I know this aint and old motor but is there anyone here on the Hamb that has a truck running a 6.0 liter V8 in there 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton CHevy or GMC trucks? Drove a 2003 1500HD yesterday and it had one in it and just wondering how these motors are. ANd no I aint trying to put this in my Coupe but I am looking fo a new truck and with the price of diesel these days I would like to go back to a gas rig especially since I aint hauling stuff anymore. Thanks for any help Dirty31
I used to have one. I liked it. Gas milage was decent for its size. Plenty of power. Seemed to get better gas milage out of it when I got to 15K miles.
We have several of them (2003's and 2004's.........no 2005's YET) at work. They are holding up good. I work for the government so you know everyone drives them a ' little harder ' than you would your own stuff. I have to letter and stripe all our vehicles, so I drive all our stuff...at least once. They pull good and even sounds better than the 5.3. I wanted a 6.0 in my new 2004 Silverado but the 6.0 is NOT available in the short bed, standard cab models. I would have had to go either extra cab or long bed. So I have the 5.3 The onlydrawback to the 6.0 that I have heard or seen is the mileage is only about 16 - 17 MPG...at best. I can get 21 - 22 (highway) from my 5.3 . I bought mine at the end of March this year and have almost 20 thousand miles on it.....so it is broke in and on Mobile 1. .
I have one in my Silverado SS. Gets 13.5 MPG in the city and 13.5 mpg on the highway, same gas milage no matter what. The truck is full time AWD though, so I assume the 2wd get better milage. The motor can pull and hall fairly decent even with 3.42s. I have had to tow my '56 Olds with it before and you could barely tell it was there. I guy I work with has a 2500 with 4WD and 4.11s, he bought a superchips programmer and works the crap out of his truck with no problems. His is tow rated for something like 15k lbs.
Thanks. I really appreciate the help. If there is anybody that has any other experiences with these please help.
wife got a 99 when they first came out with the 5.3, it gets good mileage and has 120k on it without any serious problems. A couple friends have had 6.0s and got worse mileage, especially with the 4x4. Sounds like the others have the story pretty well covered.
I've got a 99 GMC 2500 - 6.0 liter. It's a great truck. General maintance aside, 84K miles all I've had to replace is a fuel pressure regulator. We towed a 36ft. enclosed trailer (with 2 hot rods in it) to California and back from Wisconsin with NO problems and OK gas mileage. I'd reccomend that truck to anyone looking for diesel alternative. Jake
I have a 2001 CC 1500HD with the 6.0. Have nothing but good things to say about it. I get 16-17 mpg city not too bad. Infact I am looking at maybe upgrading to an '04 or '05. Need to have someone take this one off my hands first.
Dont waste your money on the 6.0 is my opinion. I have driven the 5.3, 6.0, and the 8.1 and have to say, the 6.0 just doenst seem to be any better IMO than the 5.3, but everyone I know who went from a 5.3 to a 6.0 says they get horrible gas mileage compared to the 5.3. The only reason I can see getting a 6.0 is to avoid the piston slap that some people complain about with the 5.3, but even that I have only heard on few occasions and it goes away.
Not to hijack the post, but what's the deal with the piston slap on the 5.3? I have a 2000 Suburban that I bought new, have maintained it religiously, and you crank it up cold it sounds like the mains are coming out...then it quits in a few seconds... Brian
Oooh, don't even go there. GM engineering says it's "normal". Do a google search, or go to chevytalk.com and go to the section for that truck. You'll find plenty of opinions about it... BTW, I had an 00, but got rid of it, with piston slap... Jay
I have a 2002 GMC 2500HD with the 6.0 in it. I love the truck, and the motor has wayyyy more power than i thought it was going to have. I reprogrammed mine witha Hypertech programmer, and it's even better now.. BUT....my gas milage SUCKS! the absolute best i ever got was 13, on the highway. It get's 10 at best in the city.And thats running mobil-1 since it had about 3000 miles on it..it only has 19000 now. Mine has 4:10 gears in it, and i'll be honest, i drive it kinda hard at times..I never had a 4x4 that will tear up the tire's from a light . I had a Silverado 1500 with the 5.3, and even that had good power. As far as the piston slap mentioned.. It has that too. It's had a tick to it since brand new, and mine dosn't go away, just gets a little quieter.. I have a good friend who is a GM tech at a local dealer, and he said it's very common for that in both engine's, especially the 6.0's. The reason the factory gave to the service dept was due to economy, they assembled the engine's loose to reduce friction.. They are very confident in the motor's though. My friend said that if you were to go into the dealer complaining about the noise, they will GIVE you the 100 thousand mile, 7 year extended warranty on the motor with no money out of pocket from you. He said he's seen them do this many times. It's kinda funny though, a close friend of mine has the same truck as mine, but a chevy, and his is pretty quiet in comparison, and get's better gas milage...but is slower than mine even before i reprogrammed it..we've actually raced 'em a few time's.LOL Oh well.. Tony.
I guess I'll have to be the first one to complain...Have a 2000 Chevy 2500 with the 6.0. The piston slap is the worst on the early 6.0s, it's a noisy, noisy engine. Gas mileage is terrible, not impressed with the power either. I have had nothing but problems with the truck (bought it this spring) it's getting traded on a F250 Super Duty with the 6.8 V10. I'll never buy another late model GM truck.
Allegedly, the knock is from the "hypereutectic" pistons they chose to use. They will "grow" enuff to fit when warm that the knock will stop. It's supposed to only be for a few seconds at startup, but whenever I got on mine, from any speed, rolling or still, it knocked. And bad too. It's really funny to me, cause the 360 I built for my 300 has KB hypereutectic pistons, and it has never knocked, even during break in. But, I'm not an engineer, especially with the knowledge of GM, so what do I know? Jay
Short piston skirts to reduce reciprocating weight. The pistons "rock" in their bores and slap. Supposedly one cure for it is to use a GM top engine cleaner and it eats away all of the carbon on the top of the pistons. They say that the caarbon is a cuase of the slap too.
