need help on what steps to take

[ehall8702]

so i just picked up a 09 silverado with a toasted afm 5.3l. its drive by wire and a 4l60e, paid a 1000 for it. i have a 6.0 and a 5.3 from a 01 2500 and 01 suburban , both are drive by cable. i want tp put the 6l in the 09. what steps am i going to have to take from a tuning stand point to get the 6.0 running with the drive by wire throttle body? i know ill be doing segment swap but any guidance as what i need to be using? all bolt in is easy enuff, will be adding headers and custom exhaust and CIA at same time. can i use a tune for a 6l of same year as truck? been tuning on the 03 yukon of my gf and cant wait till i get to tune the 6l.

[5FDP]

You can't do what you are thinking.

The 1999-2007 engines are considered GEN 3's, the 2007.5-2013's in those trucks are considered GEN 4's.

Gen 3 are 24/1x trigger on the crank/cam and the GEN 4's are 58/4x. They are completely different and do not swap over. The knock sensors are in the valley on the GEN 3 and bolted to the side of the engine block on the GEN 4. Also the camshaft sensor is in the rear of the engine by the oil pressure switch on the GEN 3 and bolted to the front timing cover on the GEN 4.

If you want a direct swap 6.0 you need to find a 2007.5+ engine. They came in LY6, L96 and you can find a 6.0 from a 2007-2009 Vortex MAXX truck as well. Also the G8's and Chevy Caprice PPV's ran the 6.0 engine. Though the 6.0's from the vortex maxx and the two cars both have AFM/DoD systems in those vehicles.

[ehall8702]

I can't change the crank and cam sensor and add wire for knock sensors? Worse case scenario, I have a stand alone harness for 6.0 and the ecm that came with the 6.0. I have heard of adapter boxes to change from gen 3 to gen 4 sensors also. I don't really have a choice this HAS to work one way or the other since it'll be my only truck. Sold my 97 I was going to put one of the gen 3 motors in. Have both the gen 3 motors already. Can't change os in the engine segment to run the gen 3 motor with the gen 4 ecm?

[ehall8702]

I have the complete gen 4 motor also, tore it apart at my shop and customer didn't wanna spend the cash on a new motor

[5FDP]

No.

The reluctor wheel on the crankshaft is different between the two engines. The camshaft gear is different between the two as well. The GEN 3 is also a 3 bolt camshaft and the GEN 4 is a 1 bolt camshaft.

The converter box doesn't work for this.

https://www.lingenfelter.com/product/L460065397.html

This module is only designed for a newer engine with a 58x crankshaft trigger wheel and 4x camshaft trigger wheel going into an older 24x vehicle.

It will not convert the 24x crankshaft trigger signal to a 58x crankshaft trigger signal and no module exists to do this. You must physically change the reluctors in the engine.

No, you can not segment swap anything. GEN 3 trucks use P01 and P59 computer and GEN truck use E38 computers. They aren't even in the same ball park for how different they function. The 2009 truck you have is far more advanced with the computer systems inside it and they also use CAN-BUS which the earlier trucks do not.


This is thread is pretty much just all bad news for you. I would sell your other engines and pickup a engine that actually will be a direct fit. That is far better than machine shop costs to swap reluctors, do a bunch of wiring and hope you can figure out the tuning. You'll have way more downtime if you try to piece this thing together and hopefully get it to work for you.

[ehall8702]

Well on further thinking, there is no cam sensor in front of the new trucks timing cover. I gotta look harder , I thought I was just lucky that it was a direct bolt in deal. I'll check deeper into exactly which motor is in the truck , regardless it'll get a 6.0 even with a stand alone harness b it HAS to run lol. Can I use old ecm with new trucks harness, I don't think I can bc the bcm is built into it isn't it?

[ehall8702]

Motor in truck I grabbed is a LMG , 58X . Basically I'll be stuck with stand alone harness unless I swap crank (or press reluctor wheel on) and change cam ( will be buying a cam anyways,think I'm gonna go with a tsp stage 3 low lift anyways) with gen 4 style cam so I can use proper sensor. As far as drilling and tapping for knock sensors, that's beyond easy enuff

[5FDP]

The 5.3's from those trucks are LY5, LMG and LC9's. The first two are iron blocks and the LMG is the flex fuel version. VIN code J for LY5 and 0 for LMG.

All 3 have front cam sensors.

Nothing from a GEN 3 truck swaps over. Using a GEN 3 engine with standalone means that is the only thing that would work. There would be no cluster, ABS, traction control and likely all other BCM functions like AC/Heat etc etc because the CAN-BUS system will not be functioning. Basically a roller chassis with a running engine.

[ehall8702]

Can I run stand alone for motor and leave the stock ecm to run bcm functions and just tune out all codes for engine issues and trans? Idk about abs and all the bs, truck gonna have to run till I get ahold of a gen 4 for it. i know I'll have to buy credits for both ecms but not a big deal as I'll be putting 6l in a 67 Riviera after I get ahold of a gen 4 motor anyways. Hate to keep beating a dead horse but atm it's gotta work no matter what now. Not even stressing speedo nd cluster,I drive less than 10 miles a day ,as long as brake lights and headlights and shit work it's gonna happen anyways.

[5FDP]

At this point you are on your own. We are beating a dead horse here.

