What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

So I am scouring CL and find a 1998 5.3 with 170,000 miles, just the longblock. Lady says its 345hp. HMM. It has no pics so she sends me some. Now', I am not looking for and engine but she doesn't want very much for it. I thought I would go take a look as it might have good heads or who knows. I decide to buy it and take it home. It ends up being a 6.0. She had a box of parts that came with it like the air filter,exhaust manifolds, some bolts and a water pump and engine covers. I take a look at a sticker on the air filter and it says 2006 6.0. I look at the engine covers and the one on top says Vortec Max.
It has 317 heads so I pull one. This thing has flat top pistons and I can see the cross hatch in the cylinders still. I think it may be the 345 hp version. It has no intake or sensors or front timing cover. Timing chain has very minimal slack. The only thing I can find wrong with it is it has two bolts broken off in one of the heads for the exhaust manifold. The story was that it came out of a Dale Earnhardt P/U and the fella wanted more power so he bought a crate engine. She gave me the crate to load it in the P/U with. I pulled all the plugs and they are brand new. Looks like they may have fired a couple times. With just one plug in and on the compression stroke, this thing is very hard to turn over with a 1/2" ratchet on the crank bolt. So What do I do with this thing? Right now I am swapping a 5.7 and T56 into a 72 2wd Blazer. Do I swap em?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Look on the drivers side of the block, towards the rear...there will be a casting number...post it and we can tell you the year origin of the motor...

As far as "Do I swap them"...its your choice...

But you will need a substantial amount of parts to get this LS engine up and running....

You would also be advised to go thru the engine and make sure its all good to go...LS vs 5.7 aside...it depends on your budget and end use of the Blazer....

:chevy::chevy::chevy:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

The casting number appears to be 12577184.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

LQ4 6.0l

2001 - 2007 (317 heads)

See this link for full engine specs (thanks Summit)

https://help.summitracing.com/app/an...4-engine-specs

LQ4 should have dished pistons...if you have flat tops, the engine may have been modified....post a pic of the top of the pistons...

Hope this helps...

:chevy::chevy::chevy:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

That casting number shows it being a LQ4....the 322hp version of the 6.0

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Ha...aussie beat my thhhiiis much...

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Old drag racers never die...they just get better with age....

Hope you are doing ok....

:chevy::chevy::chevy:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Yes. I do believe those specs say a dished piston. Upon further investigation, this engine has flat top pistons and the heavier duty rods indicating a 10-1 compression and a 345hp version of the LQ4.
"The Vortec MAX engines had higher compression ratios of 10:1 and included flat-top pistons for increase power output. The gear ratios were also altered to improve towing capacity, with a towing capacity of 10,800 pounds. While suspension and brake packages we’re available to most models, all MAX engine vehicles had thicker front sway bars, four wheel disc brakes, a heavier duty transmission, and a larger 9.5″ rear end."
https://chevytrucks.org/what-is-vortec-max/

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

As for what to do here's my .02.
Replace the oil pump.
Judgement call on replacing the timing chain. They are pretty cheap.
Pull the other head and check all the lifters. Pull the cam and check for wear. Maybe replace the lifter trays since they are cheap.
If you have a machine shop near by have them mic the cylinders to determine wear. May have been bored since you can still see the cross hatching.
Depending on your budget maybe a small cam? Means new better push rods and springs.
Good luck with your project.
Maybe pull a few rod caps to check bearings for wear. Doesn't cost anything.
Pull main caps and check for wear? Only cost is new crank bolts.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Thank you all for your replies. I have an LS1 in my Blazer now and was thinking of building this one in in the background slowly. I was thinking a cam for sure and I will inspect it further when I get a chance. I will post some pics coming up. I have built many a SBC and quite a few Furds as well as AMC and Mopar engines as I used to work for a rebuilding facility in Cali. I just never messed with an LS or the newer stuff past about 2000. I have a decent budget but no real plans as I just came across this one day. I really liked my 350 in my 66 Malibu as it had a real lopey cam so I may go big with this one. Not a "Thumper" cam but something that actually works. I have to have AC here in the South so that may not work out. As for being bored-I have heard of people pulling heads on these with close to the mileage, and seeing the cross-hatch. There are a bunch of engraved numbers on the pistons but the biggest one on all of the pistons so far is a big 5. I'll get the other head off soon and check it out. So is there a better stock head to run with flat tops or stick with these 317's?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

