2001 Silverado advice

I think I’ve mentioned this truck here before. It’s a pewter 2001 Silverado, single cab short bed 2wd. My grandpa bought it new, and we’ve kept it in the family. Strip down model, only real options are gov lock rear diff, 4.8 v8 and auto transmission. Rubber floors, manual locks and windows, and just an fm radio. Anyway, it’s sitting with 316k on the clock and it has blown a head gasket. We caught it before any damage was done, but now we have a decision to make. My dad has been quoted about 5k to have a new engine installed, but that seems high to me. A junkyard engine is a possibility, but he’s afraid to do the swap himself because of the computer and sensors. I believe it would be pretty easy, just unplug the old one and plug in the new one.

He works part time at O’Reilly so he could get the employee discount on an engine through them. He says he doesn’t want to mess with having the current engine rebuilt. As far as the rest of the truck, it’s solid with no rust whatsoever, but the body has a few dents and dings from farm life. The rear bumper is rusty, but that’s a simple replacement. Also, the transmission is the 4l60e, and it’s all original with 316k. The truck has never been abused at all, it’s just hauled light loads and been a gopher all its life. It’s really a neat little truck to drive, and is snappy with the low weight and small v8. It’s also completely show room stock just like it rolled off the assembly line, except for a drop in bed liner.

So, what say yall? New engine installed? Do it ourselves? Junkyard engine put in ourselves? I think 5k is a bit much, as $1800 of that is labor. My mom says park it, I say fix it. It does have sentimental value, as it was grandpa’s last new truck. And, dad has a lift and chain fall that would make engine removal and install much easier. So, let me know what y’all think.

Always a tough call when faced with spending more fixing a vehicle than it will be worth even after the repairs.
And besides the engine, a 300k mile 4L60 is a time bomb.
IMO, if you can do the junkyard option, (assuming you can’t just slap head gaskets in it) that seems to be the only option that makes sense financially. This assuming the rest of the truck is in serviceable conditions.
JMO. Obviously this doesn’t account for any emotional attachments or decisions.

I'll start this the long winded way. lol Six or seven years ago, we were looking at moving out of state. Put the house up for sale and were in the process of moving in with the father in law short term. Two days after the house listed, the wife's '04 Burb ate the cam.

SO..... pulled the 5.3 to have it rebuilt, in my father in law's driveway, with nothing more than basic tools really. Harbor Freight hoist and transmission jack were about as fancy as it got. Ratcheting wrenches will be your friend in a few spots, but yes, the short answer is it's not a bad job. Yes there's a lot of sensors and wiring, but it all unplugs and moves out of the way pretty easily. Cell phones(pictures), labeling things, and parts bags make life easier. Only bodywork I pulled was the hood. I pulled the intake and all the accessories off the front, to give me all the room I needed to slide the engine out easily. Could probably leave the accessories on, but I was pulling them anyways. Left the A/C all hooked up, just pushed the compressor off to the side. I seem to recall the motor mounts fought me a bit, GM LOVES their locktite on those things...... but again, it's pretty simple. Turn things to the left, they come apart. lol A simple Haynes manual should walk you through it. They're basically plug and play, so a compatible junkyard mill should drop in and run, barring any issues with it.

Paying a shop to do it, you get warranty coverage. To some that's worth a lot. If cost is a real concern, you should factor in all the little stuff. The "I may as well, since it's easy now" jobs. Intake gaskets, radiator hoses, plugs and wires, motor mounts, etc. Then there's the breakage fee. Those exhaust manifolds crack at the flange commonly, and the bolts love to shear off if you try to remove them. Coolant line connections on the firewall break easily. The little jobs can add up fast in both dollars and headaches.

Good trucks though. That's why I still have an '04 Sierra and we recently picked up an ultra clean '02 Tahoe for the family rig. Parts are "cheap" and plentiful, and they're easy to work on. If it's a solid pickup, I say save it.

Yea my next concern was the transmission, I know it’s on borrowed time. I also know that the truck itself is worth next to nothing. But it’s always been good to us, and this is the first ever breakdown that it’s had. It’s still on the factory shocks as far as I know. It’s only ever needed tires, brakes and batteries. But there is the sentimental part, of course it was grandpa’s truck. Worst case it’ll be parked out in the tree row. But me being me, I feel like it deserves better than that.

Are you sure the engine is toast? A blown head gasket "caught in time" what does that mean?

It's your grandpa's truck. I would start with discovery on what the problem on the engine is. IE, start taking it apart.

CountKrunk said:

Are you sure the engine is toast? A blown head gasket "caught in time" what does that mean?

It's your grandpa's truck. I would start with discovery on what the problem on the engine is. IE, start taking it apart.

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In my mind it means we caught it and parked the truck before it overheated and caused more damage. I floated the idea to dad of just doing head gaskets ourselves, but he pointed out that we’d still have a tired engine. And I pointed out that even if we put in a new engine, we still have a worn out transmission and rear differential. So right now we’re at a stalemate.

bigcountry78 said:

In my mind it means we caught it and parked the truck before it overheated and caused more damage. I floated the idea to dad of just doing head gaskets ourselves, but he pointed out that we’d still have a tired engine. And I pointed out that even if we put in a new engine, we still have a worn out transmission and rear differential. So right now we’re at a stalemate.

