GM LQ4 rebuild
- Thread starter Greg
- Start date
- Location
- West Haven, UT
Good thing you had to take this one apart. Looks like someone put it together without the knowledge to do so
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I think someone did a quick & easy, rushed "rebuild". Not much crosshatch on the cylinders either. Someone did a piss poor job on this LQ4.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
So I stumbled across a really neat engine that I didn't really need, but could use parts from. I also wanted the assembled engine on hand, to use for mocking up the rest of the Willys. It will be handy to have an engine to build motor mounts for, then work on suspension link placement and front axle up travel & clearance while the LQ4 is torn down and at the machine shop. It was posted on FB Marketplace and I had a deal to buy it within an hour of its listing!
It's a 2010 LC9 with 230k miles on it. This is a Gen IV 5.3l with an aluminum block, TBSS/NBBS intake and 243 heads. The 243 heads are super desirable, pretty much identical to the heads on the venerable LS6 engine. It was in good running shape when pulled and the top-end had been rebuilt 100k miles ago. From 2010 up, these engines had VVT and were FlexFuel capable. These engines were rated at 315 HP and 335 ft/lbs, pretty stout for a 5.3!
I needed the coils & brackets, valve covers and the cylinder heads themselves. I may keep some other small parts. Once the mockup work is done, I'm going to pull the heads, clean them up & install heavier valve springs for the bigger cam. Running these 243 heads on the LQ4 with it's dished pistons will bump the compression up from 9.4 to 10.5 to 1, creating more HP and torque thru the entire RPM range.
I'll end up selling the long block to someone that wants to build it back up.... this would be killer to bore out to 5.7l and make a poor-mans Gen IV LS1. Anyone want to build a LS? I have my old 317 heads that would make for a killer turbo motor!
Since I had the LC9 on the hoist, I dropped it into the engine bay of the Willys.... and quickly saw that the TBSS/NBBS intake's height isn't going to work. I'm not surprised, but I really wanted to run this intake for it's low-end performance and high RPM flow. I thought I had the room to make it fit, but after physically getting it in place, there is no way. I'll just run the short aluminum fabricated intake the LQ4 came with and give up some low-end.
After measuring them, the TBSS intake is 10 1/2" tall and the fabricated intake is 7 1/2" tall.... 3" more makes a big difference!
It's a 2010 LC9 with 230k miles on it. This is a Gen IV 5.3l with an aluminum block, TBSS/NBBS intake and 243 heads. The 243 heads are super desirable, pretty much identical to the heads on the venerable LS6 engine. It was in good running shape when pulled and the top-end had been rebuilt 100k miles ago. From 2010 up, these engines had VVT and were FlexFuel capable. These engines were rated at 315 HP and 335 ft/lbs, pretty stout for a 5.3!
I needed the coils & brackets, valve covers and the cylinder heads themselves. I may keep some other small parts. Once the mockup work is done, I'm going to pull the heads, clean them up & install heavier valve springs for the bigger cam. Running these 243 heads on the LQ4 with it's dished pistons will bump the compression up from 9.4 to 10.5 to 1, creating more HP and torque thru the entire RPM range.
I'll end up selling the long block to someone that wants to build it back up.... this would be killer to bore out to 5.7l and make a poor-mans Gen IV LS1. Anyone want to build a LS? I have my old 317 heads that would make for a killer turbo motor!
Since I had the LC9 on the hoist, I dropped it into the engine bay of the Willys.... and quickly saw that the TBSS/NBBS intake's height isn't going to work.
I'm not surprised, but I really wanted to run this intake for it's low-end performance and high RPM flow. I thought I had the room to make it fit, but after physically getting it in place, there is no way. I'll just run the short aluminum fabricated intake the LQ4 came with and give up some low-end.After measuring them, the TBSS intake is 10 1/2" tall and the fabricated intake is 7 1/2" tall.... 3" more makes a big difference!
Nightcrawler4x4
New Member
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
It should be a good, reliable engine as long as it's in decent shape internally.
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Nightcrawler4x4
New Member
The day he showed us that the tcace was all good the Jeep started right up after sitting outside for awhile. Sounded real good comes with a stand-alone computer also.It should be a good, reliable engine as long as it's in decent shape internally.
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Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
Any updates? I'd imagine you might have posted them if there were, but I thought I"d ask anyway.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Any updates? I'd imagine you might have posted them if there were, but I thought I"d ask anyway.
No updates, I haven't spent much time at home for the last handful of weeks between work, visiting family out of state and now EJS.
I have reached out to a couple local machine shops and I'm having the same issue I had with the LS in the El Camino.... can't find a shop that wants machine work. I think I'll be hauling my LQ4 up to Orem and have Cleggs go thru it. Seems like they know what they're doing with the cam bearing issues and @RockChucker LQ4 that they fixed up. That probably won't happen for 2 weeks though, putting me that much further behind.
