My brother had one of these in his impala. We did rolling burnouts in 2nd gear until the trans let go. After 4 quarts of Lucas slip fix, the trans rejuvenated itself until the piston #5 decided to leave the chat at 111mph on the freeway. Good times…
@@richardwelsh8448 I agree I didn't count how many I built. I never had one of my engines blow.(that I know of) Retired now I'm 72. I did it for a living for 55 years.
@@minecrafterselite1 late, but as someone new to working on cars/engines in general, good luck. I would start with a lawn mower engine with that attitude(seriously, good way to start). it's definitely harder than a brake change, you know, with required stuff like torque and angle torque measurements and all being important.
Hydro-locked..... Just enough to distort.... but not enough to destroy the whole assembly. (Probably worked through the initial flood after a crank or two.) Could explain why there was water in all the cylinders..... Guy gets it from the yard, stops at a carwash to spray it down a little before the install..... Doesn't notice the plugs were out or was careless with the wand around the intake inlet..... 7 gets a little more water and during initial startup, all cylinders preceding 7 fire, Bang! 7 hits the deck with 3cc's of water, bends the rod just enough to triple "S" the rod, starts to bang the counter balance, sounds like a rod knocking, shuts it down and returns it as DOA......
Marcel, I believe you've got it. I was about the same suggestion of hydrolock damage. The car could have also been driven into water with just enough depth and speed to slosh water into the intake and #7 was the first to get sloshed. #5 also had a stiff wrist pin, so it was also damaged, they are both on the end with the air intake.
Hey Eric, my gf watched this video with me. When she saw that there were multiple cylinders with coolant in them, she said "at least the driver-side cylinders weren't coolant starved.". I will be honest with you, I laughed way harder than was needed. Love watching your videos. May I suggest a '03-'05 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT motor. Stay safe.
Makes me nostalgic to hear that low key St. Louis sense of humor again. Another fun teardown to watch and some interesting info about the engine. I'd love to be able to buy a random piece of small scrap off you that's signed with a paint pen or something and stick it up on my wall.
I showed this to my wife because I have been looking for one to make a cup holder for my truck. "You're in your 50's. What do you need with a second bent rod?" That's what she said.
Thanks for this. I have one of these currently in an Impala SS. Fun engine, even with the trans limping behind it. You are right about the overkill of putting one of these in a W body but they are a blast to drive. No one would ever think that they would put a high horsepower V8 in these cars when the chassis came out in the late 80’s. I think it’s awesome for what it is.
Also have a Impala SS '06. Newer everything- except the engine is shot. Don't wanna trash it bc it has sentimental value- but can't afford to have it rebuilt either 😢
i once saw a guy hydrolock his integra, in my hometown we usually once a year get a freak summer storm that floods a few specific spots. and every year the city says dont drive there but people still do. anyways this guy going the opposite way as me drives right through this massive puddle/flood in a really low integra and comes to a screeching halt about 20 feet later with a massive cloud of white smoke billowing out of the exhaust. i felt kind of bad but i still laughed pretty hard
My wife's niece decided to have fun driving thru rain puddles. She told me she was having so much fun when she hit a big puddle. Then the motor stopped all of the sudden. She hauled the car to my house and wanted it diagnosed and wanted me to fix it. I said. I will need to pop or pull the head first. She gave me the okay. Pulled head. Cyclinder 1 piston had gernaded itself in the hole. I took pictures and laughing hard. Told her engine needs replaced. You killed it.😄😄. She calls her hubby and gives him the bad news. He calls and the next day the load the car. He is plenty unhappy. I tell her. That's why you never run thru a big rain puddle in a vehicle. You drive slow. Lesson learned
In Florida this is a big issue and having a car with forced induction I always go through slow at damn near redline in first just to keep things hot just incase a bit of water manages to get in
@@lowk3ychris484 Just to keep things hot? All you're doing is ensuring that if the water level finds the intake, you're going to take a giant gulp and grenade the motor that much more thoroughly. The "go slow" part is so you don't push a wave up in front of the intake path....
@@mfree80286 eh i started doing that once I felt my car bog down just letting the transmission do it’s own thing and it freaked me out, I haven’t had the issue ever since I switched the method. The way my intake works on my car I don’t think water could work it’s way up unless it’s serious flood water. Appreciate the insight though
Really? Even before they started making them lightweight and over-complicated? I would imagine a manual transmission made in the 1950s would probably last through several engine rebuilds, but Im only guessing.
@@deejayimm Even today a manual transmission will last longer than the rest of the car it's bolted in. It's pretty damn hard to fuck up a manual trans. They're just too simple. 'Course the bar's a lot lower than it used to be...expected service life of the modern motorcar is about 10 years if you're an obedient little consumer and buy a brand new one when you're supposed to...but even with all that in mind manual trans is still gonna outlive the rest of the car it's in.
@@TestECull Like any part, it depends on how it's maintained and driven. I've seen my share of transmissions with welded rear seals/sprags because people did burnouts in Drive instead of low/1st. I've also seen my share of manuals where the sycncro's have been almost rubbed flat.
@@HeavyTanker-vx4oq In the case of my mom's Grand Prix it was both at the same time. The transmission started going and a couple months later the head gasket started going.
My Great Uncle, mechanic of 45 years, had a Grand Prix GXP around 2013. It had a weak transmission and the engine didn't sound too good. As it was destined for the scrap heap, he decided to take it to the strip and see what it could do. In the the other lane was a Porsche 911 996. He put the pedal to the metal - the transmission was so weak it could barely get the wheels spinning. The revs kicked up to red line but he was barely moving. Just half way down the track, one of the rods smashed it's way out of the engine, ending his run. The Porsche wasn't doing to great either, as the 20 something year old driving threw it back into first from second. To say the least, 2 completely different blown up stock cars on the track was quite the spectacle.