No idea about the "5" on the pistons. You may want to consider L92 heads but that means you will need a LS3 type intake due to the square port L92 heads.
Tons of LS6 type ported heads out there if want to keep the LS6 stuff you already have.
Your 317 heads are as good as they get for a stock head that work with your LS6 intake.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

LQ4's & LQ9's have the same external parts & casting numbers, The Rods & Pistons are the only difference.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I guess I could try my hand at porting with these 317 heads. I have to try to get the broken bolts out of one of them first. Do these blocks have an area of concern for cracking etc? I just don't see a reason to replace this one unless catastrophic damage has occurred. I can't find any real damage yet. Maybe there is a cracked piston under that other head. Maybe three broken exhaust bolts gave the computer bad readings and made this thing run like shot. I can only see a possible exhaust leak on one of the exhaust ports on the head but not the exhaust manifold. So maybe port the heads, big cam, hone the cylinders, new rings/ maybe forged pistons, new ARP bolts throughout. That should give me a real base to start with. Run that 5.7 hard knowing I have a good backup...

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

A car buddy of mine runs a 6.0 in his 72 Nova. He did the L92 head swap and with a "medium" size cam it did 420 hp on the chassis dyno. I know not huge numbers but it has a good lope to it and it was a piece of cake to tune per the tuner. I think the cam was in the 230I/240E range. In my 68 C10 LS6 swapped I'm running Diamond forged pistons and Scat H beam rods. It's been bullet proof after 8 years.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Did you install flat top pistons?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

On my buddy's car he had the lower compression pistons. Just a standard LQ4. On my LS6 the compression ratio is 10.5-1. My other hot rod is a 98 Wrangler with a LS6/4L60E combo. Stock rebuild. I have both tuned for the local 91 octane. Always run non-alcohol premium.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Are you ignoring the most critical point the OP made " this thing is very hard to turn over with a 1/2" ratchet on the crank bolt." ?

Could it be symptoms of oil starvation and other hidden issues? Disassembly will tell.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

IT IS hard to turn over. Of course, I would love to have even more compression but I think the 10-1 may be enough. Would 243's really work? Seems Like it might spit a plug out of the Aluminum head. I also may not be able to run a large cam do to interference issues? Could I just mill the heads a bit and get a big lopey cam?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

How long a handle is on the half inch ratchet?

Are both cylinder heads off the block?

Using a 15" breaker bar, you should be able to turn over the engine relatively easily if both heads are off of it.

If the engine is tight to turn with the longer bar...with the heads off, drop the sump off and check the bearings asap....look for blued rod caps....and metal in sump...

In my experience, the alloy heads on an LS engine will not spit out spark plugs even with turbo boost....

:chevy::chevy::chevy:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I am using an old school Craftsman ratchet about a foot or so long. One head is still on the block. It pops a good exhaust signal when I rotate it with just one plug in each cylinder. With both heads off it turns ok. I am going to pull all the caps anyway just to be sure. Just looking at it though, I would venture to say that I could run it as is but I've come this far. I just don't know the history other than what 5 older guys drinking beer told me. HAHA.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

