got a buddy with a 2003 escalade. He says the lifters are getting really really loud. thing is he says when he starts it up he hears it, but after about 5 minutes it goes away. he says you can maybe hear 1 lifter still. So do you all think its the lifters going bad or maybe the oil pump?? he says he thinks its the oil pump taking too long to get oil to the lifters. so what do you all think may be wrong?

he wants me to change the lifters for him it it is the problem but had a quick question. when i put the new ls7 lifters in, do i have to pre-soak them in oil or do i just take them out the box and drop them in the engine? thanks fellas

 

I'd pre-soak them in oil, I've always done it that way with hydraulic lifters so that they don't run dry and cause possible damage to the lifters on initial start up. I've heard of guys putting them in dry without problems, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Is he sure that he's hearing lifters and not piston slap or something like that? How about the oil pump, o-ring, or pickup? How long has the oil been in the engine that he's currently running? Might want to start by just changing the oil...

 

I have always soaked them in oil befor installing them, let them get full of oil.

 

so what would cause the piston slap problem? and yeah the oil has been changed

 

Well, piston slap is a "characteristic" of the GENIII engines but supposedly was remedied at some point (at least the 03+ LQ9's have teflon coated piston skirts, not sure what else...). It's usually caused from the GENIII's short skirt pistons rocking in the cylinder bore until they heat up and expand. My truck does it on initial start up during the winter, but it goes away after a few seconds. I've heard of others lasting for a few minutes though. A piston slap has a lower, more hollow sound than a lifter, which will give you more of a tick. If you could post a decent vid that might help. I have heard of lifter problems also....does he have a cam and/or hardened pushrods or anything like that?

 

no its just a stock truck. he has a 6.0, made a mistake on the year, its a 2004. also im not sure if its a lq9 or lq4, dont know what escalades came with.

Last night he was telling me how his oil pressure sensor was bad. so we took it out and put the new one in and it was reading under 20psi. so im thinking its the oil pump. gunna go ahead and try to switch it out for him today or tomorrow

one last question, how much should i charge him to change the oil pump?

 

Hmmm, how's 150 bucks sound? Don't forget that the 10mm that holds the oil pump pickup tube can be a PITA, and be careful with the o-ring. If the guy isn't a good friend, add 50-100 bucks to the price

 

ya i know, ive taken off an oil pump before with the engine out lol. with the engine inside the truck i know its gunna be a challenge

am in going to have to unbolt all the oil pan bolts to get it to drop down so i can take off the pick up tube bolt or can i get it without loosening the oil pan bolts?

 

I haven't done one in the truck so I'm not sure, but from what I remember when I did my cam swap, it appears that the pan would have to be dropped at least a little bit...hopefully one of the guys who have done multiple swaps can chime in...

What do you think about the price that I suggested, sound fair?

 

ya i think it sounds about right. leaning more towards $175, works been kinda slow lately