I've got a 2003 Yukon XL and I love it. 302k miles and still going strong. No AFM/DOD to worry about, all the luxury features, and has a great look to it.
My buddy’s grandfather had a 2009 Chevy Silverado with the 5.3L. He had the heads redone some years ago and all of a sudden he developed a tick and a skip on the right bank. So I pulled the head on it, thinking it was a lifter as well. Well, lo and behold, when I removed the head and turned it over, one of the valve seats was cocked sideways. So pulled the other head off and took them to the shop that had done the heads previously and the redid them again at no costs.
Matt, so glad I found this series. I just found me a 2010 Escalade ESV with 156K very similar to yours. And I know nothing about Cadillacs. First time owner. but I wanted that 6.2L 6L80 platform for a mild RV, trailer hauler. I plan to do similar upgrades and repairs. this series is so very helpful for me to understand some of the issues I know and may not know about this unit.
Gen 3 truck blocks 99-03 have shorter bolts on the outside 2 in the middle. The gen4 blocks and the transitional ones that are 04-06 that have the gen4 rods and pistons have all of the big bolts the same size. Its a crapshoot on some of those blocks though. Bummer on not blowing out the holes, its an important step, I always run a thread chaser as well... The rectangle port heads have the offset intake rockers and the cathedral ports have all straight. Also, the coil packs determine the plug wire lengths, the round ones are shorter and need longer plug wires and which ones you have are determined by which shipment they got... It looks like your escalade didn't have the tow package or desert cooler aux cooler and someone added the one cooler and didn't spring for new oem lines to the back it looks like the didn't know what they were doing on the install but if you use the right hose and put the clips in your good.
I’ve seen that on some of the older dodge 3.7 and 4.7 heads before. I’ve had one in the shop that would miss for awhile then occasionally the spring pressure would pull the seat back up to where it would stop missing for a bit until it fell again.
I have an 02 avalanche runs like a dream No dod bit of rust on one rocker. I take good care of it. Done a lot to it. I’m looking to get a 2011 Tahoe but I’m just scared of all the sensors and dod and doohickeys. Funny as a kid On Long Island I had an 82 trans am 350 I would love to have that car today with an LS. I enjoy your videos I can relate a lot thank you.
Yea they’re all broken and missing on these lines. I’ll probably throw a zip tie over it for now to act as a clip, I’m looking into to getting new lines.
Another great video Matt! We all have those "shouldn't be working on cars today" days.. Unfortunately, sometimes, they happen for more than one day in a week. Lol. Hopefully that K & N filter is a dry one, the oiled filters can cause MAF problems with oil polluting them. I'm jealous as hell of your Esky! That thing is beautiful! I just bought my daughter an '04 Tahoe, and to meet my budget, it's a pretty rough one. 300+k... but hopefully it will last her a while with some upkeep and maintenance. The GMT800 (lazyboy) seats are definitely superior to the GMT900 cardboard. Keep up the great work!
For the cup holders in Tahiti, get some 3 inch Fernco couplers, cut the ends off where the clamps go. Then cut them vertically, and press them into place.
The door codes are likely due to a shorted wire in the boot between the chassis and door. Had a Yukon that had 17 codes for the passenger door. Discovered a bare wire.
Don't you just like when a quick fix on a daily driver ends up taking a "little" bit longer than expected? My Caprice wagon has been on jackstands for 2 weeks as a 30 minute fix turned to removing the cowl, lower dash, inner fender and half the interior...
Love your videos man your freakin awesome for all the hard work your always doing for reals! I honestly wish you lived in my area, I have a 2004 Chevy Suburban Z71 and yeah.. She definitely needs some love that i just don't know how to give 😭 I hope your doing well man!
Oof! I’ve replaced the heads 5 times on LS engines and the most time I spent on any one task was cleaning the bolt holes. Thread chaser, brake clean, long cotton swabs, compressed air, more brake clean, the compressed air again. Probably wasn’t totally necessary but I was a bit paranoid about messing the block up. Sorry, dude.
Not sure if you have Blain's farm and fleet by you, but here in Michigan, their brand brake cleaner is made by CRC. same can, just different label. They only charge 2.99 a can too. I love supertech brake clean but it went up to 3.50 a can here. Just an fyi lol
Unfortunately I don’t, but I believe it’s still 2.50 by me. Autozone brake cleaner was my go to but that went from 2.99 to 4.99 a year or so ago. Ridiculous
I recently picked up a ‘13 Escalade it has aftermarket wheels (which aren’t too bad) but they have those stupid spikes as lug nuts, what lug nuts can I replace them with?
