5.3 Vortec - Everything You Need To Know 

Congrats on the truck, sounds like you deserve it! The 5.3 can be a great engine, just make sure to stay on top of maintenance. Don't worry what others have to say about your truck! If you love it, that's all that matters. Like you said, it gets you to where you need to be.

Congrats! I just sold my 02 Sierra with the 5.3 and it was absolutely bulletproof. I sold it with 276k and was running beautifully. I worked the shit out of it, too. Feed it top tier oil and it should be good to you.

Ignore the ignorant. Kudos to you. I have a 2002 Silverado 306,000+ miles engine still running great, though a minor lifter tick till it warms up. Just now started having transmission issues after 300,000 miles. Good luck to ya and happy smiles driving those miles.

Congrats to you, and screw whoever says otherwise. Been driving an '02 Suburban with 283k miles for almost 4 years now, with the original engine and transmission. I love it, it's reliable, and that's all that matters.

@@calebbryan8600 That's good. My 02 Silverado at 306,000 miles. I Had transmission servos 1st 4th replaced about 4/5 years ago had only 2nd and 3rd gear. It Did great for many more miles. The 5.3 Engine still runs strong. Transmission is now at a point were the clutches are slipping real bad. This the only major thing this truck has had. Time to refresh rebuid the originals and the rear end to have a complete revived power train to go another 300,000 plus. If a vehicle doesn't ever get to the high mile class it hasn't earned its keep. They're just dusty rust collector garage queens. If it's got an engine and wheels it was meant to roll. 👍

Loyal - It definitely is up there for GM engines!

4.8 & 6.0 are pretty dern good too.

​@@realmiller7203I think the 5.3 is the same block as the 4.8 with a longer stroke. they are great engines without a doubt

Twitch - Love hearing a good 5.3! You've easily got 250k more.

G - Thanks for taking the time to share your first hand experience!

Island - Thanks for sharing your feedback! Love hearing a solid 5.7!

@@8020Media Best 700 bucks I ever spent...If the guy from Phoenix who sold it knew what he was letting go.....I.been driving it 5 years now, once a year I drive it from Florida to Tucson for the big gem show. Than I drive a few thousand miles digging up my own rocks, and by the time I get back to Florida, I got 1500 lbs of gems in the back.. Keep up the great videos!!!

no coolant?! might wanna get that looked at

@@myrusEW Spellcheck... Lol..

Mike - Thanks for the valuable insight on how we can improve our videos! We’ll implement this to up our content for our audience.

Silver - Sounds like a sweet pickup! We would imagine that since it has 379k miles, the previous owner took great care of it.

I would only take it if it was free I would pay no money for a truck pushing 400,000 miles

@@DustinKeating-yk3vq Update. Truck just passed 390,000 miles. Still running strong as the day I bought it. For the price of hauling a couple vehicles to the scrap yard, id say it's still a excellent deal. Gets me from point A to B to C to D and back without any issues. Yeah, it leaks oil, error code for O2 sensors, but. It fire up every time, engine runs great, Transmission shifts good, rear differential is holding up great, ride quality is solid(👍)going down the road at any speed under any load. This truck has not let me down yet...it might. But I will be able to repair it when that time comes. Sure, it also needs the front end rebuilt(ball joints,tire rods, control arm bushing, wheel hub bearing, rack and pinion steering,) but at least I can get all that off RockAuto for a good deal and install it myself, rather than to be stuck without a vehicle, waiting on the dealership to get the unavailable parts to fix my brand new car and get screwed royally on the repair bill At least, when I go to do the Brakes on this truck. I'll be able to do it with a hand tools. Instead of a new vehicle being System locked and one would need a expensive scan tool to set the car system to maintenance mode to just change a brake rotor/pad/wheel bearing/suspension components. To each their own opinion though. You are entitled to your opinion as I am my own. I'd rather have a tried and true, reliable, parts available, easily repairable, vehicle that's at least 20 years old. Over a new, overpriced, mansion on wheels, recall nightmare, unmaintainable, throwaway, non-repairable, plastic pieces of junk that rolls off today's Automotive assemble lines 🤷‍♂️ So, Mister. The next time your new vehicle is having issues, and you see an old pickup pushing 400k, running strong for cheap. I want you to consider the price it's gonna take to fix your new car vs the cost of that old pickup. Let that thought soak in for awhile. Good day to you Sir

Todd - Thanks for sharing your experience! Hope you get another 87k from your LC9

I disabled mine as well. I have a 2011 5.3 Silverado. Turned it off at 117k. Now have 205k hard miles as well lol

Just got a 2012 5.3 , I love it so far. Glad to hear you like yours.