[ehall8702]

Yeah think so, I'll be going stand alone and doing what I can to make shit work. All honesty I don't have a choice. Basically comes down to I should have done more research before I bought the truck. It's getting a gen 3 motor regardless just bc I can't drive my 78 cj5 this winter,softops and -30* winters don't jibe. Will post back with progress. Possibly may throw the 5.3l gen 4 crank into the gen 3 motor and buy a gen 4 cam for the gen 3 motor. Thanks for the help, sucks I didn't read more, that's 1000 bucks I coulda used to drop the 6l in my 97 OBS with a 4l80e. Good sign is the truck works properly with harness off the gen 4 motor , so hopes r high it'll keep working with stand alone on the gen 3 motor in it. Luckily the donor 01 suburban is still in the yard so I'm gonna scavange the gas pedal and use drive by cable just to make it work. Have a buddy I think has a gen 4 in the garage I may be after and then again I may overhaul the gen 4 that was in the truck also.

[blindsquirrel]

This poor truck will end up in a million pieces, abandoned under a tarp out behind the shop.

[blindsquirrel]

Converting the Gen 3 engine over to 58x/4x is not that hard. Trying to 'just make it run' with duct tape and some wire nuts seems like a whole lot more work than just doing it right.

[ehall8702]

Nah, I'll get ahold of proper motor soon enuff. Got the current motors on super deals, got the 5.3 ( whole suburban for $200 I was owed) sold trans with install for $1800, sold tcase with install for the 6.0. didn't cost me anything . Bought the harness for putting the 5.3 in the Riviera anyways ( about $500 deep in harness,Bosch 044 pump, lines and regulating Vette filter, and LS swap mounts). Sold the 97 for 1800 to a buddy ( gave him the truck , he repaid me for all the parts I've ammassed to rebuilt this truck, fenders, cab, hood, interior, and paint). That was gonna get the 6.0 swap , but the 09 I grabbed is in great shape and at $1000,couldn't pass it up even if I parted it out for axles, trans ,tcase,and wheels. Well now already sold my 97 so the 09 don't have a choice ,it's gonna run and drive even if it don't like it. im hard headed, it'll do what I want regardless. Like I said I may run the 6.0 stand alone and rebuild the gen 4 or swap cranks and add new camshaft to work with the gen 4 ecm
. Piss me off to bad it'll get a damn 455 BBC I been building lol.

[ehall8702]

Ur right, I think I'll be swapping the crank sensor ring to the gen 3 and getting a single bolt cam to work with the gen4 sensor
It's not hardike u said, I've read enuff to know what has to be done, problem is I need it yesterday type thing so it'll get bandaided till it gets right. Luckily I'm a ase mechanic,what I do for a living , and have my home shop with hoist and cherry picker and about everything else needed for swap. Last LS I did, I pulled and replaced in 5hrs, just motor for motor replace no in-between. Just dropped a old skool 350 in a 80 Camaro today , took me 6.5 hrs but was a long block and had to swap all accessories over . Long story short, I'll spend a day swapping in the gen 3 to be able to spend a week building the proper motor for this truck. I'm not really up on all the newer shit between gen LS motors so kinda hit this all blindly, only thing I really knew was the 6 and 8 speed trans had different bellhousing pattern , so u figured 4l60e would bolt and it's be easy enuff to use what I had....thanks to everyone for the calcification in how ignorant I am to some things!!

[blindsquirrel]

The unicorn part that doesn't exist is when going the opposite direction, there is no 1-bolt 1x cam gear. 4x can be had in either 1- or 3-bolt. No need to pull the cam at all.

Change the crank reluctor, reuse the Gen 4 front cover and bolt on new cam gear. Drill/tap sides of the block for the 2-wire knock sensors. Reuse all the Gen 4 accessories you can so the wiring and plumbing still connects where it originally did.

[ehall8702]

See that's the kind of info I'm after! Don't tell me "it won't work" lol like I said I'm ignorant, I'll carb a big block in abuse ecm for trans lol. So I can get a tsp cam for a gen 3 and use gen 4 cover and gen 4 gears then? Easy enuff to pull crank and heat and press on gen 4 gear, I'll uy proper jig tool just to have it in my toolbox Incase I ever need it again. Clarification on cam plz, gen3 cam with gen 4 timing set? Or gen 4 cam with gen 4 timing set? Gonna get a new cam either way , like I said tsp stage 3 (or 4 depending on how much a stall is gonna run me) low lift. Will be replacing oil pump with a melling , using lt timing guide and adding two bolt pickup bracket while I'm in there. I appreciate ur knowledge vs just saying spend more cash instead of using what u already have, that's how I like to do stuff if it's possible. Also, I've seen harness add ONS to use hen3 knock sensors. On the side alot easier but take about 30 minutes to get to gen 3 sensors so honestly add on harness is easier than drilling/tapping. Also I'm a 12v tech , wiring is second nature to me so extended wires to gen 3 knock sensor isnt hard to do either.

[5FDP]

The "it won't work" is still valid because it answers the main question at the start of this thread. The GEN 3 engine will not work in a GEN 4 truck.

You have to make the GEN 3 engine into a GEN 4 engine, which involves work, money, machine shop costs and all that jazz. Finding a ready to go engine could cost you the same amount and cost you far less time.

[kingtal0n]

In b4 the distance between swapped crankshaft reluctor and sensor is just barely close enough for the motor to fire only sometimes leading up to 15 pages of diagnostics regarding why the engine doesn't run half the time and changing every single part on the engine perhaps twice before throwing in the towel and buying the correct engine

[ehall8702]

I get that, I'm not opposed to some work, crank swap or reluctor wheel swap isn't bad. All in all I'm gonna put the 6l in stand alone so I got a truck to make the winter and I'll be building the gen 4 that came out of it. A buddy of mine says he has a all aluminum LS sitting in his garage I'm gonna take a look at first, maybe it'll work but till I see it idk . Will update when I decide what to do. And just for clarification, anything will work if you are willing to make it work! But yes, stock gen 3 motor will not directly work in a gen 4 truck.