80e into a 97 half ton
 

Ok I am trying to find out what I need to do make an 80e electrically work with my 97 1/2 ton ECU. I understand all the physical modifications and have those handled, but I am more concerned about the electronics.

Ive heard like 5 different things in my last day of searching, from I need a $1200 seperate on board computer to a guy who attests to doing the swap himself and only needing to change a pin connector, modify something to do with 2 speedo sensors and have a Westers tune done.

The truck is heavy and the current motor is nothing neat, just a stock L31 with 163k. The future holds a cammed and tuned LQ4 however so a transmission that will hold it is required. Does anybody have any good suggestion as to what I should do about acquiring an 80e? Buy one built to stock? Buy a non-working or as-is unit and build with xxxxx parts?

I was at one point leaning heavily on a level 3 FLT 60e but the tranny stopped acting up and then just this weekend I lost 3rd and OD on the highway and since that point I drive the truck much less and I really want the strength as this truck is built to be abused and is.

Electronically you must run 2 extra wires and add 2 extra pins in the PCM for the extra Speen Sensor the 80e uses.
Then its just a matter of getting the PCM tuned to recognize the 4l80e trans.

The 4l80e used in the GEN 1-E Vortec 350 is different than the 80e used behind am LQ4. The torque converters and input shaft splines of tyeh trans are different.
The newer the 4l80e the better (stock anyways). This trans got a lot of updates thru the years.
I beleive you can get the 4l80e behind the 496 8.1L engine, so a modded 6.0 wont be a proble.

Parish ran high 10's with a stock shift kitted 4l80e trans.

Good luck.

peace
Hog

Im aware now of the pins and the extra speed sensor the 80e uses, someone has offered to scan in the ATSG pages that show what needs to be done.

I am aware some changes need to be made to adapt a 4l80e to a LQ4 from being behind an L31, but for the most part it will remain the same tranny.

Im starting to understand the years and the changes to the 80e's, guess it comes down to what I can find and what I can afford at the same time. I think at this point Im more or less looking for a core to rebuild with some recomended parts from another forum's member.

Would a 91 core for $100 be worth building? I don't need the strongest 80e avaliable but I would like a dependable transmission when Im done building. Mostly I keep hearing about exterior and interior harness changes for 91-93 80e's, would those be an issue here?

You are just going to have to update the inturnal haness due the fact that the early harness had a bolt that went through the center of the connector. These were prone to leaking on the early trucks. We use to update the inturnal and exturnal harness for just this reason. With your late model truck the inturnal harness should be done at the time of rebuilt along with exturnal conversion harness. Good luck with your conversion. Vince :)

Personally I would not use anything less than a 1997 core. This is the newer case design. Your stock PRND321 switch fits right on, linkage connects right up and there are pages worth of internal changes too. 1999 was the first year of what I'd consider the present-day design. For 1999 there were changes to the geartrain to increase torque handling. 2001 got a new roller clutch for the overdrive planet, and those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. The 4L80-E has received a lot of refinements since the 91-93 units.