power of a 5.3

[57chevyman]

hey guys, I have a 2000 Silverado, ext cab, short bed z71 with the 5.3

ive never owned another one or even been in someone elses similar truck. my truck has high miles at 235,000 but seems to run great.... I just have a feeling that the motor is tired... I don't want to bother putting it on a dyno.... maybe you guys can give me an idea, should it have enough power to screech the tires at a stop sign by stomping on the gas? maybe the rear end isn't geared to make it jump off a stopsign?

it has real good acceleration if im already going 20mph and floor it... it hesitates for a second, but then downshifts and really pushes me back in my seat.

at one point a year ago the truck was running like crap and it needed one fuel injector.... I asked the mechanic if I should also replace the other 7, but he said no not unless I get a code for a misfire. what do you guys think? is there a time when you should replace fuel injectors? I don't want to do fuel injector cleaner....my brother did that once and the truck never ran good after that.

I have new ac delco plugs and wires

[69gmcc10]

The 5.3 in 2000 came with about 285 hp and 315 ftlb. You certainly will loose some power with age as things wear out, but the bottom ends of these engines are as good as they come. If you have a G80 Locking diff that might be why you cant smoke them off the line easily.

Run injector cleaner through it, but do it at the recommendations on the bottle. if you run it too rich you could mess up an injector, but you should run a bottle through it every time you change the oil. I personally like sea foam or chevron, sea foam will also help clean your 02 sensors.

[jdl71]

Mine has 210,000 and still seems fairly peppy. I've not tried just standing on it from a dead stop to see if it will break the tires loose, but it doesn't seem to have a lack of power. Pulls my 5k # camper just fine. And yes gearing will have an effect on off the line punch as well as what kind of tires you are running. A smoother highway tread will be a lot easier to spin than an a/t or m/t. I have used both Seafoam and Chevron techron following the instructions with no apparent ill effects.

[57chevyman]

I don't know what gears I have , but it is a locking rear end. And I have all terrain tires. It runs good , but with nothing to compare it to, I don't know if it should be more peppy. My friend has a 2007 dodge full size truck crew cab with the v-8 hemi... It's much more peppy and responsive than my truck....

[69gmcc10]

That hemi is also .4 ltrs larger than yours and again gears will make a difference. He probably has 4.11 gears and you more than likely have 3.73.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Torque Management.

GM has probably the most restrictive power management program of any manufacturer. It's so you don't roast the trans or rear end before the warranty is up.

You can get a hand held tuner for it (I have no idea which to get, I have never used one) but people swear by them. Only issue with that is with all the miles you have on it, if you start "hot rodding it" now, you may kill your trans quickly.

[69gmcc10]

I would get a tune by Black Bear, Nelson or 150 tunes before I went with a hand held. I have driven both a Hypertec hand held and a Black Bear tune and the Black Bear tune I felt was much more intuitive (Did what I wanted when I wanted it to) and powerful. Other than the code reader on the hand held the custom tune is a more complete complement to the entire system. That being said, I hear the bully dog gt tuner is quite bad a$$, but a custom tune being $330 and the bully dog at nearly $589 I would hands down go with the tune.

[72freak]

I was never pleased with the power (lack there of) of the 5.3 or the gas mileage of the 6.0. I went back to low mile, pre 2000 5.7's. Best of both worlds and discontinuing it was one of GM's biggest goofs...well, next to the 6.2, 6.5 and the Chevette.

The above is purely one mans opinion based on 30 years experience and the folks around him.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I have to disagree. I got to drive my 5.3L 00 Z71 ext cab auto with 3.73 back to back with my uncle's 5.7L 1997 2wd ext cab auto with 3.73 on multiple occasions, long trips, etc (I used to live with my aunt and uncle during college) and my 00 with the 5.3 had more power. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was apparent to me. His truck only had about 100K on it at the time, mine had around 70K. The 2014 5.3's make a lot of power now!

[amberkalvin]

I have a 2012 5.3 and I believe it's rated at 325. I love the new 5.3 as I have no problems spinning the 22" wheels with 325 tires on it with 3.23 gears. It also has a locking diff.

I have also heard of people tuning their trucks (hand held tuner) and really being impressed. I have not tuned mine yet and I don't know if I will.

If you feel it should have more power, do a couple of upgrades, if you end up breaking something then it probably wasn't strong enough to begin with..... well thats my motto anyway.

[jdl71]

Originally Posted by 69gmcc10

That hemi is also .4 ltrs larger than yours and again gears will make a difference. He probably has 4.11 gears and you more than likely have 3.73.

As well as around 60 more hp, and 70 more ft/lbs of torque. I had an 03 ram crew cab 4x4 with the 5.7 and it would smoke the tires (both) from a dead stop. But we're comparing apples and oranges here, it's more matched to 6.0 vortec than a 5.3.

[Boog]

I have a 2000 GMC excab Z71 with 5.3 and 3.73 gears. I also have a 2006 GMC crew with 5.3 Z71 with 4.10 gears. The 2000 has 164,000 miles and the 06 has 124,000 miles. The gears make the difference as the 06 will smoke the 2000. It still gets 17-18 mpg. They both have the G80 limited slip.
I think the 5.3 handles the size and weight of the full size trucks just fine with stock tune. I have not tried a performance tune as I think it requires premium grade gas and I'm just not willing to pay the extra $ every fillup.

[69gmcc10]

Originally Posted by Boog

I have a 2000 GMC excab Z71 with 5.3 and 3.73 gears. I also have a 2006 GMC crew with 5.3 Z71 with 4.10 gears. The 2000 has 164,000 miles and the 06 has 124,000 miles. The gears make the difference as the 06 will smoke the 2000. It still gets 17-18 mpg. They both have the G80 limited slip.
I think the 5.3 handles the size and weight of the full size trucks just fine with stock tune. I have not tried a performance tune as I think it requires premium grade gas and I'm just not willing to pay the extra $ every fillup.

With the mind set of so many people being on there pocket book at the pump, hand helds and custom tuners do provide tunes that run on the lower grade fuels and they help allot, but for only $1 or $2 every tank you can get about 15 more ponies and even more economy out of your rig by going with 91 or 93 octane.

[mikey531]

57 chevyman

I have the same truck. turn on the tow haul on the shifter and then stop and make a right turn, floor it and the right rear will smoke all the way through first gear. I will not admit to anyone how I know....

[57chevyman]

Originally Posted by mikey531

57 chevyman

I have the same truck. turn on the tow haul on the shifter and then stop and make a right turn, floor it and the right rear will smoke all the way through first gear. I will not admit to anyone how I know....

That reminds me , the tow haul button on my shifter stopped working a while ago . It doesn't light up or engage tow/haul mode.

[67ChevyRedneck]

That's because the wires inside the column broke. Very common. I fixed mine years ago.

I reconnected my wires, this guy replaced the whole shift/wire mechanism, but it gives you an idea of what to do.

1AAuto.com Fix Tow Haul Mode Button Chevy...

A short video:

Gm Tow/haul button fix - YouTube

[57chevyman]

thank you for that

[67ChevyRedneck]

No problem. It's a bit of a pain in the ass, but is an easy fix. It breaks because the wire gets old/brittle, and think of all the times you've put the truck in park to drive and back, and GM probably made the wire a little too short.