This video and commentary were PERFECT all around. I have a 1995 OBS an everything you explained worked to the T. All gauges are working and I am on the road in less than 15 days start to finish. I especially liked the TCC wire hook-up to the ABS. I was able to do everything with the information you provided. Great job and thank you
Did u use the 1995 4l60e? I heard there's a way to do it but cant find anything about it online. Was thinking I might need a newer 4l60e because the 1995 4l60e was obd1 and I have a 2002 5.3 I'm putting in.
@@laurencevillegarage @@ amigo, on a 93 obs, swap, there’s a small module near master cylinder,, Has a purple wire on it, it cuts off when brake applyed,, Should i cutt it to hook tcc?? Or should i splice tcc wire into it????
I'm a transmission builder. The switch on the side of the transmission is also known as a PRNDL switch you can either use a heat gun to soften the glue or you can hang an incandescent bulb in a drop light on the plug area for 20 to 30 minutes. To reinstall the plugs I use a cheap cigarette lighter to heat the glue on the plugs moving the flame around the glue until it starts to bubble. Install the plugs while the glue is hot and it will plug in with no issues.
...you sir are a gentleman and a scholar and a God's gift to GMT400 LS swap community. This just made my life so much easier. Pulling the motor out today on my 88 2500 2WD and putting in a 2006 L33 and this is just want I needed.
@@laurencevillegarage thank you for your videos. They are very informative. I’m researching right now. I’ve got an 89 k1500. One thing I can’t get a clear picture for, 1.) the original pcm/ecm behind the glove box, does it stay or go? 2.) I thought the LS harness has to connect to the obs harness behind the glove box? Any information is greatly appreciated.
@@OldSoul85 for the most part it goes. The LS harness doesn’t really connect to it as much as connecting a number of loose wires from your LS pcm. The only one needed to actually run the engine are red for constant power, pink for “key on” power and grey for your fuel pump. The remaining wires are for gauges and a/c. It all depends on which features your truck has and what you want to function. For example, your truck probably has a/c, but, you may choose to not have a/c or to use cruise or maybe (like my 91) you don’t have a tach gauge. To make your life easier, as you remove or disconnect your present wiring, label everything you take off and don’t cut anything you don’t absolutely have to laying everything to the side. In my case I taped everything to the windshield to get out of the way. This way when you start to connect all the LS stuff you can find it better. Once everything works that you want THEN you can thin out all the wires you find you do not need. At that point, if all wires have been pulled from the “old” pcm, then just remove it. I find it just make my life more complicated if I start cutting stuff off first. You might cut something you need for later and tracking it down is now more complicated. Keep it as easy as possible. I also recommend getting a GM factory electrical wiring manual for your year truck. I get mine off eBay. They are an excellent investment and extremely detailed. A great resource to help you when few others can. Chilton and Haynes manuals are not much help on wiring. Remember, you are creating something that the “average” mechanic will be clueless about. Keep notes and part numbers as you go, this will be a big help a year from now if something doesn’t work and you have to troubleshoot the issue. You are the only one who will know exactly how you put it together. That’s why I only remove what has to be. You don’t want to end up with a hack job.
Thank you so much for this video !!! The amount of information and specific details in this is absolutely priceless. Especially for me. I'm gathering all of the parts rite now and just got done rebuilding a 2004 6.0 and nv4500 5 speed manual to swap into my 1999 4 door 2500 4x4 and I have been worried sick about the wiring and how to make the ls harness work properly and have everything in the 99 truck work as it should and not be a complete nightmare, hackjob. Thank you so much for posting this video, this helps me more than you could even know and has me way less stressed and worried about doing this swap. Thank you so much for the information and help and that is a gorgeous truck and the swap looks amazing. Looks like it came that way out of the factory. Incredible work and priceless information !!!
I've searched all over for this kind of video, thank you sir for taking your time to upload this, I very well so appreciate this information that you have put together for us
well... mine is an 09 colorado with a 5.3 LS gen 4.... but even so alot of work... and alot of surprises... these swaps simply take time... and patients.... alot of trial and error for your specific vehicle... and i have already watched alot of videos on these colorado LS swaps
Great video but looked through all the comments & didn’t see how you got the pnp to work. Mine starts in any gear & reverse lights won’t work. Do you need the shift indicator working to make this happen? & for those of you with the 4x4 what I did to get the transmission to work was hooked up the hi & low vss wires from the new pcm to the hi & low wires for the vss coming from the DRAC (same color wires)& the green pin 50 wire to green speedo wire from the DRAC. Then i jumped my wires from the output vss on the trans to the transfer case vss & all good. Haven’t hooked up the 4wd yet but I believe hooking pin 16 from the new pcm to the low vss wire from the DRAC as well should do it.
My truck is 2wd and was a 4L60e and the Tahoe trans was the same. With that said, there is a shift module mounted on the driver side of the trans. It had 2 plugs: upper plug with ~7 wires and a lower one with 4. The lower connection (or 4 wires) is for the shift indicator lights on the dash. On my truck, I spliced the original 4 wires into the 4 on the plug that was on the Tahoe harness. This allowed all my dash lights for the PRNDL2L1 to illuminate and function correctly.
very helpful.. im in the middle of doing a 5.3 4l60e swap on a 89 c2500 that had a 4.3 and 5 speed manual.. just starting on the wiring.. ordered a stand alone engine and trans harness. this was very helpful, or will be when i wire it up for the original gauges.. yeah.. i broke, on purpose the neutral safety switch.. laying on my back on the floor after 30 minutes trying to get it off, just got mad and yanked on it and it snapped.. luckily it was cheap to replace..
I did the same thing! Special adhesive put on st factory to keep moisture out. I read I’d heated with a heat gun will soften it and it’ll come off easier. I was too impatient! Good luck!
vdub4201, sorry to go off topic with my questions, but I have an '88 c1500 with the 4.3L and the 5 speed manual trans. I see that your project vehicle is a c2500 3/4 ton pickup. Did you have any issues with the truck being underpowered as a 3/4 ton truck? I am contemplating doing an LS swap, but also beefing up my suspension with parts from a c2500 donor truck, including the heftier rear axle. My purpose is to have an all-around hauler around town, for the landscaping projects I am involved with, with an occasional longer highway trip as needed. I'll stick with the v6 (no issues at the moment) until I can find a good used LS to swap into it. To Lawrenceville Garage, thank you for sharing such a detailed video on your LS swap. This is what I sorely need to fill the gap in my knowledge of wiring, especially in doing for my first time an engine swap.
@@tedtolentino4955 when i got the truck the previous owner stole all the stuff of the front of the engine, and it had been sitting for years so i had no interest in fixing that engine.. i paid 700 for a running 03 suburban, the parts to complete the 4,3 would cost mor than i paid for the whole suburban soo.. sold the 4.3 and 5 speed for half what i paid for the truck, then parted out the rest of the suburban for almost what i paid for it..
I've got a 96 Blazer I thought about LT1 swapping. The AC compressor & oil pan & backwards flow cooling system & computer/flash & delete(s) issues were gonna be huge due to logistics & budget on my build. I was looking at around 300.00 to delete vats, egr & tune to get it "started." Then, after that, they sky is the limit with the time guy? In my case I'd be inclined to wanna start out with completely rebuilding my engine & replacing everything "in" & "on" the daym thing coz pulling/installing engines In either generation of S10 is a nagger head. They promote FOUL language & TONS of, hours & dead presidents. I've got a running driving LT1, Donor car. I also have a 2WD 92, S10, Tahoe, with a 2.8 running/driving in it. Excellent video, sir.
Just my .02 Galen, kudos for the running donor by the way… But, you are going to spend some $$ going that route with an LT1. It would be less $ and easier to swap an LS based engine AND it will produce more hp dollar for dollar spent. If it were me, I would find someone who wants to swap an LT1 and sell the donor and use that coin to buy a 00-03 Tahoe/suburban with a 5.3 (around here they run 750-1400 all day long). Pull everything you need, sell off the rest and may be able to recoup your cash. For Hp, there is a lot more support and fewer headaches involved. Thanks for watching! Good luck!
For the vss I just cut the purple and green wires from the old tbi harness and splice them to the purple and green wires coming from the pcm? So then the plug is connected to the ls pcm
@@laurencevillegarage thank you. It was quite intimidating at first but once we started making sure everything was labeled and started tracing all the wires to where they go it was a little less intimidating lol. I now know where there is some great info when I need it. Again thank you sir. Great looking swap.
Excellent video. I wish there were videos and information like this way back when I did my swap. I'm basically to the point of having to re-wire the entire truck. Greetings from across the DFW metroplex. (I'm west of Fort Worth).
Hello great and informational video. I'm having trouble finding videos on the wiring of the speedo and tach with a stand alone harness. I looked at the autozone site and didn't see any schematics for instrument cluster, any ideas?? thanks
I apologize for the delay in my response. A factory GM electrical manual for your year truck is very affordable on Ebay and is extremely helpful. For the speedometer, I spliced the vss OBS wires with the vss wires from the LS engine harness and that worked for me. Depending on your year, it may or may not. The tach was easy. On the OBS harness, there is a plug that attaches to the coil that has a white wire within the harness that is not used that is very close to the coil. I used that for the tach signal.
Yes, on mine, the tach wire comes off the LS harness (red C2 pin 10) and goes to the white wire on the OBS stock harness that goes to the coil. On mine, there was a white wire with a spade connector a few inches from the coil. It was not readily visible at first. That’s all it took with my combination.
Hi. If you heat those 2 plugs on the shift indicator module with a heat gun they'll come right loose without damage. I only heated them about 10 seconds.
For your alternator wiring. Now did you just piggyback your factory obs harness 1 wire in the plug in off of the wire in the same location on your LS harness? Hopefully that makes since i hope as im using a BP harness and the factory obs harness and im attemptingto do this for the gauge. I also noticed on my LS harness it has 2 wires in the plug in and my obs plug has 1 wire. Please let me know what you did and thank you for any information in advance and keep up the awesome work and for letting us see your very detailed work and thourough explanations!!!!!!!
Thanks Jeremy, I'm not certain how the BP harness is configured, but, the one wire coming off my alternator goes to red pin 15 brown wire. Not sure if this helps or not.
I have been thinking about doing an ls swap on my 1990 Sierra, but the wiring even with your great video is difficult, I will probably put a 350 when I replace the 305. Thank you for the video.
Either way you will enjoy the upgrade. I know the wiring is intimidating. But, after you do one, it really isn’t as bad as you might think. Just work it 1 wire at a time and you can do it. Either way you go, have fun with it, don’t let it stress you out!
