Chevy High Performance – October 2019

02 | You will have to excuse the crummy cell-phone quality for the next few photos. For some reason the
junkyard wouldn’t allow my DSLR camera on the lot, but they didn’t mind cell phones. Anyhow, this is the
Cadillac Escalade we pulled the LQ9 from. Normally, zero wreck damage is a sure sign that the vehicle is in
the junkyard because of a major engine issue, so it should be avoided. We ignored our own advice to find out
just how bad it could be. Don’t do this.

03 | Here’s a better
look at the 6.0-liter V-8
the way we found it.
That white crud all over
it is apparently powder
from a fire extinguisher.
Shortly after this we
decided to name it the En
Fuego Six-Oh and were
committed to this engine,
no matter how bad it got.

04 | The key to a
successful engine pull
at a junkyard is to spend
as little time lying in the
dirt as possible. To make
it easier to remove the
top bolt connecting the
transmission to the block,
pull the intake so you can
reach it from above. Since
the rotating assembly
was seized up, it did us
no good, but it did reveal
the bad news that there
was water sitting in every
intake port.

So we’re going to do our best to
bring new life into what we’re calling
the En Fuego Six-Oh. (Because it’s
been on fire, get it?) Go ahead, feel free
to laugh at our pain. It’s all in the name
of science.
General Motors produced two
versions of the 6.0-liter LS-based
iron block. They are designated LQ4
and LQ9. The LQ4 began production
in 1999, but ignore the ’99 and ’00
versions because they were outfitted
with iron heads, and ran until 2007.
The LQ9 was first produced in 2002
and also ran until 2007. Both are

mainly found in trucks, including

Silverado and Sierras, as well as

larger SUVs like the Escalade and

Yukon Denali XL. The main difference

between the two engines is the LQ9

trades in a dished piston for a flat-top

to bump the compression up from

9.4:1 to a healthy 10.1:1. According to

GM, that’s worth about 15 horsepower

and 10 lb-ft of torque.

We’ll be covering the buildup

of En Fuego Six-Oh in a couple of

installments. This time around we’re

sharing the pain of discovering just

how bad off this engine is and tips

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