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Id do the head gasket then send it until something major happens. Squeeze as much as you can as it does have a lot of miles.

Then reevaluate

CountKrunk said:

Id do the head gasket then send it until something major happens. Squeeze as much as you can as it does have a lot of miles.

Then reevaluate

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Yea that’s my thought the deeper we get. Dad can get the gaskets for $110, plus $500 to have the heads worked. Much better than 5k.

Knowing the reputation LS's have, most of the time at 250-300k, they still got solid compression, maybe even crosshatching still in the cylinder walls, i'd be inclined to do a compression check and see the integrity of the cylinders that arent affected by the blown head gasket. You might be surprised and realize it doesnt need a rebuild at all, just new gaskets, maybe , MAYBE cylinder head machining.

Similar to @Girth experience with GMT800s, I hold them pretty high up in the bulletproof category. Never had one when they were “new”. Never was around them much as the Company ran all Fords in that era.
Bought the first one as a beater winter commuter for the wife. (It wasn’t a beater, it was a very clean 100k mile Tahoe that was almost 20 years old). Great rig, put a quick 25k miles on it and capitalized on the Covid “camping craze” and gave it to someone else for to much money…another good point, resale is good on them. Only a couple LS quirks to fix.
Next one was a desperation purchase. (Not really, but mid COVID, not many good beaters for sale for not too much money and high mile commuting season was getting underway). Not sure if it had 120k, 220k or unknown miles. It was not my wisest purchase.
That said it performed well and got beat like a rented mule with basically no maintenance for about 20k miles. Sold quickly for a grand less than purchase. (Thanks to it eating a large mailbox and stump at the hands of a 16yo texting driver….still haven’t let him live it down)

I’d run those vehicles with relative confidence and higher miles.
But the fact remains they too get to where they’re worth very little.
To the OP, sounds like sentimental value is the driving force here. If not for that, it doesn’t make sense to do much more than diy head gaskets or possibly a diy used engine.

Here's my thoughts on it...

The truck doesn't have much value, but anything of similar value that would replace it would likely be a ticking time bomb as well. If you like the truck and it's in good shape otherwise, I see no reason why it wouldn't be worth the trouble of replacing the head gaskets and having the heads redone too. The machine shop can also take care of the busted off exhaust manifold bolts that it likely has, or will have. Obviously while you are into it, it would be wise to take note of other things, like the cylinder walls and potential pitting on the camshaft.

Sure, it could end up needing a transmission at some point. But right now it's fine and works. It could last a lot longer too.

bucket said:

Here's my thoughts on it...

The truck doesn't have much value, but anything of similar value that would replace it would likely be a ticking time bomb as well. If you like the truck and it's in good shape otherwise, I see no reason why it wouldn't be worth the trouble of replacing the head gaskets and having the heads redone too. The machine shop can also take care of the busted off exhaust manifold bolts that it likely has, or will have. Obviously while you are into it, it would be wise to take note of other things, like the cylinder walls and potential pitting on the camshaft.

Sure, it could end up needing a transmission at some point. But right now it's fine and works. It could last a lot longer too.

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Great perspective and a consensus has been achieved.
On a different note, how good of shape is it in? RCSB trucks are going up in value.

Grit dog said:

Great perspective and a consensus has been achieved.
On a different note, how good of shape is it in? RCSB trucks are going up in value.

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Well, the body is solid, the only rust is the the rear bumper. Years of dirt and junk piling up in there took its toll. The body does have several dents, it was bought for farm use after all. Cows don’t really care about your paint job when they come running up on a wet day. They’ll just slide right into the truck, moo at you and walk off. But it’s nothing that couldn’t be taken care of with some light body work. The interior is dirty, but there are no gaping holes in the seats or anything. It’s 2wd and sits kinda low, so you don’t see the seat wear from people sliding in and out like you do on a 4wd. I did add the receiver hitch and gm cd player from my 2002 that got totaled around 2009, and the speakers could stand to be replaced as they are completely shot. But the truck as a whole is solid. It just needs some TLC.

I agree with the other guys, I'd pull the motor for a complete reseal (I'd assume it could use a rear main/oil pan gasket at least), slap some fresh head gaskets on it and roll on. Only because of the mileage, I'd have the heads checked. While you're at it, just pull the cover off the diff to inspect and put fresh fluid in, it'll probably be plenty fine for a long time more.

But I've seen plenty of 3 and 400k+ mileage LS engines that still had nice cross hatching on the cylinders. Heck, there's a bunch of turbo guys that specifically look for high mileage motors like that cuz they're "looser" and take boost better. These LS engines are damn near bomb proof. I'd do the minimum and keep going. Start planning for the trans though.

Grit dog said:

Great perspective and a consensus has been achieved.
On a different note, how good of shape is it in? RCSB trucks are going up in value.

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I was gonna say, I’d love to have a 2wd SWB in that year- my dad had one but it rusted away from the Michigan salt.

That’s one of my favorite body styles in the “newer” trucks and it would be my pick- I never got along well with the Cat-eye years. But they are definitely going up in value.

So many of the YouTubers are doing “junkyard “ LS swaps, but they just keep going. If it had good oil pressure, have the heads and gaskets done. While you’re at it, a Texas Speed Cam, and…wait, don’t listen to me.