Mine had a bit more than that. Since I used sliding motor mounts, I mounted my transmission in the stock original location and then fixed the motor location based on that.
I have a 1995 Suburban. Looking at many engine swap videos... for useful information. However, I'm doing ( or currently paying a pro shop to R&R) a engine & transmission on my 08 lacrosse 3.8 V-6
Its a good idea to get as much information as possible before you jump in to the swap. The '95 Suburban should be very similar to my swap, so the information should be useful. Thanks for watching and good luck with your swap.
Depends on your truck or swap vehicle. I would trace the power wire from your fuel pump (gotta upgrade anyway) forward and tie that in directly where you have good access. On my '91, it was a grey wire... But, there are also several grey wires underhood.
At this time, I don’t work on other peoples vehicles for liability reasons. I may change this in the future…I’m building a new shop, I may start taking in work after completion later this year. Thank you!
I have a 97 I recently swapped a 5.3 in. I'm having troubles wiring the stock 97 bulkhead to the stock 97 fuse block as well as the ls harness to my 97 fuseblock. Can you help?
hi i just found your channel thankyou so much for the info. i have one question though what engine mounts did you use? i also have a v6 obs and I only find motor mounts for the trucks with the 350s. Thankyou once again!
Thanks for watching!, try metaltek manufacturing for the mounts I use. Search this on ebay... 1988-1999 C1500 TRUCK K5 2WD Engine Mount Adapter Swap Kit LSx LS1 LS #14055KU
Thank you, this video was very much helpful, as I am planning to swap my current 1997 chevy Tahoe to 2002 LS. but need to know something: what if I get the hall wiring harness from the existing 2002 Yukon XL and fix it to my 1997 Tahoe, is that will be batter or to order new wiring harness.
That is what I did. At some point in the future (way down the road), ordering up a new harness may be preferred just because the old harnesses will be 30+ years old and may be questionable. But, for now, let your wallet (and common sense) be your guide. If you have a good harness, then modifying it makes sense to me. If this is your first swap (and you plan on doing more in the future), then consider (if you feel confident after much research) to go at it yourself. You will want to do your research. I was timid and had mine modified by easyefisolutions.com. After getting mine back from Chris (great guy and did an excellent job), I looked it over and it sunk in that I could do this. The first time is intimidating, but I will be doing my own coming up soon. There is a lot of great info to help you out there. I would suggest going to lt1swap.com and reading everything Brandon has then check out his youtube videos. That will give you the confidence you need. And, if you do try it and it doesn't work, you can still send it in and have it modified. It will still probably be cheaper than buying a new harness and the experience and knowledge you gain is worth tons!! Good luck.
Nice video, bro. Thanks I like it. Listen,I did my 93 Chevy C3500 with 4L80E and 5.7 I swap for a 6.0 and I did the Harness by my self. Ca you told me how to connect the OBDII port. Please
I would have to see your specific wiring harness diagram for the truck AND for the year of engine/harness....but, on mine, the '95 truck harness data link wires show to be tan and white/black...for your engine, it will depend on year and whether it is DBW or DBC and what year it is. I am going to guess it's a gen3 motor... if it is DBW look for a blue/white wire pin 15 and orange/black pin 14 on the blue C1 connector...if DBC look for #58 pin dark green wire. Hope that can give you some direction.
Can you tell me what purple wire you use to hookup the abs,tcc wire on the abs unit? On my abs plug that you hooked yours into mine has 3 purple wires, one on top of plug 2 purple on bottom,so out of 3 purple wire what one do I splice into?????the if u look at your plug on abs unit it has 3 purple wires ,
the vss wiring on the obs wiring when i splice in to the ls wiring , do the wires have to correspond to each other or it doesnt matter when i splice into the ls harness , both are 2 wire
You did not mention what year truck you have, but, on the '95, the 2 vss wires are the same color as the ls harness. So, match them up...#20 lt grn/blk and #21 ppl/wht. on C2.
If you have the engine harness that came with your 5.3 you can get it modified if you don't have a harness, one can be purchased from a variety of vendors who cater to this market. I sent my harness to Chris at easyefisolutions.com and he modified mine to work great. You can also purchase a used (ie salvage yard harness) that is at least close to your application and send that in and it can be modified as well. You did not mention if you have a pcm. If you have the one that came with the 5.3, a variety of sources can reprogram that for you for under $100 (depending on the extent of your modifications). If you don't have a harness or pcm to begin with, it will be more expensive. You can contact a supplier that will be glad to make a harness for you and supply the pcm. It will be more expensive. Need more details to be anymore specific than that. Good luck.
I have a stand alone harness for my 93. Can i use the old heavy gauge starter wire for the new pcm “crank” wire input? Cant seem to find a low voltage wire for the pcm
I would suggest going to lt1swap.com and look at your pin outs. I would normally say you can get away with using a larger gauge wire, but, in this circumstance, I don't want to tell you something without being able to look at it.
Great to hear, good luck with your project. It really is not as scary as you might have thought. Get a GM electrical wiring manual (not a disc) a real manual. It is excellent source of information and is not that expensive. I get mine off of ebay...depends on year, but I have paid as little as $11 and as high as $30. It is worth every penny! You can always sell it in the future if you move on to different projects and don't need it anymore. Me, I keep them all....you never know when you might need it.
Hello saw your video inspires me to do a swap in my 95 obs. have a question did you use the ls AC compressor or did you use the OBS AC compressor did you have to move location? And fuel pump which one did you use? Thanks
Thank you for the questions, you can go with the AC Delco EP381 fuel pump and it should be a direct replacement for your existing pump within your tank. This is what I’ve used for my swaps. You can use AC Delco, or Aftermarket, that would be a direct replacement for that pump. Easy to do. As far as the AC compressor, at first, I used the R4 compressor from the 95 because it worked. I modified the existing factory bracket so that it would work. Had trouble with the R4, so upgraded to a sanden style compressor. At that point I sold the truck, and they install that compressor using a dirty dingo bracket kit that I supplied with it still using the existing are for factory bracket as the base. In the 91 truck I currently have, I wanted to keep the AC compressor in the factory location, the lower mount side. A factory GM compressor will not fit. I used a dirty dingo, sanden style replacement compressor that is several inches shorter, and it fits just fine. However, having said that, I did have to modify the side frame rail for clearance. Check my other videos, I did make a video showing the different styles of AC compressors available that you can use, and also a video showing how I installed the dirty dingo compressor on the 91. Good luck.
Any advice on DBW cruise control. I used LT1 swap for the wire colors on the 05 LS but he doesn't show the harness colors needed for 94 OBS. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Jose
The DBW cruise is controled by the pcm. The TAC module and ECU handle the cruise control logic, and you just wire in the cruise switches to the TAC module. You would need a switch to make it work. Try this link www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm?ptype=product&product_id=48 Hope this will get you going in the right direction.
How did u do away with the black computer? I see you still have the factory fues block ,but I didn't see the computer ..I thought you had to leave the old computer in to run abs,AC and whatever else. I have a 96 and im going with everything you did ,but im confused because of old computer.
The old computer is still there. My factory location is in the cab behind the passenger side dash. I left everything in place as original. I only trimmed back the wiring under the hood that was not needed.
You won't mess with the wires from the gauge cluster. There is a 2 wire plug in the swapped truck harness that attaches to the speed sensor mounted on the tail shaft of your transmission. I spliced the same 2 wire plug from the LS harness to the existing 2 wire plug. Why? The LS pcm needs the speed information and the existing factory pcm needs the information as well to be displayed on your factory gauges.
do i need the module on my swap for the 4l60 e swap going from a 2007 5.3 drive by wire to an 1994 obs . i really dont care about the light cause my shifter is not digital its old school needle pointer
The DBW does not impact the trans. By "module", do you mean the module on the side of the trans? The wiring harness will dictate the module. If it does not match up, then you can cut and splice. You may not care about the shifter needle, but you will need the neutral safety switch to work.
I have a 92' GMC Suburban K1500 4X4 with 700r4 Trans & 5.7L TBI engine. I also have a 5.3L LS without wiring harness or computer, I got the 5.3 in as a trade for some parts I wasn't going to use. I would like to swap in the 5.3. What parts did you use for the fuel system? I will take your advice on the wiring, as it's the most comprehensive I have seen for the TBI trucks. Also, I'm not quite sure which direction to go for the Trans and Transfer Case, any suggestions? The truck will be used for hunting trips and towing a dog trailer. Where I live, emissions is not a concern. Thanks!
First, did you get the automatic transmission flex-plate with the engine? If so, your are in luck. If not, you will need to get a dished automatic trans flex-plate for a 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 and an adapter. If you google "ls swap automatic trans adapter" and you will find plenty of information. The cost of an adapter ranges, but usually $35-50 will get a good one and you'll need new bolts as well. Finding a used flex plate is easy enough, ebay has them starting (used) under $40. So, flex plate $40, adapter, $35 and bolts (prefer new) $20-25 and you should have what you need to match up the engine to your existing trans. The fuel system, does yours have a return line? Either way, I went to a local shop that makes hydraulic hoses. They made me up a pair of lines while I waited for about $90. There are kits available. You can spend $100 or $300, so shop it around. All depends on what intake you are using, return fuel line or returnless. IF returnless, a simpler system can be used. Again, google fuel lines for ls swap that will match up with your intake style. You will need to upgrade your fuel filter. Just get an acdelco replacement for a '96, it will drop in. Also need to replace any other rubber hoses in your fuel system (that are under pressure) with a higher quality higher pressure fuel injection rubber hose. Wiring will be as simple as it will get since you don't have an electronic trans, no emissions and engine only. You did not mention whether again, the intake style has a Drive by wire or Drive by cable.
@@laurencevillegarage Thanks for the reply and info. It will be drive by wire and the current engine setup has a fuel return. I can't remember which intake came with the engine, but I'll check it.
I have a 1989 Chevy Cheyenne and I just bought a 2001 GMC Yukon Denali 4x4 is this something you cando or help do in person I live here in mesquite Tx by sunyville
I'd be glad to give you some assist, my actual physical time is very limited. After getting over covid this past summer, I quit my job and moved my dad from an assisted living facility in with me to take care of. That's why there is a lapse in my videos. There are a lot of questions to answer about your combination. Way to many to cover in this amount of space. Check out the link below the video for my facebook page and you can message me and we can go from there. Thanks.
