I had liners installed in my 4.0 and the guy that did it said that the liners I had him install would outlast about 5 sets of rings and pistons. I had him instal Darton sleeves and he said they are hard as hell!! All I can say is if they install Dartons in their engines the liner should be just fine. I hope this all works out for you.

 

I may be replacing my head gaskets again soon in which case I'll be visiting him and I can get more details. He only showed me around briefly when I was in there before but he was pretty enthusiastic about showing me what he was doing.

 

have you done any test on the engine?
what exactly is wrong that has you saying the motor is junk?
has a compression test been done?
how about a leak down leak-down test?
oil on top of a piston could be a bad valve guide or seal?
none of the above tests require any disassemble
and should be done by your mechanic before you go any further.
jmo

 

Here is the full recap:

Driving, I noticed that I was missing some power.

Some days later, check engine light came on throwing a Cylinder 5 misfire code. I pulled the plug on that cylinder and it was fine. I held out hope that it was maybe the wire but as you probably know it's not easy to pull wires from the coils on these trucks so I took it in.

My mechanic initially thought there was gas in the cylinder which had him thinking it was a valve issue (spring, seal, whatever)...on further inspection he realized there was oil in there. Cylinder 5 failed a compression test miserably. Yes he did a block test too. Not burning coolant thankfully. Taking the valve cover off he couldn't see anything wrong with the valves on that cylinder. Again, I'm not a mechanic but my mechanic is. I trust him 100%.

So here we are.

[edited to fix some grammar and mention the joy of the coil pack placement]

 

Cylinder 5 failed a compression test miserably. that's the part I missed I don't dough your mechanic just looking for easy stuff. maybe you will be somewhat lucky and he may find something if he pulls the head.


i

 

I totally appreciate you trying to be helpful. I need all the help I can get, trust me.

 

Super old thread, but any update here? I am looking to get an AB engine soon.

 

 

I would be looking at ACEngineer's thread on his LS3 conversion kit. The kit + a used or rebuilt LS3 will be cheaper, and the GM engine is so much better than the LR engine.