Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives New Motor or New Truck?

2007 Chevy Silverado 1500 Classic Z71 w/5.3 V8 & 114K on the odometer. Good mechanical condition. Rust has been kept after. (Could use a rear bumper but otherwise good body) All regular maintenance done. Etc etc. In other words, I've kept it up as best as I can. Something goes wrong, fix it. It's my daily driver and my plow truck. And in the 4+ years I've owned it and 75K miles I put on it, it's been nearly trouble free. I really like this truck.

But...a couple months ago it developed a motor knock (it never had the piston slap these are known for) and over the past 2 weeks it's just gotten worse. My mechanic (whom I trust) says the best bet is a new motor to the tune of about $4k installed. ($2600 used motor and $1400 labor/misc parts).

My issue, the motor they found me has 122k on it and only comes with a 6 mos warranty (since I plow with it).

I found some motors on line for less but I think my garage is reluctant to install a motor from someplace they don't normally deal with.

And in my head, I'm having a hard time swallowing $4k for a motor with more miles than the truck. All that said, I had planned to keep this truck until it had 200K or more if it was trouble free and I could keep the body in good shape.

So, opinion time...would you spend $4k on the motor or would you dump the truck and buy something newer?

You can get a reman engine from Autozone for under $3400 with a 3 yr warranty.

$2600 for a used motor? Forget that, you could have a reputable shop rebuild it for less.

You are too loyal to that shop as others said $2600 for used motor is crazy! Find another shop

Must suck not knowing how to rebuild an engine yourself...

I bought a 2005 new. I slammed a bunch of money into it at 95,000 and I figured I would keep it another 10 years. Two weeks later the transfer case grenaded (common) and all the brake lines needed replaced and the rust was like a deep cancer. Anyway I traded it on a new Subaru outback and got a cherry first generation Tundra. I feel that was the best move. I would get a used motor installed for under 2000 and trade it on a reliable truck.

If you really want to keep it, install a new factory crate motor. Otherwise trade it in, as-is, rather than throwing money away on a used motor swap.

Guys don't believe me about the NP246 going tits up until it happens to them. There's also all the bullchit electronics and computer controlled parts to the 4x4 system that sucks on the chevy's and other new trucks. My next pickup is going to be an older 96 GMC sierra 4x4 with lock in hubs, manual transfer case and first gen vortec... Good luck to the rest of you bastids buying $50,000.00 pick up trucks.... TerryK is right. A lot of chit can go bad on these after 100,000. My tranny went at 111,000 miles, the front diff went at 115,000 and my transfer case went at 139,000. Gov loc (G80) went at around 125,000 miles...I'm driving a damn near new 2004 GMC now though...

If it was my truck ...

I'd spend the extra $$$ and install a GM Goodwrench remanufactured engine or ...

I'd pull the engine and find the bad bearing or piston pin and replace that piston rod assembly. On an engine with only 114k, that otherwise is in great shape (good compression - doesn't burn oil), you could probably get away with this. A partial tear down (bottom end) should tell all.

This seems right to me. No way I'd pay to have a use motor installed.

Dump it and buy a Tundra. You can think about rebuilding parts at 300,000 miles and might get 400,000.

An 07 4X4 Tundra double cab locally with just over 100,000 miles would go for about $15,000. Closer to $11,000 for a regular cab 4X4. Your old truck is worth something as is and you'll not put much more into just buying another truck.

You really can be a tool can't you.

Co-worker has the same year Suburban with the same symptoms but it had 170k on the clock. Took it to 3 different shops.

Two said engine transplants were necessary.

The third actually did some trouble shooting and just pulled the heads and rebuilt them. $1600 bill. Runs like a top.

I've assembled a couple high performance V-8's, a 368 Edsel with tri-power , and a 301 Chevy, subbing machining, head work and balancing. But it's still so much work and a big investment in tools. The factory crate motor, with warranty, is where the smart money goes.

Some sound advice guys. Much appreciated. Got some quotes on used motors. Found one with half the mileage of the truck and a 3 yr parts and labor warranty for a price I can live with. I'm going to do the transplant and hopefully get some more life out of this truck.

Don't know how much some of you have priced these motors lately, but holy-chit...and a crate motor was way out of what I want to spend.

For what it's worth, I trust the mechanics. And I called around for quotes from others. The same job here will run the same (ballpark) or more elsewhere in town.

Thanks again for the input.
Rob

Rob,
Shop a Jasper engine too. I have had very good luck with there products. From my past experiences I would think you could buy a Jasper 5.3 Chevy engine and get it installed for what the shop you are dealing with quoted for the used engine and install.

Dave

Dave,
Thanks for replying. We actually did price out a Jasper motor. By the time it was said and done, it's was more expensive by a lot. I'm going to make a few more calls today and ask around, but I'm just about sure I'll pick up the used motor I found and go for it.

Best,
Rob

Put a GM 6.0L in there and have Blackbear tuning reprogram your computer. If that doesn't cost enough, while the engine is out, install long tube headers and you swear you have a new truck.

I can't imagine pulling an engine without an actual diagnosis of what is wrong with the old one. Short of actual piston or cylinder damage, everything else is pretty manageable by an experienced mechanic.

That said, I dropped a reman engine into a 2001 last year. for $4,000 installed, that little truck has another 100K to go at least, and that's about as good as it gets anymore.

Learn to be a man and work on your own damn chit for fu cks sake...