Need a GM 5.3L replacement engine, who do you recommend?

The wife's 2006 Suburban has 200k on it and is needing a new motor and trans here very soon. Who do you guys recommend for engines? Tons of companies out there these days with "warranties" but I have no experience with their products. A warranty means nothing to me if the car is down and I have to replace the engine a second time. All factory GM options are on backorder and the parts guy says no idea when that might clear.

 

For a 16 year old vehicle with 200k I’d go with a salvage yard.

www.car-part.com

 

Its a 5.3 Find one in a reputable salvage yard and do the entire swap for like a grand n a weekend.

 

most of the reman warranties require an "authorized" facility to do the installation.
I would imagine an engine/trans will run you 5-7k plus any other components. Wouldnt be hard to be at $10k all in... for something worth $8ish??

 

I have a "5.3" shortblock for sale.. lol

6.0 block, 0.005" over bore, 4.8L crank, forged Lunati rods, Wiseco pistons with Mt Everest sitting on top of them, and set up for 1/2' head studs. lol Comes out to about 328 cubic inches. will prolly net about 13.4:1 with a 60cc chamber head.. Was going to do that, with a 76mm turbo and M1 fuel.

Was building a drag radial car for a class called Ultra Street, because I assumed I would have given up bikes by now and went back to cars.

I was wrong.

 

In my local U-pick yard, every engine is $250. Only issue is you have to remove it. But, you can see the condition of the vehicle you pull it from to decide if it is worth the effort/risk. But $250 is cheap. And, you can take shortcuts as well when removing it, that you wouldn't do when removing your engine out of your vehicle.

 

A lot of reman companies warranties are scams as well. Found that out on a reman from NAPA. Bought a motor for a toyota highlander because we couldn’t find one in a salvage yard. Kind of a long story, but was on a road trip from MN. PCV valve went bad, sucked out all the oil, and the motor let go in northern FL. (60k on vehicle) I had a friend near Tampa that said hed put a motor in it, and we could drive it back. Napa originally said it would take a week. So we hung out down there for a bit. Then it turned into two weeks. Then we decided to fly home, and get it shipped back after he put the motor in. Well, the motor took like a month to show up. By the time that he got the motor, he was busy with some other crap, and didn’t get it put in for a few weeks. He did eventually get it in, and we shipped it back to MN. Right as the vehicle came off the transporter, I thought that it sounded funny. It got worse over the next few days. The new motor made it about 100 miles, and failed, metal shavings everywhere. Tried to warranty it, and the reman company was already out of business, and no more warranty. I was working at an auto shop at the time, and they were the ones that were going to do the work. The shop owner had to threaten with lawyers and lawsuits. Finally got NAPA to cough up another motor, and even pay the labor to swap. Long story short, take your chances on a junkyard motor. Especially with a 5.3, those things are usually pretty bulletproof.

 

That’s my thought. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of a 5.3 going tits up at 200k unless it’s been neglected.

Got a customer with a 380k daily driver, plant and tranny all original.

 

4l60? That’s impressive if it is, or it just never towed anything.

 

I've had reasonably good luck with Toyota engines. 227K on my 2010 Rav4 V6, though I had to replace the alternator at 175,000. I guess they just don't build them like they used to.

 

Rent a U-haul with a 6.0 and do a swap.

 

Kid that works for me's father just blew up the Hemi in his Ram. Called one of the big salvage yards near us, $4700 for one with 50 thou on it. A rebuilt crate motor is 3700.

 

Time to make it duramax suburban

 

Im not too worried about the cost. It was a cheap car and its in great condition. So if I put $10k into it and it lasts another 10-15 years I'm okay with that.

 

It had a cooling system issue prior to us owning it that caused a head gasket failure. Bandaid fixed that but now it has low oil pressure too so I'm thinking new motor and be done with it.

 

I live in Cali so all cool options are out unfortunately. Otherwise I would love to put an LS3 in there with a 6L90 trans.

 

That is easy, Montana or South Dakota takes care of it. Or even NV as long its not in Clark or Washoe county

 

I run a auto repair shop gm or jasper transmissions or engines.Those are the two i trust the rest are a crap shoot,
I have a 2007 tahoe i turned DOD (Displacement on demand ) off when i bought it at 190K now in the 250k Range with a 4l60 i put od clutches and a band in it around 220k when it lost second gear.
I do run a heavy weight oil 15w50 since i bought it tows our snowmobile trailer in the winter.

 

Wish I was close...I could show you how to pull both heads, clean your valves then shove a Texas speed cam in it and change the oil pump. (Probably why you have low oil press) That's probably all it needs man.

Have you pulled or replaced the oil pressure sensor and checked to see if the plastic filter is clogged?

 

I haven't checked the sensor. I did read that the oil pressure sensor screen is prone to clogging though and giving erroneous readings. Maybe its fine after all, who knows. Is there a way to check oil pressure mechanically and not rely on that sensor?