Catastrophic Silverado 1500 L83 5.3L V8 Engine Teardown. Almost NO Survivors!

[@I_Do_Cars]

Hey guys, SORRY I completely missed the clip of the heads! I'll be posting pictures of them in the community tab tomorrow!

[@TheStiver]

You could've gotten away with it, I was too distracted by the carnage to notice!

[@anthonyjernigan5607]

Malice in the combustion

[@tankdawg32]

We're just happy with our weekly video.

[@willkincaid5841]

I was about to say I think this is one of the few videos i didn't get to see the deck side of the heads. Plus I saw what looked to be a dented inwards sleve, like it got hit just enough to Bend it slightly off the main cylinder bore. It was number 7 or 8 I think right next to the bent oil squirter that was holding the cam back from coming out. I've not had a whole lot of experience with the gen 5s, but I'd say this one got some heavy detonation at 7k or so. Can't lean them out to much or put to much timing into them. I always like to leave them just a little fat and and go a few degrees under what the engine really likes to stay safe. Unless you just don't care throw the moon tune and go. Sometimes you can get away clean with that, or you get something like this. I'm not saying it was a tuners fault nor the tune it's self that caused it to let go. She might have had some valve to piston contact, over reved, detonated maybe a combination. Possibly another object could've let go to set this mess into its destruction lol.

[@rydplrs71]

I was about to start rewinding to see what I missed

[@fitfogey]

When a buddy says “kinda in it”, like you said, that always means wide open throttle.

[@riccocool]

The computer and GM know the throttle position.

[@fitfogey]

It was highly modified. Mike most likely over revved it.

[@garyandtricia1]

Reminds me of an early Duramax we had come in with an engine noise. Truck ran with a noticeable but minor noise and barely a little rough. Long story short, no compression on one cyl, after teardown entire piston in pieces in the pan. Amazed at how well it ran. Under warranty, customer got a new Duramax.

[@agenericaccount3935]

Superb. Thanks for this. Saturday isn't Saturday without someone else's misfortune on display. Turning the engine over sounded like a blender full of marbles. The pan looked like the surface of Mars 😄

[@lizkrinsky5209]

Oof

[@lancekeltner2625]

I sometimes forget how simple OHV heads are on top. Takes me back to my 302 fox body days.

[@robotcantina8957]

Wow.... aside from the massive amount of debris.... that engine was super clean.

[@mauriciorighetti670]

Make the kubota 3cyl turbo pls

[@MasterMalrubius]

What's the green color on the valve spring?

[@jamesplotkin4674]

@@MasterMalrubius That's ink or paint to identify the application/batch.

[@paulm749]

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, did you enjoy the play?" 🤣😉 It wasn't an old engine, but it appears that for at least a moment it was catastrophically over-stressed.

[@jerryc3050]

aside from the massive amount of debris" 🤣🤣

[@christophersoward2895]

That engine was well maintained. I have not seen an engine that clean in a long time.

[@hdrenginedevelopment7507]

Rpm will do that. Use good oil and rev it out regularly and it will look like that even after a hundred thousand miles. Keeping the crankcase ventilation moving, keeping the rings from getting gunked up and stuck, and the high velocity windage essentially regularly power washing the inside of the engine all contribute.

[@karlschauff7989]

Change the oil early and often helps a lot. If you don't do short trips all the time, that makes a huge difference too. There was a video by Engineering Explained where he visited Mobil 1. They put 500k miles on a 2014 or 2015 Silverado 5.3 and the engine looked amazing when they tore it down. It was a highway simulation which helped. If it was a short trip simulation with cold temperatures, the engine would look a lot different, especially doing 20k mile oil change intervals. It would have been covered in sludge inside. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ol7ddadve6x9n5o

[@fireflyraven2760]

Ima be honest i like the simplicity of the 5.3l short block my 2014 1500 has one it been great for the past several months i have had it

[@cma8165]

Wow, so much carnage in there! Your friend Mike must have been going full throttle when this happened!!

[@thomasfletcher760]

Definitely was giving it the beans

[@Backroad_Junkie]

If Mike had a dashcam going, it's be nice to get some audio, lol...

[@christopherpetronio2792]

@@Backroad_Junkie I'd pay for that 🤣

[@Beeskness]

😂

[@Estimated]

The racing sounds during the sped up moments are a nice touch.

