anyone here a GM dealership tech?

[GasGuzzler]

First you have to tell us what you really have as in policy. If you have some crap thing from the aftermarket or something sold to you by the selling dealer it's not worth the hassle 'cause it'll pay for about 65% of the bill if they cover it.

Send me your VIN and I'll tell you if it's a legit policy or not.

Second, no dealer in the world will replace and engine for what you describe without either a big cash bribe or a friend on the inside. No way. In fact, you probably have a carbon noise, not a piston slap.

Bring it to me. I can fix the carbon noise in a a few minutes. If it's a piston noise AND the policy is legit, the attempt at fixing the carbon noise might make an engine needed.

The new or reman long or short block question has more to do with the local rep and how close the customer is to being out of coverage. In reality they want us to make a cost comparison between a repair and a replace. There really has to be a lot wrong with it to warrant a replace.

No oil pressure alone will not warrant a replacement engine. GM would require me to fix the concern. However, if the engine were to totally fail due to lack of oil pressure the cost analysis would be obviously swayed to the replacement, not the rebuild side. Clean oil in the crankcase of a failed engine would be a red flag.

There is a 100% chance you will get a 4.8 in place of the 4.8. If there is a way to get a 5.3 the parts guy would have to order a 5.3 and pretend he got and billed a 4.8. This is almost impossible and a big ticket item. It's one thing to swap one light bulb part number for another and adjust the inventory but not on an engine.