Upgrades for longevity

Majoraslayer said:

This may or may not be unpopular advice, but I want to throw in my two cents anyway to save someone else from the lessons I learned the hard way. You shouldn't worry about it right now, but IF you ever happen to blow a head gasket, budget for buying replacement aftermarket heads. I wouldn't go out of my way for it otherwise if things are running fine, but keep the advice in your pocket in case you ever do happen to take off your heads for some reason.

After buying a bunch of factory Vortec heads myself (8 in total at the end), and talking to the machine shop where I had them magnafluxed, the overwhelming majority of used factory GM 5.7 Vortec heads are cracked. I even bought an entire parts Vortec engine that ran fine before being pulled; I was going to swap it in to replace my TBI, but decided to just reuse the heads since my bottom end had less than half the mileage. The Vortec engine never ran hot, and came from a 1998 truck that was cared for meticulously. A trip to the machine shop later, and they found cracks in the coolant passages of the heads. Speaking from my own experience, I would treat all OEM 5.7 Vortec heads as disposable. I've talked to several people in person and online who have had the same experience I did. Any aftermarket Vortec head you buy, including the finest Chineseum, has an upgraded thicker casting that should mitigate the cracking problem that was so common in the original design. If your factory Vortecs aren't cracked yet, chances are high it's inevitable (if you're lucky, it will be somewhere that doesn't show symptoms for a very long time). If you're doing a project that has you removing the heads anyway, it's a great time to future-proof your engine against the problem by upgrading them.

I've seen several people get defensive about this claiming their heads are fine at such and such high mileage, but all evidence I've seen has convinced me that replacing those heads if you ever happen to have them off would be worth it for longevity.

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Schurkey said:

Engine longevity should be a distant second priority. FIRST priority is to verify that the vehicle is SAFE to drive--steering, suspension, brakes all functioning properly. If the engine fails, you're late for work. If the vehicle doesn't stop, or stay controllable, you maybe kill someone.

Having said that, the ABSOLUTE BEST THINGS you can do to assure engine longevity are:
1. Get several oil-sample kits. Send off an oil sample for lab analysis NOW. If the report suggests problems, fix whatever is needed. Send another after the oil has ~6 months/6000 miles on it. You may find that once-a-year oil changes are perfectly acceptable, and maybe you don't even need to change that frequently. My Trailblazer gets the filter changed at 13,000, oil level topped-off, and I don't change oil until ~26,000 miles--and the oil analysis still says the oil is "fit for further use". But that can change if the thermostat fails, or an injector leaks, or you have some other engine-related failure like leaking intake gaskets. Does oil analysis really work for extending oil-change intervals? I don't really know. That Trailblazer only has 21 years and 280K miles on it with nothing more than replacing the ignition coils and spark plugs, so I don't really know how this is going to work-out long-term.

2. Maintain all the usual "tune-up" items in good condition. Cap, rotor, plug wires, plugs, EGR system, PCV system, spark advance, knock sensor system...you get the idea. Vortec engines are susceptible to distributor cap and intake gasket problems. The poppet-style injector spiders are known for failure, generally replaced with electronic injector spiders. O2 sensors, and MAF sensors have an expected service life, they deteriorate in use. An O2 sensor, for example, is questionable after 50K miles, even if it seems to be OK. All the other sensors are good until they aren't. You should probably replace ALL the O2 sensors soon.

3. Buy an aftermarket, bypass oil filter system. Plumb it into the engine oiling system. I get mine used, or NOS from eBay. Amsoil sells "new" ones, as do several other manufacturers. The kind I get--the old SKY-brand "Frantz" toilet-paper filters use a roll of cheap assrag to keep the oil cleaner than new. Filters-out particles as small as what's in cigarette smoke. As long as the filter housing is hot when the engine is fully-warm, it's doing it's job. When the filter housing doesn't get hot any more, the filter is plugged and should be replaced. Often takes years to plug a filter, depending on mileage and driving conditions. The oil, cleaned with the regular filter AND the bypass filter, is good as long as the additive package isn't worn-out--which you learn via the oil-sampling/analysis.