[@simbanugz2906]

I cant tell you how many people I know assume 7000+RPM Is no big deal on these engines for them to ask me what i think happened. Great motors but are not invincible like most people believe. Its the high rpm shift when they usually let go. 1st -- 2nd shift at WOT. Great video like usual

[@michaelbenedict9549]

It was only 6500rpm. Just to much aggression on the timing with pump e85.

[@Jakek200]

The Hex headbolt is a little shorter than the rest. I imagine GM made it a different fastener so it'd be harder to get mixed up with the rest (since that bolt hole is shorter). It also torques to a slightly lower value.

[@peted5217]

That makes sense. Thanks

[@michaeltarno2979]

That is down right hilarious cause they never made that note of difference before 🤣 Why does this bolt feel like its dead heading into something, did someone drop a cigarette butt in it or what. No its an .112 inches shorter than the rest. 🤣

[@Seveneleven44]

My father has a 2009 Silverado 5.3 that just rolled over 280,000 miles. It’s never been opened up, although it’s near the end of its life, it’s got a bad rear main and both valve cover gaskets are almost gone. With that said, it still runs smooth and has no misfires. I’d love to see the internals on this engine, as I’ve done the maintenance on it since the day he brought it home. It’s had oil changes religiously done at 5,000miles.

[@workct4102]

My 05 5.3 let go at about 210k....for 40k of its last miles it leaked oil from the tailpipe....never had a truck burn as much oil as that! GM fooled me twice...never again.

[@crspcritter]

Yup 👍👌

[@jd1029]

Definitely tune related. These don't let loose like that stock imho. Thanks for the great content once again!

[@keganinama7579]

1 valuable thing about this motor....THE WRIST PIN. They are never destroyed. They Are LITTERALLY Invincible!

[@ДмитрийФакухин]

I seen them broken many times. Cracks in two half, often.

[@Vegheadshow]

Man I was about to go to bed then got the notification. oh well, what's another half an hour!

[@LeafyVines]

All the time haha.

[@dirtfarmer7472]

We can sleep later. It was worth it.

[@RadDadisRad]

I absolutely love these 5.3 motors. I have one in my 2022 and it gets amazing mpg. I get 20mpg mixed driving with a crew cab short bed 4wd A10 stock sized wheels and tires.

[@crspcritter]

Same here ; crew cab 4x4 20 mpg mixed driving. 👍👌

[@waterloo123100]

An 05 Silverado does The same mpg without all those extra gears

[@sparky010201]

legend has it that on a quiet night you can still hear the spring bouncing around the shop!

[@09corvettezr1]

I think this engine suffered a failure due to detonation, as opposed to excessive RPM. The marks on the cylinder wall at 7:30 clearly look like those that would be created by the corners of the wrist pin bouncing of the cylinder walls many times as it was whipped around by a still intact rod, after the piston had separated into its individual molecules. The rod broke shortly thereafter.

[@rmp5s]

That's actually a very good point. I would think high load detonation would be an effective way to thoroughly atomize a piston like that. Really is amazing.

[@tptrsn]

@@rmp5s Except there should be some evidence of detonation showing on the tops of the other pistons, or the upper rod bearing shells should show some indication of a pounding from the detonation.

[@rmp5s]

@@tptrsn Yea, I guess it wouldn't all happen in a single cylinder...dunno, man.

[@tptrsn]

@@rmp5s Agreed, it probably wouldn't all happen in a single cylinder, but who knows if that fuel injector got jammed up or something... I guess I'd still expect to see some evidence in the upper rod bearing half of the hammering that was happening from the detonation.

[@davelowets]

I dont think it was detonation... It probably pinched a ring, from excessive heat in that cylinder, and popped a ring land... You know the rest of the story once a chunk of piston is loose in the cylinder. Today's engines run fairly tight ring gaps, and they really NEED to be opened up if the engine is going to be producing much more power than what it came with stock. I have a feeling that this brand new LT engine was NOT opened up to have this done when the "tune" and "extra parts" were added to it. Ka-blamo... 💥

[@eugenefeagan8220]

This reminds me of the time my grandfather goosed his 59 Ford 292 y block pickup truck on the ice and over spun the engine. What saved it from total destruction, unlike your 5 gen v8, was the timing chain blew up. It was a pretty easy fix. Loved that old truck.

