Well i was peaking under my truck today and found out i got the dreaded #53 block. I am a little disappointed because i was planning on doing a 5spd manual swap over in 2 months. its got 160k on the motor right now, powerpuck chip, air dog 150, and exhaust never beat on and no problems yet. My buddy who is a diesel tech said that if it makes it to 200k ill be fine but untill then i wont know so is it worth the time and money of swapping a 5 speed into my truck and building it or should i put her up for sale? please tell me your opinions, thanks.

 

when its cold out let it warm up before driving. plug it in. youll be alright with that block.

 

yea i take good care of her and do all that thanks for the help!

 

i wouldn't worry about it untill it cracks, then deal with it. if it happens it happens. no need to worry about babying your truck its whole life because you are afraid of the block cracking, makes it no fun!

 

I bought mine knowing it had a 53 block with 102k on the clock. DON'T WORRY about it. It is my understanding that if they were going to crack it almost always happened with relatively few miles on it. I think we are both safe. Just enjoy the truck. Hell, I'm about to put a new turbo, exhaust, intake, and gauges in mine.

 

this thread type has been posted about 20 times in the last month alone. and at that mileage if its not cracked youve got better than a 98% chance it wont. only about 1% crack and they do it before 75k. mine is a 53 block and it runs close to 100 psi of boost and has been doing so for 3 years. i beat on it and abuse the hell out of her never a problem. im about convinced that there was a lot of them made with this problem and i would love to know if i was right on that. because most never have a single block issue. i blew a piston apart in mine last year and all it did was scratch up the bore a little. .040 bore and i was like new. after the piston melted over an inch off the top i still drove it 15 miles to the next exit, shut it down for a few day went back to get it and it fired right up and drove it on the trailer. if that didnt crack a 53 block imo its a tank. usually most of the experts say ove 100k its not going to crack. key is as with any motor keep good antifreeze in it and plug it in when its extreamely cold out, and dont drive it till it has a few minutes to warm the cylinders up. the 55 block will even crack if its not maintained properly, al of them will. it just seem that everyone likes to down the 53 becauce it has been know in a few cases to crack. but if you sit and think about how many of them were made and how many have cracked it doesnt even compare. if you want to know more there are a few other 53 block post and several of the have a link on them that has a very detailed overview of the 53 block. check it out.

 

thanks everyone i apprecaite your input and it makes me feel a lot better about my motor.