Not sure how I found your channel, but I’m addicted. I love cars and engines, watching these tear downs with your insight is addictive! Keep them coming
So there I was. Saturday night, and my son and I had our dipping sauces ready to enjoy with our Piston McNuggets. Disappointed, but still entertained. Keep them coming.
This teardown gave your shop floor that good old Dexcool clean and polish. Great to learn about the minor differences on the LS engines between the generations and vehicles GM drop them in over your videos.
Thank you for all that you do, great tear downs. I'm no mechanic. But I'm pretty sure I can sum up almost all of the failures...people are dumb and don't do the basics: check oil levels, change oil on a regular basis.
After reading a few of the comments I became convinced that the rod was bent as a result of hydrolock, just thought I'd mention that in case you missed it...seriously, I enjoy your teardown videos and seeing the innards of some of these mechanical nightmares. Being an older man and "old school" at heart, the LS 5.3 is the cleanest, "keep it simple, stupid", design I've seen yet.
Knowing you make calls and spend real actual money on decisions made by majority consensus of your comments sections earns you mad respect from everyone. Your channel will prosper if you just keep up what you're doing, I can see you with a few million subs, easy.. There's definitely a bunch of people who like, comment, and subscribe because you mention you do that.
I have an 86 Fiero I bought new. Has the v6 engine, manual transmission. 284.000 miles on it now, and the engine has never been touched. Still runs perfectly fine. Its the SE model, with the special front end, and big whale tail spoiler on the trunk. And of course its...RED.
Looks like the Piston was trying to do with the twist and shout By the way I've learned so much by your videos I thank you, you are very educational on tear Downs also I just want to say I wish you a great life and great wishes for your shop to do the best it has ever been every year have a great one happy early Thanksgiving and have a Merry Christmas
found this video searching for valve cover replacement on my ls4 in my 06 impala SS, Really neat seeing a complete tear down of an engine like the one ive been trying to keep on the road for years especially now having oil pressure issues... Thanks ERIC!
I loved the inside of the oil pump...i never really considered that they'd have to be positive displacement pumps - it's obvious now that I know, but I'd just never thought about it. Thanks for that and please keep it up! I always learn something from your vids!
I have a 2006 Impala SS with 166K miles. Mine's not beat, I'm the original owner, I drive it like an adult and 80% highway. The car is not suitable for street racing, it is a 4-door sedan with good passing power. It has never done a burnout. That's how I drive it and I keep the engine oil changed regularly. The engine does consume some oil compared to my 2002 Avalanche iron block 5.3, but not terribly bad. The transmission is still working well, I changed the factory fill and filter 6 years ago and everything looked clean in the pan. The engine is getting tired, has a little piston slap and lifter noise when cold. Still runs OK and the DOD has never malfunctioned. It does eat water pumps, it's on its 3rd one right now. I will restore the car soon and I have ordered a replacement crate engine from GM. They currently have a good PN for the replacement engine but had none in stock. My dealer parts guy (super parts guy) called GM's rebuild center and was told they had 1 core on hand and if they get an order for it they will fill it, but if no order comes soon then GM will probably discontinue the PN. So I put in the order for the crate engine. Lead time is 60 days, I told them to take their time. I don't have any use for a bent connecting rod, and it's a good thing because I'm not gonna be able to come up with any teen tier sex jokes to get a thousand likes anyway, lol.
Thanks for the vid Eric. Been a tough day and I’ve been looking forward for the video. Awesome stuff as always. Appreciate you making the bad days a little less worse.
Yeah,.... 2005 6.0 here, dropped my oil pan to replace the oil O ring, and found two shiny pieces of foil like metal and a quarter inch beaten up glob of aluminum, no sludge. Oil pressure still slowly bounces up and down slowly but oil pressure is up at 40 driving down the road.. Was going to put a Cam in it, now I'm waiting to do a fresh build, doing lots of research... thanks for the Videos..
I have an 07 ss and I feel the same, besides an oil leak coming from the valley plate gasket, the car has been pretty good to me and runs like a champ and is such a comfortable ride.
I used to have an olds intrigue with that trans and the 'shortstar' motor. Definitely not the power of the 5.3 but more than enough for healthy burnouts and a dead trans in less than 50k.
Man after watching you do a teardown, I will never try to fix my LS engine if something should happen to it. Yes, it is a Silverado and an 05. It does run well due to synthetic oil and filter and every 3000 miles. Thanks for your video as it was very informative as to what it takes to do a teardown never mind a rebuilding. You must be a GM mechanic. I enjoyed your presentation- Thanks.
You can save yourself a lot of mess if you have a dedicated shop vac and vacuum out the cooling system before disassembly. Works great! The higher airflow shop vac the better.
May consider getting a pan that can sit on the engine stand legs that's low profile, or in a way that makes your life a little easier with fluids. Might save you a lot of time in clean up.
Very interesting . I have a 94 Trans Am I bought new. It has the 350 LT1 engine. The engine has never been touched, aside from spark plug replacement every 100.000 miles. even the timing chain is original. 338.000 miles on it now, still runs and sounds like new. It uses no oil between 3000 mile oil changes which have been done since new. Castrol GTX. It doesn't smoke,, it has always passed the California emissions test. Lifelong Southern California car, it still looks great inside and out. And occasionally I'll give her the beans and she's still quite fast 😊
I had one of these in my Monte Carlo SS. Burned oil pretty bad and had to fight with the dealership to get it considered to be a problem, then had to wait for the oil pan gasket fix, which I think just added a baffle. Still burned oil, maybe slightly less. By the time I got rid of it, it had developed piston slap at just over 100k.
I've encountered oil consumption with LS engine's myself. The biggest problem is not using the recommended oil. It should be DEXOS 5w30 or whatever it calls for in the owners manual. DEXOS is a certification of a synthetic oil. Use anything else it will consume oil faster. Doesn't mean not to check the oil at least 3 times a year. In my opinion.