[@johnforster5312]

I recently had to remove and dismantle the 1GR-FE 4.0 from my Toyota Prado and found myself saying "oh blue!" whenever something was being reluctant to come out. Looking forward to seeing the teardown on the 4Runner's 4.0!

[@PureCountryof91]

I have a 24" bar I call Red. It's a snap-on though

[@roycewoods9219]

I have no idea what destroyed this engine. I love the tear downs. I don’t mechanic much these days so I have to get my carnage fix from people like you. Keep up the good work.

[@StreuB1]

Ukraine thought there were Russians in that engine so they HIMARS'd it. Its the only explanation.

[@jamesgreen9954]

RPMs dude, I’ve been destroying small block chevys for 30yrs.

[@PureCountryof91]

Cylinder deactivation is the probable culprit. The lifters collapse, valve doesn't move in proper time, and the piston violently makes out with the valve. This precursor event, it leads to a lifter shifting in the bore, then wipes out the cam. Rollers. And head. It's stupid engineering for emissions standards.

[@Nmdixon-cu7vm]

@@PureCountryof91 and it literally saves about 1 mpg, if that. I disabled dod with hp tuners and I barely noticed any change.

[@frankgnat8707]

@@Nmdixon-cu7vm Yep, put a Range Technologies dongle in my 2022 5.3l a month after buying it brand new. Runs and even shifts like a different truck! Went from 18.5mpg to 17.3mpg for my day today use.

[@rotaxtwin]

Looked really clean in there, kinda makes sense that it has been modified. These LTs have come so far from the first Gen it's hard to keep track of all the changes. I'm kinda leaning toward a little too much advance, but I have nothing to base that on, just that all the bearings looked so good.

[@509brown]

What's to criticize? We had variable displacement, multiple uses of blue, more piston nuggets than possible, malice in the combustion palace, the safety tote with a spring yet to return to earth and more! I'm quite satisfied.

[@brand-x7049]

17:38 Piston Grits. 😁 My guess would be over-revved it and snapped the first rod, and everything went downhill from there - *FAST.*

[@Randrew]

That weren't no hill it went down. 'twas a cliff.

[@brand-x7049]

@@Randrew "This was a case of accidental death." 🤦‍♀🤣

[@henryschmidt7403]

I had a tuner like that once, didn’t put a rev limit and I hit over 10k

[@thorvelasco1467]

Mike did good on the Oil Change Intervals! Clean inside.

[@Elmiki007]

This engine didnt even had 10,000 miles lol. Looks new to me

[@AZMTB]

Same oil pump in my ZL1 with the LT4 - variable pressure for mileage, electronically controlled where if you floor it, it ramps up pressure. GM had lots and lots of issues with them in the '17 and '18 model years where the pump housing would crack, completely dropping pressure to 0 and throwing a warning on the dash. As long as you shut the car off pretty quick, it was a fairly simple fix under warranty.

[@ischmidt]

If you have any UK contacts, you should see if you can get any engines from "Rufford Ford". It's a road in England with a small river running across it (and a small army of KZbinrs filming it all day). Normally it's less than 6 inches deep, but it can make it up over 3 feet. You can easily hear carnage happening in some of the videos so it'd be fun to see what the damage looks like.

[@rustymotor]

Love watching those Rufford fails, sometimes the Cars stop with a real commotion going on in the engine and others leaving with a white cloud behind. Would love to see the oil quality afterwards and certainly some expensive fails too!

[@truthmatters5209]

You s ! ck f # ck. The German name clearly accounts for your s @ distic mind.

[@GNX157]

I’m glad you fast forward/speed up at the right places and that you don’t put in background music.

[@gregpaszt4671]

I like your brass drift for removing the pistons nice!

[@davidb6576]

He was gifter that by a loyal viewer (not me). And it's not brass, it's gold (softer, so less damage to the parts).

[@63Imp283]

@@davidb6576 I have used and own a lot of brass hammers, punches etc. Never heard of anyone using gold you for real? If so pretty cool

[@russellstyles5381]

Very clean! Someone changed the oil. Of course there is the missing piston.

[@Slaktrax]

Eric you didn't mention the mileage on this engine. But this is typical of what happens to these when they are modified and tuned. Cast pistons don't cut it, you have to change to a set of forged pistons. Been there, done that.

