Lsx 5.3

[65MALI]

I was looking to use an iron block (carbed) 5.3 in my long overdue chevelle project. Whats should be replaced or "Freshened up" before I run this engine? Its a stock 5.3 with about 50k miles. I was thinking reseal with a fresh set of gaskets and re-ring the piston rings. Any thoughts or suggestions?

[jlcustomz]

50k, I,d leave it alone. The gaskets on these engine are a big part of their improvement over gen 1 engines & unless it never had oil changes , no need for reringing or anything at that mileage. Spend your money on installation & enjoy.

[srh3trinity]

Agreed. The LSX engines I have seen don't have much wear at moderate mileage.

[65MALI]

Sweet! damn I love these engines

[dontlifttoshift]

Yeah, run it!

What year 5.3? If you are going to beat it hard you may want to eliminate the DOD/AFM lifters (if you have them) as they are ridiculously big and heavy. If you are doing a cam swap I would definitely get rid of them.

[65MALI]

Yeah, run it!

What year 5.3? If you are going to beat it hard you may want to eliminate the DOD/AFM lifters (if you have them) as they are ridiculously big and heavy. If you are doing a cam swap I would definitely get rid of them.


Its pre-DOD/AFM 5.3. Maybe I will run a different cam/valvetrain.

[19,69camaro]

Why carbed. Your going to need an electric fuel pump anyways. Dont be a dinosaur!

[65MALI]

Itll be carbed for now, just to get it going, I do have plans to go FI. I honestly just wanna get it running.

[BobK]

I'm with the others- leave it alone. Had a friend who picked up an LS with 130k on it and low oil pressure. The previous owner thought it had thrown a bearing, but my friend knew better (he's a GM tech). As he predicted, it just needed a new oil pump, but he popped the pan and heads to check it out anyway. The cylinder walls still had the crosshatch- if it was an old style motor, the thing probably would have been bored and hones twice already....lol

[hifi875]

I'm running a carbd 5.3 in my 69 camaro. Has milled 243 z06 heads and a custom grind comp cam. Runs very good.

[garys 68]

I'm running a 50k 05 5.3 in my 72 Olds I use as a DD. Leave it alone. Keep the fuel injection especially if you got the harness with it. It will probably cost more to get the carb running on it vs keeping EFI.

[69cutlassrkt]

I'm running a 50k 05 5.3 in my 72 Olds I use as a DD. Leave it alone. Keep the fuel injection especially if you got the harness with it. It will probably cost more to get the carb running on it vs keeping EFI.

I agree if you got the whole motor and the intake manifold carb will probably cost you more. Changing intakes and getting the ignition controller. Just get an aftermarket fuel tank and covette fuel filter/regulator. BTW i was getting 26mpg hwy with an 05 5.3l L33. It was making 275rwhp/329rwtq at the time.

[T_Raven]

My truck's 5.3 has almost 200k on it, and my 01 TA has about 170k. Both run great. What use to be considered high mileage is nothing to these engines. I did have to reseal the rear cover on the LS1 that went into my 89. It only had 55k. If there are no signs of leaks I would leave it alone. If it looks like the rear main or rear cover are leaking, better to reseal those while it's out than have to pull your trans later

[65MALI]

My truck's 5.3 has almost 200k on it, and my 01 TA has about 170k. Both run great. What use to be considered high mileage is nothing to these engines. I did have to reseal the rear cover on the LS1 that went into my 89. It only had 55k. If there are no signs of leaks I would leave it alone. If it looks like the rear main or rear cover are leaking, better to reseal those while it's out than have to pull your trans later

Cool. Thnx for the replies...