Matt, I have a hummer h2 with the same exact engine and a Magnuson supercharger. 135,000 on the clock. I’m looking into doing a cam and valve springs. I have learned a lot from your videos and I want to thank you for making these mistakes so I don’t have to. 100% I would have ended up with 32 cracked head bolt holes had I not seen this😂 I’m hoping I don’t have any issues anytime soon with all the Offroad driving and towing I do. As a broke 19 year old and with the price of gas I would definitely be put under.
I'm curious about all that valve float. Really wanting to know what could be causing that. I'd like to think that even driving hard that the LS would be able to handle the 5600RPM it'd be seeing
There are so many things that can trigger that damn traction control and Stabilitrak. I HATE IT!!! I had a leak on one shocks in the back on our suburban and just took the air ride out and put regular struts in.
Ik the front struts are pricey i did the ones on my escalade and there like 400 on amazon its crazy but i figure if i wanted a suburban i would of bought one i like the air ride / eletric ride it makes it float🤣!
I don’t think many of the GMT900 suvs came with external transmission coolers installed from the factory? Maybe this was an well-intentioned but poorly executed addition by the previous owner. I know my 2011 Yukon (with tow package) does not have an external trans cooler.
I've got one of these Escalade's and just recently both cylinder banks started running lean, and the battery is dying overnight. Can't for the life of me figure it out, but when they run they sure are nice.
@@lsxmatt The car always had a battery drain, I'm guessing its just the battery getting "old" and its a coincidence. I'm assuming manifold gasket or a vacuum line but I don't have any way of checking that easily so I just dropped it off to be looked at. I've also got an 03 suburban just like Tahiti, so your current fleet brings me a lot of joy. Got a bit of rust on the 03 that I'm dreading to deal with. Still almost all body and nothing major but got my first bit forming on the chassis.
easy way to find a leak for lean codes is a bottle of water poke a hole in the top and squeeze it out while engine is running at the intake gaskets should spudder !
Hey man. I have a 2007 Escalade ESV and a 2003 Yukon SLT. The Escalade is the same color as yours. I bought it for $4500.00. Put another $4000.00 into it. Right now my main concern is an oil leak.
Instead of blowing the water out of the bolt holes, try to tape up a small tube/hose/straw to the hose on a small shop vac and suck the liquid out. Blowing the air out with the head on is just too far for the compressed air to displace the water/coolant.
Cheapest would be just getting some junkyard heads. You can also get rebuilt heads from eBay for 900 shipped, not sure if they want a core back. I paid 1200 to have these repaired, plus the upgrades of ls3 valves and ls6 springs added an extra 350.00. If this truck was a flip I would just get some salvage yard heads and call it a day.
As an Escalade owner sounds like the the air system is crashing. Be prepared for heart surgery when you price shocks. For my older Escalade an 03 the rear alone are 300 a side. Good luck
Yikes. I decided to ask why you didn't just buy a brand new set of LS3 heads, then I saw how much they went up in price! About $800/head now. When I built my 6.0 about 15 years ago, LS3 heads were $330/each right from GM... fully assembled.
Bring it to my house. I’ll help you wash it. I got everything pressure washers steam machines 18,000 different chemicals D a polishers rotary polishers you name it.
I think people's concern about automatic car washes is over stated and kinda nonsense maybe there was an old different design that did what they say but I don't know it's fine today
The struggle is real. Thanks for keeping these videos true to the experience.
I've got a 2003 Yukon XL and I love it. 302k miles and still going strong. No AFM/DOD to worry about, all the luxury features, and has a great look to it.
They still look good and are probably the very best GM ever produced, up to about 2006.
Probs the last good generation of gm truck. Im keeping mine.
My buddy’s grandfather had a 2009 Chevy Silverado with the 5.3L. He had the heads redone some years ago and all of a sudden he developed a tick and a skip on the right bank. So I pulled the head on it, thinking it was a lifter as well. Well, lo and behold, when I removed the head and turned it over, one of the valve seats was cocked sideways. So pulled the other head off and took them to the shop that had done the heads previously and the redid them again at no costs.
I usually just use my cordless shop vac to clean out the bolt holes
I think those longer pug wires are when you have after market headers. It spaces the wire futher away so they dont burn up.
Matt, so glad I found this series. I just found me a 2010 Escalade ESV with 156K very similar to yours. And I know nothing about Cadillacs. First time owner. but I wanted that 6.2L 6L80 platform for a mild RV, trailer hauler. I plan to do similar upgrades and repairs. this series is so very helpful for me to understand some of the issues I know and may not know about this unit.