For the fuel pump are you using a relay on the ls side of the harness? Where as the power is being fed from the ls relay and the gray wire is just tapped near the original fuse block and bypassing the original 95 relay??
That’s right. You only need it if you are using an automatic transmission that has an electronically controlled torq converter like a 4l60e and 4l80e. Don’t need it if using an older GM automatic like a turbo 350/400, or 700r4.
I have an issue 😕 any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have a 94 silverado , 5.3l swap from a 99 serria. I went from the 94 single wire to a 3 wire like this video suggests. I have a ground wire to my 99 ECM(brown), I have a 5 volt to my 99 ECM(yellow), and the green wire directly to 94 dash cluster pin 📌 R I believe....its a green wire. My issue is when I turn the key on or start truck the gauge wire is reading 12V? The other two wires are still reading 5v and 0v. Any ones 2 cents?
When you say you went from a single wire to a 3 wire, I am assuming you are referring to the temperature sensor? I found on my own that matching the 3 wires did not work because of the way the pigtail was wired. Look online (easily googled) at the pin out of the 3 wire sensor and match the wires per the placement of the pins vs matching colors. This was what I had to do. I have seen pigtails with the correct 3 colors yet in the wrong placement and I've seen pigtails with all grey wires. Go by placement on sensor not colors and see if that will fix your issue.
There is a tach wire in the LS harness. That wire is attached to the white wire that was on a spade type connector on my existing V6 harness. That spade connector was found not being used on the wiring with plugs that attach to the coil on the V6.
On that '95, I only thinned the old unused wires back to the main wiring bundle...just in case. On the "91 I am presently working on, I am pulling out all the old unused wires back to the firewall. However, until all the "sorting out" is done, I done permanently remove any of it. Once all is good...ie gauges work etc, I leave it in case I need any of the "old" wires.
Thank you very much for making it easy for us gmt400 owners, i have a question about the AC system, do i run the ls compresor with the original truck harness?
Rakan Arbmyh I am going to say probably not. The compressors are different, pcm’s are obviously different but because of the parameters that are tunable in the late model pcm’s there are many differences. Having said that “is it possible?”, with some creativity maybe so. I’m sorry, I know that all sounds vague. In my ‘95, I did use my old harness to run the a/c. The new harness had no a/c wiring. What you could do, and I plan to do on my next project, is to use the ls a/c compressor either mounted low if possible, or use an available adapter to mount the ls compressor in the upper position keeping the factory wiring to run it. Would still have to wire my existing on/off switch in. The factory has some nice settings inside like: cuts off compressor under wide open throttle, automatically turns on an electric fan when a/c is turned on and will alter idle rpm’s when turned on or off.i would like to incorporate those features in my next project. Good luck.
What year is your truck? For the '95, brown from alternator goes to pink then to dash gauge, according to my schematic. However, since the alternator has the hot (red) wire going to it from the battery, check to see if your OBS connections are the same as the new alternator. As far as volts go, the truck does not care what engine is in it, power to alternator from battery and brown wire to gauge. If I am wrong someone please chime in.
@@laurencevillegarage I got It thanks for your help, now the vss sensor on the tranns, since I have a stand alone harness , do I cut the vss plug on the standalone harness and use the plug on my obs harness , or do I tap into those wires , cause I'm not sure if the ecm on the LS needs to see speed it not?
When I had my wiring harness modified (Chris at easyefisolutions.com ), wired it for twin electric fans. I purchased a set of "clone" 2010 Camaro electric fans and had Chris set the pcm to turn one on at 185 and at 195 degrees. If you plan on running a/c, let the one modifying your harness know this. Depending on which pcm you use, there are other features that may be altered. I say "may" because the LS based pcms in the early trucks had engine mounted fans, not electric. Whereas the cars, I believe all had electric fans to begin with. Features such as increase idle when a/c is turned on and to automatically turn on a fan when a/c is started. The latter, I have a video showing how to wire in a fan relay. Many people seem to be running ac with their LS swaps, yet no-one seems to break down how to do it the best way. I don't recall going into detail with this with Chris. If, I have someone build my harness next time, I will ask more questions. The first time, I didn't know any better.
Do you have to join the Auto Zone Rewards to be able to download the wiring diagrams? After selecting Chassis Electrical, it does not take me to the same place as what was in your video.
I just checked it out, and it appears you do need to join. It is free, and you do earn points that turn into cash in the future. Sorry, I didn't realize when I posted up the video that was going to make a difference. It's well worth it though. Had to get a replacement radiator a few weeks ago (long story) and when I bought one from Autozone (had to have it right then), I had enough points to get $20 off. Thanks for your question. Hope you find what you need.
Great info. I did a lq9 408 into my 96 4x4 Tahoe and did something very similar to your setup. I used the schematics to trace and remove all my old unnecessary wires. I then integrated the ls ecu to my old wiring for the dash info. One thing I did different is screw the obs temp sensor into the passenger head so I didn’t need to tap into any of the wiring. The passenger head send temp to dash and the driver head sends the temp the the ls ecu.
What I meant to say was I bought a couple of the sensor wiring plugs. Reason was the first one I purchased off of Ebay from a seller that was shipping from China. I didn't realize that when I made the purchase and after waiting for nearly 3 weeks, I ordered another one from a different seller that was in the US. I received that one in 2 days. Both had the same plug, but the wires were completely different on each. One had 7 grey wires all the same gauge, the other, when it finally arrived, had 5 wires of the same gauge, but all different colors and 2 wires were a larger gauge and also different colors. No consistency whatsoever.
I need more orientation I have a 5.3 ls I want to put it on my truck 1993 350 tbi 4L60 transmission I like to know what I need for the swap what tipe of harness I’m new on this ls swaps thank you
I would suggest for a first time swap to send your 5.3 engine harness out to be modified along with the pcm. This would cost more than if you did it yourself, but since you are new to all this, I think you will be dollars ahead. You'll need motor mounts. You did not mention if you have another trans to use or if you plan to use your existing 4L60. If so, you'll need an adapter and bolts to mate the two together. All these swaps involve a lot of questions you'll need to answer now and as you go. So, it's hard for me to be specific about a lot of details. For example: exhaust manifolds...do you want headers or stock exhaust manifolds? can you weld? You can use truck/suv manifolds but they will/may involve modifications to make them work. Cooling....do you want electric fans or just the engine driven fan? Is your engine "drive by wire" or "drive by cable"? Where will your battery mount? Do you plan on using an aftermarket CAI or stock air intake? Will the truck be lowered? if so, you'll need a different oil pan for clearance going over speed bumps or rough streets. How will the truck be used? What is your $ budget? What are your skills? How much time and space do you have available to use? Do your research and find out as much as possible about your swap. BUY a wiring manual for your truck. If you cannot find what you need for free on the internet, go to Ebay and buy a GM wiring manual for your truck. I just ordered one up for a '91 OBS, $20 on Ebay. You WILL need it and you WILL use it. Keep some sort of records of what you do and how you do it to your truck. In the future you may not remember how you did certain things. If you sell the truck, face it, it's a bastard!, the new owner or a future mechanic will have no idea of how you built the truck. Plan it out, make notes, keep it clean and everyone benefits and makes future maintenance much less complicated. Good luck!
On the blue '95, I attached the TCC wire to the purple wire coming from the abs box. IF you have an ABS box, double check power to that wire with a probe. It needs to have power without touching the brakes and no power when applying the brakes. There are other places you could splice into as well for the same result. That was convenient for me and worked.
This is an awesome video. You addressed in detail the things that kinda get glossed over on other videos (mostly because they are for such a broad audience). Than you sir.
On my '95, I tied in the grey fuel pump wire on my LS harness to the grey wire on the bottom of the panel that houses the fuel pump relay. I am not looking at your wiring, but on my diagram, the wire coming from my '95 pcm is B12. Depending on your year, make, model, engine, options, etc. it could be different. I made a video of 3 common questions about LS OBS swaps. In that video I detail how you can access a wiring schematic for free so you can check out your specific truck. I hope that helps.
I’m a little confused for the speed sensor wiring, do you replace the entire pigtail with the pigtail from the 95, or do you wire both pigtails into one and use the old connector or new?
I spliced the 2 wires from the OBS harness into the 2 wires from the LS harness a few inches from the plug. It could have been done higher up in the harness...at the time, I chose to splice it there.
Yes, I do! I would not eliminate it. It’s not hard to wire up and remember, someday someone else may own or may be working on your swap and not know how you wired it. That could be a real problem and/or safety concern. Just do it right the first time.
Doing a 5.3 swap on my 96 Sierra . It was a manual v6 what are the main things I should know when doing this . I'd imagine it's not as simple as it seems .
There are a bunch of things....but to start, it depends on if you are going to keep a manual trans or go automatic. You will need the complete wiring harness off the donor vehicle, this means eng/trans connections. I would suggest going to one of my other videos on finding the wiring schematic for your truck and one for the donor vehicle. Each swap is unique depending on what you started with and what parts you are swapping in. There are so many combinations, it is tough to isolate exactly what you will need. The engine mounts will be needed and can be a pain to install because the nuts are inside the cross member accessible through the area around where the lower control arm bushings mount. I did it, it can be done. I used a stock trans mount with my existing cross member with minor tweeking. I used a stock (for '95) radiator and mounted twin electric fans. Used a late '90's fuel pump. I documented just about everything I did on my '95 on facebook at: facebook.com/pg/LS-swapped-1988-to-1998-Gmt400-Chevy-Trucks-1988497164501204/posts/?ref=page_internal If you click on this link, follow it to the beginning. I have a lot of info I tried to condense down to as to not be too boring. It's a lot of work, take your time and do your research, gather all the parts you think you need, then start. Have a plan. At times it may feel like 2 steps forward and 3 back but it will get you to the end. Decide who will do the harness, (you or pay someone), study the diagrams, even if you don't do your own harness, you still need to connect stuff up and you need to know where to put it BECAUSE if you decide half way in to take it to someone else to finish, they either won't want to touch it or will charge you $$$ because they have to figure all that you have done. Don't let this scare you. I am not a mechanic, and I did almost everything on my own, and it all works. Good luck!
Hello! First off great video. I'm in the middle of doing a swap in a 91 c1500 . How ever the doner 02 yukon was hit at the fuse box side causing wires to be torn at the fuse box. All the wires going to the PCM are still in contact and connected. Do you think I can still make it work or would I need a stand alone harness at this point? Thanks!