[@D2O2]

Yes. These engines already have 11:1 comp so improper tune and low grade fuel is a recipe for destruction.

[@sargepent9815]

Lots of potential in these. The heads are massive in terms of flow potential. What seems to kill these is the oil pump. GM changed the design and while massive, it's not as "user friendly" as the previous generation pumps. This was also when GM shifted to 0W20 engine oil and added piston cooling oil jets like you typically see on diesels. They are pretty robust, but they're not indestructible

[@09corvettezr1]

I hate to point this out Eric, but I’m afraid we never saw the heads after they were pulled. 😢

[@I_Do_Cars]

Uhhhhhhh crap! I’ll add it

[@CloroxGodThe1st]

There wasn't any heads

[@bigblockjess617]

Was thinking the same thing

[@I_Do_Cars]

Ah I can’t add it! Majorly bummed. Both my editor and I missed it when I went over it again. 😢

[@12345.......]

@@I_Do_Cars just post a picture in community tab

[@barneywing9876]

You have a dream job! Love watching you tear different things down to see what happened to it.

[@mezma4886]

the wristpin will always survive.. actually ready to install with next piston i swear its good :)

[@PureCountryof91]

The high nickel chromium blend of steel is actually amazing. Hard as hell, glass like factory finish for lubrication reasons, and finally, it's a cylinder, so super strong by geometry. Beginning to be a think of the bushing or clip went and the piston followed

[@metaldetectingnmore8763]

What about the cheese cam or lifter rollers

[@IB-hn5ce]

Thanks Eric. I recently found your channel and now I'm binge watching. And I subscribed. 🙂 This may already have been mentioned in the 935 earlier comments. Re the trouble you had getting the chain off the cam phaser at around 11m30s in, I saw a video of DOD delete on a 5th gen L83 engine. They inserted a rod behind the oil pump at the top right side, between the pump and the right hand run of the chain, and depressed the left run of the chain in the middle of the chain tensioner. It looks as if 5th gen has an improved tensioner that doesn't break. It's curved and springy and the force straightens it so the top end rises in the guide at top left above the oil pump, allowing a pin or a small Allen key to be inserted through holes in the guide and the tensioner to hold it retracted. Then there's enough chain slack to remove the phaser. Maybe this is in the GM workshop manual, I don't know. The LT looks like a great engine, but it's direct injected and still has DOD 💣 I read that the LT engines in Australian Holden Commodores from 2014 had the DOD disabled or deleted, not sure which. IanB

[@allenl9031]

I believe that piston was made of the same aluminum as the self-destructing rods that Steve Morris tried out in his SMX.

[@davidb6576]

In an alternative universe, the rod was fine, but the rest of the engine disintegrated.

[@kmack747]

This would have had to have been the same problem Tom Bailey had during drag week bad injector causing a lean condition

[@darylmorse]

I was thinking the same thing! This was impressive carnage, but it was nothing compared to the pulverized connecting rods in Steve's engine. If anyone wants to see monumental carnage, check it out on Steve's channel.

[@PureCountryof91]

Aren't they still using cylinder deactivation?

[@mdubz101]

It’s the afm. Kills these things

[@Michael_CS615]

Too many onions added to the external mix (compared to the OEM design spec) AND then he gave it THE DOCTOR! So something had to give. A respectable result and a reminder that everything has a design/engineering spec and you exceed that at your peril!

[@hcthomsenable]

Really great video. I think it's very interesting to see the differences between German engine design(the Audi v10 5.2) and American engine design. I would not want to work on the Audi engine myself if it was my car. Like you said in that video "All jobs must be an engine out". This looks much better and easier to maintain yourself. Thanks once again, for all your great videos. I think they are very good and educational. They all have told me what cars not to buy, and which might be ok. So keep up your awesome work.👍😎

[@thomasladner2713]

In my experience as a Chevy technician I’ve noticed most Gen V 5.3 and 6.2 engines have those odd little grooves worn into the pushrods. I’m not sure exactly what the pushrod is making contact with to make those grooves, but I’ve been told it’s normal and that it’s nothing to be worried about when tearing one down!

[@austincjett]

This is the first time I've seen one of these apart. Wow, when the piston let go it did a lot of damage. That's some wild looking piston crowns. Looks like something you would see on a diesel. What's the strange colored coating on the mainbearings? What amazes me, even with all that lower cylinder damage, the water jacket wasn't breached.