@@Josh-xj3fm how did you turn yours off?

Denny - Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope the avalanche gives you another 200k!

If its hanging in gear flush your trans and add a bottle of lucas non slip. It will keep the shift solenoids from getting sticky.

Piney - Thanks for sharing this insight.

Lobster - Thanks for sharing your experience! Hope you get 416k more out of it.

A - Thanks for sharing your experience!

LD - Thanks for sharing your experience! Sounds like you've got a good one.

check your water pump gaskets they are known to seep May want to do a leakdown on your cooling system to make sure your head gaskets are healthy

+1 on the water pump to block gaskets. Those deteriorate with age and weep down the front of the block. Coolant is rarely seen because it evaporates quickly there. You can see dry coolant trails with flashlight tho.

R - All depends on how it's maintained!

S - Thanks for taking the time to share these insights.

H - Nice! Keep us updated on your build.

@8020Media sounds good. Life's good. I'm excited an Twin Boost, is possibility for this engine. #noprep #4x4 #s10 #TOPsecret

Jeremy - We don’t have one yet. However, we will be releasing a video for this in the near future!

That sounds good! Ill be watching for it!@@8020Media

Fourty - Thanks for the feedback!

Fishy - Thanks for sharing your experience! We couldn't agree more about the oil changes.

Good to have a spare but many on the road with over 500k mi

B - Thanks for sharing this insight.

Agreed. The LM4 is a great aluminum option as well, but slightly lower performance. These are my recommended engines for S10 v8 swaps since they tend to be cheaper than other aluminum LS engines. I like aluminum blocks because they keep weight similar to the iron 4.3 V6 that originally came in many S10s.

That's the intake manifold.

M - We couldn't agree more! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Derak - Very solid engine! Can't go wrong with a 6000.

They certainly don't make 'em like they used to - the pre-AFM engines will always top the list for the best out of GM.

Doyle - We agree unfortunately..

They know, but that decision likely came from a dumbass political official.

They knew...kinda had to in order to make epa happy but gm figures they will just sell you another one . BEst 5.3 were the early non afm ones.

They actually used the "Vortec" name in marketing materials back in 1985 (I believe, or '86) with the 4.3L Vortec, albeit different design on the V6 vs the V8 Vortec's.

@@8020Media awesome. I didn’t know that. 👍🏻

Got any proof to that Honda claim? 🤨

@@Maverick09171 that’s a great question. I’ve been a gear head since I was a kid. While other boys were wasting their lives away on Nintendo or Sega, I was reading/memorizing magazines like; Chevy High Performance, Super Chevy, Motor Trend, Car and Driver, etc… my parents gave me mag subs for birthdays and Christmas rather than video game junk. I can’t pinpoint the proof but am certain I read it in one of those mags at one time in my life. Whether it’s 100% correct or not, I’m not sure. It’s from memory. Having said that, I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong. It seems like it had something to do with VVT as well.

@@dudestuff1557 GM and Honda have definitely collaborated over the years. But to my knowledge it’s been fuel cell and more recently EV content. It is my understanding all the LS based features and design were done in house.

S - Thanks for sharing this insight.

R - We made an AFM disabler that will help with this! www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1T1FMJK?maas=maas_adg_2CDE464277A6404D470A623F0084F062_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas We've also made an AFM video to assist in your research on whether or not you should disable it. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eMFBwYjIyPY.html

T - Well said! Thanks for taking the time to share these insights and your experience. Will certainly help future viewers.

Chick - If you're looking to mod it, we would advise the LM7 because of its iron block.

@@8020Media yea I’ma go with the lm7 also if I’m checking to buy a donor car how would I know if it’s an lm7 and not any other LS? looked it up but haven’t found anything that helped me.

Is there like a code on the side of it or something on the vin number

Chick - There's a few things you can look for here: VIN: If the 8th character in the VIN is a "T" or "Z", there's a high likelihood it's a LM7. This isn't a sure fire thing, so make sure to use the below for more assurance. Engine Block Casting Number: This is on the engine block and it's a number that you can search online to see what type of engine it is. Engine stickers: There should be some sort of sticker in the engine bay that will provide relevant info Manual: Lastly, checking the vehicle manual should point you in the right direction.