So I did a little work on the head that was off. I extracted the broken bolt by using a self centering Door hinge spring loaded bit thingy to drill the bolts or at least to get the bit centered. Dang those bolts are hard. Then I pounded an Allen wrench down into them and they broke right loose. This is the best hole I have ever drilled as far as bolt extraction.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I did a little quick cleanup on that side of the engine and head to see what I was working with. I don't see any cracked pistons and the valves look like they are ok, just need some cleanup and some lapping. Seals look just a little crusty after removing the first two springs on the head.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Alrighty, I got the other head off and things are pretty much the same as the first side. No broken pistons and the crosshatch is visible. The head gasket looks ok. I did however find 4 damaged push rods and rockers. Indiscriminate positions on the engine. I am thinking that the owner possibly had broken bolts in the heads and ticking noises so they replaced the engine. I am still going to go ahead and pull caps to inspect. I really want to run this engine stock. But if I have to go replacing all kinds of stuff, it will get some big lovin! Side note- I have heard LS engines have lifter ticking problems. Could it really be rocker/pushrod noises from the lifters not rotating the pushrods? Second side note- My 5.7 I am swapping in my Blazer right now has about the same mileage but was making no noises. Should I pull the covers and inspect? UGH!

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Re 5.7...

I always find it much easier to replace rocker cover gaskets, oil pressure switches and freeze plugs (especially the two rear plugs behind the flywheel)....

New engine mounts...

If front balancer seal is leaking now is time to replace it...check the balancer rubber is ok...

NOTE>>>>Apart from diamaeter, if you replace the balancer make absolutely sure the indexing of the keyway to the timing slot on the outer ring is the same on new balancer to the old one...there are different balancers !!!!!

If there is any sign of oil leaking from rear of manifold, now is time to r&r manifold and reseal it...

Your back will thank you in the future...

Re LS...

The lifter ticking noise is well known and there are lots of posts about it...new lifters, push rods and carriers will usually fix the issue...the damaged push rods and rockers is a big issue....post pics of the damage please.

This is looking more and more like an oil system failure...pump O ring to pickup tube is biggest failure point....pull the pump apart, clean up the inners and post a pic of the inners...

:mm::mm::mm:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Did some work on it today. I did not pull the oil pump apart but I did take it off. I am bushed so I will have to take it apart tomorrow. I did pull one cap on the crank and one cap on a rod. They both look pretty good. I will post some pics later. Dinner time right now. The push rod damage isn't really that bad, I just noticed it because the first one was so shiny. I looked closer and could see the out of round nature. I looked at that rocker and it too was worn the same way. Not tons of metal missing but I'll bet it made a noise. It's hard to pic up on camera.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Here are some pics.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Just a quick hint....

Make absolutely sure you dont mix up those rod caps...both rod to rod and cap direction...they are fractured cap rod sets....

They must be kept to their respective rod and direction...never swap a cap around on a rod...

Those push rods look like normal dry run instances...replace both push rod and rocker arm....



:mm::mm::mm:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Oh great! NOW you tell me. I only took one rod cap off and one crank cap. The crank caps are numbered but the rods do not seem to be. I am pretty sure I know how they came off... Do I have to replace all the bolts now anyways?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

The 5.7 info confused me a bit. I guess I forgot to say the 5.7 I am dealing with is a 1999 LS1. It was nice and quiet and had good power before the extraction for the swap. So my thoughts are to just get that one running and cruise it around for a bit. I might someday slip this 6.0 in it's place. It should be able to swap all the parts over right?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Re 5.7.....

I was assuming this was a 350...(which are 5.73547 liters!)...apologies....

Most of what I said still applies...oil leaks at rear of crank....rocker cover gaskets, intake manifold seals.....fuel injector seals....oil bypass fitting (near oil filter on bottom rail of block)....

If you are sure the engine had good oil pressure, just change oil and filter....

:chevy::chevy::chevy:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Rod bolts are TTY...single use only....I have heard of several methods to reuse the stock bolts, but to me, thats a bit like doing brain surgery on yourself....

I always replace the following with new bolts anytime I do a build....rods, mains, cylinder heads....ARP is my supplier of choice but there are others around....

I use the following method to swap out rod bolts....maintain cap to rod orientation...bolts are replaced one at a time...(the other bolts should be tight!)
Pull the new bolt up to torque only...then replace the other bolt to torque only...if you are using GM bolts, follow their instructions for final torque...If using aftermarket...follow the bolt manufacturers instructions.

If you put one of these rod/cap combinations together and the rod locks to the crank, the cap is on backwards...note the bearing tabs in the pic below are against each other rod/cap...

