LX450 LM4/4L60E Swap (2 Viewers)

[Albatross80]

I got incredibly lucky and inherited my mom's LX450 that has sat abandoned in her garage since 2009.

My plan for it is to get it running and use it to tour the country and camp BLM/backcountry. I want to keep it fairly light by 80 series standards. 33" tires, rock sliders only...etc. After I get it running I want to mess with HP tuners and see what can be done about leaning fuel trim at highway cruising speed.

I ended up sourcing a drop out package from a wrecked 2004 SSR with a LM4/4L60E. A note on using a Gen III Trailblazer/Envoy/SSR: Make sure you get the Pedal and TAC module when you pull the engine. The TAC and Pedal are very specific to which PCM they will work with. For some reason, the wrecker didn't include these two items. I could find TAC modules from Yukons and Silverados all day long in the pull-a-part but I couldn't find one 2003-2004 V8 Trailblazer or Envoy. Ebay ended up being my source for both the pedal and TAC.

Motor mounts I've picked are from The Land Cruiser Shop. I picked them because they advertise bolt-in using truck accessories. Welding is a skill I don't have and didn't have time to learn before tackling this swap. Although I would later learn that you still have to cut and weld your passenger side frame horn to clear the low mount A/C compressor. I wish they had been more up front about this. If I had known I would have to cut and weld to use A/C, I may have considered another engine mount kit that utilizes the factory rubber engine mounts. (The Land Cruiser Shop mounts use solid polyurethane bushings designed for I think a leaf spring). That being said they appear to be very high quality and everything else fit perfectly.

I am of course using the Mark's 4WD 6-bolt 4l60e adapter. Cutting the output shaft was scary but not as bad as I thought it would be. It cuts as easy as everyone says it does. I ended up having to make an adapter plate with scrap metal for the High/Low lever because the one it comes with simply does not work.

 

[White Sheep]

Sub'd

Are you just starting now. .or has this been in the works for a little while? I'm also in the process of doing a LS swap.

P.S.
Get 35's

 

[White Sheep]

Nevermind. I see your posts in the 8x Series v8 Swap section.

 

[Albatross80]

Sub'd

Are you just starting now. .or has this been in the works for a little while? I'm also in the process of doing a LS swap.

P.S.
Get 35's

Yeah I’ve been working on it for awhile now. I’m in the final stretch. I’ve been meaning to make a build thread and add to the conversation but whenever I could find the time I felt like I had enough time to do it or photograph it, not both. Now that I’ve way overshot my deadline and budget I’m just trying to enjoy the process.


Why 35's? They seem counterproductive to my goals unless someone can tell me they somehow get me better fuel economy.

 

[White Sheep]

Yeah I’ve been working on it for awhile now. I’m in the final stretch. I’ve been meaning to make a build thread and add to the conversation but whenever I could find the time I felt like I had enough time to do it or photograph it, not both. Now that I’ve way overshot my deadline and budget I’m just trying to enjoy the process.


Why 35's? They seem counterproductive to my goals unless someone can tell me they somehow get me better fuel economy.

I'm just teasing about 35s. I used to have 33s, then wanted 35s. Someone told me if I get 35s, I'll want 37s. . So I just got 37s instead. For what I do, 37s are big enough.

On my LS project imma do 35s and leave it at that.

 

[White Stripe]

You had to cut the frame? That's really strange. I always thought there was plenty of room for the compressor.

 

[Albatross80]

@Racefiend has some great pictures on their build thread on what you have to do to the passenger-side mount to fit an a/c compressor.
post #8 and #9 I believe.

Racefiend's CA Legal 1992 LS Swap Build Thread

Hi all, this is going to be my progress thread on doing an LS swap on this 1992 Land Cruiser. It's my GF's car. I'll be honest, I hate this car. I don't hate FJ80s, just this particular one. The previous owner really sold her a POS. In between the poor maintenance, half assed mods, and incorrect...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Albatross80]

The Land Cruiser shop states that you need at least a 2.5" lift to clear the driveline. I decided to go with OME lift and Landtank castor plates. I didn't want to use castor correction bushings and I believe Landtank is the only option for castor plate correction for a 2.5-3" lift. Here's my neighbor the J-man helping me with welding once again.

We'll see how the brake bias is when I get this thing on the road.

 

[Racefiend]

You had to cut the frame? That's really strange. I always thought there was plenty of room for the compressor.