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
That is wild that no one wants the work. I still need to pull the pan on my 2500HD and get a borescope up in there to check the cam bearings. Started having low oil pressure, and I discovered a slightly boogered pickup tube, so it's getting swapped out. But it's a lot of work to pull the pan.... lots of stuff in the way, nothing hard, just time-consuming.
And I'm about to have shoulder surgery, so I am waaaay behind now.
Will stay tuned until such time.
And I'm about to have shoulder surgery, so I am waaaay behind now.
Will stay tuned until such time.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I just dropped off the LQ4 engine block, rods & pistons, crank, balancer and flexplate for machine work, being done at Clegg's in Orem, UT. They have been around for years and have a great reputation for turning out quality work.
They didn't know who I am, but I mentioned that I brought my engine to them for work rather than using a local shop in Grand Junction. I think they realized how important this was to me and was given a full tour of the machine shop, introduced to a few of the guys that do the machine work and a walk through of every piece of equipment they use to rebuild engines. I also met their lead assembler, who was currently building his 3,146th engine. Super impressed with the customer service and quality of work, I feel good knowing that my engine machine work is in capable hands.
There are going to start with washing the block and then check the cam bearings and see how they fit. We talked about using Red Loctite on the cam bearings to make sure they stay in place this time around. They are also going to help me with sourcing new hypereutectic pistons, rings, all the bearings and a complete gasket kit. I've asked them to balance the rotating assembly as well.
They jumped right on the block cleaning it as I was leaving and said that the turnaround time should be 1 to 2 weeks, which is way better than 3 months from my local shops.
They didn't know who I am, but I mentioned that I brought my engine to them for work rather than using a local shop in Grand Junction. I think they realized how important this was to me and was given a full tour of the machine shop, introduced to a few of the guys that do the machine work and a walk through of every piece of equipment they use to rebuild engines. I also met their lead assembler, who was currently building his 3,146th engine. Super impressed with the customer service and quality of work, I feel good knowing that my engine machine work is in capable hands.
There are going to start with washing the block and then check the cam bearings and see how they fit. We talked about using Red Loctite on the cam bearings to make sure they stay in place this time around. They are also going to help me with sourcing new hypereutectic pistons, rings, all the bearings and a complete gasket kit. I've asked them to balance the rotating assembly as well.
They jumped right on the block cleaning it as I was leaving and said that the turnaround time should be 1 to 2 weeks, which is way better than 3 months from my local shops.
RockChucker
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Highland
Awesome. They were great to work with on my build, even with the cam bearing snafu that wasn’t their fault. They went out of their way to source undersize bearings and then ground my cam journals so everything had appropriate tolerances
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Your cam bearing issues were one more reason I was interested in having them do my work, they obviously know what they are doing and have the experience to correct problematic issues. Since my engine has already spit out a cam bearing, I feel good having them set it up for a long life.
- Location
- West Bountiful, UT
I was really pleased with how good they were to work with when I had my 4.0 head rebuilt there a couple years ago. They went out of their way to accommodate me dropping it off when they weren't open and turned it around super fast to help me not miss leading a multi day ExpUT run.
- DAA
- DAA
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Exactly 3 weeks later and I picked up the LQ4 from Cleggs! They did need to bore it .020 over and turn the crank mains & rod journals .010... all that says to me that it was a stock engine that someone tossed a cam into and bolted on the fancy intake. 2 of the rods were ovaled out on the big end and needed to be replaced.
The block was cleaned, line bored, cam bore checked, block was decked, cam bearings installed with Loctite, rotating assembly was balanced, new Silvolite Hyperutectic pistons were sourced, new oil pump, complete FelPro gasket kit, etc. The grand total for the parts and labor was $1800!! Cheap work isn't quality and Quality work isn't cheap!
I still need a cam, pushrods and springs... the 243 heads need to be gone thru and I'll be upgrading the important internal bolts to ARP's.
The block was cleaned, line bored, cam bore checked, block was decked, cam bearings installed with Loctite, rotating assembly was balanced, new Silvolite Hyperutectic pistons were sourced, new oil pump, complete FelPro gasket kit, etc. The grand total for the parts and labor was $1800!!
Cheap work isn't quality and Quality work isn't cheap!
I still need a cam, pushrods and springs... the 243 heads need to be gone thru and I'll be upgrading the important internal bolts to ARP's.
RockChucker
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Highland
Pretty. I remember parts day pickup. My stack looked very similar to yours but I also had cleggs go through my L92 heads
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
$1800?! been awhile since I had engine machine work done. Good to know though, since I"ll be doing this, probably there, soon enough.
Good to know though, since I"ll be doing this, probably there, soon enough.