[@pezimore]

ceramic?

[@RyanMonty]

Great vid. I know this engine too well...just finished tearing it apart to remove the AFM/DOD crap after a lifter went.

[@f688xt6]

Since there are no other pistons that exploded, I would wager that the injector for that cylinder failed and leaned out. Since it's tuned, the margin for error would be much closer, and with DI it could very easily detonate a piston.

[@brianl8983]

Another great Saturday night. Thank you kind sir

[@RedDeadSpearhead]

I do enjoy the l83, it's gotten me as good as 26 mpg on the highway, but my failures with said engine have all been valvetrain related, a DOD lifter at 68k, and a complete lifter failure at 122k (lifter was spinning in the lifter tray as far as I can tell) which took out a bore in the block, as well as seizing the cam in place, breaking the bolt to the cam gear, and destroying a few valves (somehow didn't bend the pushrods) so now it's going back together with new everything but the rotating assembly. Tie bar lifters, bigger capacity oil pump, new rings because I hate the "low drag for better mileage" crap and oil consumption. Who knows maybe it'll need something in another 60k. I'll be sure to throw the whole platform in the smelter if that's the case.

[@karlschauff7989]

Weird. Between my 2014 and a dozen of my coworkers with 2014 or newer GM trucks, not one of us has had a lifter fail, and they're the type that didn't care to disable AFM. At least five or six of them have over 200k miles on their trucks and not a single AFM lifter failure. A chick with a 2011 Silverado 5.3 had a lifter fail, but those engines are the older Gen IV design and she didn't change the oil as often as she should have sludgy oil kills AFM lifters.

[@betoq_z2855]

If you are doing all that might as well do a afm delete kit

[@noellagunas1242]

Awesome teardown of the block. My 07 silverado LS 5.3 is down. My mechanic says am looking at $3600 to get it going again witch means new lifters,oil pump and camshaft. I pray my engine is good enough to come back alive. Your teardown scares me but I am hopeful 😁

[@andrewcammer2535]

The Gen 5 LT engines are extremely sensitive to detonation with the stock piston. Unfortunately, once they get rattled they just shrapnel like you saw here.

[@gregc2331]

I inspect damaged engines for warranty claims, I don't recall seeing the combustion chamber side of the cylinder heads in the video. In my experience detonation starts to melt the piston before it comes apart and you will see melted aluminum transfer to the cylinder wall which I did not see. Also, if this engine was tuned, you typically will see detonation across several cylinders from the tuning, not just one. You should check for a dropped valve seat or evidence of an object that dropped into the cylinder. If this happened there will also be impact damage to the cylinder head at the lowest point where it is closest to the piston top. When this happens at high speed it just grenades the piston, then the loose connecting rod just bangs around in the cylinder until it breaks off the crankshaft end after beating up the block

[@iskydivetoooo]

I like your channel and also your sense of humour. I like you throwing bad parts in the shop. 😁😁😁😁

[@jamesplotkin4674]

He only throws the good parts ;-)

[@Edge51]

Would have to see the tune but tune sounds like suspect here and wonder if it was a flex capable version of the L83.

[@darrylmelnyk8182]

love the channel. would love to see more hp and modified engines that blew up. similar to the viper teardown.

[@roberthood99]

Had a customer bring in a 1500 with a little older 5.3 1 day, from the outside you couldn't tell why the crank would spin but stop, well I started digging into because it was just scrap anyways, 1st sign of something wrong was a push rod that almost became an L, get deeper in and find a broken valve spring and broken valve go further and find a piston that was knocked at an angle and cracked almost in half from hitting the head, getting deeper and find that the back 2 cylinders snapped the connection rods in half and twisted them, turns out the truck had a lifter tick for a while and he got up to 6,500 rpm and it went boom! Literally. was 1 of the craziest things I've seen so far working on cars, I have also seen a giant hole through the oil pan from a piston and shattered the starter into a million pieces was told the customer got Into a accident and locked the motor from the impact, but anyways Keep up the great content it's always some cool and interesting stuff to watch!

[@Paulster2]

Did you call that a "woundage tray"? Sounds about right either way, lol.

[@kthwkr]

You need a cloth bag. Put that oil pump part with the spring in it. So when the spring takes off it will be contained in the bag.

