5.3 rebuild

[iron man]

What would you guys think about rebuilding a 99 Chevy 5.3 with 215,000 miles? Would it be worth it or should I just drive it 215,000 more miles until it craps out?

[weedeater]

run it till it blows if you got that many miles

[Montauk17]

Dont let mileage scare you if it still runs good. My uncle is a hotshot driver and has put up to 900,000 miles on a original gas engine.

[Wide Open]

Why you wanna rebuild something that has'nt given up the ghost yet?

[southern151]

Leave it alone.

The old saying of, "If it ain't broke then, don't fix it" fits perfectly here.

[Jordan]

Iron man, i had a 92 chevy with 521, and some change til i sold it for a 97' chevy. Had no problems out of the '92. My '97 is in the shop for electrical problems.


Keep it man, drive it til it croaks !!!

[iron man]

Its a chevy, it aint croaking. But its lost alot of power and gas mileage over the 12 years its been alive. I have 4 new perfectly inflated stock tires, new filter, glass packs which I'm about to cut off, and an intake. Only thing I haven't changed is the plugs yet. I'm also in the market for a new quiet, but deep toned muffler. Anyone know what kind of muffler I should switch to? Something not loud, and not alot of I.R.

[fishaholic82]

Go with a 40 series flowmaster and you might think of either gutting the cats or replacing with a higher flow catilytic converter.

[Wide Open]

A set of plugs, wires, a cap and new rotor, wont hurt it, and is a lot cheaper than an overhaul if it has not allready been done recently.This is probably where most of your power, and mileage has gone. Other wise it would be smoking like a mosquito truck, and knocking like a Detroit diesel!

[southern151]

There's no cap and rotor on these engines. Do change your plugs and wires. If it's never been done, it WAY overdue. 40 or 50 series Flowmaster is a good idea but do not punch out the cats. It will trip your o2 sensors and you won't be able to get it inspected plus, your fuel economy will really fall due to all the things those cats are tied to.

[iron man]

The idiots who had the truck before me gutted the cats, but they cut about a 3x2 hole on the cats. I've heard the 40 flowmasters, they're a little too loud especially for riding around coming home from bars or some girls house at 3 or 4 AM. I like to let people sleep at night. I'm thinking a 70 series flowmaster. I'll go pull my plugs as soon as I finish cuttin grass.

[southern151]

I can get you some cats for that truck pretty cheap. Drop me a line and I'll let you know what we can do. I would say that you'll want good cats on it.

[fishaholic82]

They make dummy plugs to replace the O2 sensors so the computer stays right. But you'll need an intake set up to increase air flow in.

[Wide Open]

Sorry about the confusion about the cap and rotor, for some reason I had it in my head we were talking about a early to mid 90's GM motor. My mistake!

[iron man]

Originally Posted by southern151

I can get you some cats for that truck pretty cheap. Drop me a line and I'll let you know what we can do. I would say that you'll want good cats on it.

Thanks southern. I'll be in touch probably in the next week or two.
My computer passes no matter what. The O2 sensors are working like normal, but I can tell the cats are gutted from the noise and the smell of the exhaust. I just changed my spark plugs and wires, the plugs were blacker than night and I pulled 3 wires off of the boots so I went ahead and replaced all the spark plug wires. I think I'll get a programmer or a chip and a quieter muffler and call it good.