Newbie Here. Need some help on 09 5.3 / 6L80e and e38

[DarkKnightWong]

Hi everyone.

New guy here.. I've been reading and reading and finally got the courage to do my first post for help. Not sure if this is the correct place to post my question..

I'm currently in the planning and gathering stages of my 09 5.3L 6L80e swap into a 1940 Oldsmobile street rod.

I have a 5.3L LY5 motor out of a 09 Silverado and a 6L80e 2WD out of a silverado too. It has the engine harness complete.. Looks like it has the connectors for a 4L60e too..
E38 ecu
Ls2 intake/fuel/injectors/throttle body.

I'm planning to put a mild cam in it, when I remove the VVT and AFM.

What should be my first step for the ECU ? Do I flash it with a Program that can run the LS2 intake and 6l80e and if so what would you recommend as a good base program and tune to just get the car running and driving.

I plan to buy some running software like EFILive so I can learn how to do all this flashing and tunning myself...

Thanks in Advance for the help

Allen

[Taz]

Hello Allen,

Sounds like a great project. Are the engine, transmission, wiring harness, and E38 ECM all from the same 2009 truck ?


Regards,
Taz

[DarkKnightWong]

Hi Taz

Unfortunately they are from different trucks.
The 5.3 and engine harness is from one 09 Truck that had a 4L60e 2wd behind it
The 6L80e is from a different 2wd truck ... I guess 09 too
The e38 is a 09 ecu based on the part number on it( I looked it up on one of the stickies here), no clue what car or what it has on it..

It was suppose to be a complete swap out of a 09 Silverado.. :-(

The Ls2 intake and stuff is from a GTO Ls2 I think an 06...

Whatcha think ? Am I in for a world of hurt ?? :-)

[Taz]

My comfort zone is the Gen III - still learning something new about the Gen IV all the time. The ECM / TCM pairing makes Gen IV swaps more complicated - and certain functions that were previously PCM controlled (like cruise control) were moved to BCM control. Everything is certainly "doable" it may just make take a little time, and few more aftermarket components than Gen III swaps. The 5.3 L / A6 (6L80) combination should make the '40 Olds an outstanding driver when you are finished.

Take a look at the thread linked below ...

http://forum.efilive.com/showthread....-help-a-newbie

The thread is a little lengthy, but there is a lot of good information ... the Forum member was essentially doing the opposite of what you are - he had an L92 (which was A6 compatible) and was putting an A4 (4L70) behind it - a combination that was never offered by GM. The VATS information is directly applicable to your swap. He used an LS3 intake and injectors - but the type of tuning changes discussed in the thread will be similar to those necessary for your LS2 components.

You will need to confirm what vehicle (including the VIN if possible) your A6 came from - either from sourcing a "paper trail" or by reading the TCM itself via EFILive or other applicable software. The good news is that starting in 2009 the A6 was offered with the 5.3 L - so finding an ECM tune compatible with the TCM tune should be straight forward.

The E38 you have will probably need to have an appropriate "base tune" programmed with a Tech 2 or J2534 compliant device - prior to modification with any tuning software.

Not sure if your 5.3 L / A4 wiring harness can be modified to work with the A6 - have never done this. Hopefully a Forum member with more Gen IV experience will be able to answer that question.


Regards,
Taz

[slows10]

You posted the same question in the hptuners forums, telling all the guys you are purchsing hp tuners. Not one person replied. Here you post you are buying efilive. Here you get a couple of great replies from one of the real knowledgeable guys on here. Even tho I dont care for these type of posts, Ill say I think you know what tuner to buy.

[joecar]

...

Whatcha think ? Am I in for a world of hurt ?? :-)

Not necessarily hurt... more like a learning curve (lot's of reading), but I'm sure you'll be able to master it.

[DarkKnightWong]

You posted the same question in the hptuners forums, telling all the guys you are purchsing hp tuners. Not one person replied. Here you post you are buying efilive. Here you get a couple of great replies from one of the real knowledgeable guys on here. Even tho I dont care for these type of posts, Ill say I think you know what tuner to buy.

