fbekholden.com

Bought this yesterday- a mate told me about it , was his wife’s ex husband’s car - was told it had a buggered engine so I picked it up for $1500
Bought it sight unseen, got there with a fresh battery a jump pack and a compressor as it had been sitting unused for a couple of years - it started straight up , sounds like it has a collapsed lifter - very common in DOD equipped LS2’s


Drove it onto the trailer after replacing the battery and dragged it home


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Gave it a bath and it came up surprisingly well- the body barely has a mark on it - except for some clear coat peel on the rear bumper and the dodgy tint it looks like a new one






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Took it for a drive to the shops and the servo to pump the tyres up and by the time we got home it was not making a sound under the bonnet except for a bit of a squeak that sounds like an idler pulley or something like that - very tempted to flip it but it’s an ex charter vehicle and has 525000 km on it so not worth much - the bloke I got it from weighs over 200 kg so the drivers seat is TRASHED



Plan is to sell it as a roller and stick the motor and box - after a freshen up- into my ‘46 Chev


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I know nothing of these new LS engines, although starting to see that everyone wants and uses them.

Tell me Blacky 525000 kays do you think that engine has ever been freshened before ? Its astounding that a block of steel can travel that far.

What size donk is it ? can you give me some spec on it ?

Regards
Greg

No real knowledge of its history, it was a charter vehicle so a glorified taxi which explains the high kms.

Its a 2011 model so it has a 6 litre L77 designation LS2 in it. They are DOD engines - displacement on demand. They bleed off the oil flow to the lifters when under no load and will run as an 8 , a 6 or a 4 cylinder depending on demand. We had one in a Caprice the same as this for a while and it was crazy good on fuel on the open road - we were getting 9litres/100km !

Its common for these engines to suffer lifter failure especially if they aren't serviced regularly as the oil galleries get blocked and the lifter wont get full oil pressure leading to excessive clearance then lifter failure , sometimes catastrophic.

EK283 wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:09 pm I know nothing of these new LS engines, although starting to see that everyone wants and uses them.

Tell me Blacky 525000 kays do you think that engine has ever been freshened before ? Its astounding that a block of steel can travel that far.


Regards
Greg

i doubt it would have ever had a freshen up if well maintained they'll do those Ks and plenty more, only real failing point on them especially the DOD models is the cam and lifters i wouldn't be surprised if they could possibly have been changed before also the oil pump can go on them, i had a VY SS ute had 320000Ks when i bought it i used to drive it like i stole it and all it had was a dodgey lifter that would bleed out and tick every now and then, also had a 2005 statesman with just over 400000Ks ran like a dream, people use them for those reasons they go forever and make real easy power get a well maintained one with around 250000Ks slip a cam in it slap a turbo on it get it tuned easy 500HP at the wheels

EK283 wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:09 pm Tell me Blacky 525000 kays do you think that engine has ever been freshened before ? Its astounding that a block of steel can travel that far.

At 525,000km a Hilux diesel would barely have worn the hone marks off the bore

Cheers,
Harv

Harv wrote: Tue Jul 08, 2025 8:13 am

EK283 wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 1:09 pm Tell me Blacky 525000 kays do you think that engine has ever been freshened before ? Its astounding that a block of steel can travel that far.

At 525,000km a Hilux diesel would barely have worn the hone marks off the bore

Cheers,
Harv

IFyou keep the oil up to them we have had a heap of them at work over the years and they start burning oil if you go too far over their service schedule. They are like cockroaches though - hard to kill

Sold the Stato last night less motor and gearbox,headers, wiring, computers and accelerator pedal for $2500

Good find, cheap.