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5.3 to 6.0 swap for my '07 Suburban

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Old 02-23-2014, 11:40 PM
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Just did this same swap in a saab 9-7x
Old 02-24-2014, 05:32 AM
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Hi Vortec350ss,

Any chance you can check out my questions earlier in the thread. It'll be great if you can shed some light on the process.

Thanks
Old 02-24-2014, 08:46 AM
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Take a look at my answers in red.

Originally Posted by 74silver911
I found a couple of LY6 engines. One used 2009 with 30k from a crashed/rollover for 2k. I also found a new crate engine for a 2009 silverago LY6 6.0 for approx $4k. I'm actually leaning towards the new engine. If I buy either one of these engines, from what I've read it should be plug and tune. In other words, all my original wiring from my 2007 suburban should plug right into the LY6. can anyone confirm this? The only thing that wouldn't plug in is the connector for the AFM located on the rear of the engine on the lifter cover. I assume I just zip tie this original connector from the harness out of the way. The LY6 has a connection there too... It was not left unplugged for me. I also would have to run the 2 wires from the ECM to the VVT connector on the new engine. I then have the ECM tuned to work with this new engine (deleting the AFM in the process). Can anyone confirm this as well? I need to find more info on the 2 wire harness needed to run the VVT. Not much info except for a couple of posts. I deleted VVT and went with the LS6 cam. I wouldnt recommend that cam for you, but it was the cheapest and best option for me. Your PCM can control VVT, but your harness does not have the proper conenction. If I was you I would probably delete it rather than try to wire it into your harness. Use the timing cover off your 5.3. See if you can grab an LS2 single bolt cam. That cam has earlier valve events that will put more power where you need it than the LS6 or LS3. You could also hop on over to a G8 board and buy a stock cam from one of them over there.

So, some of the other things that pop up that I'm not sure about are:
1) Will I be able to run the same fuel pump with this new engine? Hopefully I can just plug in the fuel line to the fuel rail and be done with the fuel system.
You will be fine.
2) I'm assuming the new engine is for a rear wheel drive truck. So not sure if the flywheel (flexplate) is usable with my suburban. Should I be worried that the crank is somehow different and wouldn't work with my 4x4 suburban?
The flex plate will be different, but not because its a RWD truck. It will be different bc the LY6 is bolted to a 6L90e most likely... either than or a 4L80e. I would reuse the flex plate that came on the 5.3... it will botl to the LY6.
3) Will the exhaust manifolds on the new engine bolt on to my exhaust system or will I need to reuse my old manifolds? And if I need to reuse my old manifolds will they just bolt on to the LY6 heads?
Not positive on this one, but most truck manifolds look VERY similar to me. Worst case pull the manifolds off the 5.3 and slap them on the LY6. The bolt pattern on the heads is identicle. I couldnt get my Y pipe off the manifolds and ended up having to cut it off... I bought a set of OBX headers. I was trying to save a buck and it just didnt work out for me... doing this all over again I wouldn't waste time trying to save the stock exhaust. I find that to be one of the biggest sticking points when doing work like this only to land at the same end result.
4) Not sure if they'll be a problem with the TCM working with a reflashed PCM. I do plan on ordering the 4L65E transmission to replace my tired 4L60E trans.
This wont be a problem at all... you just reprogram th etrans based on the changes you made and youre good to go.

I would appreciate any info on the above topics or anything else you think I should consider with this swap. I know some people said to just delete the AFM on my 5.3. Reason I don't want to is because there is some damage to the cylinder wall on my 5.3. I'd rather just replace it than try to rebuild it. The 6.0 seems like a nice upgrade if I can get it to work.

Should work well! It will be a nice upgrade in the burban. The G8 cam as mentioned came in an engine that was mechanically VERY similar to the LY6 and it was rated at about 370 HP. It wont be night and day by any means, but it should feel stronger without any sacrifice of drivability.
Old 02-24-2014, 03:25 PM
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Thanks for the info Vortec350ss! I feel more comfortable with the swap. I also heard back from pcm of nc who sells the harness to make the vvt work on my burn. It sounds like a simple harness with some programing needed to make it work. So I already committed to buying the new 6.0 today. Hopefully I'll pick it up this weekend. I'll make sure I follow up with any details to help anyone else with this kind of swap.
Old 03-18-2014, 08:36 PM
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Looking for some help here please. The 6.0 and 4L65E have been installed and the burb is running. Only problem is that the engine doesn't seem to have any torque when we drive it. He tried various tunes from suburban's and silverado 6.0's from various years but the one that works best is from a 2008 suburban 6.0. The trans tune is the stock from my 2007 suburban with a 4l60e. We're also having problems with the kickdown. It's not kicking down when the throttle is pressed. Not even full throttle.