Gen 3 truck blocks 99-03 have shorter bolts on the outside 2 in the middle. The gen4 blocks and the transitional ones that are 04-06 that have the gen4 rods and pistons have all of the big bolts the same size. Its a crapshoot on some of those blocks though. Bummer on not blowing out the holes, its an important step, I always run a thread chaser as well... The rectangle port heads have the offset intake rockers and the cathedral ports have all straight. Also, the coil packs determine the plug wire lengths, the round ones are shorter and need longer plug wires and which ones you have are determined by which shipment they got... It looks like your escalade didn't have the tow package or desert cooler aux cooler and someone added the one cooler and didn't spring for new oem lines to the back it looks like the didn't know what they were doing on the install but if you use the right hose and put the clips in your good.
The GMT900 based Escalade is a Gen 4 Block (2007.5+-2014) so it should be a L92.
Thanks for the videos. I have a 2010 Escalade and have a little ticking I’m considering doing the work myself after watching your videos
I’ve seen that on some of the older dodge 3.7 and 4.7 heads before. I’ve had one in the shop that would miss for awhile then occasionally the spring pressure would pull the seat back up to where it would stop missing for a bit until it fell again.
800 vs 900 would be great, I have an 05 Escalade, considering a move to an 09
Stay 800. The grass isn't greener on the other side!
@@1984Cutlass2nv more powerful engine on the 900 but better seats on the 800
900 interiors are plastic trash. Dash cracks just looking at them. Door panels are pure plastic junk. I swear after the 08 bailout gm went to shit..
@@Blue04Z71 to be fair , my gm800 dash cracked
That mag ride life replacement prices hurt. But they are worth it. You can get Arrnot brand replacements cheaper and they are the factory bwi shocks.
Dropped valve seats was super common on pre Eagle 5.7 Hemis
All 4 of my 800s are solid. My 2 900s are a bit of a nightmare.
you have to have the plastic safety clips over the trans/oil quick connects or it can blow out as it did on you.
They’re all broken, I’m working on getting new lines
I have an 02 avalanche runs like a dream No dod bit of rust on one rocker. I take good care of it. Done a lot to it. I’m looking to get a 2011 Tahoe but I’m just scared of all the sensors and dod and doohickeys. Funny as a kid On Long Island I had an 82 trans am 350 I would love to have that car today with an LS. I enjoy your videos I can relate a lot thank you.
Usually plastic lock rings that go over those sketchy clips… i had mine pop off at the trans because the plastic rings werent over them
Yea they’re all broken and missing on these lines. I’ll probably throw a zip tie over it for now to act as a clip, I’m looking into to getting new lines.
@@lsxmatt zip ties at least untill u put the permanate lines on
Gmt800 vs 900 💪🏾
My 07 Yukon Denali did the same thing. Holding out for some 821 heads.
Good video and thanks for not taking out the parts of making mistakes. Cuz we know we all do it
Exceptional work on the video! It exceeded expectations in both content and presentation.
Another great video Matt! We all have those "shouldn't be working on cars today" days.. Unfortunately, sometimes, they happen for more than one day in a week. Lol. Hopefully that K & N filter is a dry one, the oiled filters can cause MAF problems with oil polluting them. I'm jealous as hell of your Esky! That thing is beautiful! I just bought my daughter an '04 Tahoe, and to meet my budget, it's a pretty rough one. 300+k... but hopefully it will last her a while with some upkeep and maintenance. The GMT800 (lazyboy) seats are definitely superior to the GMT900 cardboard. Keep up the great work!
Indian shelac permatec should help to prevent water from seaping out that bolt that went through the water jacket
Great video man. Appreciate the time you’re taking with this one.
For the cup holders in Tahiti, get some 3 inch Fernco couplers, cut the ends off where the clamps go. Then cut them vertically, and press them into place.
51:07 UUUUHH!!
🫵🤣
Awesome video as always Matt. Quick question, what did you use on the surface rust on your cylinder walls?
I just wiped them down with wd40 and scotch brite
Done lots of these usually the coolant just pops past the bolts when tightening them down. Probably had a weak passage to begin with.
Just finished the first 2 and boom here you go with the third, thanks Matt
That Escalade is like your red headed step child. 😂
Wuusaa obi one
The door codes are likely due to a shorted wire in the boot between the chassis and door. Had a Yukon that had 17 codes for the passenger door. Discovered a bare wire.
