2003 4.3v6 6.0 swap

[jtaliaferro]

I got a great deal on a LQ9 6.0 from a Escalade, though the guy was selling for a friend and was not sure of the year. He said it was Drive By Wire though. It was close so i will be able to inspect before I pay the guy.

I have a few questions.

The project : 2003 1500chevy 4.3v6 i presume 4L60E

The donor: Escalade 200X LQ9 6.0 drop out with all acc, ecm and wiring

1. Will my 4L60E bolt to the LQ9? I know it wont last but I will rebuild if it a direct bolt on.

2. This is a complete drop out with wiring and ecm, What problems do you think I will run into with this swap? Or will this be a direct replacement, other than motor mounts , wiring, ecm and various hardware?

3. When I do get to inspect the motor what casting number will I be looking for to verify his claims of this motor being an LQ9?

[skeet]

as long as you have everything from the lq9 it will work, i put a lq9 out of a 04 excalade..

pull a plug **** a light see if the piston is flat top if it is then its a lq9

oh yeah and the 4l60e will work as well

[banker099]

i presume u will have to get a drive by cable tb.....also....make sure u get the motor mounts and the frame mounts

[jtaliaferro]

Thanks for the replies,

After doing some more reading I think i may be in trouble on the wiring and
since I have no experience with a conversion I have a few questions.

Could someone give me a basic run down as to how many separate wiring harness my 03 4.3l has? I am thinking the motor wiring is one harness, then a separate harness for the transmission? So basically, how is the wiring laid out?

Will I need the fuse box from the donor vehicle? Which of course I do not have.

I am hoping that my chassis harness will be a direct fit with the new ECM? So the fuel system, gagues, speedometer ect..... will interface with the new ECM

Do you think custom wiring harness will have to be made for this to work?

[banker099]

the motor and trans harness is all on one harness...it all goes to the black block on the bottom side of the fuse box...if you lift up the fuse box and look underneath there are 4 blocks...2 bigger blocks and 2 smaller blocks...the motor/trans is the black block....you dont need a new fuse box..it just bolts right back where the v6 one did.


the swap really isnt that bad....you can do it

[jtaliaferro]

Encouraging,


I have heard the my wiring harness going to the 4L80E will not work with a 4L60E? (Different connectors)

Were all 2003 and later vehicles drive by wire? Will I run into problems with wiring if my truck is not drive by wire? (the donor is drive by wire

[banker099]

ok .... no the harness for the 4l80e will not work with the 4l60e...same thing happened to me...you should get a harness off a 99-02 4.8 or 5.3 out of a junkyard and run that along with the tb off the same truck.

drive by wire is possible but it is a lot of work...new gas pedal and stuff....i would just do a drive by cable since thats what the truck has now....being a v6

[jtaliaferro]

I have been able to locate a 2002 4.8 wiring harness, so I can do away with the DBW. I just wanted to make sure this harness would work? The reason I ask, the junk yard was not sure if it was DBW or DBC. Did they have DBW in 02?

[banker099]

i think dbw started in 03...not 100% sure tho

[skeet]

i think dbw started in 03...not 100% sure tho

i think youre correct lol, if not mistaken i just picked up a harness for a 6.0 from an 02 and it worked .