New motor

[06 H3]

Envoy is safe at my buddy's place. Now I gotta get squeaky down there early this week. He has a another motor swap for a ranger on Wednesday. That will be easy. Same motor goes in so he's gonna have that done in no time and I'm gonna help him after work and school. Then after the attention goes to squeaky.

 

[stvnkrchnr]

Can't wait to watch this unfold. Good luck and please keep us posted.

 

[owlxxx]

:horns: LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! I hope you have time to document this.

 

[RamRod]

I am so pumped for you!
Making the best out of a really ****ty situation

 

[cbetts]

I am so pumped for you!
Making the best out of a really ****ty situation

[video=youtube;CeJ1Sauv2gc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeJ1Sauv2gc[/video]

 

[06 H3]

With the envoy there I have these parts on order.

http://www.currentperformance.com/shop/04-08-colorado-canyon-v8-engine-mounts/

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Performance/809/19212593/10002/-1

The motor mounts will adapt the 5.3 to the stock frame mounts
The oil pan is the exact same as an alpha.

Now I need to get alpha headers, and intake. Anyone know of a decent alpha intake with a box? Or I will look for a stock box. For now thats what I will start with and add as I go along.

I also want to add 2 pusher fans in the front of the stock rad. Colorado guys run stock I5 rads with no issues but they do add E fans in place of the stock mechanical fan. I want to leave the stock fan then put 2 pushers up front. One manual switch and one off a thermostat.

Any suggestions.

 

[amrg]

With the envoy there I have these parts on order.

http://www.currentperformance.com/shop/04-08-colorado-canyon-v8-engine-mounts/

http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet-Performance/809/19212593/10002/-1

The motor mounts will adapt the 5.3 to the stock frame mounts
The oil pan is the exact same as an alpha.

Now I need to get alpha headers, and intake. Anyone know of a decent alpha intake with a box? Or I will look for a stock box. For now thats what I will start with and add as I go along.

I also want to add 2 pusher fans in the front of the stock rad. Colorado guys run stock I5 rads with no issues but they do add E fans in place of the stock mechanical fan. I want to leave the stock fan then put 2 pushers up front. One manual switch and one off a thermostat.

Any suggestions.

Since you are doing a motor swap, just program the pusher fans to kick in at preset temps when you do the engine programming. I know from hptuners you can do that.

 

[06 H3]

I would have to wire them into the harness then?

 

[3Hummers]

Chris our 5.3 has always run a little hot. I think lots of the H3 Alphas did. They also seem to use some oil on a regular basis. Other than that it has been a great motor for us for 115K miles.

 

[06 H3]

Does the alpha have AFM? Active fuel management? I have done research on the particular 5.3 I'm using which is an 07 envoy and all these people complain of oil loss and it occurs when the motor goes into 4cyl mode (AFM) when people disabled afm they never had oil consumption issues again.

I'm hoping that the pusher fans solve that. All South African model h3s have pusher fans in addition to the mechanical fans we have and they don't have overheating issues

 

[amrg]

Does the alpha have AFM? Active fuel management? I have done research on the particular 5.3 I'm using which is an 07 envoy and all these people complain of oil loss and it occurs when the motor goes into 4cyl mode (AFM) when people disabled afm they never had oil consumption issues again.

I'm hoping that the pusher fans solve that. All South African model h3s have pusher fans in addition to the mechanical fans we have and they don't have overheating issues

My alpha doesnt have afm. As for DOD, you can have that disabled when you do the programming.
The fans can be wired through the harness or seperatly, I cant help you there but Im sure it could be done (check pcmofnc setup for example, they send you a patch to run their dual fans kit like OEM).
Oh and make sure you dont get a high thermostat. I was running 174 f t-stat (stock) and my truck didnt lag in the hot summer. Now I got 186f t-stat (new oem) And it lags! Hate it and soon will be doing a 160 t-stat instal when I flush my coolant.

 

[Mr_Rich]

Does the alpha have AFM? Active fuel management? I have done research on the particular 5.3 I'm using which is an 07 envoy and all these people complain of oil loss and it occurs when the motor goes into 4cyl mode (AFM) when people disabled afm they never had oil consumption issues again.

I'm hoping that the pusher fans solve that. All South African model h3s have pusher fans in addition to the mechanical fans we have and they don't have overheating issues

Uh-oh. You don't want DOD. The factory didn't put it in Hummers due to the aerodynamic design (NOT) of these vehicles. You could've saved yourself grief with more research on the engine you chose. You CAN use this engine, but it will require a cam change due to a different profile on the DOD cam vs. a non-DOD cam. One of the guys on our Poncho mailing list is repairing his truck this past week due to a collapsed lifter failure on his
DOD engine. He installed the new cam and I'm not sure what else... Programming the ECM will be required as well. He's also in Arkansas and doesn't have to deal with our Calif. smog BS.