Amen!


...and filters. Consider installing a PS filter. Synthetic fluids are generally preferable to "dinosaur" oils/greases; but better CLEAN, cheap fluids than dirty expensive fluids. MOST "synthetic" oils are not synthetic at all--they're based on plain ol' crude oil, that's been "processed" by having Van Halen played at it at extreme volume levels until it submits. REAL synthetic oil is fairly rare.

Especially important is to flush the brake fluid INCLUDING within the ABS unit, which will require a scan tool.

The service manual set can be downloaded from links posted in the Sticky section of this forum.


On a "new-to-me" vehicle, I do an actual inspection of everything I can think of. "As needed" is otherwise determined by when the vehicle fails to get me to where I'm going, or fails to get me home. Better to actively inspect than to find out "the hard way".

But you're right about using quality parts especially for critical systems.


Yup, the 700/4L60/'60E are weak. Not the only weaknesses, though.


K2500 6-lug as a donor for a K1500, C2500 6-lug as a donor for a C1500. The C1500s have the additional complication of being a 5-lug axle shaft/wheel while the C2500s have six lugs.


Amen. You'd also be upgrading the rear brakes at the same time, which is HUGELY worthwhile. The original C/K1500 254mm Leading/Trailing shoe rear drums are pathetic. They're perpetually out-of-adjustment leading to a low brake pedal. Keeping them adjusted means using the park brake frequently, and nobody does that so the park brake cables seize.

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BigRigg604 said:

What would you suggest for rear brakes or upgrades over the k1500 original system

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Schurkey said:

K2500 6-lug as a donor for a K1500, C2500 6-lug as a donor for a C1500. The C1500s have the additional complication of being a 5-lug axle shaft/wheel while the C2500s have six lugs.


Amen. You'd also be upgrading the rear brakes at the same time, which is HUGELY worthwhile. The original C/K1500 254mm Leading/Trailing shoe rear drums are pathetic. They're perpetually out-of-adjustment leading to a low brake pedal. Keeping them adjusted means using the park brake frequently, and nobody does that so the park brake cables seize.

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Sean Buick 76 said:

My best advice is to do frequent oil changes! Some people prefer to use conventional oil and quicker changes while others prefer synthetic and longer change intervals. Either way the key is to keep clean oil in the engine and never let it get too dirty or low.

Depending on the previous owners oil change habits and the mileage you may need to do some flushing to clean the engine before starting your oil change schedule. I add some trans fluid to the oil 100 miles before each oil change when trying to clean up an engine. The trans fluid is high in detergents and will help clean things up.

Next would be spark plugs and wires, they should be changed every 50,000 or so.

If there are any check engine light codes then promptly diagnose and correct and it will live a long happy life…

Oh and avoid lugging the emgine below 1700 rpm it will cause detonation.

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tsr2185 said:

how much ATF do you add priot to oil change? I am due for oil change and i hear a lot of people mentioning doing this....

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Sean Buick 76 said:

I add some trans fluid to the oil 100 miles before each oil change when trying to clean up an engine. The trans fluid is high in detergents and will help clean things up.

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Scooterwrench said:

Do you remember the Siloo engine flush? We used that a couple times at a shop where I worked in the early 80's. Stuff worked pretty good.

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Sean Buick 76 said:

I ask almost every mechanic I meet about the trans fluid trick and not one has had an issue with it. I was skeptical for quite some time so I kept asking till I was convinced.

I’m also religious about adding sea foam to the fuel tank every 5000 miles, it cleans the injectors, piston tops, and the heads. I use seafaom in lawn mowers, generators, anything that burns fuel.

I was born in 82 so no I don’t remember lol! I’ve never been too into additives in general. Have you heard of the diesel flush clean? You drain the oil, replace it with diesel fuel. Turn the engine over a bunch of times but don’t start it (coil disconnected). Then drain and replace with oil.

I was never balsy enough to try it but old timers swear by it. I did key a shop to it to a 6.0 after it had an EGR failure of some sort that gunked up the engine. 4 years later my oil is staying clean at my oil changes and no ticks or noises.

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