Bought a 03 Yukon for the wife with the 5.3. Ive towed our 37 with it to Fredricksburg and I was impressed. No problems with it so far...little motor pulls quite well.
I work at chevy dealer as a tech. Yes engine's are a little noisy but they are reliable as a rock.Since they came out I have not had to do one major repair on one.The biggest problem is convincing people that start up noise is normal.As earlier post mentiond it is mostly due to piston's with out skirt's and it's not to bad on the 6.0
They're also "upgradable"--everything from the Camaro/Firebird LS1 engines bolts on. The heads will make the compression really high, but... A shop I know likes to use the truck blocks for stroker builds. The weight difference between the LS1 aluminum blocks and the 6.0L iron truck block is 100lbs. -Brad
I've got a 2004 2500 Crew Cab 2wd with the 6.0 in it and 3.73 rear. I just got back from a good road trip pulling a trailer. The best mileage I got was about 14. I set the cruise on 74 and it never had to down shift in almost 1200 miles. I'm happy. JP
Pops has a 2003 2500 HD 4x4 crew cab short bed with a 6.0 and 4.11's Runs great. Has had no problems and gets about 13mpg all the time. Pull his 22' Cobalt boat like it is not even there and still gets about 13mpg. He loves the truck. On the other hand I have a 1500 Extended cab short bed with the 5.3 and 3.73's Truck pulls real hard and gets 15mpg on average. Will do about 17 to 18 on the highway. But it is hard for me to keep my foot out of it because it is so much fun to drive. The motors in my opinion are great. I dont think that I would get the 6.0 if I had the option because of price and mpg. But if you need to towshit all the time or want a hotrod truck than the 6.0 is is good. I have towed a 61 belair with the 5.3 and it did very well pulled hard even up steep grades and the brakes in these trucks are far superior to the previous body style trucks. you wont be dissapointed with any of the Chevy trucks. Eric
My brother had a new 2000 2500HD and that thing was a hoss. Flat assed run and hide from a power stroke with the same big trailer. After about 150,000 miles it hadn't had any problems other than a cracked egr tube or something that made a tiny exhaust leak under the hood. It did have the typical problematic Chevy front suspension that needed constant adjustment and still ate tires. There is/was 2 versions of the 6.0 and I think he had the hotter one in that truck, he has a 2002 1500 4x4 and it doesn't have near the huevos the 2000 did. After 2 years he got a new truck and, don't ask me why, he bought a V10 Ford. The 6.0 Chev made that Ford look like it was tied to a tree. And I hate that 'cause I'm a Ford man when it comes to trucks.
The motors are fairly tough. I have a 2000 Silverado xtra cab, 5.3 motor. I like the truck , always 17 mpg in town since new. I am surprised the number of guys use Mobil 1 oil. I do. In the early days of the 6.0 a friend of mine owns a small machine shop. He was boring the 6.0 blocks .010 over for dealers here in the Phoenix area since repalcement motors were hard to get at first. I mentioned to him "you are not really boring them per GM ya know" ...... he smiled and said ; yeh , I am supposed to be quiet about it. He still has a new 6.0 bare block sitting at his shop that one dealer must have forgotten about.
The aluminum LS1 can not be overbored. It's a throw-away block. Factory recommended overbore is .010. More than that, and you go through the sleeve. It's the rare scuff or wear that will clean up at .010. The 6.0 iron block will go overbore just like the old 350 blocks. Another thing to think about (from a future rodding perspective) -Brad
My son and I both have 2002 2500HD's ext cab 4x4's. His has the 6.0 with 4.10's mines an 8.1 with 3.73 his mileage is no better than mine and mine has a hell of a lot more guts than his. He's been dissapointed with his almost from the start, the biggest reason is piston slap. I love mine, no piston slap. We bought them new only 2 days apart.
The LS1s were getting REBUILT here due to the customer complaints about the noise (and oil consumption). Will be interesting to see if the LS2s have the same problem. {Just saw a 6.0 Pontiac GTO out getting tested the other day. You guys should see them on your roads soon, I'd imagine.....but, man, those Pontiac fronts are UGLY!! Plus the fake bonnet snorkels...Eeeep!}
Well for you that lovr yours I got me a 2003 1500HD with the 6.0 in it. I love it so far. I quess it aint cold enough down here to get the Piston Slap yall are talking about. Seems to be getting about 17-18 miles per gallon so far. Love the back seat the best. Very roomy especially getting my family in and out. Glad to be back in a Chevy. Thanks for all the pros and cons on these but I think I am sold for sure so far.
I run 5W-30 AMSoil in my 4.8 and it has little to no piston slap. Some noise is audible, but only when pulling up to the burger king drive through window. I like the idea of a 5wt. cold oil getting to the bearings quicker, and will be debating switching to a 0W-30 in the near furure. I don't think heavier than a 5wt. cold oil will cure the slap. BTW the cylinders in those LS1's get honed about .005" on a rebuild to make 'em a 3.905" bore. They last a long time.
willowby That is one thing that I noticed about my truck is that the front suspension makes noise and has a vibration in the steering wheel like the column is loose even though I know it is not. It also eats front tires like I eat burritos. Is there any fix for this that anyone has found. I am still under warranty and havent taken it in yet for this out of sheer lack of time but I am frustrated about it on a truck with 18000 miles. Other than that though a great truck. Eric
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