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5.3 more metal in motor than anyone has ever seen before still running


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Gotta give it to the boys at GM my 04 Z-71Tahoe 5.3L is running strong still I had the low oil pressure issue 10psi @idle 10-15psi @ 1000-1500 rpm 15-20psi @1500-2000 rpm sometimes I might get up to 24 psi but never more usually maxed out at 20psi I ignored it for a little bit till due to wife spending money she was not supposed to that's another issue but the first time it sounded the low oil pressure alarm sitting at a red light I parked it got my parts drove it to my shop started pulling the front differential got it out the way drained the oil when I pulled the plug there was more metal shavings on the plug then I cared to ever see pulled the pan the pick up tube screen covered in big metal shavings went to clean the pan I have never seen that much or that big of metal shavings in any motor still running cleaned everything up in solvent tank put new o ring on pick up tube put it all back together and I have an increase in oil pressure but not much get 30psi on the highway it doesn't drop below 10psi at idle or red lights anymore the low oil pressure alarm sounds at 6 psi I think and it not doing that and running fine but it was running strong before as well I've never had a loss of power my check engine light has stayed off and it comes on randomly due to intake gasket replacement needs but turns off when it warms up I only run royal purple oil and and Lucas oil stabilizer in it 5 RP 1 LOS and an AC Delco oil filter every oil change I only run premium gas in it I care for this truck like I care for my children so now I have to decide motor rebuild or motor swap I was gonna pull the rod caps but I was so fed up with the **** bullshit of the whole situation (and that's not a racist comment) and I'm sure it's the main barrings so I didn't well that's where I'm at any input is very much welcomed although I doubt anyone will comment for sure no GM technicians will even though the forum is called Ask a GM technician cause I've been posting all kinds of questions about this project before I started and I've gotten nothing but crickets chirping on those questions so comments are welcome as a reminder to those who have this same issue I'm not ASE certified but I am certified to take anything apart and put it back together in better working shape than it was been wrenching on cars since I was 5years old been around the world 3 times met a man with a wooden cock drove every kind of truck there is 2wheel 4 wheel 6wheel 8wheel even those big mother truckers that go pssh pssh when you step on the brakes I'm a huntin fishin hot lady ****in rootn tootn shootin double cap crimpin motor building red neck from iKS that's going back for more every time and if you made it this far DO NOT!!!!! IGNORE THE LOW OIL PRESSURE FOR EVEN A FEW DAYS I GNORED MINE FOR 8 DAYS AND HERE I AM my last oil change was in late February no metal on drain plug then started getting low oil pressure for 8 days no low oil alarm till the 8 the day didn't drive it day 9 and on day 10 drove it to my shop and tore it down and blah metal blah metal **** me running so don't ignore low oil pressure

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40psi by chance for a short time and dropped to 25 psi..?

that is thrust sliding given the size of the chunks.

slams a relief in the pump.

(there is more reliefs if you have an oil cooler.)

 

I have had this nightmare..it was a bad torque convertor (believe it or not).

 

The chunks being big is good. The oil passages may not need cleaning.. just get after bearings, drive it till its dead.

 

Not entirely sure I am following what you are saying. Your post reads that you had a faulty torque converter and it shed metal shavings that ended up in the crank case. There is no connection between the crankcase and the transmission. Any thing that is shed by the converter will go to either the trans cooler, partially plugging some of the cooler passages, or it will just get flushed down to the trans pan and then it would collect just like it does in the crankcase.

 

Not sure if the OP ever measured the end play of the crankshaft when he had the engine oil pan off. He can still check end play by mounting a dial gauge near crank pulley, and using a pry bar, pry the balancer in one direction, and set the dial gauge to zero. Pry the balancer the other direction and see how far it moves according to dial gauge. Generally end play should be .0024" to .0076". Near as I can recall, most if not all that I have ever checked all fell within 0.005" to 0.007".

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40psi by chance for a short time and dropped to 25 psi..?

that is thrust sliding given the size of the chunks.

slams a relief in the pump.

(there is more reliefs if you have an oil cooler.)

 

I have had this nightmare..it was a bad torque convertor (believe it or not).

 

The chunks being big is good. The oil passages may not need cleaning.. just get after bearings, drive it till its dead.

