chevy6.0fan

I have a TSP 408 in my 1999 NBS 2500 that has been in the truck about 3 1/2 years. It's just a weekend truck so the motor only has about 5,500 miles on it. The setup has been great with no issues until recently when I noticed a small tapping noise coming from the engine. I thought it might be the lifters and left it with my buddy at his shop for a closer inspection. After going all over it with his diagnostic listening probe connected to headphones he says it's not the lifters and that the noise appears to be coming from the bottom end...

I'm in a bit of a dilemma because I was already considering selling the truck as I just have too many vehicles at the moment. This truck has had a good run as we have owned it since new but you can't hang on to stuff forever. With this issue I can't sell it as is so I have a few options I need some advice on.

1. Pull the current motor and swap in the LQ9 I took out when I went with the 408. The LQ9 has a 212/218 low lift cam, Z06 springs and hardened pushrods. The engine was running fine when I took it out but it was using some oil so if I went this route my plan was to just get a basic rebuild on this engine, put it in the truck and sell it.

2. Pull the 408, find the problem, fix it, put it back in the truck and sell as is. The problem with this method is I just don't know how much that is going to cost until I find the problem. If the cost is comparable to a rebuild on the 6.0 then I'll likely put the 408 back in once it's fixed.

A rebuild on the LQ9 is around 2k plus the cost of pulling the 408 and putting the LQ9 back in. Roughly 3k for the whole deal. Truck has about 160k on the clock but is in good shape and everything works so I could probably sell it for 6k and it would live out the rest of its life pulling landscape trailers around.

The question is what to do with the 408...I can get more for the truck with the 408 in it but given the truck's age I bet I'm realistically looking at 10-12k max if I sold it with the fresh 408. If I sell the truck with the rebuilt LQ9 and sell the fixed 408 by itself I'm guessing I might get 5 grand for that motor?

Obviously I've got plenty of decisions to make so any thoughts on the most cost effective options would be appreciated. I know it's hard to make a determination based on the unknowns with the 408 until I get it apart. Aside from the noise the truck starts and runs fine.

Just to be clear, this isn't a bash TSP thread, just a call for some advice. Sure, I'm very frustrated about the situation but it's a risk you have to accept if you want to play this game. I understand this type of engine is not going to last 150,000 miles but I also didn't expect to be having issues with less than 6,000 on the clock.

It has been flawless until now so my guess is that something just failed prematurely. Thanks for reading.

Atomic

iTrader: (42)

I would do option 1; pull the 408, throw in the stock LQ9 and sell the truck. You wont get near as much for the whole truck with the 408 in there as you would selling them separately.

George C....

Honestly your motor unless High dollar parts isn't worth much....can find decent used 408s for 3000-4000 with low miles with budget parts in them

Honestly be hard to get 10k for setup even in great shape

It's a LD 3/4 Tom

In running form 5-7000

chevy6.0fan

Good points, I certainly thought the 408 had some high dollar parts in it...$8,500 drive out for an engine seems like a lot to me.

I agree 10k for truck is tops even with the 408 and everything perfect. I could definitely get 7k for the truck with the rebuilt 6.0 in there. That's probably what I'll end up doing.

1-87 chevy

iTrader: (12)

option #1 but don't rebuild it ,just be up front with the potential buyer about it burning a little oil (which most ls based engines do) save the extra money.