It looks like it depends on the mounts. Some put the engine further towards the passenger side, which creates clearance issues with the compressor. The Mark's adapters center the engine along the same axis as the original engine, which sits towards the driver side. It gives you plenty of space for the compressor but makes it tight on the power steering side.

 

[Albatross80]

Update: It’s running but I’m stuck on a misfire issue. P0300.

I’ve checked fuel pressure at the rail.
52 psi KEY ON
46 psi IDLE
54 psi VAC HOSE OFF FPR

I’ve replaced the fuel pump during the swap because the stock one died during the 12 years of storage. Checked resistance 1.3ohms

Fuel filter is also new.

Bank 1 spark plugs are all carbon fouled.
Bank 2 spark plugs all look normal except #4 which appears wet.

Theory 1: Fuel pressure gauge is wrong and my injectors are not flowing correctly. Possibly due to gunk/debris from the old fuel sitting in the system/tank for so long. Maybe bank 2 got it worse since it’s closest to the fuel feed line. *shrugs*.

Theory 2: Fuel pressure reading is correct and the small hose I used to connect the replacement fuel pump doesn’t hold correct pressure.

Theory 3: Somehow the replacement fuel pump isn’t good. It’s a new delphi fe0402.

Theory 4: The FPR is isn’t allowing enough pressure to build. When I unplug the vacuum hose there is no presence of fuel.

I’m about to check compression on all cylinders and re-check the fuel pump installation, but other than that I’m stuck.

Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

 

[White Stripe]

Are your coil packs plugged in?

 

[Albatross80]

Are your coil packs plugged in?

They are. I also checked the grounds on both banks for continuity.

 

[White Stripe]

They are. I also checked the grounds on both banks for continuity.

Are you getting spark out of all the coils?

 

[tmxmotorsports]

O2 swapped wrong side? What did you do with the old engine I'm looking for one.

 

[Albatross80]

Are you getting spark out of all the coils?

I am. It actually runs okay. Idles around 600 and acceleration is rough.

I pulled the injectors and bank 1 were visibly clogged up with debris. Which could explain bank one being carbon fouled and low fuel pressure if the debris was making the injectors get stuck open longer than they should.

I'm going to try spraying out the injectors and rail and see where that gets me.

O2 swapped wrong side? What did you do with the old engine I'm looking for one.

I used the original harness so no, there's really only one way to route each bank's o2 sensor.

 

[Albatross80]

Changing out the fuel injectors fixed the random misfire (p0300) code. Swapping into a car that had been in storage for 12 years has caused the most complications in this swap so far.

Using the submersible fuel hose also raised the fuel pressure slightly. I now get 55psi Static fuel pressure, 48psi Running, and 58psi at Zero Vacuum. Still seems a little low, I'll have to do a voltage drop test on the fuel pump electrical connections next.

I installed a new fuel pressure regulator hoping to avoid doing a voltage drop test. I've never done a voltage drop test and I'm nervous about backpinning the electrical connector in the tank and causing a spark. Is this fear unfounded?

Can anyone comment on their actual fuel pressure readings with a stock fuel pump?

 

[Albatross80]

Been a very long time since an update. Career changes are very stressful and resource consuming I'm learning. #dontlearntocode

The truck has been running very well for the past year. I haven't done much except put on Kenda Klever A/T2 LT 265/75/R16 tires on. The best fuel economy I've achieved is a 17mpg tank average with mostly freeway driving. I've just sent in an oil sample to Blackstone to see how things have been going (only have 4,000 miles on the swap so far).

If I'm driving entirely in the city I get about 10mpg

In an effort to improve this, I'm finally getting around to installing a better flowing air cleaner.

Initial fitting of Donaldson airbox out of a 6.6 Duramax diesel; just wanted to make sure it would fit under the hood. I cut off some of the bracketing under the airbox, chopped off and sealed the original MAF instead of sourcing a block-off plate, used a 5" to 4" reducer to connect it to the 5.3 MAF.

Even without ducting to cold air, throttle response seems to have improved. Induction noise is definitely "throatier". Going to move forward with better piping/ducting, bolting into engine bay and re-installing the Duramax pre-cleaner spinny thing.

Hope to follow-up with acceleration and mpg numbers.

 

[McDowra]

Airflow was my biggest problem, my snorkel choked the engine down.

 

[thatcabledude]

Airflow was my biggest problem, my snorkel choked the engine down.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I buddy of mine has a supercharged LS sucking thorough a 80series snorkel just fine.