[@kristineblethyn1909]

Yet another thoroughly entertaining video,thankyou and hope you and your family have an enjoyable Thanksgiving!!!

[@jimbak478]

You collect damaged pieces for a display wall or something. I haven’t seen the display. I suggest an addition: fife a mason jars with the gravel from this one. It would make for some conversation. Good show.

[@jimbak478]

Sorry:”fill a mason jar”.

[@allenl9031]

WOT throttle direct injection failure, lean leading to piston melt and failure. BOOM!

[@gcrauwels941]

Nice to see this engine as I have this in my truck, albeit with minor mods. Looks to me like a rod just came from together.

[@codo7]

Exactly, a tuned engine. Increased revs on the limiter I thought.

[@davelowets]

14:46 No, powdered metal rods don't make the best hammers. But a good forged rod, on the other hand, one of those puppies will just about saw an engine block in half when the piston crumbles off of them and they're allowed to fling around wildly inside the crankcase. 😳

[@hyperboloidofonesheet1036]

15:43 Aquarium gravel!

[@TheNetkrot]

Fatigue in the piston rod, probable broke near the piston head and while it was attached to the crankshaft it was able to make thous marking on the inside of the cylinder. It made its last blow onto the side of the block tearing it open.

[@allenl9031]

GM. "What can we do to make the LT look ridiculous?" Engineer, "Humped valve covers?" GM," Do it!"

[@Tiovergudo]

They were designed for the pcv system

[@lawnmowerdude]

Gotta show off them spiffy valve covers.

[@shoominati23]

It looks like some Flathead Ford OHV conversion

[@keithchrysler3732]

If it's GM, it's junk. This crap is exactly why I've driven Fords both new and used with 0 engine failures.

[@jacketrussell]

3:00 - That just has to be the most satisfying head bolt crack ever.

[@gorak9000]

no crack caps to cam loose on this one though :(

[@daytrypper]

Woohoo! Saturday Night Teardown Time!

[@Splitfinger709]

Legend has it. The wrist pin has been transplanted several times before this engine. Eric will resell it, and it'll find its way back to his hands. Thus completing the cycle!

[@dougrobinson8602]

Legend has it that wrist pin was uncovered at Stonehenge and installed in this 5.3.

[@n10cities]

The inside of that engine was basically a blender when that rod let go with the damage all over the place!

[@patrickkennedy2533]

My old boss had a gmc . He got another truck and sold the gmc to his brother . His brother drives it and didnt beat on it but he blew it up . After the prognosis the problem was that the engine never broke in after 40 or 50 thousand miles because old boss, he used synthetic oil since day one , and the engine never broke in

[@justsumguy2u]

I'm going with detonation. I would think if it was overrevved we'd see piston to valve contact from floating valves

[@codo7]

Oh...yeah. If it flew apart,. due to inertia you'd see that contact.

[@kmack747]

I would definitely agree on lean detonation probably dropped an injector at high rpm causing the major carnage

[@bradh6185]

I thought detonation when I saw the carbon on the piston at 24:12.

[@Geoffwhite18]

I was going to say boost, but since it wasn't boosted I'm also saying detonation.

[@AerphGaming]

Legend has it that spring still hasn't come down.

[@JohnEvans-ct6mz]

GM has been having a lot of piston issues lately. It’s mostly on the boosted engines, but tuning a 5.3 could cause similar problems. Before I left Chevy in 2017, I replaced or rebuilt five Malibu 1.5 liter engines for broken ring landings. None of them had over 20k miles and I did them in a period of three months. I’ve seen similar issues with the newer 2.0T as well.

[@robertf6344]

Defective piston seems a reasonable call.

[@Drmcclung]

That's interesting to hear from a GM tech himself because I had wondered myself why the 1.5's were so prone to destruction in so many different ways.. I never believed for a minute it was all down to ring gaps like people were saying (NA GM v8's with slack jawed yokels and their turbos, yes absolutely), but I suspected that it had to be a fault in piston design/manufacture on the turbo 4's. I'm real glad you left this comment

[@JohnEvans-ct6mz]

@@Drmcclung My pleasure! I give GM credit, they do a great job of making push rod engines relevant in this day and age. Even those small ecotec engines, the design is impressive. They use a lot of designs from their Opel subsidiary in Germany. The injectors on the 1.4 and 1.5 are in the valley next to the ignition coils. Very similar to Benz and BMW. Problem is they're still trying to recoup their losses from 2009 and they're doing it in the worst way. I left GM because they kept reducing their warranty labor times for very complicated jobs and they would refuse any attempt for techs to get more time. They also use lower cost components in their engines, hence the issues they're having. I had to replace one of these engines in 2017 for a rod knock on a truck with just over 6000 miles. This engine from GM was over $12k in 2017. For reference, I had to replace an Audi 3.2 FSI V6 once. That engine was DOHC, 24 Valves, direct injected, VVT on all four cams and lift control on the two intake cams. That Audi engine was the exact same price as that GM push rod V8.