The short answer would be, yes, as long as your harness is not damaged badly, you are ok. Do you plan to rework the harness yourself or send it out to be modified? In either case, any damaged wiring can be fixed. It will really help if it’s all intact w no plugs missing. Just try to keep your complete engine/trans harness intact and you should be fine.
@@laurencevillegarage right on thanks! All the plugs are there I took them off after removing the 8mm bolts holding them on the damaged fuse box, but as stated some are damaged and dangling at the ends but over all the harness is all one piece. I'd like to save me $ and work it my self but at the same time I might be better off sending it out to someone but don't know who. Will see. But for now I'll keep wrenching till I get to that point
It all depends on what you ultimately want, your budget and can you do most all the work (including some light fabrication) on your own. If you want to just do a LS based swap and need to do it on a tight budget, a 5.3 is good/economical choice. For added simplicity and ease of installation, I would go with a DBC (drive by cable) throttle body motor. If your current trans is in good shape, you can connect it to your 5.3 with an adapter. Don't need electric fans, the truck based 5.3 engine driven fan is fine. Exhaust manifolds, you have some choices, can be pretty cheap if you can modify truck/suv to work fine (that's what I did). Wiring will be your big choice. Do you modify the harness yourself or pay to have someone else do it? If you do it yourself,
Yes, Autozones IT department messed it up. BUT, I did find a way to access it even though Autozone says it is no longer available. Check out this link to another video I did not long ago. In that video I walk you through how to access the schematics....th-cam.com/video/i3n-4bYoGbM/w-d-xo.html
No I didn't cut my harness and I did take the neutral safety switch out and broke it but I have a new one I'm going to put in today so what do I do from there
LS Blue There could be many reasons why it’s a no start. Once the new neutral safety switch is installed, at least that can rule out the switch as being the issue. Did you modify your harness or have someone else do it? After the new switch is installed, if still won’t start, check to be sure the fuel pump is getting power. Has ECM been cleared of vats and a “tune” been installed?
Everything this is in neutral safety switch back in and no I did not cut anything out the problem I'm having right now is I cannot turn the starter with the key it won't make any noise
LS Blue recheck all your wiring from battery to starter etc. sounds like a ground or incorrect connection. Look at a starter system wiring diagram. I’m betting it is something small.
Thanks for the info, can you make another video with parts needed and tips to make an LS Swap on this 88-98 truck? I know it might be different depending on the year but at least to help us, thanks nice video!
Thank you for the kind words. I plan to do just that on my next project. When doing almost all the work myself plus recording, it takes more time and I sometimes tend to get impatient and want to see results faster. I did record a lot on this truck, but I overlooked or missed recording parts that would have made a big difference in the quality of the video. Next project I will do it all. As a spoiler, I already have my donor vehicle...
Tactical Grey Ghost I believe your connections are similar to mine. Will depend on what year combo you are replacing with. You can go just with motor to your 4l60 and make it simpler.
Great details! Does your 5.3 pcm know when you are in park or drive? Or is the signal from the shift module going only to the dash? I might be looking at this incorrectly but the ls and Tbi modules use a different signal common, ie one switches a ground signal the other switches a positive signal. Doing a in series spice like the vss would lead to a dead short i believe. Thanks for taking the time to document your work!
I did splice the four wires that connect to the lower part of the trans module from both harnesses. If you don't something is not going to work. The LS wires need to communicate the trans position to the pcm and the original wires are needed if you want the illuminated PRNDL to light up and show you your gear selection. If yo did not connect the original wires, trans will function fine, but you won't be able to see it on the dash. No issues with the splicing. You can always check with others to see what they did to make their dash lights work correctly. This is but one reason why I advise to not cut or remove any wires until everything works the way you want, then thin out wires if you want.
I used my original R4 compressor so I kept all my original wiring to make it work. I wired in a separate relay to activate one of the electric fans to come on when the a/c was activated. I didn't have a problem with the engine idle. There are additional features available that affect the a/c. If programed, the compressor will turn off while under full throttle, idle features and more. I was not aware at the time so I did not take advantage of some of these features. Some may depend on what pcm you have (ie car vs. truck pcm). Sorry, this may not have been a lot of help. My next swap, I intend to use the factory Suburban compressor and hope to add more of the factory features.
I left it in and just thinned out some of the unused wiring. I still want everything on the truck to work as original. And, it does. Be sure to not cut or remove anything (if possible) until you have your vehicle running. Then you can thin stuff out. If something stops working you have a better idea what and where to look for the problem. If you delete too much in the beginning, then have issues, it will be much more difficult to track down the issue. Don't remove any grounds, I found that out the hard way.
Thank you very much! I am trying to plan out another project. I have my donor vehicle, a 2004 Tahoe. It may take awhile, but I hope to capture the complete build with more of a theme...like a "how to: muscle truck with a $5K budget".....something that would be more like the "low buck" builds the car magazines used to do years ago.
Quick question, the ground you were talking about for the fuel level sensor, was it in the main harness or the harness coming off the fuel pump itself? Great video by the way and that is a nice little truck!!!
That ground (as I recall) is in the main harness. You just want to make sure all the original grounds are kept and grounded properly, and you should have no issues.
I had easyefisolutions.com to modify my "old" harness. When it comes to integrating the "loose" LS wires into the trucks harness, that is where "you" come in. It will be a bit different on each truck or car. You need a wiring schematic for your vehicle to make things a lot easier.
Awesome video, finally someone that knows how to explain something in detail and not just a bunch of random information.
This video and commentary were PERFECT all around. I have a 1995 OBS an everything you explained worked to the T. All gauges are working and I am on the road in less than 15 days start to finish. I especially liked the TCC wire hook-up to the ABS. I was able to do everything with the information you provided. Great job and thank you
Thank you, glad to hear you got it running so quickly. Have fun! Mine puts a smile on my face every time I start her up!
Did u use the 1995 4l60e? I heard there's a way to do it but cant find anything about it online. Was thinking I might need a newer 4l60e because the 1995 4l60e was obd1 and I have a 2002 5.3 I'm putting in.
@@laurencevillegarage @@ amigo, on a 93 obs, swap, there’s a small module near master cylinder,, Has a purple wire on it, it cuts off when brake applyed,, Should i cutt it to hook tcc?? Or should i splice tcc wire into it????
@@gerardolopez5875 splice don’t cut.
@@laurencevillegarage @ thanks,,, nice truck,,,, Are building a 92???
I'm a transmission builder. The switch on the side of the transmission is also known as a PRNDL switch you can either use a heat gun to soften the glue or you can hang an incandescent bulb in a drop light on the plug area for 20 to 30 minutes. To reinstall the plugs I use a cheap cigarette lighter to heat the glue on the plugs moving the flame around the glue until it starts to bubble. Install the plugs while the glue is hot and it will plug in with no issues.
Good to know, I'll try this next time. Thanks for sharing.
...you sir are a gentleman and a scholar and a God's gift to GMT400 LS swap community. This just made my life so much easier. Pulling the motor out today on my 88 2500 2WD and putting in a 2006 L33 and this is just want I needed.
Thank you, I'm glad it was helpful. Good luck with your swap!
@@laurencevillegarage thank you for your videos. They are very informative. I’m researching right now. I’ve got an 89 k1500. One thing I can’t get a clear picture for, 1.) the original pcm/ecm behind the glove box, does it stay or go? 2.) I thought the LS harness has to connect to the obs harness behind the glove box? Any information is greatly appreciated.
@@OldSoul85 for the most part it goes. The LS harness doesn’t really connect to it as much as connecting a number of loose wires from your LS pcm. The only one needed to actually run the engine are red for constant power, pink for “key on” power and grey for your fuel pump. The remaining wires are for gauges and a/c. It all depends on which features your truck has and what you want to function. For example, your truck probably has a/c, but, you may choose to not have a/c or to use cruise or maybe (like my 91) you don’t have a tach gauge. To make your life easier, as you remove or disconnect your present wiring, label everything you take off and don’t cut anything you don’t absolutely have to laying everything to the side. In my case I taped everything to the windshield to get out of the way. This way when you start to connect all the LS stuff you can find it better. Once everything works that you want THEN you can thin out all the wires you find you do not need. At that point, if all wires have been pulled from the “old” pcm, then just remove it. I find it just make my life more complicated if I start cutting stuff off first. You might cut something you need for later and tracking it down is now more complicated. Keep it as easy as possible. I also recommend getting a GM factory electrical wiring manual for your year truck. I get mine off eBay. They are an excellent investment and extremely detailed. A great resource to help you when few others can. Chilton and Haynes manuals are not much help on wiring. Remember, you are creating something that the “average” mechanic will be clueless about. Keep notes and part numbers as you go, this will be a big help a year from now if something doesn’t work and you have to troubleshoot the issue. You are the only one who will know exactly how you put it together. That’s why I only remove what has to be. You don’t want to end up with a hack job.
@@laurencevillegarage thank you so much for responding. You cleared up alot of questions.
Swapping a 95 z71 couldn't do it without your help thanks and God bless keep up the good work and video's
Thank you, and good luck with your Z71!
Did you use your 95 4L60e trans in your swap? Thanks
@@shawnmalicek1189 no I used the 05 4l60e out of my donor truck
@@shawnmalicek1189 No, I used the 4l60e that was from the same donor vehicle as the engine.
@@laurencevillegarage okay thanks
Your video was amazing. It was just what I needed. Thank you very much. I was beginning to get a little overwhelmed
@@tomhayes6920 thank you!
@@laurencevillegarage the grey wire under the fuel relay. Do you remember what one to hook it to?
Thank you so much for this video !!! The amount of information and specific details in this is absolutely priceless. Especially for me. I'm gathering all of the parts rite now and just got done rebuilding a 2004 6.0 and nv4500 5 speed manual to swap into my 1999 4 door 2500 4x4 and I have been worried sick about the wiring and how to make the ls harness work properly and have everything in the 99 truck work as it should and not be a complete nightmare, hackjob. Thank you so much for posting this video, this helps me more than you could even know and has me way less stressed and worried about doing this swap. Thank you so much for the information and help and that is a gorgeous truck and the swap looks amazing. Looks like it came that way out of the factory. Incredible work and priceless information !!!
Jared, thank you for the kind words! I’m glad you found the video helpful. Sounds like a great swap project, good luck!
I've searched all over for this kind of video, thank you sir for taking your time to upload this, I very well so appreciate this information that you have put together for us
You're very welcome! Glad you found it helpful!
