[Frogballs]

My friend has a 2001 Chevy 3500 2wd 8.1 with 24,000 miles cab and chassis he used to use for a spray rig(landscape spray) and the kid who drove it never checked the oil and locked up this problem plagued motor. Took it out, took the pan off and the mains are smoked and not rebuildable. After exhausting research I found this motor is no longer supported by GM, one crate motor left in the country for $9,000. Called Jasper and all the other junk makers and they want $7,000 but haven't performed ALL GM suggested upgrades. This engine was littered with problems from inception and apparently is great if you take care of it.

What would be a good idea for this truck to be remedied? I looked into swapping a Vortec 360 and it is a full blown project, even with a donor truck so you get all the parts. This truck is cherry and unfortunately is not worth more than $1500 as is. What is a good method to not lose all value on this truck? Thanks in advanced!

 

[kstanbach]

My friend has a 2001 Chevy 3500 2wd 8.1 with 24,000 miles cab and chassis he used to use for a spray rig(landscape spray) and the kid who drove it never checked the oil and locked up this problem plagued motor. Took it out, took the pan off and the mains are smoked and not rebuildable. After exhausting research I found this motor is no longer supported by GM, one crate motor left in the country for $9,000. Called Jasper and all the other junk makers and they want $7,000 but haven't performed ALL GM suggested upgrades. This engine was littered with problems from inception and apparently is great if you take care of it.

What would be a good idea for this truck to be remedied? I looked into swapping a Vortec 360 and it is a full blown project, even with a donor truck so you get all the parts. This truck is cherry and unfortunately is not worth more than $1500 as is. What is a good method to not lose all value on this truck? Thanks in advanced!

Can't you bore out the mains and stick a spacer in there?

 

[caprice1456]

Use the 8.0 liter engine.

 

[Frogballs]

These engines are garbage from what I read and putting any work into it requires updates like crazy. Supposedly there are new pistons and an expensive CCV update to remedy the excessive oil consumption issue, but if it ends up being the only answer so be it. All the machine shops around me are giving huge warnings about repairing this motor and not advising us to go forward with it.

Chevy 8.1 is commonly called an 8.0, same motor.

 

[patrick hunley]

there are motors on ebay, I must have got a good one my 01 chev has 288,000 miles on it and still going strong!!!

 

[Frogballs]

Thank you Patrick, just found a 28K on eBay for cheap and the yard is willing to do better. Not the route we wanted because of the issues but there are cases like your's that are appealing. Our local gas company has a 43 truck fleet with the same engine and only 2 let go. I was hoping to find out that a newer 454 would swap direct, meaning no motor mount updates fan shroud changes or the like but it would require a new computer and possibly transmission computer updates. I don't want a Frankenswap under my belt and I guess it is the only viable option.

 

[elle]

My friend has a 2001 Chevy 3500 2wd 8.1 with 24,000 miles cab and chassis he used to use for a spray rig(landscape spray) and the kid who drove it never checked the oil and locked up this problem plagued motor. Took it out, took the pan off and the mains are smoked and not rebuildable. After exhausting research I found this motor is no longer supported by GM, one crate motor left in the country for $9,000. Called Jasper and all the other junk makers and they want $7,000 but haven't performed ALL GM suggested upgrades. This engine was littered with problems from inception and apparently is great if you take care of it.

What would be a good idea for this truck to be remedied? I looked into swapping a Vortec 360 and it is a full blown project, even with a donor truck so you get all the parts. This truck is cherry and unfortunately is not worth more than $1500 as is. What is a good method to not lose all value on this truck? Thanks in advanced!

You still have that Malibu? I owned that car and talked to you on some Malibu site a few years ago. That car was awesome!! Loved it!

 

[Frogballs]

Yes sir! Still have it and still love it. Would love to talk to you about it. PM your number if you are down with that.

 

[spidergearsman]

never had many problems with the 8.1 ...great power

 

[Team WTF]

I have a little over 70,000 on my 8.1 and love it! Only thing that stops it is the gas station. And other than eating a quart of oil every 3000 miles its not a bad motor. I prefer to call my truck a garage queen cause it has never been in the mud and has only seen 1 winter since new in 2001. Rarely is even driven in the rain..... Some might call me OCD

 

[twobad]

290k changing ,checking oil regularly and still only 1qt between changes on a 01

 

[robert ba'das]

mine dos'nt use any oil

 

[dadsnova69]

Look on copart. com there are alot of wrecked chevys on there site...

 

[1IWADE]

Might check Dahmer Powertrain.

 

[brian468]

8.1 aren`t bad engines at all, your buddy`s employee fucked it up, maybe next time he`ll look over his own vehicles instead of having faith in the retards working for him.

 

[rschap1]

I still don't get thinking 1 qt per 3,000 miles is acceptable myself.

 

[xpndbl3]

Our 8.1L in the suburban has a low oil warning light when it gets down a quart or so....how could he miss that on the LED screen?

 

[RacinJason91]

I have not seen any 8.1L engine problems like that and I have worked in a dealership since 93. The only problem is they can not pass a gas station.

 

[spidergearsman]

a quart every 2000 miles is normal , per GM in 2001

 

[10.5 Dave]

I still don't get thinking 1 qt per 3,000 miles is acceptable myself.

My 8.1 drank a quart every 800 miles.Unloaded that turd after suing GM and pocketing $6,000 for the hassle.I didn't buy a new 35k truck to add a quart every two weeks.

The 6.0 in my 2003 3500 Express cargo van has 235,000 miles and doesn't use any oil.