What would you do? Chevrolet Silverado died

nitro_rat

Lunchbox Lockers
150k on a 5.3 is barely broken in.

I've never seen any bore wear on a 5.3 regardless of miles. I'd rather have a factory assembled 150k+ miles LS than one some hack has been into. It's pretty easy to do a worse job than the factory did putting one back together...

Fix the cam/lifter issues and delete the AFM/DOD if equipped. It will live a long time.

My dad's '04 Suburban has well over 300k on it and it's cleaner than most 100k miles rigs. Original engine and trans going good. He did put a used low mileage transfer case in it a few years ago. It's all in how it's cared for. Mileage has little to do with it IMO...
 

rayra

Expedition Leader
OP just needs a new oil pump, a new $5 o-ring on the oil pan pickup tube, and a few hours of pulling the oil pan and water pump assemblies to get at things.
That 'babied 150k mi' engine has another 100k in it.

Ludicrous to be talking about buying a new car for such a simple inexpensive issue. $200 bucks and all the free time in the world right now.

 

1stDeuce

Explorer
Unless you KNOW that something let go, there's a really good chance that your oil pressure relief is just stuck, or the o-ring on the oil pickup is hard and sucking air.

I just replaced the pump in a 2009 6.0l for the same reason. Really low oil pressure at idle, and still under 20psi if you rev it up. A replacement Melling oil pump is $50 and comes with the O-ring. You don't HAVE to drop the pan to change it. I've done two now by only pulling the timing cover.

With higher miles, I put a high volume pump on the truck I just did, which was $100. A LOT cheaper than replacing the engine (or truck) when there's nothing wrong with it.

For a sanity check, do a used oil analysis. If it comes back clear, and no bearing material present, then you know it's just the oil pump relief or pickup o-ring. Much cheaper fix than a new engine.
My $0.02.

<edit> Oh, I forgot about the stupid screen under the oil pressure sensor. If that screen wasn't replaced or removed when the sensor was replaced, it could be clogged, which would look like low oil pressure, though the engine would actually have plenty. I suggest pulling it, tossing it into the trash, and re-installing the sensor. Can also be done w/o pulling the intake. Takes about 15 minutes.
 
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