Gosh, the information in the video is spot on. Very good job explaining in good detail.
well... mine is an 09 colorado with a 5.3 LS gen 4.... but even so alot of work... and alot of surprises... these swaps simply take time... and patients.... alot of trial and error for your specific vehicle... and i have already watched alot of videos on these colorado LS swaps
the old engine was a 2.9 4 cylinder
still running into issues they didnt completely cover
You are right, a lot of trial and error! There is no specific recipe that works for each persons engine / body choice + options etc.
Great video but looked through all the comments & didn’t see how you got the pnp to work. Mine starts in any gear & reverse lights won’t work. Do you need the shift indicator working to make this happen? & for those of you with the 4x4 what I did to get the transmission to work was hooked up the hi & low vss wires from the new pcm to the hi & low wires for the vss coming from the DRAC (same color wires)& the green pin 50 wire to green speedo wire from the DRAC. Then i jumped my wires from the output vss on the trans to the transfer case vss & all good. Haven’t hooked up the 4wd yet but I believe hooking pin 16 from the new pcm to the low vss wire from the DRAC as well should do it.
My truck is 2wd and was a 4L60e and the Tahoe trans was the same. With that said, there is a shift module mounted on the driver side of the trans. It had 2 plugs: upper plug with ~7 wires and a lower one with 4. The lower connection (or 4 wires) is for the shift indicator lights on the dash. On my truck, I spliced the original 4 wires into the 4 on the plug that was on the Tahoe harness. This allowed all my dash lights for the PRNDL2L1 to illuminate and function correctly.
very helpful.. im in the middle of doing a 5.3 4l60e swap on a 89 c2500 that had a 4.3 and 5 speed manual.. just starting on the wiring.. ordered a stand alone engine and trans harness. this was very helpful, or will be when i wire it up for the original gauges..
yeah.. i broke, on purpose the neutral safety switch.. laying on my back on the floor after 30 minutes trying to get it off, just got mad and yanked on it and it snapped.. luckily it was cheap to replace..
I did the same thing! Special adhesive put on st factory to keep moisture out. I read I’d heated with a heat gun will soften it and it’ll come off easier. I was too impatient! Good luck!
vdub4201, sorry to go off topic with my questions, but I have an '88 c1500 with the 4.3L and the 5 speed manual trans. I see that your project vehicle is a c2500 3/4 ton pickup. Did you have any issues with the truck being underpowered as a 3/4 ton truck? I am contemplating doing an LS swap, but also beefing up my suspension with parts from a c2500 donor truck, including the heftier rear axle. My purpose is to have an all-around hauler around town, for the landscaping projects I am involved with, with an occasional longer highway trip as needed. I'll stick with the v6 (no issues at the moment) until I can find a good used LS to swap into it. To Lawrenceville Garage, thank you for sharing such a detailed video on your LS swap. This is what I sorely need to fill the gap in my knowledge of wiring, especially in doing for my first time an engine swap.
@@tedtolentino4955 when i got the truck the previous owner stole all the stuff of the front of the engine, and it had been sitting for years so i had no interest in fixing that engine.. i paid 700 for a running 03 suburban, the parts to complete the 4,3 would cost mor than i paid for the whole suburban soo.. sold the 4.3 and 5 speed for half what i paid for the truck, then parted out the rest of the suburban for almost what i paid for it..
I've got a 96 Blazer I thought about LT1 swapping. The AC compressor & oil pan & backwards flow cooling system & computer/flash & delete(s) issues were gonna be huge due to logistics & budget on my build. I was looking at around 300.00 to delete vats, egr & tune to get it "started." Then, after that, they sky is the limit with the time guy? In my case I'd be inclined to wanna start out with completely rebuilding my engine & replacing everything "in" & "on" the daym thing coz pulling/installing engines In either generation of S10 is a nagger head. They promote FOUL language & TONS of, hours & dead presidents.
I've got a running driving LT1, Donor car. I also have a 2WD 92, S10, Tahoe, with a 2.8 running/driving in it.
Excellent video, sir.
Just my .02 Galen, kudos for the running donor by the way… But, you are going to spend some $$ going that route with an LT1. It would be less $ and easier to swap an LS based engine AND it will produce more hp dollar for dollar spent. If it were me, I would find someone who wants to swap an LT1 and sell the donor and use that coin to buy a 00-03 Tahoe/suburban with a 5.3 (around here they run 750-1400 all day long). Pull everything you need, sell off the rest and may be able to recoup your cash. For Hp, there is a lot more support and fewer headaches involved. Thanks for watching! Good luck!
ACDelco D1818A for a oil pressure sensor that will screw into the LS valley cover and read with the stock gauge.
Good to know, thank you.
For the vss I just cut the purple and green wires from the old tbi harness and splice them to the purple and green wires coming from the pcm? So then the plug is connected to the ls pcm
I basically did the same thing, just spliced them in at the plug.
Great video/ editorial! Thank you for taking the time to edit and put all of this together, theres a great wealth of knowledge from experience here.
Glad you enjoyed it!
After watching this my obs decided she finally wanted to run thanks man
Me and my dad are working on finishing up the wiring in my 98 ls swap. This was some very helpful information. Thank you 👍
Glad you found it helpful. Good luck with your project!
@@laurencevillegarage thank you. It was quite intimidating at first but once we started making sure everything was labeled and started tracing all the wires to where they go it was a little less intimidating lol. I now know where there is some great info when I need it. Again thank you sir. Great looking swap.
Excellent video. I wish there were videos and information like this way back when I did my swap. I'm basically to the point of having to re-wire the entire truck. Greetings from across the DFW metroplex. (I'm west of Fort Worth).
Thanks, its a work in progress. Got family over near Azle, small world!
Hello great and informational video. I'm having trouble finding videos on the wiring of the speedo and tach with a stand alone harness. I looked at the autozone site and didn't see any schematics for instrument cluster, any ideas?? thanks
I apologize for the delay in my response. A factory GM electrical manual for your year truck is very affordable on Ebay and is extremely helpful. For the speedometer, I spliced the vss OBS wires with the vss wires from the LS engine harness and that worked for me. Depending on your year, it may or may not. The tach was easy. On the OBS harness, there is a plug that attaches to the coil that has a white wire within the harness that is not used that is very close to the coil. I used that for the tach signal.
Could you go more in depth on how to get the tach working ? I also have a 95 with 4.8/4l60e. Thanks!
Yes, on mine, the tach wire comes off the LS harness (red C2 pin 10) and goes to the white wire on the OBS stock harness that goes to the coil. On mine, there was a white wire with a spade connector a few inches from the coil. It was not readily visible at first. That’s all it took with my combination.
Hi. If you heat those 2 plugs on the shift indicator module with a heat gun they'll come right loose without damage. I only heated them about 10 seconds.
mine had so much glue on them, I don't think it would have helped. I'll give it a try next time, thanks.
For your alternator wiring. Now did you just piggyback your factory obs harness 1 wire in the plug in off of the wire in the same location on your LS harness? Hopefully that makes since i hope as im using a BP harness and the factory obs harness and im attemptingto do this for the gauge. I also noticed on my LS harness it has 2 wires in the plug in and my obs plug has 1 wire. Please let me know what you did and thank you for any information in advance and keep up the awesome work and for letting us see your very detailed work and thourough explanations!!!!!!!
Thanks Jeremy, I'm not certain how the BP harness is configured, but, the one wire coming off my alternator goes to red pin 15 brown wire. Not sure if this helps or not.
Man this video is so informative!! I have saved this video to reference later! Thank you for taking the time to make and post this!!
You’re welcome, good luck with your project!
Greatest looking truck ever made
Thanks bro exactly what I needed. Need more people like you thank you. Houston TX
I have been thinking about doing an ls swap on my 1990 Sierra, but the wiring even with your great video is difficult, I will probably put a 350 when I replace the 305. Thank you for the video.
Either way you will enjoy the upgrade. I know the wiring is intimidating. But, after you do one, it really isn’t as bad as you might think. Just work it 1 wire at a time and you can do it. Either way you go, have fun with it, don’t let it stress you out!
@@laurencevillegarage thank you for the quick reply, I subscribed to your channel, great info.
@@Zelaznogsiul-63 Thank you!
Perfect video THANK YOU sir. I’m doing my ls swap soon and to know what all of these wires do and where to go with them is so helpful!!!
kyle blume Thank you sir, good luck with your project.
This is by far the most detailed gmt400 swap video for wiring!!!
Hi sir , where or what pins or color did you hook up the 3 wires to at the pcm harness? Thanks for any help
I have the same truck as your's .My swap is almost done I only have 3/4" play on my slip yoke on my drive shaft was your's that way
'""'''''
Mine had a bit more than that. Since I used sliding motor mounts, I mounted my transmission in the stock original location and then fixed the motor location based on that.
I have a 1995 Suburban. Looking at many engine swap videos... for useful information. However, I'm doing ( or currently paying a pro shop to R&R) a engine & transmission on my 08 lacrosse 3.8 V-6
Its a good idea to get as much information as possible before you jump in to the swap. The '95 Suburban should be very similar to my swap, so the information should be useful. Thanks for watching and good luck with your swap.
@@laurencevillegaragedriving my Suburban more this month.... Seems okay, but I have a car and a suburban... My car is the one that broke.
Nice info sir. What about the ac wires.
I have a separate video for the a/c and fans.
But how did you wire the ac. Through the ecu?
What color is the wire on fuel pump relay that the grey wire from the Ls pcm that needs to be connected?
Depends on your truck or swap vehicle. I would trace the power wire from your fuel pump (gotta upgrade anyway) forward and tie that in directly where you have good access. On my '91, it was a grey wire... But, there are also several grey wires underhood.
Excellent information. Thank you
How much do you charge to do my 96 gmc sierra from 5.7 to a 4.8 vortec from a 2002 chevy silverado
At this time, I don’t work on other peoples vehicles for liability reasons. I may change this in the future…I’m building a new shop, I may start taking in work after completion later this year. Thank you!
Are you located nearby san antonio tx how close are you from here sir
@@alfredoespinoza94 Rockwall is east of Dallas. It’s a ways off.
Good info. Good stuff to know as I will be LS Swapping my 1990 c1500 very soon.
Thx for the vid really good info in there. Just did a ls3 swap on my 1970 impala best decision ever.
I have a 97 I recently swapped a 5.3 in. I'm having troubles wiring the stock 97 bulkhead to the stock 97 fuse block as well as the ls harness to my 97 fuseblock. Can you help?
You can email me or use messenger on facebook and I will do what I can.
hi i just found your channel thankyou so much for the info. i have one question though what engine mounts did you use? i also have a v6 obs and I only find motor mounts for the trucks with the 350s. Thankyou once again!