I have a 2007 LS4 and it runs perfect. I’m the 2nd owner n it has 158k miles now. It has 118k when I bought it. Replaced transmission at 140k miles n she’s been running great ever since. I do use Full Synthetic oil and 93 octane gas. Got up to 156 mph on interstate
Run the engine out of oil and seize the rod bearing. The crank keeps spinning, the bearing stops bearing-ing, the rod starts to spin along with the crank, and now you have a banana rod. Or a two piece rod with half of it now bashing a hole in the block.
I bought a 2006 Impala SS brand new. I absolutely loved that car. Almost got it a turbo on it. It would have put out around 500hp, but I really didn't have the money for repairs if something broke. Damn I miss that car!
A few things that were missed is that the ls4 uses a unique crank that’s very similar to a ls6 style that is shorter than a standard 5.3 crank it also requires shorter bolts from the flex plate to crank shaft. different bell-housing and mounting locations to accommodate the 4t65e-HD few other little details but All around a great tear down video.
I too have an E34 540i/6, also a M62B44 & Getrag 420g in a hot rod project. I work at a machine shop tearing down, machining, rebuilding engines. Even though I'm around engines all day, I greatly enjoy watching your videos. Keep em coming!
Thank you so very much for doing a tear down of the LS4 fwd engine I requested you to do.!! I asked, and you replayed this video! Thanks again! regards! Denis
@@mikefoehr235 If the engine didn't didn't have plugs in it and the guy took it through a car wash or it sat in the rain or whatever it could have got in there.
Really interesting that even on the most simple engines we’re always seeing or learning something new about them I’d really like to build one for my 96 Chevy blazer 4x4 since you can’t get that many performance parts for the 4.3
You can though they are essentially a 350 missing two cylinders so there's a lot of parts for them just not much when it comes to intakes but I do know if you have a carb 4.3 you can hack up a 350 carb intake and it will fit just have to plug the intake runners you don't use can't remember if it's front two or rear been awhile since I messed with one
We rebuild them (along with every other LS engine) built a few last week that fit the Impala SS and have an LS3 for a G8 that will go together Monday if I get my .020 over rod bearings in.
The pig mats I used in the fuel business rejected water specifically. You could literally separate water from diesel with those mats. Blue ones. The white mats absorbed all liquids.
I've had a 2006 LS4 w/auto trans 4t 65E in an 88' Fiero GT since 06' , it's fabulous fun to drive👍 the FWD with shortened crank made it fit w/o toooooo many problems...lol..
"That's a lot of fluid." I am shocked you haven't fitted some kind of drain pan support at the bottom of your engine block with how often these things leak all over your floors.
Or just a shop vac to empty the engines. It's faster to suck it out a port than off the floor. Replacement pans from x-large dog crates are perfect for the stand, wider than those pre-formed types & cheaper.
Thanks!! And thats from an old guy!! Built many Pontiac engines , Last one was the one in my 70 Judge, Have an 06 Grand Prix GXP as a driver and love driving her.. So very cool to see your teardown of this engine. As for the bent rod!! Very cool artifact.. would of loved to be in the cylinder wall to see that one happen..
Thanks for the teardown! I may need to do this someday because I currently drive a '08 GXP. Everything is original on the engine internals but I try to change the oil regularly and don't do burnouts. It doesn't burn oil since I disabled DOD. The crankshaft is 13mm shorter than a regular LS in order to fit sideways.
0:20 it was GM's attempt to stay in the minds of enthusiasts while they got the Zeta platform ready. Problem was, by the time the W-car V8s were ready, the LX cars were already a thing.
Dear sir, you are a scholar and a gentlemen. I enjoy watching your videos as they are a fun watch and to drink my tea with as i explain engines to my gf, who sometimes watches them with me. I love the carnage of the blown stuff and your humor as you explain. I'm an EJ man myself but very much realize they're short comings. A good day to you from Canada, eh
I always try to figure out the failure mode as the video progresses, but I missed on this one a bit. With the engine turning (relatively easily) but water sitting on the valves, my first thought was that the valve train wasn't turning (stripped timing gear). But, then I could see the lifters move when you cranked it over with the head off. So, not that. The "low" piston looked like classic hydrolock... only question is if it was water ingestion (unlikely with only one bent rod) or a blown head gasket from the apparently undertorqued head. Unless the hydrolocking stretched the head bolts, but that rod isn't bent enough to be a full-cylinder waterlog. So I would REALLY check that head out, because it may very well be warped, not from extreme heat, but from being undertorqued. The bearing carnage though... so little sign of oil starvation up top, so much below. This has the looks of a high-mile bottom end that was a bit abused, then had a head job done (and timing chain) only to have been assembled poorly with a loose head and the resulting bent rod. Then they still tried to run it until it was condemned. I don't know factory LS head gaskets but those looked aftermarket. Or, another theory is that they popped a head gasket and hydrolocked it (bending the rod), had water in the oil and still tried to run it (hence bearing damage). Did a head gasket change to try and solve the problem but with the bent rod it never ran right, and was condemned.
Those VLOMs aren’t that bad to replace. I just recently replaced the one in my ‘06 Impala SS that has just under 150k on it. Labor booked like 2.5 hours but I was able to get it done along with plugs, wires, trans service and an oil change all in that amount of time.
Anyone that has one of these that is burning oil and smoking out the exhausts (valve guides)! Try some AT-205 from ATP! It worked magic on mine. A few ounces with every oil change will cause it to burn no oil whatsoever. GM should have included a case of this stuff with every car! This might have saved this engine.
I have found on these engines it’s the damn low tension piston rings that creates the oil burning issue. I turned my wife’s DOD off at 48k miles and it still burnt a quart every 2k miles. The EPA has put more of these engines in the junk yard than anything else. Better living through regulation.
It's just a bad design of the 2nd pressure relief valve, it plugs #7's oil control ring by spraying a LOT of oil into the cylinder. You have to un-stick those rings and get the updated pan even if you disable DOD.
