My old 5.3 had 180K on it when I did the cam swap but I also replaced the lifters because they were tapping but my motor was nice and clean. Ive gotten ahold of a few motors like that, I guess people just dont do oil changes hardly at all on them or use the jiffy lube brand oil or something

 

Well since we are all here on the cam and high mileage topic now would be a good time for me to ask more about the failures that can happen on a high milage truck (like mine....mileage in sig). I would think that the only failures that are possible would be in the valvetrain but im not sure. I have never done a cam swap but the thought has been entering my mind like crazy here lately.

 

Just off the top of my head I'd have to say that if you put a cam and springs in you might as well go ahead and change the valve seals, lifters, oil pump, water pump and inspect the timing chain. Check the pistons while you have the head off to see what the rings look like.

 

Good advice.

My 182,000 5.3 ran great , no smoke.

Then i put in a cam, LS2 timing chain, oil pump. PAC1518 springs/ hardened pushrods. new water pump and valve seals.

Truck ran ok, i thought it just needed a stall, Then i my rocker arms came loose, and i stripped a rocker bolt and had to buy a new head, head gasket and bolts.

Now i get it back together and the damn lifters took a ****.

So i stripped the top end down, then said **** it im buying a low mile 6.0, and i thats what i just did

My 5.3 short block looks great, pistons and cylinders are fine. But i dont want to worry about breaking something else so i went with the newer 6.0.

But if you do perform a cam swap make sure you change the oil pump, timing chain and lifters and water pump / valve seals.

 

Yeah im waiting to get a cam (not at the top of my list as of now) and saving money to just re-do the heads and possible port/polish while im there. I was planing on staying with an OEM setup as much as I could (LS6 springs, stock lifters, yada, yada....) I figure you rarely hear of an OEM part breaking so why add more risk to it.

The main question that im having is with the oil pump. I have heard if you put a high flow oil pump that it has the tendency to pump the oil up to the top and drains the pan unless you have a higher capacity pan. Has anyone heard this or is it B.S. Also is it worth buying the higher flow oil pump if it doesnt pump the pan dry?

 

There was a thread not too long ago about some GMT900 high flow pumps that are available out there that were sucking TBSS pans dry I believe. If I were to change the oil pump, I'd just go with a factory replacement. You hardly ever hear of OEM pump issues, but sometimes the ones that have been tweaked can be problematic.