide open shop with plenty of tools at our disposal, life was good and we started the tear down.

Excuse the pics as all i had was my ipod...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0550.jpg

The top end came apart fairly easily. Decent amount of grime built up but it did have 198,500 miles on it and still ran awesome.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0559.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0559.jpg

Shawn trying to get the y-pipe off. Stupid rusty bolts!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0551.jpg

Well the bolts weren't budging on the collectors so we had to cut the y-pipe off. Who knew I had high flow cats this whole time?!?

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0556.jpg

A couple more bolts and some vertical persuasion from the forklift and it was out! Hellz yeah, hot damn!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0563.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0564.jpg

The new engine sitting on the bench.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0539.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0540.jpg

At this point, the stock exhaust manifolds had been pulled off since I was installing long tubes with the new engine. Unfortunately, the rear manifold bolt broke on BOTH SIDES!!! Some very careful and tedious drilling, heating with a torch, and an easy out got them out though. Good job Shawn and Colin!!!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0537.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0546.jpg

Beefy flanges on the headers and so shiny!!!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0542.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0543.jpg

Matt stopped by to check things out. Notice who is actually working in this picture.....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0565.jpg

Stock converter, 1800 stall? That has got TO GO!!!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0566.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0567.jpg

Time to drop the new motor in. Smooth like butta!

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0569.jpg

Here we ran into a little issue. We got the engine mounts and bellhousing bolts in and snugged. Only thing left to do on the bottom side of the engine other than exhaust is to bolt up the converter and call it a night. SIMPLE, right? Ummm, no. We go to turn the flywheel and it won't budge. WTF? Lets pull the plugs and see what they look like. I think these pictures speak for themselves....

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0571.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0572.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0574.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0577.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0578.jpg

looks like everything went smooth! a damn lift would of been very very very nice!

At this point, we are both contemplating rolling the truck outside and setting it on fire. I call the guy I bought the motor from and explain what is going on and his response, verbatim, is "I don't know what to tell you bo, it was fine when I had it." WTF is that bullshit? Moody gets to thinking and we decide to drown the engine in PB Blaster and let it sit overnight. I didn't take any pictures yesterday but when we got back to work on it, the crank came free and rotated smoothly after a few stressfull minutes of turning it. So now the engine turns freely and we can bolt up the converter. Shawn crawls under the truck and does the honors whole me and my friend start assembling the top end. At this point, we are cruising right along, the headers go in and get bolted to the rest of the exhaust, the accessories go on and life is good once again! We decide to leave the plugs out and spin the engine over to pump out most of the PB Blaster. Great success and the engine sound nice and smooth turning over with the starter! YESSSS!

So, we get to work installing the plugs and wires, make one last check of everything and I climb in the truck to turn the key over. The solenoid on the starter clicks in and after about a second of cranking the engine ROARS to life! I quickly shut it off as a huge grin spreads across my face. My tahoe sounds like a BAD MUTHA right now! I'm on cloud 9 right now, MY 6.0 LIVES!!! So i spin it over again, watching the oil pressure gauge intently as the motor roars to life once again. Oh shit.... no oil pressure so I kill it again. We talk about it and decide that maybe it just hasn't had time to pump it through the engine so we try again. Still nothing.

So, that's where we are at now. "New" engine with no oil pressure. This was basically my last view as Shawn towed it to HHP this morning for them to diagnose the oiling issue. Hopefully it's a simple fix like throwing a new oil pump on there and she will be on the road again. Fingers crossed on that one...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...5/IMG_0580.jpg

try a different sending unit?

filter was bone dry and no oil visible in the valve train when looking through the oil fill hole, plus the sending unit came off of my running 5.3 and was a known good unit :( the pump simply isnt pumping...

with the motor being full of water like that, and no oil pressure, it sounds like you bought a core motor from someone. Did you buy it from a junkyard or individual?

i bought it from an individual who got it from a wrecked truck at the junkyard... he pretty much told me to fuck off (in not so many words) and that the motor was "fine when he had it", implying that somehow the rust in the cylinders, etc was somehow my fault and happened in the 2 days i had the motor in my possession since driving to mooresville, nc and picking it up from him (at a cost of ~$150 and a whole day of driving on my part)... basically, it's mine now and on me to get it going as he has washed his hands of it when i drove off with it from his house... i just hope and pray that the guys at HHP have good news for me when they get into it and that it just needs an oil pump or something simple... i will be saving for a rebuild down the road if we can get it going... for now, lets just hope the oil starts flowing and nothing is majorly wrong to the point that i can't run it... i have to move to new york a week from this friday so, yeah....

Your problem is Matt touched the truck.