I like how You every time spilling the coolant and oil directly to garage floor and not having any oil pan laying down the engine. Pretty much my style.
Love your videos. The information you give as you show the parts and procedures all the way through is many times surprising. While I’ll never tear down an engine it’s all very interesting. I also like that you don’t pull punches on engine designs. I while never buy a car with DOD. Dumbest design mandated by our wonderful EPA.(morons) Ah well can’t wait for the next video.
These engines are junk..I had one in a 08 Impala SS. tick tick tick tick tick tick tick...went through 3 of them. Tick tick tick tick tick. It would scoot though, even with the automatic
Happy US thanksgiving. I hope it finds you and your loved ones healthy. Your smile of the day. A hypo-intellectual is staggering home after drinking the local watering hole dry. He comes up on a guy and his car on the side of the road with the hood up. The drunk asks what the problem is. "piston broke" is the reply. The inebriated one replies "yes I am the same way myself." Much love and respect from north of the 49th.
Love the tear down vids. Kick ass, per usual. The Impala SS used a 3.23 final drive, while the higher-performance-handling-designated GXP had a much taller final drive at 2.56, but with a stiffer suspension tuning and a reverse-staggered wheel setup with wider fronts than rears. The Chevy was a tad quicker, but the GP could run past 100 mph in just second gear. Fun to drive, cheap to drive, and only real issue (aside from the 4T tranny) being tire wear, but that’s what you get with a FWD/LS-powered setup. Anyway, for more useless facts to punish your relatives, friends, and hey- maybe even to become champion of that trivia night that’s hosted by that local hipster bar that serves that $10/pint toilet-bowl-pinecone-flavored bullshit known as an IPA to the same dudes that begin sentences with “I feel...” and clap every time their plane lands- stay tuned.
I get excited every time your videos show up. They are all really well done and I hope you continue what your doing on youtube, I'd be crushed if you stopped. There is a weird phenomenon tho... when I watch them at night I pass the hell out with in 10 mins. My wife calls it, "Bed time stories with Eric.". PS.. I'm going to like my own comment cause I really want that piston! =D
Thanks for the video. I own a 08 super with 74000 miles. This is the first teardown I have seen on the motor. No problem with my Buick yet but....... .
My brother had one of these in his impala. We did rolling burnouts in 2nd gear until the trans let go. After 4 quarts of Lucas slip fix, the trans rejuvenated itself until the piston #5 decided to leave the chat at 111mph on the freeway. Good times…
Fuck yeah America
Well damn...
I had an Impala SS as a rental for a work trip back in ‘07-08. It was in a rainy city though and I had coworkers with me so no fun. 😕
@@rickhunter6479 he’ll yeah brother
Lmao get ratio’d
as a urologist, that's not the worst case of a bent rod I have ever seen.
I have chronic kidney stones, you take my insurance? 😂
I will not make a Bill Clinton Peyronie's joke, though I really want to. Just because it's soo far in the past.
Bruised up rod
@@seymoarsalvage Yikes, I know what that’s about, brother.
pyronies lol
Thanks. You have convinced me that disassembling a motor is much more fun than assembling one.
Yes tear down is fun, but re-assembling is an art, been doing it for 45 years
@@richardwelsh8448 I agree I didn't count how many I built. I never had one of my engines blow.(that I know of) Retired now I'm 72. I did it for a living for 55 years.
I would be afraid when I am finished re-assembling the engine that I would have some parts left over
@@richardwelsh8448 I could do it on my first try.
@@minecrafterselite1 late, but as someone new to working on cars/engines in general, good luck. I would start with a lawn mower engine with that attitude(seriously, good way to start). it's definitely harder than a brake change, you know, with required stuff like torque and angle torque measurements and all being important.
Hydro-locked..... Just enough to distort.... but not enough to destroy the whole assembly. (Probably worked through the initial flood after a crank or two.) Could explain why there was water in all the cylinders..... Guy gets it from the yard, stops at a carwash to spray it down a little before the install..... Doesn't notice the plugs were out or was careless with the wand around the intake inlet..... 7 gets a little more water and during initial startup, all cylinders preceding 7 fire, Bang! 7 hits the deck with 3cc's of water, bends the rod just enough to triple "S" the rod, starts to bang the counter balance, sounds like a rod knocking, shuts it down and returns it as DOA......
Ahh... one more thing.
I was about to say the same thing...a partial hydrolock
I had the same thought... Distortion like that, especially with no real head damage, pretty much has to be a hydrolock.
Marcel, I believe you've got it. I was about the same suggestion of hydrolock damage. The car could have also been driven into water with just enough depth and speed to slosh water into the intake and #7 was the first to get sloshed. #5 also had a stiff wrist pin, so it was also damaged, they are both on the end with the air intake.
Sorry, I dont kn ow what DOA mean? Would you explain please?
Hey Eric, my gf watched this video with me. When she saw that there were multiple cylinders with coolant in them, she said "at least the driver-side cylinders weren't coolant starved.". I will be honest with you, I laughed way harder than was needed. Love watching your videos. May I suggest a '03-'05 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT motor. Stay safe.
And by gf you mean sister
@@samholdsworth420 OOOF
@@samholdsworth420 no hes "uk" sgt not "US" sgt.
Ah the "hidden" SRT 4 engine. Good choice
This happened to my buddy eric
I like how you sneak in the OLD one liner ,that's what she said, educational and funny...Good job sir .I enjoy your channel...
The hydrolocked piston gives a new meaning to ridden hard and put away wet. Nice of the builder to properly torque the head for optimum leakage.
Makes me nostalgic to hear that low key St. Louis sense of humor again. Another fun teardown to watch and some interesting info about the engine.
I'd love to be able to buy a random piece of small scrap off you that's signed with a paint pen or something and stick it up on my wall.
I would as well.