Thanks for watching!, try metaltek manufacturing for the mounts I use. Search this on ebay... 1988-1999 C1500 TRUCK K5 2WD Engine Mount Adapter Swap Kit LSx LS1 LS #14055KU
@@laurencevillegarage Thankyou so much man. Your really helping me and dad with our project Thankyou!
Thank you, this video was very much helpful, as I am planning to swap my current 1997 chevy Tahoe to 2002 LS. but need to know something: what if I get the hall wiring harness from the existing 2002 Yukon XL and fix it to my 1997 Tahoe, is that will be batter or to order new wiring harness.
That is what I did. At some point in the future (way down the road), ordering up a new harness may be preferred just because the old harnesses will be 30+ years old and may be questionable. But, for now, let your wallet (and common sense) be your guide. If you have a good harness, then modifying it makes sense to me. If this is your first swap (and you plan on doing more in the future), then consider (if you feel confident after much research) to go at it yourself. You will want to do your research. I was timid and had mine modified by easyefisolutions.com. After getting mine back from Chris (great guy and did an excellent job), I looked it over and it sunk in that I could do this. The first time is intimidating, but I will be doing my own coming up soon. There is a lot of great info to help you out there. I would suggest going to lt1swap.com and reading everything Brandon has then check out his youtube videos. That will give you the confidence you need. And, if you do try it and it doesn't work, you can still send it in and have it modified. It will still probably be cheaper than buying a new harness and the experience and knowledge you gain is worth tons!! Good luck.
Nice video, bro. Thanks I like it. Listen,I did my 93 Chevy C3500 with 4L80E and 5.7 I swap for a 6.0 and I did the Harness by my self. Ca you told me how to connect the OBDII port. Please
I would have to see your specific wiring harness diagram for the truck AND for the year of engine/harness....but, on mine, the '95 truck harness data link wires show to be tan and white/black...for your engine, it will depend on year and whether it is DBW or DBC and what year it is. I am going to guess it's a gen3 motor... if it is DBW look for a blue/white wire pin 15 and orange/black pin 14 on the blue C1 connector...if DBC look for #58 pin dark green wire. Hope that can give you some direction.
Thanks so much.
Mine it’s Gen 3 ,2003 drive by wire
Damn swap looks clean and factory looking👌
Can you tell me what purple wire you use to hookup the abs,tcc wire on the abs unit? On my abs plug that you hooked yours into mine has 3 purple wires, one on top of plug 2 purple on bottom,so out of 3 purple wire what one do I splice into?????the if u look at your plug on abs unit it has 3 purple wires ,
On my 95, there is only 1 purple wire, it is located on top row position 3 of the 5 wires. So, middle of top row. Hope that helps.
the vss wiring on the obs wiring when i splice in to the ls wiring , do the wires have to correspond to each other or it doesnt matter when i splice into the ls harness , both are 2 wire
You did not mention what year truck you have, but, on the '95, the 2 vss wires are the same color as the ls harness. So, match them up...#20 lt grn/blk and #21 ppl/wht. on C2.
Very good video grrat explanation do you know where to buy a harness for my 96 2wd silverado to 5.3 ls swap
If you have the engine harness that came with your 5.3 you can get it modified if you don't have a harness, one can be purchased from a variety of vendors who cater to this market. I sent my harness to Chris at easyefisolutions.com and he modified mine to work great. You can also purchase a used (ie salvage yard harness) that is at least close to your application and send that in and it can be modified as well. You did not mention if you have a pcm. If you have the one that came with the 5.3, a variety of sources can reprogram that for you for under $100 (depending on the extent of your modifications). If you don't have a harness or pcm to begin with, it will be more expensive. You can contact a supplier that will be glad to make a harness for you and supply the pcm. It will be more expensive. Need more details to be anymore specific than that. Good luck.
I seen the thumbnail of this truck. I had to stop in and say. Beautiful truck
Thank you, hope the video was helpful.
Didn't watch the video. Just seen the truck lol
Beautiful truck. Great job on the swap. Ill be using this to help me with my swap and ill be pointing people to your video as a reference.
Thank you, glad it was helpful!
I have a stand alone harness for my 93. Can i use the old heavy gauge starter wire for the new pcm “crank” wire input? Cant seem to find a low voltage wire for the pcm
I would suggest going to lt1swap.com and look at your pin outs. I would normally say you can get away with using a larger gauge wire, but, in this circumstance, I don't want to tell you something without being able to look at it.
Doing a swap on my 92 k1500 this spring/summer. This def put my mind at ease. Not nearly as scary as i made it out to be lol.
Great to hear, good luck with your project. It really is not as scary as you might have thought. Get a GM electrical wiring manual (not a disc) a real manual. It is excellent source of information and is not that expensive. I get mine off of ebay...depends on year, but I have paid as little as $11 and as high as $30. It is worth every penny! You can always sell it in the future if you move on to different projects and don't need it anymore. Me, I keep them all....you never know when you might need it.
Hello saw your video inspires me to do a swap in my 95 obs. have a question did you use the ls AC compressor or did you use the OBS AC compressor did you have to move location? And fuel pump which one did you use? Thanks
Thank you for the questions, you can go with the AC Delco EP381 fuel pump and it should be a direct replacement for your existing pump within your tank. This is what I’ve used for my swaps. You can use AC Delco, or Aftermarket, that would be a direct replacement for that pump. Easy to do. As far as the AC compressor, at first, I used the R4 compressor from the 95 because it worked. I modified the existing factory bracket so that it would work. Had trouble with the R4, so upgraded to a sanden style compressor. At that point I sold the truck, and they install that compressor using a dirty dingo bracket kit that I supplied with it still using the existing are for factory bracket as the base. In the 91 truck I currently have, I wanted to keep the AC compressor in the factory location, the lower mount side. A factory GM compressor will not fit. I used a dirty dingo, sanden style replacement compressor that is several inches shorter, and it fits just fine. However, having said that, I did have to modify the side frame rail for clearance. Check my other videos, I did make a video showing the different styles of AC compressors available that you can use, and also a video showing how I installed the dirty dingo compressor on the 91. Good luck.
Thank you. appreciate the feedback I will definitely look into your other videos on the AC pump.
Any advice on DBW cruise control. I used LT1 swap for the wire colors on the 05 LS but he doesn't show the harness colors needed for 94 OBS. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Jose
The DBW cruise is controled by the pcm. The TAC module and ECU handle the cruise control logic, and you just wire in the cruise switches to the TAC module. You would need a switch to make it work. Try this link
www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm?ptype=product&product_id=48 Hope this will get you going in the right direction.
the mil wire on the obs do you know where under the hood in the harness that might be ?
As I recall, look to the right of the brake booster and down a bit at the wiring harness coming out of the firewall. Look for brown wire.
How did u do away with the black computer? I see you still have the factory fues block ,but I didn't see the computer ..I thought you had to leave the old computer in to run abs,AC and whatever else. I have a 96 and im going with everything you did ,but im confused because of old computer.
The old computer is still there. My factory location is in the cab behind the passenger side dash. I left everything in place as original. I only trimmed back the wiring under the hood that was not needed.
From the the cluster for speedo what wires were connected to the vss
You won't mess with the wires from the gauge cluster. There is a 2 wire plug in the swapped truck harness that attaches to the speed sensor mounted on the tail shaft of your transmission. I spliced the same 2 wire plug from the LS harness to the existing 2 wire plug. Why? The LS pcm needs the speed information and the existing factory pcm needs the information as well to be displayed on your factory gauges.
do i need the module on my swap for the 4l60 e swap going from a 2007 5.3 drive by wire to an 1994 obs . i really dont care about the light cause my shifter is not digital its old school needle pointer
The DBW does not impact the trans. By "module", do you mean the module on the side of the trans? The wiring harness will dictate the module. If it does not match up, then you can cut and splice. You may not care about the shifter needle, but you will need the neutral safety switch to work.
@@laurencevillegarage yes sorry for that , yes I mean the module on the side of the transmission
The grey wire for the fuel pump which color wire do you splice it to on the relay ?
There is a grey wire coming off the fuel pump relay I used.
THIS IS A BIG HELP! GODSPEED!!
Glad it was helpful!
I have a 92' GMC Suburban K1500 4X4 with 700r4 Trans & 5.7L TBI engine. I also have a 5.3L LS without wiring harness or computer, I got the 5.3 in as a trade for some parts I wasn't going to use. I would like to swap in the 5.3. What parts did you use for the fuel system? I will take your advice on the wiring, as it's the most comprehensive I have seen for the TBI trucks. Also, I'm not quite sure which direction to go for the Trans and Transfer Case, any suggestions? The truck will be used for hunting trips and towing a dog trailer. Where I live, emissions is not a concern. Thanks!
First, did you get the automatic transmission flex-plate with the engine? If so, your are in luck. If not, you will need to get a dished automatic trans flex-plate for a 4.8, 5.3, 6.0 and an adapter. If you google "ls swap automatic trans adapter" and you will find plenty of information. The cost of an adapter ranges, but usually $35-50 will get a good one and you'll need new bolts as well. Finding a used flex plate is easy enough, ebay has them starting (used) under $40. So, flex plate $40, adapter, $35 and bolts (prefer new) $20-25 and you should have what you need to match up the engine to your existing trans. The fuel system, does yours have a return line? Either way, I went to a local shop that makes hydraulic hoses. They made me up a pair of lines while I waited for about $90. There are kits available. You can spend $100 or $300, so shop it around. All depends on what intake you are using, return fuel line or returnless. IF returnless, a simpler system can be used. Again, google fuel lines for ls swap that will match up with your intake style. You will need to upgrade your fuel filter. Just get an acdelco replacement for a '96, it will drop in. Also need to replace any other rubber hoses in your fuel system (that are under pressure) with a higher quality higher pressure fuel injection rubber hose. Wiring will be as simple as it will get since you don't have an electronic trans, no emissions and engine only. You did not mention whether again, the intake style has a Drive by wire or Drive by cable.
@@laurencevillegarage Thanks for the reply and info. It will be drive by wire and the current engine setup has a fuel return. I can't remember which intake came with the engine, but I'll check it.
alternator guage will it be the brown wire on alternator ls to obs wiring on dash
I’m not in front of my computer right now, but if you will check my videos, I have a specific one on connecting the MIL wire.
Schematic shows brown wire off alternator to pink to gauge fuse. What year is your truck?