Best introduction ever. !!!!
Don't you just like when a quick fix on a daily driver ends up taking a "little" bit longer than expected?
My Caprice wagon has been on jackstands for 2 weeks as a 30 minute fix turned to removing the cowl, lower dash, inner fender and half the interior...
heater core?
@@dgurevich1 a firewall connector leaks rainwater in
Thanks for showing that everybody screws up from time to time
Love your videos man your freakin awesome for all the hard work your always doing for reals! I honestly wish you lived in my area, I have a 2004 Chevy Suburban Z71 and yeah.. She definitely needs some love that i just don't know how to give 😭 I hope your doing well man!
I would feel sick learning that I had just popped the cooling jacket, however that is a very easy mistake to make though for a backyard mechanic.
Oof! I’ve replaced the heads 5 times on LS engines and the most time I spent on any one task was cleaning the bolt holes. Thread chaser, brake clean, long cotton swabs, compressed air, more brake clean, the compressed air again. Probably wasn’t totally necessary but I was a bit paranoid about messing the block up. Sorry, dude.
Same here, I tried all that on the Trans am’s motor and it completely went over my head working on this thing😂
Better to be thorough than half ass it and break stuff
Not sure if you have Blain's farm and fleet by you, but here in Michigan, their brand brake cleaner is made by CRC. same can, just different label. They only charge 2.99 a can too. I love supertech brake clean but it went up to 3.50 a can here. Just an fyi lol
Unfortunately I don’t, but I believe it’s still 2.50 by me. Autozone brake cleaner was my go to but that went from 2.99 to 4.99 a year or so ago. Ridiculous
Great video Matt! Weird that we both lost footage for the same video. For different reasons though lol glad to see it running.
I recently picked up a ‘13 Escalade it has aftermarket wheels (which aren’t too bad) but they have those stupid spikes as lug nuts, what lug nuts can I replace them with?
Matt, I have a hummer h2 with the same exact engine and a Magnuson supercharger. 135,000 on the clock. I’m looking into doing a cam and valve springs.
I have learned a lot from your videos and I want to thank you for making these mistakes so I don’t have to. 100% I would have ended up with 32 cracked head bolt holes had I not seen this😂
I’m hoping I don’t have any issues anytime soon with all the Offroad driving and towing I do. As a broke 19 year old and with the price of gas I would definitely be put under.
Definitely, you’ll get a little rubbing with the all-terrain tires same thing with my Tahoe
I'm curious about all that valve float. Really wanting to know what could be causing that. I'd like to think that even driving hard that the LS would be able to handle the 5600RPM it'd be seeing
Could be mileage on the springs. Maybe beating on it with 150k the springs are a little weak.
Awesome videos. I’m here for Tahiti and auction Escalade content
New Escalade video just went up👍
I see you like the French vanilla assembly lube. I usually like the raspberry jam flavor.
There are so many things that can trigger that damn traction control and Stabilitrak. I HATE IT!!! I had a leak on one shocks in the back on our suburban and just took the air ride out and put regular struts in.
I have the same truck i got rid of the air bags and converted it to coil springs and never looked back now it rides like a Tahoe lol
Maybe I'm wrong but shouldn't there be exhaust manifold gaskets?
Ik the front struts are pricey i did the ones on my escalade and there like 400 on amazon its crazy but i figure if i wanted a suburban i would of bought one i like the air ride / eletric ride it makes it float🤣!
Those electronic shocks get firmer/harder when they go bad.
FYI, I actually got new transmission lines for my Tahoe from Summit racing believe it or not they sell regular parts also
Cool I’ll have to take a look
Awesome. Been a long time subscriber. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do for a living?
Love to see a video on the comparisons. I have an 04 z71 suburban but i have been interested in a newer and if it's worth 1 like yours.
I don’t think many of the GMT900 suvs came with external transmission coolers installed from the factory? Maybe this was an well-intentioned but poorly executed addition by the previous owner. I know my 2011 Yukon (with tow package) does not have an external trans cooler.
How much u spend on everything, what that code reader thing you had there n how that is
I've got one of these Escalade's and just recently both cylinder banks started running lean, and the battery is dying overnight. Can't for the life of me figure it out, but when they run they sure are nice.
Lean condition is probably the intake manifold gasket. Not sure about the battery drain, could be anything.
@@lsxmatt The car always had a battery drain, I'm guessing its just the battery getting "old" and its a coincidence. I'm assuming manifold gasket or a vacuum line but I don't have any way of checking that easily so I just dropped it off to be looked at.