I would buy the hell out of some piston mcnuggets. :-)
I showed this to my wife because I have been looking for one to make a cup holder for my truck. "You're in your 50's. What do you need with a second bent rod?" That's what she said.
Thanks for this. I have one of these currently in an Impala SS. Fun engine, even with the trans limping behind it. You are right about the overkill of putting one of these in a W body but they are a blast to drive. No one would ever think that they would put a high horsepower V8 in these cars when the chassis came out in the late 80’s. I think it’s awesome for what it is.
Also have a Impala SS '06. Newer everything- except the engine is shot. Don't wanna trash it bc it has sentimental value- but can't afford to have it rebuilt either 😢
i once saw a guy hydrolock his integra, in my hometown we usually once a year get a freak summer storm that floods a few specific spots. and every year the city says dont drive there but people still do. anyways this guy going the opposite way as me drives right through this massive puddle/flood in a really low integra and comes to a screeching halt about 20 feet later with a massive cloud of white smoke billowing out of the exhaust. i felt kind of bad but i still laughed pretty hard
My wife's niece decided to have fun driving thru rain puddles. She told me she was having so much fun when she hit a big puddle. Then the motor stopped all of the sudden. She hauled the car to my house and wanted it diagnosed and wanted me to fix it. I said. I will need to pop or pull the head first. She gave me the okay. Pulled head. Cyclinder 1 piston had gernaded itself in the hole. I took pictures and laughing hard. Told her engine needs replaced. You killed it.😄😄. She calls her hubby and gives him the bad news. He calls and the next day the load the car. He is plenty unhappy. I tell her. That's why you never run thru a big rain puddle in a vehicle. You drive slow. Lesson learned
In Florida this is a big issue and having a car with forced induction I always go through slow at damn near redline in first just to keep things hot just incase a bit of water manages to get in
@@lowk3ychris484 Just to keep things hot? All you're doing is ensuring that if the water level finds the intake, you're going to take a giant gulp and grenade the motor that much more thoroughly. The "go slow" part is so you don't push a wave up in front of the intake path....
@@mfree80286 eh i started doing that once I felt my car bog down just letting the transmission do it’s own thing and it freaked me out, I haven’t had the issue ever since I switched the method. The way my intake works on my car I don’t think water could work it’s way up unless it’s serious flood water. Appreciate the insight though
@@mfree80286
Some people just don't listen to good advice. Well said by the way.
Nice LS4 teardown. I learned something new about the LS family tonite.
I would watch you do 100 LS engines back to back!! Love the content thanks for another great watch!
Im here for the LS hopefuly LT tear downs and what destroys them.
Great video. Learned a lot while watching. No "baby talk" or swearing. Thank you
"the transmissions usually go before the engines"
It's a song as old as time.
I was looking at a Impala SS of this generation, with decent Miles. But I was worried about the trans. I got my Lincoln LS instead.
Really? Even before they started making them lightweight and over-complicated?
I would imagine a manual transmission made in the 1950s would probably last through several engine rebuilds, but Im only guessing.
@@deejayimm Even today a manual transmission will last longer than the rest of the car it's bolted in. It's pretty damn hard to fuck up a manual trans. They're just too simple. 'Course the bar's a lot lower than it used to be...expected service life of the modern motorcar is about 10 years if you're an obedient little consumer and buy a brand new one when you're supposed to...but even with all that in mind manual trans is still gonna outlive the rest of the car it's in.
@@TestECull Like any part, it depends on how it's maintained and driven. I've seen my share of transmissions with welded rear seals/sprags because people did burnouts in Drive instead of low/1st. I've also seen my share of manuals where the sycncro's have been almost rubbed flat.
@@HeavyTanker-vx4oq
In the case of my mom's Grand Prix it was both at the same time.
The transmission started going and a couple months later the head gasket started going.
My Great Uncle, mechanic of 45 years, had a Grand Prix GXP around 2013. It had a weak transmission and the engine didn't sound too good. As it was destined for the scrap heap, he decided to take it to the strip and see what it could do. In the the other lane was a Porsche 911 996. He put the pedal to the metal - the transmission was so weak it could barely get the wheels spinning. The revs kicked up to red line but he was barely moving. Just half way down the track, one of the rods smashed it's way out of the engine, ending his run. The Porsche wasn't doing to great either, as the 20 something year old driving threw it back into first from second. To say the least, 2 completely different blown up stock cars on the track was quite the spectacle.
Haha read this gave me a headache . Good story
Not sure how I found your channel, but I’m addicted. I love cars and engines, watching these tear downs with your insight is addictive! Keep them coming
So there I was. Saturday night, and my son and I had our dipping sauces ready to enjoy with our Piston McNuggets. Disappointed, but still entertained. Keep them coming.
This teardown gave your shop floor that good old Dexcool clean and polish.
Great to learn about the minor differences on the LS engines between the generations and vehicles GM drop them in over your videos.
Thank you for all that you do, great tear downs. I'm no mechanic. But I'm pretty sure I can sum up almost all of the failures...people are dumb and don't do the basics: check oil levels, change oil on a regular basis.
And leave old gaskets on
Twisted rod would be a great name for a garage band!
Coffee, roll, and a pretzel rod video make an excellent start to the day! Great stuff.
It doesn’t matter how old it is , every disassembly is a good learning experience great job
After reading a few of the comments I became convinced that the rod was bent as a result of hydrolock, just thought I'd mention that in case you missed it...seriously, I enjoy your teardown videos and seeing the innards of some of these mechanical nightmares. Being an older man and "old school" at heart, the LS 5.3 is the cleanest, "keep it simple, stupid", design I've seen yet.
I don't think I've ever seen a water pump that big before. That's massive!
“That’s a little shorter than it’s supposed to be, That’s what she said!” Best comment of the video!
I love the idea of giving the parts away. I know I won't get it but I love the idea. Keep up the hard work.