Getting that many miles better keep it at low boost. Enignes with power adders just dont have the longeity.If you have the power youre gonna use it...then want more lol

T - Nice! We love our Suburban. Going on 200k+ as well!

Richard - This thread will assist with this question: ls1tech.com/forums/general-lsx-automobile-discussion/1281231-diference-between-ls-motors-vortec.html

J - Is there any info you're looking for specifically here? There's quite a bit different.

Addison - We agree, but unfortunately, the AFM system was very popular on older trucks.

@@8020Media whats afm?

Cecil - Thanks for the feedback. This was one of our first videos ever made so we were trying to work out the kinks. However, since then we feel we have dramatically upgraded our audio and video quality. We hope you have seen that increase :D

Not sure if you mentioned the wrong engine but the L59 is a Gen 3 engine so it doesn't have AFM. But - with respect to what GM is doing in general to address AFM issues is in reality not much, at least very quickly. They have revised the system a number of times over the years and it has continually improved but even the new EcoTec3 engines are plagued with AFM-driven issues. It helps improve emissions and boosts their MPG stats so you won't see AFM going away anytime soon which is why we recommend using a disabler on any AFM vehicle.

Sell you a new electric pos. THey did nothing about all the LS7 issues. Talk about an abortion of an engine

GM left all of the oil passages and things like that for AFM but didn't use it on some models like that for whatever reason.

Timing chain could certainly seize one of these up. At higher mileage could also be overheating and warping internal components, low oil pressure, etc.

Nice! We're at 225,000 problem free miles on our Suburban with the LM7.

@@8020Mediahow hard was yours pushed because mine has had a very hard life and it is still going with the original 4l60e somehow and that is with only with fluid changes but anyways the 2005 tahoe I have has been used to pull 10,000 pounds its had a very hard life

Not very hard honestly, it used to tow a few waverunners from time to time but that was really it. Ton of cross country road trips but never much towing.

@@8020Medianice I plan to buy another one of these trucks since the frame got damaged during the winter I went of the road and hit a highway sign which bent the frame rail barely and the inspector took my keys and refused to give them back

Billy - Nice! That thing will go for many more years.

R - Like what generation?

@@8020Media yea what generation or anything else I keep looking into 2nd gen truck bikes and it’s shit from 2007 prior

R - Honestly, the best thing to do is to plug your VIN in and see what info that gives. It should provide an engine code. Our thoughts would be a LMG.

@@8020Media lmg was correct thank you

R - Nice. Glad we could help!

Ol - Thanks for the feedback!

Pretty much!

Jason - Both great engines.

Haha you're kidding right?? The gm 5.3 ls is stupid amazing I'm a full time tech and have yet to see the models you mentioned outlast these beasts never goes through coil timing chains etc I see all 50 hours a week gm 5.3 reems those others a new asshole all day

@@badazz2969 you dint think the Toyota 5.7L outlasts a GM 5.3L? 😂😂😂 the Ford Coyote lasts just as long, while producing more power and more RPM. Im yet to see a coyote self destruct because of failing lifters and pushrods. Ive even seen the nissan 5.6L outlast the GM 5.3L. You are a full time tech? Lol Im an ASE certified master tech with an L1 certification. With 25 years of experience. I work on not just cars, I also work on heavy equipment, diesel engines from FPT, Cummins, Doosan, Kubota, Isuzu and perkins. Trust me when I say, the 5.3L is ancient and it is overpowered by all other domestic and import V8s The Hemi 5.7L is also ancient, but at least it compares a little better in the power department.

I’ll stick with a pushrod engine over a DOHC with a 3 mile long timing chain. Just my opinion

@@jibrilthegreat35 well good for you you want a cookie? Haha old school will see half a million miles I've yet to see any of these besides a 5.3 make it to that milestone but what the hell do I know certification doesn't mean shit to me I've seen non certified techs go twice as far but to each thier own

@@badazz2969 😂😂😂😂 you are the first clown Ive ever read or heard claim that a GM engine will outlast a toyota. If pushrod engines are so superior, why doesnt GM make all their engines pushrods?