1994 k1500 v6 , so I can just cut n splice the obs to the LS harness or just tie into it for the guage to work
I have a 1989 Chevy Cheyenne and I just bought a 2001 GMC Yukon Denali 4x4 is this something you cando or help do in person I live here in mesquite Tx by sunyville
I'd be glad to give you some assist, my actual physical time is very limited. After getting over covid this past summer, I quit my job and moved my dad from an assisted living facility in with me to take care of. That's why there is a lapse in my videos. There are a lot of questions to answer about your combination. Way to many to cover in this amount of space. Check out the link below the video for my facebook page and you can message me and we can go from there. Thanks.
For the fuel pump are you using a relay on the ls side of the harness? Where as the power is being fed from the ls relay and the gray wire is just tapped near the original fuse block and bypassing the original 95 relay??
Yes, you are correct. The wiring harness has 3 main relays, 2 for fans and the fuel pump. They are mounted at top edge of pcm.
@@laurencevillegarage Thanks. This is the most detailed video I could find for obs trucks. Can't wait for your next video!
Awesome video what oil pressure sensor did u use and plug ?
I used an adapter to use my original c6 sensor. I did the same on the ‘91.
You wouldn’t need the tcc wire if you run a manual trans right ?
That’s right. You only need it if you are using an automatic transmission that has an electronically controlled torq converter like a 4l60e and 4l80e. Don’t need it if using an older GM automatic like a turbo 350/400, or 700r4.
I have an issue 😕 any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have a 94 silverado , 5.3l swap from a 99 serria. I went from the 94 single wire to a 3 wire like this video suggests. I have a ground wire to my 99 ECM(brown), I have a 5 volt to my 99 ECM(yellow), and the green wire directly to 94 dash cluster pin 📌 R I believe....its a green wire. My issue is when I turn the key on or start truck the gauge wire is reading 12V? The other two wires are still reading 5v and 0v. Any ones 2 cents?
When you say you went from a single wire to a 3 wire, I am assuming you are referring to the temperature sensor? I found on my own that matching the 3 wires did not work because of the way the pigtail was wired. Look online (easily googled) at the pin out of the 3 wire sensor and match the wires per the placement of the pins vs matching colors. This was what I had to do. I have seen pigtails with the correct 3 colors yet in the wrong placement and I've seen pigtails with all grey wires. Go by placement on sensor not colors and see if that will fix your issue.
@@laurencevillegarage
great advice! I'll check and get back to yeah. Thanks!
Hi what did you tie the tach wire into ? Can't really understand what you did, thanks for making this
There is a tach wire in the LS harness. That wire is attached to the white wire that was on a spade type connector on my existing V6 harness. That spade connector was found not being used on the wiring with plugs that attach to the coil on the V6.
@@laurencevillegarage Thanks Bud, I should be able to sort that :-)
Amazing video. How did you go about thinning out your harness
On that '95, I only thinned the old unused wires back to the main wiring bundle...just in case. On the "91 I am presently working on, I am pulling out all the old unused wires back to the firewall. However, until all the "sorting out" is done, I done permanently remove any of it. Once all is good...ie gauges work etc, I leave it in case I need any of the "old" wires.
@@laurencevillegarage any videos of you talking about how you did. You have a way of explaining things were people who are new to this get it
Thank you very much for making it easy for us gmt400 owners, i have a question about the AC system, do i run the ls compresor with the original truck harness?
Rakan Arbmyh I am going to say probably not. The compressors are different, pcm’s are obviously different but because of the parameters that are tunable in the late model pcm’s there are many differences. Having said that “is it possible?”, with some creativity maybe so. I’m sorry, I know that all sounds vague. In my ‘95, I did use my old harness to run the a/c. The new harness had no a/c wiring. What you could do, and I plan to do on my next project, is to use the ls a/c compressor either mounted low if possible, or use an available adapter to mount the ls compressor in the upper position keeping the factory wiring to run it. Would still have to wire my existing on/off switch in. The factory has some nice settings inside like: cuts off compressor under wide open throttle, automatically turns on an electric fan when a/c is turned on and will alter idle rpm’s when turned on or off.i would like to incorporate those features in my next project. Good luck.
what wire do i tie into for the alternator indicator to work on dash from altenator
What year is your truck? For the '95, brown from alternator goes to pink then to dash gauge, according to my schematic. However, since the alternator has the hot (red) wire going to it from the battery, check to see if your OBS connections are the same as the new alternator. As far as volts go, the truck does not care what engine is in it, power to alternator from battery and brown wire to gauge. If I am wrong someone please chime in.
@@laurencevillegarage I got It thanks for your help, now the vss sensor on the tranns, since I have a stand alone harness , do I cut the vss plug on the standalone harness and use the plug on my obs harness , or do I tap into those wires , cause I'm not sure if the ecm on the LS needs to see speed it not?
@@r.t.1942 you need to tap into them.
Sorry for all the questions , what adapter did you use for the obs oil pressure sensor to adapt to fit the LS block
@@r.t.1942 check eBay for: oil pressure sensor adapter for GM ls engine swap male M16x1.5 to female 1/8 npt
Can you tell me what you did for your fans,how many you running? And what are your turn on and off temps for both?? Thanks again. .
When I had my wiring harness modified (Chris at easyefisolutions.com ), wired it for twin electric fans. I purchased a set of "clone" 2010 Camaro electric fans and had Chris set the pcm to turn one on at 185 and at 195 degrees. If you plan on running a/c, let the one modifying your harness know this. Depending on which pcm you use, there are other features that may be altered. I say "may" because the LS based pcms in the early trucks had engine mounted fans, not electric. Whereas the cars, I believe all had electric fans to begin with. Features such as increase idle when a/c is turned on and to automatically turn on a fan when a/c is started. The latter, I have a video showing how to wire in a fan relay.
Many people seem to be running ac with their LS swaps, yet no-one seems to break down how to do it the best way. I don't recall going into detail with this with Chris. If, I have someone build my harness next time, I will ask more questions. The first time, I didn't know any better.
Very very informative, just what i was looking to find, great job!!! Al tho im not doing an ls swap this helps with my microsquirt setup! Thanks
Do you have to join the Auto Zone Rewards to be able to download the wiring diagrams? After selecting Chassis Electrical, it does not take me to the same place as what was in your video.
I just checked it out, and it appears you do need to join. It is free, and you do earn points that turn into cash in the future. Sorry, I didn't realize when I posted up the video that was going to make a difference. It's well worth it though. Had to get a replacement radiator a few weeks ago (long story) and when I bought one from Autozone (had to have it right then), I had enough points to get $20 off. Thanks for your question. Hope you find what you need.
That's a good looking truck u have there. Very clean. Used to have a step side GMC the same color.
Thank you! Don't see very many trucks of this era in this color. The paint is in pretty good shape, and it is the original paint!
Hi I have 1993 Chevy tbi 4l60 4 speed do I have to connect the purple wiri my transmission I think is different then yours
If you do not have or use a later model trans w electronic torq converter lock up then no you would not need it.
Great info. I did a lq9 408 into my 96 4x4 Tahoe and did something very similar to your setup. I used the schematics to trace and remove all my old unnecessary wires. I then integrated the ls ecu to my old wiring for the dash info. One thing I did different is screw the obs temp sensor into the passenger head so I didn’t need to tap into any of the wiring. The passenger head send temp to dash and the driver head sends the temp the the ls ecu.
You are correct and I like that idea. That is what I plan to do on the '01 project I'm about to start. Thanks for sharing!
Good video..17:30min why did you have to buy a few ?temperature censors
What I meant to say was I bought a couple of the sensor wiring plugs. Reason was the first one I purchased off of Ebay from a seller that was shipping from China. I didn't realize that when I made the purchase and after waiting for nearly 3 weeks, I ordered another one from a different seller that was in the US. I received that one in 2 days. Both had the same plug, but the wires were completely different on each. One had 7 grey wires all the same gauge, the other, when it finally arrived, had 5 wires of the same gauge, but all different colors and 2 wires were a larger gauge and also different colors. No consistency whatsoever.
I need more orientation I have a 5.3 ls I want to put it on my truck 1993 350 tbi 4L60 transmission I like to know what I need for the swap what tipe of harness I’m new on this ls swaps thank you
I would suggest for a first time swap to send your 5.3 engine harness out to be modified along with the pcm. This would cost more than if you did it yourself, but since you are new to all this, I think you will be dollars ahead. You'll need motor mounts. You did not mention if you have another trans to use or if you plan to use your existing 4L60. If so, you'll need an adapter and bolts to mate the two together. All these swaps involve a lot of questions you'll need to answer now and as you go. So, it's hard for me to be specific about a lot of details. For example: exhaust manifolds...do you want headers or stock exhaust manifolds? can you weld? You can use truck/suv manifolds but they will/may involve modifications to make them work. Cooling....do you want electric fans or just the engine driven fan? Is your engine "drive by wire" or "drive by cable"? Where will your battery mount? Do you plan on using an aftermarket CAI or stock air intake? Will the truck be lowered? if so, you'll need a different oil pan for clearance going over speed bumps or rough streets. How will the truck be used? What is your $ budget? What are your skills? How much time and space do you have available to use? Do your research and find out as much as possible about your swap. BUY a wiring manual for your truck. If you cannot find what you need for free on the internet, go to Ebay and buy a GM wiring manual for your truck. I just ordered one up for a '91 OBS, $20 on Ebay. You WILL need it and you WILL use it. Keep some sort of records of what you do and how you do it to your truck. In the future you may not remember how you did certain things. If you sell the truck, face it, it's a bastard!, the new owner or a future mechanic will have no idea of how you built the truck. Plan it out, make notes, keep it clean and everyone benefits and makes future maintenance much less complicated. Good luck!
Great video. Lots of information.
What size are your wheels and what are the offset specs?
The front wheels are 17x7 with a 4" bs, the rears are 17x8 w 5" bs.
@@laurencevillegarage do have fb looking to get some info from you thanks
Did you cut the tcc wire from the pcm or did you leave it and just splice a wire to it. Please answer asap
On the blue '95, I attached the TCC wire to the purple wire coming from the abs box. IF you have an ABS box, double check power to that wire with a probe. It needs to have power without touching the brakes and no power when applying the brakes. There are other places you could splice into as well for the same result. That was convenient for me and worked.
Thank you for the great video. I have a 97 k 1500 with a 4l60e will the 5.3 bolt up to it? Will I need a spacer?
Yes, you can use your trans. You will need a spacer kit, around $50 with bolts. Should not be a problem.
@@laurencevillegarage Thank you very much!
