Help me prepare for my motor swap.

[hagar]

Mine is a 4L650e, a 2004 Tahoe 5.3L. So what do I do? How do I check this and what do I do about it? It's been delivered and it is at my friend's house who is doing the swap. He is about 20 miles away and I can't get up there until tomorrow evening, probably, but I am headed that way then to take some parts... what do I look at, what do I measure, etc.,?

Or should I just email the builder and ask him? I will do that anyway, and see what he says.

Good point, and thanks for the tip.

J

Mine is a 4L650e, a 2004 Tahoe 5.3L. So what do I do? How do I check this and what do I do about it? It's been delivered and it is at my friend's house who is doing the swap. He is about 20 miles away and I can't get up there until tomorrow evening, probably, but I am headed that way then to take some parts... what do I look at, what do I measure, etc.,?

Or should I just email the builder and ask him? I will do that anyway, and see what he says.

Good point, and thanks for the tip.

I only mentioned it because often long blocks come with a flywheel bolted on. If your 6 liter going in is a 2001 and newer style 6 liter as a base engine meaning the crank is 2001 and newer 6 liter, just make sure you use the flywheel from your current 2004 5.3 be it new or using your old one. If the engine was being built as a 6 liter and the builder put on a flywheel arrangement for a 4l80e which is much more common for a 6 liter engine, it won't work for you. If the new engine is a 2001 and new 6 liter, you can't get yourself into a parts jamb as long as you have your original flex plate on hand to bolt on, you just don't want to go stabbing the engine in with a 6 liter and 4l80e combo flex plate, because it won't work with your 65e.

 

[tRidiot]

So I emailed the builder and he got right back to me - this was his reply:

"We don’t use the 1999 or 2000 6.0L engine cranks for rebuilding engines. These are the longer “4L80” only cranks. A Dished 3 bolt (For the torque converter) and no spacer is needed."

I'm not sure what that means exactly, lol, but I'll pass it along to my installer, sounds like it shouldn't be an issue.


<Edit> I also changed my above post - I have a 4L60e, not a 4L65e. I knew that, just fat-fingered things.

 

[hagar]

So I emailed the builder and he got right back to me - this was his reply:

"We don’t use the 1999 or 2000 6.0L engine cranks for rebuilding engines. These are the longer “4L80” only cranks. A Dished 3 bolt (For the torque converter) and no spacer is needed."

I'm not sure what that means exactly, lol, but I'll pass it along to my installer, sounds like it shouldn't be an issue.

Perfect. What happened was in the early 6 liters they made the cranks longer because they were meant to be bolted to the 4l80e. The 4l80e has a deeper bell housing so they made the crank longer to push the flex plate further towards the trans, they then used a traditional flat pressure plate. In the 2001 and newer 6 liter they went to the short crank, so when you run a 4l80e, you had to run a spacer with the flywheel to push it out to reach.

The moral of the story is that if you have the newer 6 liter crank like the builder confirmed, then you use the same flexplate as you have on the truck now. The second concern was that the engine shipped with a 4l80e flexplate and spacer, just wanted to make sure you didn't install a 4l80e flexplate and spacer without knowing there was a difference. You would have found out eventually if you did because the converter wouldn't bolt up, but it's a bit of work putting an engine in and out.

In the future if you ever do a 4l80e swap, then you have to go with the spacer and 4l80e flywheel.

<Edit> I also changed my above post - I have a 4L60e, not a 4L65e. I knew that, just fat-fingered things.

 

[tRidiot]

So if I'm reading right, I shouldn't need to change anything, correct? The one I have should bolt up without modification?

 

[hagar]

So if I'm reading right, I shouldn't need to change anything, correct? The one I have should bolt up without modification?

Yep!!

 

[Shunto]

I think its all chineseum.....
If you're an auto parts company and not mfg in china or mex you're soon to be out of business.

I think its all the same, just branded differently. You're paying for ACDelco branding, not quality.


And that's where the problem is..
Nobody wants to pay for quality anymore. All it takes is for people willing to pay for quality and THEY will be out of Business.
I'll need some proof about that "Branding" comment. I've heard that a lot though... someone is going to have to prove that to me.

 

[tRidiot]

Recommended break-in oil or break-in additive for this motor? I've read it's really not as important for remans if they haven't been bored out, it's not technically a "new" surface, so it's essentially already been broken in, just need the rings to seat properly.

Open to ideas, though.

Looks like my 4L60e needs 10.4 quarts of transmission fluid. I see lots of recommendations for Valvoline Dex III or VI. Something I can pick up locally at WM or the parts stores is ideal, as I would like to get it tonight and not have to order it... I didn't plan far enough in advance.


<edit> Just heard back from the builder, he says a good grade of 10W-30, no need for break-in oil, just do first oil change at 1000 miles.

 

[Fless]

Dexron VI is what your tranny should use. Backward compatible with Dexron III and a much better fluid.

 

[iamdub]

Recommended break-in oil or break-in additive for this motor? I've read it's really not as important for remans if they haven't been bored out, it's not technically a "new" surface, so it's essentially already been broken in, just need the rings to seat properly.

Open to ideas, though.

Looks like my 4L60e needs 10.4 quarts of transmission fluid. I see lots of recommendations for Valvoline Dex III or VI. Something I can pick up locally at WM or the parts stores is ideal, as I would like to get it tonight and not have to order it... I didn't plan far enough in advance.


<edit> Just heard back from the builder, he says a good grade of 10W-30, no need for break-in oil, just do first oil change at 1000 miles.

I run the cheap SuperTech conventional 10w-30 from Walmart for the first warm-up, short drive and cool-down cycle. Change it and the filter for the same stuff and run that for 500ish, then switch to a full synthetic that I'll be sticking with for normal OCIs. Even with the cheap oil, I ALWAYS run a good filter. I run the Fram Ultra or Wix for the break-in cycles and K&N for the regular, long-term (5,000 mile) OCIs.

 

[tRidiot]

Yeah I always use Wix filters. I was debating about first oil...