I've also got an 03 suburban just like Tahiti, so your current fleet brings me a lot of joy. Got a bit of rust on the 03 that I'm dreading to deal with. Still almost all body and nothing major but got my first bit forming on the chassis.
Make sure you clean the maf…i had same issues on mine before i sprayed the maf with cleaner
@@trentdawg2832 Worth a shot, shop just called me back and said no intake or vacuum leaks on a smoke test, so that about all I have left to try.
easy way to find a leak for lean codes is a bottle of water poke a hole in the top and squeeze it out while engine is running at the intake gaskets should spudder !
Hi mat I'm new to your channel wish you so much luck on your build 😊
Hey man. I have a 2007 Escalade ESV and a 2003 Yukon SLT. The Escalade is the same color as yours. I bought it for $4500.00. Put another $4000.00 into it. Right now my main concern is an oil leak.
Ebay is the best for cheap alternators and starters….they last just as long as the parts house pieces as well but only cost around $50
The suspension is probably those damn magnetic ride control shocks. When they go bad they ride HARD!
Yes they do😂
Some people!! As my Father always said, if you are going to do it, do it right the first time.
I just brought one of these gmt900 Yukons
Instead of blowing the water out of the bolt holes, try to tape up a small tube/hose/straw to the hose on a small shop vac and suck the liquid out. Blowing the air out with the head on is just too far for the compressed air to displace the water/coolant.
The torque wrench was mint 😂
What ODBII reader do you use?
What engine code reader do you have/use??
The cheap mag ride shocks off amazon seem to hold up. About 2 years on mine an ride good.
Do a video on the shocks/struts!
I mean if you do do boost I mean you should probably do a cam I know I don't have an extra $400 but a truck Norris cam would have been real cool
What’s the difference between the cost of rebuilding your old heads and buying new ones?
Cheapest would be just getting some junkyard heads. You can also get rebuilt heads from eBay for 900 shipped, not sure if they want a core back. I paid 1200 to have these repaired, plus the upgrades of ls3 valves and ls6 springs added an extra 350.00. If this truck was a flip I would just get some salvage yard heads and call it a day.
What code scanner plug in that you use that you can see on your phone?
Topdon makes it. I did a review on it and linked it in my first Escalade video.
Great video. Thanks!
They probably had their line start leaking like mine did and decided to do a DIY fix instead of relaxing them all together.
Yes
Appreciate the transparency tho 🫡🏁
Nice job so far, except for the one part anyway
Good vod
Yeah do gmt900 vs 800 video
As an Escalade owner sounds like the the air system is crashing. Be prepared for heart surgery when you price shocks. For my older Escalade an 03 the rear alone are 300 a side. Good luck
Thats a good deal. I think i paid $1800 parts and labor for the air shocks on my 03 yukon denali. Rear only. Was $600 a shock i think.
Hey Matt, any idea when we will get a Tahoe update in the future?
Yea it’ll be returning soon
Progress for the win. Love me some V8.
Yikes. I decided to ask why you didn't just buy a brand new set of LS3 heads, then I saw how much they went up in price! About $800/head now. When I built my 6.0 about 15 years ago, LS3 heads were $330/each right from GM... fully assembled.
Sweet
the video description reads like a dragon ball z episode
You gave up on Tahiti 😢
what happen to tahiti? you selling it? im interested
Still have, tahiti content will be back soon. Just have a few more videos planned on this first
You remind me of, well, me! 🤣
Everytime I think your luck turned around boom u get hit with more bad luck lol had days like that I stopped and the next day it's till went bad lol
Bring it to my house. I’ll help you wash it. I got everything pressure washers steam machines 18,000 different chemicals D a polishers rotary polishers you name it.
The mirror motors crap out. Easy to just replace the motor itself.
Need me some Turbo Taheti.
GM Should have made the L92 an Iron Block
It would make sense. The bigger the bore the lighter the block anyway🤷♂️
@@lsxmatt aluminum blocks to me are for cars, not trucks
Do it nice or do it twice
Is this a repo? PO knew car was going bye bye so he put a brick on the gas pedal. Just revved the living crap out of it.
Not that I know of but its possible
It’s been in a flood definitely
Nope, just lived by the shore
💪💪💪💪
I think people's concern about automatic car washes is over stated and kinda nonsense maybe there was an old different design that did what they say but I don't know it's fine today
Magride shocks are going to cost you
These didn't come with DOD btw
Nope
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Remember what I said? 😂 I have had those days omg brought back some memories…