Knowing you make calls and spend real actual money on decisions made by majority consensus of your comments sections earns you mad respect from everyone. Your channel will prosper if you just keep up what you're doing, I can see you with a few million subs, easy.. There's definitely a bunch of people who like, comment, and subscribe because you mention you do that.
That connecting rod is twisted like my sense of humor, seriously check my favorites list. Great tear down!
I have wanted to put one of these 5.3L LS4's in a Pontiac Fiero.
I have an 86 Fiero I bought new. Has the v6 engine, manual transmission. 284.000 miles on it now, and the engine has never been touched. Still runs perfectly fine. Its the SE model, with the special front end, and big whale tail spoiler on the trunk. And of course its...RED.
Looks like the Piston was trying to do with the twist and shout
By the way I've learned so much by your videos I thank you, you are very educational on tear Downs also I just want to say I wish you a great life and great wishes for your shop to do the best it has ever been every year have a great one happy early Thanksgiving and have a Merry Christmas
wow , an overhead valve engine ? I thought I heard that bearing yell " freedom ! " when it shot right outta there 🤣 . Cool video 👍
16:49 yes great to see inside the oil pump, see the carnage if metal gets in there.
found this video searching for valve cover replacement on my ls4 in my 06 impala SS, Really neat seeing a complete tear down of an engine like the one ive been trying to keep on the road for years especially now having oil pressure issues... Thanks ERIC!
I loved the inside of the oil pump...i never really considered that they'd have to be positive displacement pumps - it's obvious now that I know, but I'd just never thought about it.
Thanks for that and please keep it up! I always learn something from your vids!
I have a 2006 Impala SS with 166K miles. Mine's not beat, I'm the original owner, I drive it like an adult and 80% highway. The car is not suitable for street racing, it is a 4-door sedan with good passing power. It has never done a burnout. That's how I drive it and I keep the engine oil changed regularly. The engine does consume some oil compared to my 2002 Avalanche iron block 5.3, but not terribly bad.
The transmission is still working well, I changed the factory fill and filter 6 years ago and everything looked clean in the pan. The engine is getting tired, has a little piston slap and lifter noise when cold. Still runs OK and the DOD has never malfunctioned. It does eat water pumps, it's on its 3rd one right now. I will restore the car soon and I have ordered a replacement crate engine from GM. They currently have a good PN for the replacement engine but had none in stock. My dealer parts guy (super parts guy) called GM's rebuild center and was told they had 1 core on hand and if they get an order for it they will fill it, but if no order comes soon then GM will probably discontinue the PN. So I put in the order for the crate engine. Lead time is 60 days, I told them to take their time.
I don't have any use for a bent connecting rod, and it's a good thing because I'm not gonna be able to come up with any teen tier sex jokes to get a thousand likes anyway, lol.
Thanks for the vid Eric. Been a tough day and I’ve been looking forward for the video. Awesome stuff as always. Appreciate you making the bad days a little less worse.
Yeah,.... 2005 6.0 here, dropped my oil pan to replace the oil O ring, and found two shiny pieces of foil like metal and a quarter inch beaten up glob of aluminum, no sludge. Oil pressure still slowly bounces up and down slowly but oil pressure is up at 40 driving down the road.. Was going to put a Cam in it, now I'm waiting to do a fresh build, doing lots of research... thanks for the Videos..
Love the videos! My wife asks every time the sound of your impact in double time sounds like a light saver from star wars.
Wow, right out of the gate with a Back to the Future quote? You savage.
Excellent video buddy. Love the tear downs. You know your way around an engine. Big Al.
I daily an 08 Impala SS, and even with having transmission issues left right, and center, I love the car to death and will drive it till I die.
I have an 07 ss and I feel the same, besides an oil leak coming from the valley plate gasket, the car has been pretty good to me and runs like a champ and is such a comfortable ride.
If you want a car that will do nothing but burnouts, even when you don't want them to, you need a Impala, GDP, or a La Cross with one of these 5.3s.
Only problem is when you do those burnouts you destroy the differential and take out the whole transmission with it
I used to have an olds intrigue with that trans and the 'shortstar' motor. Definitely not the power of the 5.3 but more than enough for healthy burnouts and a dead trans in less than 50k.
Who loves FWD burnouts
@@windanthonystream my GXP will do better burnouts than my C6 vette
in a snow storm!!
Man after watching you do a teardown, I will never try to fix my LS engine if something should happen to it. Yes, it is a Silverado and an 05. It does run well due to synthetic oil and filter and every 3000 miles. Thanks for your video as it was very informative as to what it takes to do a teardown never mind a rebuilding. You must be a GM mechanic. I enjoyed your presentation- Thanks.
You can save yourself a lot of mess if you have a dedicated shop vac and vacuum out the cooling system before disassembly. Works great! The higher airflow shop vac the better.
That's what I do, just pull the t-stat and rotate it on the stand. I hate getting coolant on the ground since it never evaporates.
Woohoo! It's Saturday Night Tear Down Time again!
May consider getting a pan that can sit on the engine stand legs that's low profile, or in a way that makes your life a little easier with fluids. Might save you a lot of time in clean up.
That was really awesome. I have never seen a complete tear down like that. Especially with somebody that can spot damage. Leaned tons! Thank you!
This was a teardown and a half with that twist for sure! As always, thank you for the great content!
Very interesting . I have a 94 Trans Am I bought new. It has the 350 LT1 engine. The engine has never been touched, aside from spark plug replacement every 100.000 miles. even the timing chain is original. 338.000 miles on it now, still runs and sounds like new. It uses no oil between 3000 mile oil changes which have been done since new. Castrol GTX. It doesn't smoke,, it has always passed the California emissions test. Lifelong Southern California car, it still looks great inside and out. And occasionally I'll give her the beans and she's still quite fast 😊
Anything LS1 or LT1 are a dream. I remember hearing a story that the engineers ran those engines on redline and it took days to finally give out .
