2011 5.3 - Time to tear her down...

[wesd]

On 2/18/2022 at 3:46 PM, shakenfake said:

Yes on ARP bolts. Soak your current bolts in PB blaster for like a week straight if possible to avoid breakage. 

Need a pully puller for the crank pulley, the pushrods are the perfect length to use with it. Don't believe me? Try it!

MailOrderTuner in Temple, TX is fantastic and normally has same day turn around, $300, don't know what else you have in mind.

Fuel lines there is a tool at O'Reilly I used something like this but they are plastic https://www.amazon.com/ABN-Master-Disconnect-Fuel-Line/dp/B07JDDWPXV/ref=zg_bs_15707681_27/134-4785504-5581251?pd_rd_i=B07JDDWPXV&psc=1

 

 

Got all the exhaust bolts out easy, no PB needed.  Didn't break a one.

It's torn all the way to the heads at this point, been a piece-of-cake and hope it continues to be.

No sludge and valvetrain looks new, all pushrods and rockers very good shape.  Haven't seen the cam yet.

 

[wesd]

Torn down.   Easy to see where the #6 lifter was chewing on the cam a bit.

Looks good internally. 

Hope it goes back together no problem.  

Edited March 15, 2022 by wesd

[Grumpy Bear]

No sludge but plenty of shellac/varnish. 

 

In that #6 position was the lifter collapsed? Pushrod or rocker damage? Curious. 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Grumpy Bear

[wesd]

Most was oil on there.  I could wipe it clean with a rag.  What's the shellac/varnish from?

No damage to pushrod or lifter that I saw...Will take another look at it before reassembly.

I couldn't tell if it was collapsed, because it seemed the same size as the other long ones.  

Here's the heads.  The left head is bronzed, I assume from the PCV.

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by wesd

[diyer2]

I maybe wrong but varnish is caused by the oil degrading.

[Grumpy Bear]

1 hour ago, wesd said:

Most was oil on there.  I could wipe it clean with a rag.  What's the shellac/varnish from?

No damage to pushrod or lifter that I saw...Will take another look at it before reassembly.

I couldn't tell if it was collapsed, because it seemed the same size as the other long ones.  

Here's the heads.  The left head is bronzed, I assume from the PCV.

 

It would be noticeably shorter if collapsed. You wouldn't miss it.   Look closely at the rocker fulcrum. 

 

Varnish as I understand is primarily a fuel byproduct. More of a @customboss question. 

 

That said GDI motors are fuel dilution prone and if the motor isn't kept in perfect tune for a long period of time...varnish. 

Most lubricants today are "dry oils". Little solvency and little toleration for fuel dilution. Fuel is also a viscosity breaker.

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

This was my shot at varnish in another thread attached further down: 

 

Some of those 'byproducts' are soluble and cannot be filtered out and deposit when the motor is heat cycled. Shellac from fuels poorly combusted. Ask me how I know?  That gold color. Formed during operation and deposited on cool down and they do not solve out with newer low solvency lubricants. Detergents are ineffective at removing them once deposited. I honestly do not know how effective detergents are at even slowing such fuel related shellac deposits down from plating out. Maybe someone with more chemistry background will weigh in.  @customboss

***********************

Below answers your varnish question. Belongs to @customboss and taken from the Castrol Edge VS AMSOIL OE thread and followed the above missive: 

 

[Correct, there are properties of our fuels that will never be filtered out in the engine oil filter or dispersed properly by the engine oil.  

 

So those deposits "stick" to hot thin flow areas with a good amount gassing off on higher temp and higher areas of the engine. 

 

The majority of issues I've documented over 42 years of lubricants and fuels R&D work found the fuels dilution and incorrect combustion and CCV systems as THE issue. 

 

Increased aromatics are being used by refiners that are very aggressive and even more once they run through crankcase venting and EGR function, now done by VVT and engine valve systems.]

[wesd]

Interesting about the varnish but nothing I'm going to worry about.

As long as it goes back together fine and runs for another 90,000 miles I'll be satisfied.

Got notification that my ECM is on the way back from LT1Swap, so should be all done early next week.  

[wesd]

Cam, lifters in, and valley cover changed.  

Worst part was getting the VVT Cam phaser lined up with the timing marks on the crank, because I couldnt' see them with the oil pump being there, and I couldn't pull the oil pump without dropping the oil pan, and so on.

So before I pulled the cam, I set cyl1 to TDC (and cyl6) as well - easy to verify without heads.   Timing mark on the cam phaser was at 6 oclock.  Removed phaser, then cam.    Did not adjust crank, again verified easily with the pistons.

Installed cam in block, phaser on, mark showed off one tooth.  Adjusted one and it points down to 6 PM again.

Buttoned back up and hopefully I got it right.

 

Heads go back on next with manifolds and radiator and then will fire her up.  

Edited March 21, 2022 by wesd

[wesd]

Pic of timing mark

 

Edited March 21, 2022 by wesd

[wesd]

Head cleaned up

[wesd]

Finished.

Fired right up, had a little valvetrain noise but let it idle about 10 minutes, then drove from my shop to my house (4 miles) and by the time I got home it was quiet again like it used to be.   Good oil pressure, drove just fine.  Was much smoother (idle wise) than it had been, but I also put in new plugs and cleaned the carbon from the cylinders.

 

Exhaust manifolds were a pain to install until I put a jack under the crosspipe, and lifted it just a hair, then the bolts went right in. 

[diyer2]

Good Job!

[wesd]

About 600 miles since last Wednesday.    Took truck on a 6 hour road trip yesterday.

Oil looks good, coolant level is good, no visible sign of leaks or anything thus far.  Very satisfied with that.

 

However, one thing looks off - oil pressure.

When cold starting in AM (5w-30, full synthetic) goes straight to 40 PSI.

When engine is warm, at idle it's just a hair over 20 PSI.

Running down interstate at 1750 RPM (75 MPH), it's 25 PSI.   All readings are per dash gauge.

 

Seems to be smooth and running fine, but this is about half what it was when it was new.

I noticed on hard acceleration the gauge does move up some, but not like it used to.

 

Did not plug the AFM towers, outside of the o-rings on the new valley cover.

Kept in place high-volume oil pump, and did no mods to the pressure relief valve.

I put a new screen in the oil pressure sensor area, the old one was pristine.

Also, I did replace the cam retainer plate with a new one.

 

Anything I should be concerned about?

[swathdiver]

Well, make sure the oil pressure sensor didn't decide to start leaking.