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As right you are Doug knowing that I'll have to except that for an answer will be harder than replacing the engine lol but it is what it is as the new generation says one last thing how bad did the pic of the plug look I posted cause I didn't think it looked out of ordinary but I also forget my kids names from time to time lol and and with the timimg gears lined up at 6 cam and 12 crank which cylinder is to be TDC

 

These engines are 4 stroke engines, which means it takes two complete revolutions to fire all 8 cylinders once. Assuming the engine has a firing order of 18726543, with the timing marks both at the 12 o'clock position, that will have cylinder #1 at TDC compression stroke(about to fire the plug) and have cylinder #6 in the TDC valve overlap position(changing from exhaust stroke to intake stroke). Modern 4 stroke 8 cylinder engines use what is called "pairs of cylinders" or "pair of pistons". Take the firing order, and put the first 4 numbers on one line, then put the last 4 numbers on the next line, beneath the first 4 numbers. The first number on each line are a pair of cylinders. The pistons in each of those cylinders bores will always be in the same location within the cylinder, and will be 360 degrees apart in the actual combustion event.

 

If you ever watch some of those car type shows on Spike TV on Sunday mornings, you will have seen them try to start a new engine, only to have it backfire, sound like it almost wants to start but won't. Usually someone will say in a voice over that the distributor is out by 180 degrees. In just about all cases, this is due to someone installing cam gears at the 6 and 12 o'clock position, and then forgetting that the engine is not on number 1 cylinder compression stroke and they install the distributor pointing at number one cylinder, instead of lining rotor up with number 6 cylinder inside the distributor cap.

 

I seem to recall you mentioning you were not sure how to tell which actual cylinder is number 1, but cannot find that message. Easiest way to tell is by looking at which side of the engine sits forward the furthest. In almost all cases this is number 1 cylinder. Pontiac V8 engines are different. They did not follow this procedure, and the furthest forward cylinder in those engines were numbered #2 cylinder. All manufactures traditionally label one bank of cylinders with 1357 on one side, and 2468 on the other side. Ford is the exception, they label cylinders as being 1234 on one bank, and 5678 on the other bank. Most intake manifolds will have the ports marked as to which cylinder that port belongs to, as well as having the firing ordered cast right into the manifold.

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Yeah, absolutely. Warranty is the deal MAKER.

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Oh ya so as I posted earlier how I wouldn't be able to prevent my stupid bitch wife (and I mean that with all do respect) from driving it and I wake up this morning to her calling me saying that the oil pressure gauge was at 40 psi and not moving but the truck was sputtering like it was gonna die so and here comes the stupid bitch part she put it in neutral and revved it up enough to keep it running made it half way home shut it off sat 5 minutes and started it up and it drive fine the rest of the way home but the oil pressure was back to 24-28 psi driving 30-35 mph falling off to about 7 psi when coming to a stop I haven't seen the gauge read 40 psi since before this issue started she said its done it twice now and this is what she said she thought it was stuck on 40 psi cause it wasn't dropping off at stops and I quote, "like it should" but I've not seen it do this or had it run rough but I don't drive it much while waiting on parts any thoughts and I replaced the sending unit already and I think I've asked this already but does my truck have the screen under the sending unit

 

Didn't you check the oil pressure with a proper mechanical oil pressure gauge? That will tell you what is really happening. You could get an adapter to allow both mechanical and factory gauge to be connected, and run the nylon oil pressure line out the hood at the rear and in the drivers window to see the mechanical gauge while driving and testing it.

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The only place shards like that would come from if the bearings aren't wiped out, is either the oil pump, oil pump driveshaft, cam, or the timing chain sprockets. Maybe if the rockers or pushrods got mangled somehow too. Only way to know for sure it to tear the whole thing down. Not fun, no doubt.

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I'll ask again.... what plug number are you currently running?

 

 

Ac- delco platinum part number 41-962 only been running them about 25000 miles so they didn't get left in to long and I gapped them about .45 and when I checked them they are all about .60

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I'm glad you do that, because half the time I lose my train of thought and forget to post key info in a reply, lol. Stuff I used to know by heart, I have to Google now to jog my memory. The joys of aging! :lol:

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If you didn't touch the timing chain you should be set. It should be keyed anyway, unless they changed that too ...

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Wow ... looks like they wore pretty fast.

 

I used NGK Lazer Iridium #1465 - they were an exact match of the OEM Delcos that mine came with. I changed them at around 65k or so - no wear whatsoever. Could've went longer, but I was afraid of a Ford incident. To my surprise, GM actually used never-seize compound on the threads. Miracles never cease!

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