I had one of these in my Monte Carlo SS. Burned oil pretty bad and had to fight with the dealership to get it considered to be a problem, then had to wait for the oil pan gasket fix, which I think just added a baffle. Still burned oil, maybe slightly less. By the time I got rid of it, it had developed piston slap at just over 100k.
I've encountered oil consumption with LS engine's myself. The biggest problem is not using the recommended oil. It should be DEXOS 5w30 or whatever it calls for in the owners manual. DEXOS is a certification of a synthetic oil. Use anything else it will consume oil faster. Doesn't mean not to check the oil at least 3 times a year. In my opinion.
@@HotRod8625 Mins always got mobile 1.
DoD life.
@@HotRod8625 Dude come on its the shitty DOD. A dexos oil or not doesn’t make THAT much of a difference thats marketing BS
Mine has 180 k on it and it's running fine.
I have a 2007 LS4 and it runs perfect. I’m the 2nd owner n it has 158k miles now. It has 118k when I bought it. Replaced transmission at 140k miles n she’s been running great ever since. I do use Full Synthetic oil and 93 octane gas. Got up to 156 mph on interstate
Is there any other way to bend a rod besides injesting fluid in the cylinder? Watch all your videos,great job! Stay safe,Al
Run the engine out of oil and seize the rod bearing. The crank keeps spinning, the bearing stops bearing-ing, the rod starts to spin along with the crank, and now you have a banana rod. Or a two piece rod with half of it now bashing a hole in the block.
I bought a 2006 Impala SS brand new. I absolutely loved that car. Almost got it a turbo on it. It would have put out around 500hp, but I really didn't have the money for repairs if something broke. Damn I miss that car!
A few things that were missed is that the ls4 uses a unique crank that’s very similar to a ls6 style that is shorter than a standard 5.3 crank it also requires shorter bolts from the flex plate to crank shaft. different bell-housing and mounting locations to accommodate the 4t65e-HD few other little details but All around a great tear down video.
I too have an E34 540i/6, also a M62B44 & Getrag 420g in a hot rod project. I work at a machine shop tearing down, machining, rebuilding engines.
Even though I'm around engines all day, I greatly enjoy watching your videos. Keep em coming!
There are over 75 hit songs with the word Saturday in them but none as sweet as the sound of an impact wrench ….quickened
I have an earlier generation of that engine in my 00 Silverado, highly doubt I can tear down an engine as fast as you. Keep up the good work
You need to nickname that engine 'Annie' cause, with that bent rod, you know its had a hard knock life.
Thank you so very much for doing a tear down of the LS4 fwd engine I requested you to do.!! I asked, and you replayed this video! Thanks again!
regards!
Denis
As others have already mentioned, this engine very likely experienced a hydro-lock. Good video of a slightly less-common failure mode.
How would that happen? Deep water or some other issue?
@@mikefoehr235 If the engine didn't didn't have plugs in it and the guy took it through a car wash or it sat in the rain or whatever it could have got in there.
I love the time and attention to detail you put in to get us those bolt cracking sounds, is like a “chef’s kiss” every time I hear a set !
Really interesting that even on the most simple engines we’re always seeing or learning something new about them I’d really like to build one for my 96 Chevy blazer 4x4 since you can’t get that many performance parts for the 4.3
You can though they are essentially a 350 missing two cylinders so there's a lot of parts for them just not much when it comes to intakes but I do know if you have a carb 4.3 you can hack up a 350 carb intake and it will fit just have to plug the intake runners you don't use can't remember if it's front two or rear been awhile since I messed with one
We rebuild them (along with every other LS engine) built a few last week that fit the Impala SS and have an LS3 for a G8 that will go together Monday if I get my .020 over rod bearings in.
The pig mats I used in the fuel business rejected water specifically. You could literally separate water from diesel with those mats. Blue ones. The white mats absorbed all liquids.
The ones i buy are grey. Didn't even know they had others.. thanks mc master carr :(
I've had a 2006 LS4 w/auto trans 4t 65E in an 88' Fiero GT since 06' , it's fabulous fun to drive👍 the FWD with shortened crank made it fit w/o toooooo many problems...lol..
"That's a lot of fluid."
I am shocked you haven't fitted some kind of drain pan support at the bottom of your engine block with how often these things leak all over your floors.
Or just a shop vac to empty the engines. It's faster to suck it out a port than off the floor. Replacement pans from x-large dog crates are perfect for the stand, wider than those pre-formed types & cheaper.
Thanks!! And thats from an old guy!! Built many Pontiac engines , Last one was the one in my 70 Judge, Have an 06 Grand Prix GXP as a driver and love driving her.. So very cool to see your teardown of this engine. As for the bent rod!! Very cool artifact.. would of loved to be in the cylinder wall to see that one happen..
20:00 Was that a spun bearing, or a _sprung_ bearing?
That would be a spun, then sprung bearing.
So the real answer is......YES 😆 🤣 😂
Thanks for the teardown! I may need to do this someday because I currently drive a '08 GXP. Everything is original on the engine internals but I try to change the oil regularly and don't do burnouts. It doesn't burn oil since I disabled DOD. The crankshaft is 13mm shorter than a regular LS in order to fit sideways.
0:20 it was GM's attempt to stay in the minds of enthusiasts while they got the Zeta platform ready. Problem was, by the time the W-car V8s were ready, the LX cars were already a thing.
@@mbsnyderc think you replied to the wrong comment, sir.
Dear sir, you are a scholar and a gentlemen. I enjoy watching your videos as they are a fun watch and to drink my tea with as i explain engines to my gf, who sometimes watches them with me. I love the carnage of the blown stuff and your humor as you explain. I'm an EJ man myself but very much realize they're short comings. A good day to you from Canada, eh
I always try to figure out the failure mode as the video progresses, but I missed on this one a bit. With the engine turning (relatively easily) but water sitting on the valves, my first thought was that the valve train wasn't turning (stripped timing gear). But, then I could see the lifters move when you cranked it over with the head off. So, not that.
