Although the 99-00 with the Fiber type head gaskets are known to blow if the cooling system has not been maintained or the truck was over heated, This is a valid point.

A plugged heater core will make a gurgling sound inside the cab.

 

Pulling the engine is no big deal,not a lot different than pulling a SBC out of an older truck,just a bit tight getting the oil pan past the diff.Since you already have efilive,swapping to a 6.0 would be the way to go.Sadly the 4L60E is gonna hurt the wallet,parts alone in Canada could run up to $1800 or so...

 

That's the only thing that worries me about the trans is the price. And that makes sense about the few minor things between the years swapping them won't be hard now that I know. Im very familure with the 6.5 diesels and duramax done lots of injectors swaps engine change and HG just done on my 05 but i dont know a whole lot about the gas engines. I'm not really looking for a power house truck outta this 99 cause I know id half to spend alot of money to even get it close to the HP my Dmax is putting out. I'm thinking exhaust and a tune and maybe headers. Also how do I check if my heater core is clogged? Pull it out? And what clogs it?

 

They get plugged up from the coolant breaking down and the engine and heater core corroding internally. By pass the core and see if the gurgling goes away. I forget at the moment how the system is tied together at the core. Might take some doing to bypass it in a loop.

You might want to replace it for peace of mind since it gets cold up there. You don't want to have to do it in the middle of winter... It's a time consuming job to remove the dash and replace the core.

 

It's Alberta man...... parts prices and whatnot are nothing what these guys in the States will shell out for the same thing. I find with the LS trucks it's a one up case scenario for us up here probably on sheer volume. I would honestly avoid buying a rebuilt 4L60E and just get a clean low mileage used one. At that point add an HD2 shift, a servo and drive it. You probably will get some mental degenerate transmission shop that will charge $2K for one here and it will last about the distance you get out the parking lot. That is this provinces achilles heal so to speak..... competent shops for just about anything.

Engines are also cheap and simple to find. Kijiji is your friend..... use it to it's full ability. I basically buy everything off of there and it's a source of some pretty good deals. You can easily get a good running 5.3 for around the $500 mark with low mileage. 6 liters can be had reasonably as well but its more looking. A friend just got a 109000 km LQ9 with all accessories, pcm and harness for $1100..... not to bad. I just bought a $800 LQ4 long block with a new comp cam, pushrods, springs, rebuilt 243 heads, LS2 rods with ARP fastners, ARP head bolts and so forth. It wouldn't have lasted and is getting a real rebuild with forged components but the parts in it alone are worth more than I paid for it. You can use any gen III and just swap your intake, manifolds and whatnot to keep the EGR and so forth.

Since like me you own EFILive you are set. With 291000 km on the engine and likely deck surface issues..... just junk the engine.

Even with the $1000 investment you could have a good powertrain in it for likely less than $3000 total investment if you are swapping it all yourself.

Pull the hoses off for the core ( both on the waterpump) and force water back and forth through it. If you get decent flow from it and have no interior leaks it saves from having to swap it. Good luck.

 

the two heater hoses that are on the passenger side fire wall. they go in side by side. unplug them and link them together with a 90 degree barb fitting and 2 hose clamps. if you dont hear the gurgling sound i may have nailed it and saved you an engine swap.

 

Thank you I'm gonna try that this week some time and see how it sounds

 

Had my heater core fail on me in the winter while driving. not fun.

Having said that, I had no defroster heat. Can't the OP just turn on the defroster up front and see if heat comes out instead of worrying about the lines? If it's plugged, it won't be working properly right?

Just trying to come up with an easy test......