[@Drmcclung]

@@JohnEvans-ct6mz What's your take on the LS DoD debacle? I hear so many different reasons for the actual root cause of that particular failure but want to hear direct from the GM guy. I always suspected it was actually inadequate oil weight all along since they expect you to run that garbage on 0w20 and expect it live more than 30,000 miles on just 10lbs of pressure (I know that's CAFE & not really GM's fault) which I think is utterly ridiculous. All the ones I've run on 5w40 seem to not have any DoD lifter or pressure issues even 100k

[@JohnEvans-ct6mz]

@@Drmcclung Your absolutely right, a lot of it is oil. But they’ve been having issues with this system since it started in the mid 2000’s. The biggest failure point is the pin that locks and releases the two piece lifters. The pin is too small and it breaks. The lifter separates, jams and bends the push rod. Worst case scenario the lifter spins and wipes out the cam. The oil manifold likes to fail and that I blame on oil. Not the viscosity though, the quality. GM dexos is a synthetic blend and not a very good one. Combine that with their absurd oil life monitor and it spells disaster. DoD engines also are known for burning oil. If you watch this video closely, you can almost tell which cylinders get deactivated, the staining on them is a different color than the others. I have to imagine the heat difference between the top of the piston and the crank case wreaks havoc with the oil rings. Couple all that with direct injection, which just throws carbon everywhere. It doesn’t just coat the intake valves, it plugs the oil rings (the root cause of VW/Audi oil consumption) and saturates the oil. Usually when you change the oil on a direct injected engine, it’s black within a few hundred miles. Looks like diesel oil. So yeah, the oil can handle the thermal load, but add the carbon matter to that and it ruins it.

[@razghost2]

Had the same thing happen to my motorcycle engine on track. It had altered timing giving higher compression and one of the rods let go. Unfortunately I don't have it anymore and I had little experience so I just concluded because there was no discolouration that it didn't overheat/lack of oil and bearings were new so I never really came to a conclusion other than age

[@davidpeterson6147]

most tuners raise the rev limit and it is my guess of simply too much RPM exceeded piston speed and the piston broke.

[@Inimbrium]

I was watching Humble Mechanic's video on the Audi supercharged 3.0 TFSI engine because I have one in my convertible Audi S5, which stock puts out as much HP as this engine, yet it's 5 years older and only 3 liters, and fewer cylinders, a V6. Vastly complicated vs this small block 5.3, yet very reliable. That particular engine was seized because of extreme tuning, but still, makes you relise just how far ahead of the Americans the Germans are.

[@rlets]

Great teardown! Did the spring ever come down? We didn't see the heads... ;) But I would suspect pre-ignition from the tune or bad gas.

[@semurray1921]

That block would make a good table. Put a glass top on it to make a great conversation piece!

[@wafflesnfalafel1]

interesting - one of those where there must have just been an internal catastrophic rod/piston failure. Doing burnouts maybe? Interesting that the new gen 5.3 is significantly different as well, didn't realize that. Maybe shoulda got one of those new 2.7 turbos and just added a bunch of boost, (maybe that will be your next tear down!)

[@stechmer]

My gen 4. 2013 6.2 with no afm or dod actually did a piston delete as well. Had to bore it out .010 afterwards.

[@ronnymb67]

Every mechanic needs a friend like Mike 🤣

[@reubensandwich9249]

Mike: Boost my engine Mike 6 months later: Replace my engine. Mike after replacement: Boost my engine.

[@dragineeztoo61]

The spark plug was "mechanically re-gapped", I love your euphemisms.