I've been going back and forth with which product to buy... You are right, this community seems to be pretty awesome based on what I've been reading and searching. Looks like a lot of great people with tons of knowledge..

[DarkKnightWong]

My comfort zone is the Gen III - still learning something new about the Gen IV all the time. The ECM / TCM pairing makes Gen IV swaps more complicated - and certain functions that were previously PCM controlled (like cruise control) were moved to BCM control. Everything is certainly "doable" it may just make take a little time, and few more aftermarket components than Gen III swaps. The 5.3 L / A6 (6L80) combination should make the '40 Olds an outstanding driver when you are finished.

Take a look at the thread linked below ...

http://forum.efilive.com/showthread....-help-a-newbie

The thread is a little lengthy, but there is a lot of good information ... the Forum member was essentially doing the opposite of what you are - he had an L92 (which was A6 compatible) and was putting an A4 (4L70) behind it - a combination that was never offered by GM. The VATS information is directly applicable to your swap. He used an LS3 intake and injectors - but the type of tuning changes discussed in the thread will be similar to those necessary for your LS2 components.

You will need to confirm what vehicle (including the VIN if possible) your A6 came from - either from sourcing a "paper trail" or by reading the TCM itself via EFILive or other applicable software. The good news is that starting in 2009 the A6 was offered with the 5.3 L - so finding an ECM tune compatible with the TCM tune should be straight forward.

The E38 you have will probably need to have an appropriate "base tune" programmed with a Tech 2 or J2534 compliant device - prior to modification with any tuning software.

Not sure if your 5.3 L / A4 wiring harness can be modified to work with the A6 - have never done this. Hopefully a Forum member with more Gen IV experience will be able to answer that question.


Regards,
Taz

Thank You Taz! I will read through that post..

Should I just take the E38 and 6L80E to the dealer and ask him to flash a stock 5.3/6L80e Silverado program into them?

I'm hopping to beagle to modify the stock harness my self.. I've been looking up different wiring diagrams... I need to research more about what pins are needed/not needed..
I've been reading a lot on lt1swap, they seem to have some good info..

Thanks again for the advice and kind words..

[DarkKnightWong]

You posted the same question in the hptuners forums, telling all the guys you are purchsing hp tuners. Not one person replied. Here you post you are buying efilive. Here you get a couple of great replies from one of the real knowledgeable guys on here. Even tho I dont care for these type of posts, Ill say I think you know what tuner to buy.

I'm still doing a lot of research and learning before I buy the software..
The community here is great! Lots of good people with great knowledge.

[GMPX]

It does seems to cause a lot of grief when a hybrid of parts are stuck together. At least it appears all yours are from 2009 model vehicles. If you use the LS2 intake, throttle body etc then you will have to get the ECM flashed with GM's TIS system because these ECM's contain a secondary CPU that manages the throttle control, only GM's TIS reprograms that part of the ECM. If it's not done then you will have a dead pedal if the ECM currently has a 5.3L tune in it.
So your best bet is to find a factory combination that used the LS2 and a 2WD 6L80E and have the dealer program the ECM and TCM to suit (did they even have the LS2 in 2009 still?) You are stuck with 2009 models because a 2009 E38 cannot be reflashed with earlier or later programs, they must be 2009 models.
Of course the 'base' tune for the LS2 is not going to match the 5.3L, but that doesn't really matter as you are planning on doing a cam swap anyway, so it's going be need a full retune.

Because it's all going in to an old car it's not critical what the tune is based on, eg, you aren't swapping between a Corvette and a Silverado where things like the instrument cluster, HVAC etc can be specific to that year model program in the ECM.

There was mention of you buying HPTuners, you won't see this posted on their forum, but as a potential customer you should be aware the licensing they have is quite restritive, if the VIN pair between the ECM, TCM and what they deem as a 2009 model does not match you won't be able to program the computers.