+1

Pick up tube could be clogged or its the oil pump. The only problem with it not pumping oil is it could have a spun bearing. The 6.0 I had a bad oil pump and it spun a main because of the oil pump. I had to get a new block because it tore up the main so bad. If you need it rebuilt I would go with Honeycutt in Columbia. He has great prices and does good work.

I had to pull the transmission out of my truck last week and I had to PB blast the bolts like ten times just to get them free. I almost cut the pipe so I would have an excuse to buy headers and a y-pipe.

Thanks for the props Aaron. Sorry this shit happened to you bro. Guys, this man has the patience of a saint. After everything that happened he never once got mad or lost his temper. Im sure it will all work out for you in the end. Keep the Ranger as long as you need, and let me know if there is anything I can do.

I would put that suckers address in my GPS and blaze a trail directly to him and open up a 6 pack of whoop ass on him over this.

Attachment 760

Good luck with it.

Buyer beware.....

Seller beware. Tell the truth or feel the wrath.

This. Tell the truth or get your skull cracked.

SMMS helping the community again!

Aaron, I hope you get it worked out and its nothing too crazy. Let me know if you need anything, I still have a few parts laying around.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SLP-H...item19c960142e

Best deal on an oil pump I have found

thanks guys, i appreciate all the kind words

skunk, at this point chris is basically right, as bad as i hate to say it and it really isnt worth my time or money to drive all the way back to mooresville to handle it face to face... i'm waiting on the word from jeff and the guys over at HHP as to what it's going to need... if we can't get oil pressure, the guy will definitely be getting another call from me and i wont be half as calm as i was saturday evening...

matt, i appreciate it man... like i said, i'm hoping they see that it just needs a new oil pump and that it's good to go... anything more than that is probably going to involve removing the engine and going into it to replace bearings and whatnot... y'all keep your fingers crossed for me! haha... of course, if i have to go into the motor, a stout iron block 408 sounds nice... then you can all get gapped by a 5000lbs suv :twisted:

and as soon as i can get the video of it cranking for the first time from my buddy brandon, i will post it here!

thanks for the link... i need it faster than i can get one shipped though so whatever i can get local is going to have to do... this motor will get opened back up at some point in the future for a full rebuild so i just want to get it on the road and be reliable enough to get some miles out of it...

I have an extra one for my truck setting here still in the box if you need it. You can just order me a another one off ebay. I dont think your going to find a aftermarket ls1 oil pump in town.

cool deal... i'll let you know... thanks man

here's the first turn of the key... you can really hear the valve train rattle lol... let's hope the next video i post sounds a little bit better

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gfPPDNSaYgQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

that sounds a whole lot louder than just valvetrain (i know its open header)

http://www.squidoo.com/prototypeschool

if you are going to Ballston Spa, take 77 up to 81 and skip the tolls.
my daughter lives up that way.
not sure if the guys at power school tell each other that route?

if you need to move, and don't have it done yet,
www.upack.com is ABF u-pack, and that the WAY to move. did it my last few moves.

Huh?

Aaron his heading up to school in New York I'm guessing that's directions.

in case he was planning on carrying or towing stuff in the truck, he can still get his junk there, and be on time.

the Navy don't care that he broke his truck. he HAS to be there.

and that way is near mooresville :)

Thanks but I have to go through Durham on the way to grab some furniture so I'll probably have to take the tolls... And you're right, navy doesn't give 2 shits about a bad motor, they need me there so I can sit around and do nothing for 3 more months... True story.....

You HAVE to check that shit out before you lay down the cash, no matter how excited you get. I got dicked on a motor in north carolina also, only I wasnt able to check it out, sent my father in law (40 year mechanic). Said the guy was "cool", the motor turned out to be shit.

Ya'll did some good work with the swap. Sucks to run into the problems you have. Probably made it not all seem worth it at the time. Hopefully it will be an easy fix and your on the road. Good luck.

the waiting is the WORST!!!! hahaha... stopped by and talked to jamie and jeff a little bit ago... if you guys are reading this, get back to work! just kidding... they both took a few minutes out of their busy day to chat with me about how things work, my options, etc and it was greatly appreciated... hope to hear some good news by tomorrow morning as they are tearing it down to check things out today... fingers crossed!

Tearing what down? The motor, or are they just removing oil pump?'

Fingers crossed, GL

oil pump and checking mains for damage... almost 100% positive it needs an oil pump unless something SUPER obvious is discovered when they drop the pan that we didnt see before... hoping for the best on the mains... if they look good, oil pump goes in, and if there's good oil pressure and things sound good, im gonna have them throw a tune on it and run the piss out of it

I always pull the plugs on a motor before I buy one, they wont tell you everything but they do still tell alot.

That would have told enough in this instance to dig a lil further and see the real deal. Lesson learned here.

this ^

hoping my old motor is good.....fingers crossed as well....wont know for a few more weeks though....