[@ryanmck4843]

Have you ever tried to reassemble a busted engine like this to see if/what it would run like? That would make for an amazing vid if you could make it happen! We all know you can get the parts to make it happen for what’s been deleted lol

[@davelowets]

There is NO poimt in wasting the time to try and do this

[@michaelloth5870]

I believe those are powder metal rods. I'm going with the connecting rod snapped. Possibly a factory defect in that rod and aggravated by the, "tuned" engine.

[@timtimtimmay4654]

I asked the dealer before purchasing a 2017 High Country if they fixed the AFM issues. He lied, as usual, and said yes. I bought the truck, then was sent a letter stating the oil changes needed to be done every 6k miles instead of the advertised 12k miles because of "engine failure issues caused by lifter stiction". I drove the truck to the dealer and sold it back to them, then bought a $4k 1998 Dodge Ram. I have never been happier.

[@shadowopsairman1583]

It's why I have a 2007 Silverado Classic (2000-2007 GMT800) with 4.8L. No issues. 173000 miles on it currently, will be doing a cam and spring "upgrade" at 200000 mi. Fyi ohc/dohc/vvt is not reliable either.

[@firstlast---]

@@shadowopsairman1583 3ur fe would beg to differ

[@benbauer1257]

@@shadowopsairman1583 lmao overhead cam tech is well and proven, it’s not the fault of the technology that GM can’t figure out something everybody else perfected in the 80s and 90s. I say this as a GM fanboy

[@DecalsAndFriedChicken13]

​@@shadowopsairman1583*laughs in Japanese 4cyl* just because Ford can't figure out how to make ohc reliable nowadays doesn't mean they aren't reliable.

[@mikemartinez661]

Got a 2009 avalanche with the 5.3 put 216,000 miles finally the lifters are stuck.. fixing to remove the heads and replace them 😮‍💨

[@philllsxga.7737]

I have one in my Silverado I beat the crap out of it!! I race I tow i floor it a lot!! 144,000 trouble free miles so far... When I'm not hot rotting I averaged 24 MPG...

[@minnystretch]

I know it would be hard to find but I think it would be great if you did a Ford 300 or an amc 242 i6

[@ganzonomy]

I don't think it's actually possible to destroy a Ford 300 in line 6

[@agenericaccount3935]

Sir, you have 27 public comments and they mostly cut and pastes asking for a Ford 300 or 242. It's probably ok to give it a rest.

[@samuelchartier3684]

"cash register" was my favorite. Thanks for that 👌

[@budlanctot3060]

Wow. The pushrods were much heavier duty than usual. What is the red coating on the main bearings?

[@bigguy2683]

Fun video. Hey, here's a product suggestion, a side hustle spun off by the channel: Piston Nugget jewelry. Just think. Pendants, rings, piercings! Also, display pieces, nugget gravel, paper weights for those who still use paper. All stamped somewhere with your channel name! Have nuggets will travel. ( You're too young to recall the TV show but I do!) Always entertaining thank you.

[@evildiesel1709]

Hi I love watching these videos and am a new sub. I would love to do this for a living:) Would you do a tear down of a very iconic japanese engine, the 2ZZGE? I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

[@jdeltoro518]

The most destroyed engine I have seen on your channel. Great work my friend

[@lazylizard6532]

What do you use the chains for? I can't imagine there is much market for used timing chains, but you go to great lengths to avoid destroying them.

[@DDE_ADDICT]

I have been with you since about 15K subs and this show never gets old

[@ddrod1]

You should get some motors from Neutral Drop for disassembly 🤣🤣

[@warrenshively7834]

lmao i can’t imagine he would have a great time ripping apart an engine filled with sacrete

[@harveylong5878]

Eric would have to severely lower his standards to go down that path. at that point, he might as well get a diesel from WhistlinDiesel

[@jeffscott3160]

Don't worry dude! We can fix it. My uncle is a TV repair man, he has all these awesome tools!

[@lordcorgi6481]

Cylinder deactivation just deactivating all the cylinders, nothing wrong here 🤣

[@joejoyal7196]

I have noticed that when you do the 5.3 votec you do not remove the Knock Sensors It is often a real pain to get them out

[@genedunn9283]

Curious…since you know the owner of this misfortune…how many miles were on the engine when it went?

[@sherwoodforst7089]

We’ve seen valve springs and keepers fail on these in the 14-15’s. Buddy of mine has a 16 and has had 3 valve springs fail. Always caught it in time though.