2000 5.3/4l60e swap to 2007 6.0/4l80e

alright, Ive done alot of searching and found a lot of good info but not quite what i was looking for. I found a 6.0,4l80e,t-case, wiring harness,computer and gas pedal out of a 2007. I want to put it in my 2000 4x4 1/2 ton with a 5.3/4l60e. how hard or easy or hard is this gonna be? Is there gonna be any issues with there being a 7yr difference between parts? what parts are or are not interchangeable? is everything inside the truck going to work as far as a/c, dash, any type of factory security issues? alot of the swaps ive seen on hear either stay pretty close to the swap year or the newer setups go into pre 90 models. I just want to know if the 2007 is gonna be an issue.

First question is, is it a Gen4 or Gen3 engine? Gen4 will have a grey/white crank sensor behind the starter. Gen3 is black.

I believe its a gen4. I havent picked it up yet so im not sure but when i called the guy and told him what i'm doing he said something about the crank sensor being an issue.

Then you have to account for the cost of a conversion box from Gen4 to Gen3. I believe Lingenfelter markets them and they're $350 or so. You'll most likely need 3/4 ton 80e brackets from your generation of truck to hang the xfer case. The engine/trans isn't that big of a deal, swap parts from the old engine into the new one. The xfer case may be your biggest obstacle other than drivershafts. I think someone on SiveradoSS makes a gear you swap into your old xfer case to mate to the 80 if you want to use it. Depending on if you have electronic, floorshift, dashshift or autotrac can make big issues if not compatible. I've never done the swap before so don't take this as the gospel.

why do I need a "conversion box"? if its because of the crank sensor, I'm getting the computer with the engine so it shouldn't matter, right ? and I know about the crossmember and the driveshafts so thats not a big deal. I have a manual t-case and the seller said that the 2007 t-case is also a manual. but is that possible? I thought GM would have switched them all to electronic by 2007.

conversion box allows you to use your old wiring harness and PCM, easiest of all to do unless you're really good at reading schematics and can wire the Gen4 stuff into your Gen3 truck. You'll have to get the VATS disabled in the PCM for it to run most likely. If you do use the Gen3 stuff you will have to get a tune anyway to get the 80e overlay put into it or to get a 2500/80e tune loaded into it to shift the 80e.

I assumed that there would be some rewiring. I guess I just need to print out the 2 schematics and lay them side by side. I have a 84 chevy truck with a tpi setup and made my own wiring harness for that. So I'm not new to the rewiring game. It also has a twin turbo setup and I did ALL the fab work on that. So I'm hoping this swap will be a breeze.
I am planning to get the HP tuner program and turbo it later. So if there was a VATS issue I could take care of that. But I would like to have the 6.0 (stock) in the truck and all the bugs worked out from the swap before I turbo it. And the tuner program is a nice chunk of change so I would like to wait on that. Wont the factory VATS in my 2000 talk to the VATS in the factory 07 computer. I know I would find out if I just looked, but I figured I would ask for anyone else reading the thread that doesn't have access to that info.

Why do extra work? Just get the conversion box. And that way if for whatever reason you need to replace the harness you don't need to build a whole custom harness again. If you plan on DDing the truck you gotta think about when stuff breaks, cuz it always does, can you afford for it to be down?

the conversion box is only 275.00 shipped. i put a gen IV 5.3 in my 94.

So I wont have to change anything on my 5.3 harness. all I need to do is get the conversion box and reprogram the 5.3 computer for the 6.0? oh yeah, and all the mounting mods. sounds a little to easy. what about all the other sensors on the 07 6.0? are they going to talk to my 00 5.3 computer? I know the 2007 is fly- by-wire.

Try making the Gen4 harness and PCM work. I think you can do it. :thumb:

You will have to convert your fuel system to returnless or change the fuel rails on the engine to make the Gen4 setup a return style fuel rail.

ok. didn't know about that. I will add that to my list. Thanks.

got the engine and everything looks good. The wiring looks pretty easy. My next question, is the cruise ran through the body ecm before it goes to the engine pcm? If i want cuise to still work, the 5.3 is controlled with the cable and the 6.0 is controlled with FBW. as long as I can get the cuise control "controls" to talk the 6.0 engine PCM, then im good.

The motor has been sitting in the back of my truck since I picked it up. I had a few other projects im trying to get finished. Anyways, I finally started messing with the motor and decided to actually LOOK at it to see if its III or IV gen. So what Ive read is that the IV gens have knock sensors on the side, cam sensor on the front and a gray and white crank sensor. My crank sensor is black and I dont have any sensors on the front or side! conclusion, III gen!! so that being said, will my 2000 body control computer talk to the 2007 III gen computer. Im trying to the correct way to do this with spending the least amount of money.

I am now looking for a t-case. I need to know if the t-cases vary in length/ part number or year. I want to have the correct drive shafts when I tear into this thing. Ive also read that you can reuse the front drive shaft but the rear has to be replaced.

Starting the swap. decided to go with the 5.3 harness and got my pcm programed by NP. installed a hd2 shift kit in the trans a few days ago. The trans looks brand new on the inside. It doesnt even look like it has any miles on it. There is a GM goodwrench sticker on the outside of it so maybe it was replaced within the 60,000 miles the truck was alive! I rebuilt the rear end last night and installed a posi. going to install a 30spline input shaft on the transfer case and replace all bearings and seals while im in there. Im also installing the turbo during the motor and trans swap. messing with alot of stuff at once. I know im raising the chance of something going wrong but I have to get it all done by next week. I'm taking the truck down to NP to have them button up the tune in a week. hopefully I can get everything done in time!

Oh, when I took the spark plugs out of the motor, oil came out of cylinder #2. not just a little, A LOT!:hyper2: It gave me a little scare but the truck had flipped so I'm hoping it is because of that. There was also oil in the intake. none of the spark plugs show any sign of burning oil. and if something was broke in that cylinder then the oil would have leaked down after the motor was right side up. I think when it was upside down oil leaked from the pcv valve into the intake, then when the motor was right side up, the oil leaked into the cylinder that had a intake valve open. Thats my theory. Any takers????

got the truck running. seems to run good. its a little rich but i think that it just needs to be fine tuned by nelson.

That oil in the cylinder happens a lot on roll overs ...good thing you took the plugs out. I have seen a lot of people not pull them and bend rods the first time they fire it up. I always pull them and spin the motor first.