The swap was straightforward with only a few of issues. 1) First issue was the factory harness/plug for the MAP sensor didn't fit the MAP sensor on the 6.0 engine. My mechanic went to the dealer and found a factory plug to fit the MAP sensor on the engine. He spliced it in and triple checked to make sure the wires were hooked on correctly. 2) Second issue was the oil pressure sender at the rear of the enigne didn't hook up to the factory harness. We switched the original oil sender from the 5.3 onto the 6.0 to allow the plug to fit. 3) The 6.0 didn't have a low oil sender on the oil pan. We just left the plug unhooked. 4) The flex plate from the 5.3 was fitted to the 6.0 engine. A spacer needed to be removed from the end of the crank to allow the flexplate and torque converter to fit properly. 5) the plug for the AFM was left unplugged as this 6.0 doesn't have AFM. 6) VVT wiring/harness had to be added and hooked up to the EDM plug. My mechanic can see from live data that VVT is working. Aside from these minor issues everything else was a plug and play.
Does anyone have any idea why the engine is running with low power? It idle's fine and rev's fine with no load. But when we take it for a drive it doesn't feel very strong and definitely missing torque. My mechanic seems to feel it might be something we're missing in the tune. Another idea is that we're running the mass air flow sensor from the 5.3. Could it be that maybe we need to change that out. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Maybe someone has a tune file for this kind of conversion? Thanks
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Old 03-19-2014, 06:53 PM
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Wow, no one has any ideas?
Old 04-08-2014, 10:25 PM
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The suburban is finally complete! I wanted to finalize this thread hopefully to help out anyone interested in doing this kind of swap. As I mentioned earlier the swap seemed to be pretty much straightforward. I noted 2 posts earlier the changes that needed to be made. The problem I was having was due to a problem with the MAP sensor and also really plugged cats. I must have melted the cats when I drove it with the check engine light flashing when the lifters collapsed prior to the swap. I sent the burb over to Mongillo Motors in New Haven, CT to track down the running issues and finalize the tune. They were able to get it running great and I thought the pricing was very fair. A big thanks to those guys! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions
Old 03-22-2016, 02:49 PM
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Hello, I am getting ready to do a swap like this as well. Appreciate any help on the following:


2007 Yukon XL 5.3 (LC9) to 6.0. I have 2 6 liters available to me, 2008 Suburban LY6 or 2012 L96 from Silverado. Not sure if I will delete VVT or wire in. the 2012 uses a e78 ecm, will that work in my 2007? Also, they are both clutch fans, I have electric in Yukon already, will they still work? If I go with 2008 that has same ecm, can I just leave that harness on and drop it right in, or use my harness and add wires for VVT? And lastly, if I use the ecm from the donor will it run ok till I get it custom tuned?


Thanks for any info you can provide.
Old 03-30-2016, 11:14 AM
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Originally Posted by swatne
Hello, I am getting ready to do a swap like this as well. Appreciate any help on the following:


2007 Yukon XL 5.3 (LC9) to 6.0. I have 2 6 liters available to me, 2008 Suburban LY6 or 2012 L96 from Silverado. Not sure if I will delete VVT or wire in. the 2012 uses a e78 ecm, will that work in my 2007? Also, they are both clutch fans, I have electric in Yukon already, will they still work? If I go with 2008 that has same ecm, can I just leave that harness on and drop it right in, or use my harness and add wires for VVT? And lastly, if I use the ecm from the donor will it run ok till I get it custom tuned?


Thanks for any info you can provide.
Black Bear told me that the e38 from the 07 would be used for the l96 instead of the e78. The newer pcm wont be able to communicate with the bcm. I recently contacted pcm of nc and they said the vvt wires were discontinued and I havent been able to find an alternative. The wire harness from the l96 wont work because they were designed to work with a 6 speed. Im not sure about the ly6 harness. There have been fuel pump issues going from non flex fuel to a flex fuel, but I havent seen anything going from flex fuel to non flex fuel. Hope this helps
Old 01-04-2021, 11:48 AM
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Default Chevy avalanche 2007

Originally Posted by 74silver911
The suburban is finally complete! I wanted to finalize this thread hopefully to help out anyone interested in doing this kind of swap. As I mentioned earlier the swap seemed to be pretty much straightforward. I noted 2 posts earlier the changes that needed to be made. The problem I was having was due to a problem with the MAP sensor and also really plugged cats. I must have melted the cats when I drove it with the check engine light flashing when the lifters collapsed prior to the swap. I sent the burb over to Mongillo Motors in New Haven, CT to track down the running issues and finalize the tune. They were able to get it running great and I thought the pricing was very fair. A big thanks to those guys! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions
looking to do similar from 5.3 to 6.0 don’t really know much about chevys usually had fords any help if bolt straight up


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