Rebuild my 350 or replace it

[ericdrobertson]

I just acquired 1997 GMC Sierra 2500 4x4. It was taken care of pretty well up until the owner parked it in 07 and let someone borrow it for about 9 months who pretty much dogged it around and beat it to hell. The previous owner told me that he believes the engine has a cracked head and knows for sure the tranny needs a torque converter. The engine will run but its rough. I'm guessing from the time it spent sitting. My question is with my complete engine inexperience could I and someone with alright engine experience rebuild the engine or should I replace it. There's a guy I know selling a 350 from a 96 Chevy z71 with 50,000 miles in the rebuild. He wants $350 for it. The engine that's in the GMC Now has about 260xxx on it

 

[reno124]

For that cheap for a new 350 I'd just swap and not worry bout it i got a 350 with 281k and no probs if your strapped for cash it'd be cheaper to fix what you've got but if not I'd get that 350

 

[ericdrobertson]

Would a rebuild on the original engine make it a good reliable engine or would I run into trouble later? I am pretty strapped for cash right now but I wanna do things right and not cut corners. I want to make the truck a daily driver and the usual dirt road riding, mudding, ect.

 

[VorTecxas]

Here's what I would do (and usually do). Buy the other engine and install it. Then, rebuild the original one. This way you still have something to drive, and you can take your time, gather parts as you can afford them, and assemble it correctly without cutting corners. You can also put a little more money into it over a longer period of time (cam, head work, tuning, etc) and have a better performing engine when you're done

 

[VorTecxas]

If the '96 engine comes with a wiring harness, do not use it. Use the one from your truck. '96 and '97 are a pain to interchange with each other and later years, I learned this the hard way. Also, if your '97 is a late model year, it will have a different evap system than the '96, so pay attention to what is different. I couldn't tell you what right off the top of my head besides the evap canister and fuel pump. As long as you use your engine harness, none of that should be a problem, just make sure your vac lines go to the right place.

 

[phule]

Do you know it needs a rebuild? With the ethanol gas mix there using they carry about a six month shelf life then it goes south. could be running rough do to bad fuel and just needs tlc?

Adam

 

[ericdrobertson]

I would love to know it needs very little done to it but its very unlikely due the possible cracked head and or bad intake manifold gaskets. Once I spend some more time on it I'll know a little more. And Vortexas i think thats what I'll do. I never even thought of that.

 

[VorTecxas]

Do you know it needs a rebuild? With the ethanol gas mix there using they carry about a six month shelf life then it goes south. could be running rough do to bad fuel and just needs tlc?

Adam

My truck runs fine What goes south?

 

[VorTecxas]

I would love to know it needs very little done to it but its very unlikely due the possible cracked head and or bad intake manifold gaskets. Once I spend some more time on it I'll know a little more. And Vortexas i think thats what I'll do. I never even thought of that.

Glad to help, sometimes you just need a simpleton to point out the simple ideas haha

 

[dowsewashere]

No hes saying if you leave most ethonal gas sitting for a while 6 months to a year it tends to be really crappy for the motor. So you could drain the tank refill and see if anyyhing changes.