If you find a rod bearing bore is out of round...the old practice was to machine the matching faces of the rod and cap then hone the bore back to specs....you cannot do that with the LS family of rods...

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

The 5.7LS was in a 99 TA that I drove around for a while before pulling the engine. The only leak was a power steering hose. It had good oil pressure and even the AC worked. I am wondering about the rockers though, as in would that small amount of damage even make a noise? I am not sure about the 6.0, but the 5.7 had religious Mobil one oil changes.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I sure appreciate all the help! Where is the best place to buy ARP bolts? I noticed the Caps for the crank are numbered 1-5. The rods are not but there are numbers on one side of the rod and caps on all of them as well as the bearing tabs being on the same side. When turning the engine over without heads, it seemed to be normal with just the rings holding it back from free spinning. I still want to pull the pistons and check the rings for breakage and the pins for wear. It seems pretty solid though. It just throws me off that someone pulled a perfectly good engine. The rear seal area has absolutely no oil at all. It is coming off though so I can replace that barbell. Do you recommend the oil bypass plug?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I always replace the barbell...usually with a tapered billet one...

ARP bolts are readily available from vendors like Summit....

Here is a link to an interesting read about the LS family of engines....(not a plug for JE pistons...)

https://www.jepistons.com/blog/every...-engine-family

Make sure you check cam bearing clearances to the cam...these clearances are critical as factory oil flow feeds lifters and cam bearings first then mains and rods....

Heading out now but will be back online tonight EST...

:mm::mm::mm:

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I agree pull all rod caps and all mains...if bearings look good, you got a good solid LQ9
I'd do a full blow apart and pull the cam, make sure all the oiling holes are clear. Cam bearings are in place....

New set of lifters and trays, cam, timing set, new oil pump. ARP rod bolts.
re-use your main cap bolts.
it will run forever LOL

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Pushrod Ball wear is quite common on LSx engines. Someone went a little too far on a oil change......Or 10 oil changes.

My L92 had perfect main & rod bearings, The Cam Bearings were trashed though.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Thanks guys! I pulled the cam and it looks fine. I put it back in just to keep things together as I am short on room. So I can reuse cap bolts? If I change out the rod bolts with ARP I am most likely ok as these rods are Fractured and cannot be resized anyway?

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

correct, I have changed the rod bolts to ARP on these dozen times or so...I have not encountered a problem with out of round on the rods. I have checked bearing oil clearance before and after the rod bolt change.
The resizing procedure for these rods is to use an overside OD bearing, and you hone the rod bore bigger. Honestly it's not worth it in my opinion, I'd buy a set of H beams before I'd sink money into stock rods, other than the $100 ARP bolts


The main cap bolts, I typically re-use them. They are torque + angle to get them tight, they are not a torque-to-yield item so you can re-use them.

15# + 80* (inside bolts - do first)
15# + 53* (outside bolts - 2nd)
side bolts 18# (last)


for the oil bypass plug question, if you mean the one in the oil pan, yes I'd plug it. It's metric thread

for your pushrod issue, I'd suggest going with new hardened push rods anyway 5/16 or 3/8. New stock rocker set is ~$200 from Summit. I stay away from the 'trunnion kits' and just put new rockers in.
Don't know if this was covered...but the 317's are a good head...same port geometry as the 243. Just a larger chamber....A good valve job, check guides, mill gasket surface (you could whack up to .030 off if you want to reduce chamber). Cam choice will determine how much valve spring you will need

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

Awesome. So I will look for some ARP rod And head bolts. I don't know of any local shops that have a good reputation to look my heads over. I guess I will find a spot on the shelf until that day comes. This engine seemed to have good compression in each cylinder but I still want to pull the pistons one at a time to make sure I don't have broken rings.

Re: What should I do with this CL find 6.0L LQ9 ?
 

I was messing around today and took a look at the rest of the rods and caps. They all look very good. I am tempted to do a backyard overhaul and run this mudda. It is amazing that the rods are fractured. You can really tell when you take some time to look at them. Kinda like breaking a brick and then fitting it back together. It only goes back one way.