This is an awesome video. You addressed in detail the things that kinda get glossed over on other videos (mostly because they are for such a broad audience). Than you sir.
For the fuel pump where u put it in
Tied it in the under hood fuse box at the relay.
What part of Texas are you located I’d like reach out to you
I'm in Sunset, between Bowie and Decatur....In the description below the video, I have my email as well.
Wich number on the fuel pump relay so I connect the fuel pump wire from the ls 5.3 pcm
On my '95, I tied in the grey fuel pump wire on my LS harness to the grey wire on the bottom of the panel that houses the fuel pump relay. I am not looking at your wiring, but on my diagram, the wire coming from my '95 pcm is B12. Depending on your year, make, model, engine, options, etc. it could be different. I made a video of 3 common questions about LS OBS swaps. In that video I detail how you can access a wiring schematic for free so you can check out your specific truck. I hope that helps.
On my 95 Chevy Tahoe the grey wire is marked pin 30 on my relay is that how yours is
Yes, my terminal 30 had a grey wire, that is what I tied my fuel pump harness wire to.
I’m a little confused for the speed sensor wiring, do you replace the entire pigtail with the pigtail from the 95, or do you wire both pigtails into one and use the old connector or new?
I spliced the 2 wires from the OBS harness into the 2 wires from the LS harness a few inches from the plug. It could have been done higher up in the harness...at the time, I chose to splice it there.
@@laurencevillegarage Green to green and purple to purple correct?
@@cavanyaw I would need to re-look at the '95 wiring schematic, but I believe that is correct.
Do you keep the neutral safety switch on the 4l60e ?
Yes, I do! I would not eliminate it. It’s not hard to wire up and remember, someday someone else may own or may be working on your swap and not know how you wired it. That could be a real problem and/or safety concern. Just do it right the first time.
Doing a 5.3 swap on my 96 Sierra . It was a manual v6 what are the main things I should know when doing this . I'd imagine it's not as simple as it seems .
There are a bunch of things....but to start, it depends on if you are going to keep a manual trans or go automatic. You will need the complete wiring harness off the donor vehicle, this means eng/trans connections. I would suggest going to one of my other videos on finding the wiring schematic for your truck and one for the donor vehicle. Each swap is unique depending on what you started with and what parts you are swapping in. There are so many combinations, it is tough to isolate exactly what you will need. The engine mounts will be needed and can be a pain to install because the nuts are inside the cross member accessible through the area around where the lower control arm bushings mount. I did it, it can be done. I used a stock trans mount with my existing cross member with minor tweeking. I used a stock (for '95) radiator and mounted twin electric fans. Used a late '90's fuel pump. I documented just about everything I did on my '95 on facebook at: facebook.com/pg/LS-swapped-1988-to-1998-Gmt400-Chevy-Trucks-1988497164501204/posts/?ref=page_internal If you click on this link, follow it to the beginning. I have a lot of info I tried to condense down to as to not be too boring. It's a lot of work, take your time and do your research, gather all the parts you think you need, then start. Have a plan. At times it may feel like 2 steps forward and 3 back but it will get you to the end. Decide who will do the harness, (you or pay someone), study the diagrams, even if you don't do your own harness, you still need to connect stuff up and you need to know where to put it BECAUSE if you decide half way in to take it to someone else to finish, they either won't want to touch it or will charge you $$$ because they have to figure all that you have done. Don't let this scare you. I am not a mechanic, and I did almost everything on my own, and it all works. Good luck!
Hello! First off great video. I'm in the middle of doing a swap in a 91 c1500 . How ever the doner 02 yukon was hit at the fuse box side causing wires to be torn at the fuse box. All the wires going to the PCM are still in contact and connected. Do you think I can still make it work or would I need a stand alone harness at this point? Thanks!
The short answer would be, yes, as long as your harness is not damaged badly, you are ok. Do you plan to rework the harness yourself or send it out to be modified? In either case, any damaged wiring can be fixed. It will really help if it’s all intact w no plugs missing. Just try to keep your complete engine/trans harness intact and you should be fine.
@@laurencevillegarage right on thanks! All the plugs are there I took them off after removing the 8mm bolts holding them on the damaged fuse box, but as stated some are damaged and dangling at the ends but over all the harness is all one piece. I'd like to save me $ and work it my self but at the same time I might be better off sending it out to someone but don't know who. Will see. But for now I'll keep wrenching till I get to that point
I used easyefisolutions.com for my harness, Chris did a good job. I had him wire in dual electric fans as well. Took 7-10 days.
@@laurencevillegarage thanks I will send them an email and see what they suggest. Any questions I'll get back to you
what's the best year to swap on 1995 Silverado I got a 5.7 automatic transmission? I like to go with 5.3
It all depends on what you ultimately want, your budget and can you do most all the work (including some light fabrication) on your own. If you want to just do a LS based swap and need to do it on a tight budget, a 5.3 is good/economical choice. For added simplicity and ease of installation, I would go with a DBC (drive by cable) throttle body motor. If your current trans is in good shape, you can connect it to your 5.3 with an adapter. Don't need electric fans, the truck based 5.3 engine driven fan is fine. Exhaust manifolds, you have some choices, can be pretty cheap if you can modify truck/suv to work fine (that's what I did). Wiring will be your big choice. Do you modify the harness yourself or pay to have someone else do it? If you do it yourself,
It looks like they changed the website do you have any other ideas on how to get to the schematics
Yes, Autozones IT department messed it up. BUT, I did find a way to access it even though Autozone says it is no longer available. Check out this link to another video I did not long ago. In that video I walk you through how to access the schematics....th-cam.com/video/i3n-4bYoGbM/w-d-xo.html
Keg my truck won't start with my LS swap I just got done with the starter will not engage what do I do with the neutral safety
LS Blue the neutral safety switch needs to be attached and functional. Did you remove and or cut the existing truck trans harness?
No I didn't cut my harness and I did take the neutral safety switch out and broke it but I have a new one I'm going to put in today so what do I do from there
LS Blue There could be many reasons why it’s a no start. Once the new neutral safety switch is installed, at least that can rule out the switch as being the issue. Did you modify your harness or have someone else do it? After the new switch is installed, if still won’t start, check to be sure the fuel pump is getting power. Has ECM been cleared of vats and a “tune” been installed?
Everything this is in neutral safety switch back in and no I did not cut anything out the problem I'm having right now is I cannot turn the starter with the key it won't make any noise
LS Blue recheck all your wiring from battery to starter etc. sounds like a ground or incorrect connection. Look at a starter system wiring diagram. I’m betting it is something small.
This is proper and detailed info. Thanks to you this will complete my journey to my LS swapped 1996 c1500 💪🏾
Glad I could help
Thanks for the info, can you make another video with parts needed and tips to make an LS Swap on this 88-98 truck? I know it might be different depending on the year but at least to help us, thanks nice video!
Thank you for the kind words. I plan to do just that on my next project. When doing almost all the work myself plus recording, it takes more time and I sometimes tend to get impatient and want to see results faster. I did record a lot on this truck, but I overlooked or missed recording parts that would have made a big difference in the quality of the video. Next project I will do it all. As a spoiler, I already have my donor vehicle...
I have 94 gmc with 350 and 4l60. I think these years are harder to swap cause of transmission connections?
Tactical Grey Ghost I believe your connections are similar to mine. Will depend on what year combo you are replacing with. You can go just with motor to your 4l60 and make it simpler.
Thank you. Going to do the same build as you on a 95 Chevy 6v/ stick.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
Great details! Does your 5.3 pcm know when you are in park or drive? Or is the signal from the shift module going only to the dash? I might be looking at this incorrectly but the ls and Tbi modules use a different signal common, ie one switches a ground signal the other switches a positive signal. Doing a in series spice like the vss would lead to a dead short i believe.
Thanks for taking the time to document your work!
I did splice the four wires that connect to the lower part of the trans module from both harnesses. If you don't something is not going to work. The LS wires need to communicate the trans position to the pcm and the original wires are needed if you want the illuminated PRNDL to light up and show you your gear selection. If yo did not connect the original wires, trans will function fine, but you won't be able to see it on the dash. No issues with the splicing. You can always check with others to see what they did to make their dash lights work correctly. This is but one reason why I advise to not cut or remove any wires until everything works the way you want, then thin out wires if you want.
How did you go about connecting the ac? Stock compressor? Does it need any speed, tach input from the ls harness to work?
I used my original R4 compressor so I kept all my original wiring to make it work. I wired in a separate relay to activate one of the electric fans to come on when the a/c was activated. I didn't have a problem with the engine idle. There are additional features available that affect the a/c. If programed, the compressor will turn off while under full throttle, idle features and more. I was not aware at the time so I did not take advantage of some of these features. Some may depend on what pcm you have (ie car vs. truck pcm). Sorry, this may not have been a lot of help. My next swap, I intend to use the factory Suburban compressor and hope to add more of the factory features.
@@laurencevillegarage right on, good info to get started. Thank you, appreciate the help
I have a 1989 k1500 that I'm doing a 5.3 swap in. I'm wondering if you took the old computer out completely. Or was it needed?
I left it in and just thinned out some of the unused wiring. I still want everything on the truck to work as original. And, it does. Be sure to not cut or remove anything (if possible) until you have your vehicle running. Then you can thin stuff out. If something stops working you have a better idea what and where to look for the problem. If you delete too much in the beginning, then have issues, it will be much more difficult to track down the issue. Don't remove any grounds, I found that out the hard way.
I gotta say that is one of the cleanest swaps iv seen. Awesome job👍🏻
Thank you very much! I am trying to plan out another project. I have my donor vehicle, a 2004 Tahoe. It may take awhile, but I hope to capture the complete build with more of a theme...like a "how to: muscle truck with a $5K budget".....something that would be more like the "low buck" builds the car magazines used to do years ago.
Quick question, the ground you were talking about for the fuel level sensor, was it in the main harness or the harness coming off the fuel pump itself? Great video by the way and that is a nice little truck!!!
That ground (as I recall) is in the main harness. You just want to make sure all the original grounds are kept and grounded properly, and you should have no issues.
@@laurencevillegarage thank you so much!
Well I finally got time to poke around that harness and found the ground! Thank you once again bud!!
What company mated your old wiring harness with the new 5.3 wiring harness?
I had easyefisolutions.com to modify my "old" harness. When it comes to integrating the "loose" LS wires into the trucks harness, that is where "you" come in. It will be a bit different on each truck or car. You need a wiring schematic for your vehicle to make things a lot easier.