The "low" piston looked like classic hydrolock... only question is if it was water ingestion (unlikely with only one bent rod) or a blown head gasket from the apparently undertorqued head. Unless the hydrolocking stretched the head bolts, but that rod isn't bent enough to be a full-cylinder waterlog. So I would REALLY check that head out, because it may very well be warped, not from extreme heat, but from being undertorqued.
The bearing carnage though... so little sign of oil starvation up top, so much below. This has the looks of a high-mile bottom end that was a bit abused, then had a head job done (and timing chain) only to have been assembled poorly with a loose head and the resulting bent rod. Then they still tried to run it until it was condemned. I don't know factory LS head gaskets but those looked aftermarket. Or, another theory is that they popped a head gasket and hydrolocked it (bending the rod), had water in the oil and still tried to run it (hence bearing damage). Did a head gasket change to try and solve the problem but with the bent rod it never ran right, and was condemned.
I have about 220000 miles on my LS4 engine. Working on my second transmission though,Lol. That was a cool teardown to watch.
Those VLOMs aren’t that bad to replace. I just recently replaced the one in my ‘06 Impala SS that has just under 150k on it. Labor booked like 2.5 hours but I was able to get it done along with plugs, wires, trans service and an oil change all in that amount of time.
Thank you. Unveiling the mysterious LS engine. A good straight forward autopsy of the little mouse.
Those T40s will be tight if some lamer drives them in with an impact instead of torqueing to spec
You make great videos. I watch right up to where they run ads that I can’t skip. I’d really like to see one of your videos to the end.
Those things are in a Life and death race with the transmission to see who can die a horrible death first.
Uh, no. This LS engine, just like the rest of them, is very reliable.
I like all the autopsy videos, even the ones about engines I know I will never work on.
Isn't number seven supposed to be a lucky number?
Anyone that has one of these that is burning oil and smoking out the exhausts (valve guides)! Try some AT-205 from ATP! It worked magic on mine. A few ounces with every oil change will cause it to burn no oil whatsoever. GM should have included a case of this stuff with every car! This might have saved this engine.
I have found on these engines it’s the damn low tension piston rings that creates the oil burning issue. I turned my wife’s DOD off at 48k miles and it still burnt a quart every 2k miles. The EPA has put more of these engines in the junk yard than anything else. Better living through regulation.
It's just a bad design of the 2nd pressure relief valve, it plugs #7's oil control ring by spraying a LOT of oil into the cylinder. You have to un-stick those rings and get the updated pan even if you disable DOD.
All of those 1920s technology rods look just fine.
“that rod was bent out of shape” - that’s what she said!
I like how You every time spilling the coolant and oil directly to garage floor and not having any oil pan laying down the engine. Pretty much my style.
А я все-таки стараюсь какой-нить кошачий сральник подставлять, скользко же потом:) Вчера разбирал мотор от Эксплорера, ни капли на пол не ушло:)
Did anyone hear “meow” at
16:34
I just clicked your timestamp, and meow I hear it.
LOVE ❤️ how simple these engines are 4 bolt valve covers 😍 👍 6 bolt mains lifter trays. Amazingly simple yet powerful with a power adder
Love your videos. The information you give as you show the parts and procedures all the way through is many times surprising. While I’ll never tear down an engine it’s all very interesting. I also like that you don’t pull punches on engine designs. I while never buy a car with DOD. Dumbest design mandated by our wonderful EPA.(morons) Ah well can’t wait for the next video.
Also I had commented on one of your previous videos to do an LS4 idk if you saw it, but big thanks to you, you're helping a lot of people
These engines are junk..I had one in a 08 Impala SS. tick tick tick tick tick tick tick...went through 3 of them. Tick tick tick tick tick. It would scoot though, even with the automatic
another good tear down complete with warm water
That was a political connecting rod. Crooked in every way possible.
Yooo awesome teardown. Just got my Monte Carlo SS too so probably will be coming back to this in the future
Happy US thanksgiving. I hope it finds you and your loved ones healthy. Your smile of the day.
A hypo-intellectual is staggering home after drinking the local watering hole dry. He comes up on a guy and his car on the side of the road with the hood up. The drunk asks what the problem is. "piston broke" is the reply. The inebriated one replies "yes I am the same way myself."
Much love and respect from north of the 49th.
Love the tear down vids. Kick ass, per usual. The Impala SS used a 3.23 final drive, while the higher-performance-handling-designated GXP had a much taller final drive at 2.56, but with a stiffer suspension tuning and a reverse-staggered wheel setup with wider fronts than rears. The Chevy was a tad quicker, but the GP could run past 100 mph in just second gear. Fun to drive, cheap to drive, and only real issue (aside from the 4T tranny) being tire wear, but that’s what you get with a FWD/LS-powered setup. Anyway, for more useless facts to punish your relatives, friends, and hey- maybe even to become champion of that trivia night that’s hosted by that local hipster bar that serves that $10/pint toilet-bowl-pinecone-flavored bullshit known as an IPA to the same dudes that begin sentences with “I feel...” and clap every time their plane lands- stay tuned.
I get excited every time your videos show up. They are all really well done and I hope you continue what your doing on youtube, I'd be crushed if you stopped. There is a weird phenomenon tho... when I watch them at night I pass the hell out with in 10 mins. My wife calls it, "Bed time stories with Eric.".
PS.. I'm going to like my own comment cause I really want that piston! =D
I’m not sure where to write for requests but I’d love to see the mighty 496/8.1 torn down.
Thanks for your show,.. I oddly find it relaxing 😎
Thanks for the video. I own a 08 super with 74000 miles. This is the first teardown I have seen on the motor. No problem with my Buick yet but....... .
I love the sound the breakerbar makes on 1st crack