5.3L 2013 Tahoe

[sniper97]

Hi! 2013 Tahoe, issue with lifter on cylinder 5. 197,000 approx miles, In good overall shape. What do you recommend? Replace lifters and cam on 1 side ($1800), Replace lifters and cam on both sides ($2800) or replace with a rebuilt engine ($900 + engine)? We bought used with 135Kish miles, have taken care of it. Transmission has not been replaced. If the engine is replaced, they will check out the Transmission. Approx $3K to replace the tranny by itself, probably a little cheaper with replacing the engine. Paid for, books for about $8K. Wife drives, mostly short trips besides family vacations.

If just the lifters and cams are replaced, are there other potential things that could go wrong with the engine?

Don't quote me on this, GM rebuild engine is $6000 with 36 month warrenty. Could also buy rebuilt from somewhere else.

Am I better off fixing the lifters on 1 side, selling and buying something else. What is that something else. Would like 3 row seating. Highlander?

Really looking for advise from car guys or gals that really know their stuff.

Thank you!

[JeeperCreeper]

I'd replace the lifters and cams. I did on my 13 Jeep Wrangler a few years ago, though I did go all out and got different heads, new cams, valves, rockers, everything. I did the work myself though, so it only cost me parts, and a weekend of labor.
The 5.3 Vortec is a great engine. There's a reason lots of people use them for boosted "LS" swaps. I've also seen them last over 300k miles. If the rest of the truck is in good shape, I'd say just fix what's broken.

[sniper97]

Thanks! Would you replace all or just the one side

[JeeperCreeper]

I'd just fix the one side if it's only cylinder 5 honestly

[Sheepdog]

Something about cylinder management... Might want to find a tuner that can turn that s**t off.

[sniper97]

Thanks! We are going to do that. Cylinder 5 is not one of the deactivated cylinders

[Tarsun2]

was it dodge that had (has) an issue with lifter damage from extended idling...?
there isnt enough oil pressure to properly lube the lifters and roller will seize over time.

wonder if the previous owner let the vehicle idle for extended periods of time. was this a government vehicle?

the 5.3 is a stout engine for sure. if the lifter gave out though, it probably took out the cam as well. my vote is to replace cam and lifter on the one side and inspect the other side. go from there.

i wonder what happened to yours.

either way, heres a thread with someone having a similar issue

https://www.silveradosierra.com/threads/collapsed-lifter-5-3-vortec.724895/

[JeeperCreeper]

Dodge Hemi v8s seemed to have the issue if lifters just going bad. The best argument I've seen is that the angle of the lifters doesn't allow for oil to coat the entire surface, especially at idle. That's why older (3rd gen?) hemis tick like crazy.

They also had a lot of issues with the 3.6 Pentastar, found in lots of Chryslers, Dodge/Rams, and Jeeps. I had one on every cam (4 cams total) rocker arms lost the bearings and chewed the lobes of the cams. They supposedly fixed this issue with 2015 heads, which is what I ended up putting on my Jeep.

[Jordan]

Just finished a training course on these... Hemis run around 5 psi oil pressure at idle (min. spec).

They also feed the lifters through the rocker shafts/pushrods, so they're the last thing to receive oil.

Mopar's solution has been to reflash the PCM to bump the idle up a bit to increase idling oil pressure.

[sniper97]

Thanks for the reply! Lifters are a know problem. Wife drives it, with the age and mileage + city driving, was probably going to happen at some point