 

[06 H3]

Uh-oh. You don't want DOD. The factory didn't put it in Hummers due to the aerodynamic design (NOT) of these vehicles. You could've saved yourself grief with more research on the engine you chose. You CAN use this engine, but it will require a cam change due to a different profile on the DOD cam vs. a non-DOD cam. One of the guys on our Poncho mailing list is repairing his truck this past week due to a collapsed lifter failure on his
DOD engine. He installed the new cam and I'm not sure what else... Programming the ECM will be required as well. He's also in Arkansas and doesn't have to deal with our Calif. smog BS.

It can be disabled via tune OR changing out the internals. I am disabling it with a tune with my wiring harness and PCM work that is being done.

To boot do you know how many trucks have the 5.3 with AFM/DOD. Millions! Not all of these motors have issues
My chances were higher on having issues the H3 front diff :giggle:. On top of that with a simple tune you can disable the tune or you can go ahead and get the kit to swap it out. Also, along with my research buying an older 5.3 with a throttle cable would require me to **** around with other issues. If you read the colorado forums you will realize there is a reason on why an 07+ 5.3 is used. Older ones can be used but it is more work with the wiring and adapting newer features to keep the system happy. Also, the fact that the older motor/trans combo if you are looking to use a trans with it also will require you to use a new trans because they do not have the features you want like the added input sensor. For example with the envoy the chance of having the adding input sensor in the trans will allow me to use a combination of my H3 trans and the envoy trans vs. having to buy an entirely different trans OR drilling into the transmission housing to add an input sensor which can be done but you must be extremely careful.

 

[Mr_Rich]

Quoting directly from Chris's e-mail:


"You have to change the cam on the DOD delete or it won't run correctly. Lobes are ground different on the AFM/DOD lifters, about .30 less lift based on my reading. So you end up with lower compression on those cylinders and it will throw all kinds of mis-fire codes. I know way more about this crap than I ever wanted to know at this point."

 

[06 H3]

Off what I have researched I have not found an issue with just changing the tune to disable AFM/DOD.

 

[RamRod]

Quoting directly from Chris's e-mail:


"You have to change the cam on the DOD delete or it won't run correctly. Lobes are ground different on the AFM/DOD lifters, about .30 less lift based on my reading. So you end up with lower compression on those cylinders and it will throw all kinds of mis-fire codes. I know way more about this crap than I ever wanted to know at this point."

If that is the case wouldn't it run poorly each time the engine ran with all 8 cylinders firing?
My logic is, this motor is designed to run as a V8 when ever it's justifies that the power requirements are less it shuts 4 cylinders down

From what I can tell Chris is just going to tune it so that the PAM will never justify the need to turn off the 4 cylinders

Seems to make sense to me

 

[cgalpha08]

Honestly the whole AFM is crap. My second car right now is a Silverado with the AFM. I watch on the dash when it switches between v4 and v8. It's in v4 mode only when you let off the gas and coast, as soon as you touch the pedal its all 8 cylinders. It's never used to maintain speed, which quite frankly is something that a v4 could do. It's no better than easing up on the throttle during normal driving or coasting down a hill.

I know that is slightly off topic, but since I figured this thread was going to head in the direction of alphas getting AFM I thought I would weigh in

 

[06 H3]

I'm not going to deny that the The entire AFM system isn't a bad idea by GM and its a huge topic on silverado/trailblazer/envoy and Avalanche motors BUT a 5.3 is a 5.3 the base of that motor is a great motor, AFM can be deleted easily with a tune or a kit changing out lifters and cam. If a lifter sticks then I'll deal with that then, I may consider swapping it out before then but I stand firmly on the fact that the 5.3 is no slouch by any means and Kyles Avalanche has a 5.3 that has 127k miles on it. He flat out rapes his motor and it goes. He just pulled an envoy on a trailer behind his Avalanche and the 5.3 would pull up grades at 60mph with no problem. The base of a good motor is there. AFM is a downfall but money and mileage talks. Mileage is 35,185 and price was right. Whether AFM will be deleted with a tune or an entire kit this motor is here to stay.

 

[Kyle]

I may consider swapping it out before then but I stand firmly on the fact that the 5.3 is no slouch by any means and Kyles Avalanche has a 5.3 that has 127k miles on it. He flat out rapes his motor and it goes. He just pulled an envoy on a trailer behind his Avalanche and the 5.3 would pull up grades at 60mph with no problem. .

Lmao, I'm shocked the motor hasn't blown up. I will say keeping the oil changed and maybe a couple Italian oil changes once in awhile will keep this motor purring like a kitten! I can't wait To have the AFM deleted, it's a simple thing to disable with a tuner nothing else needs to be changed.


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[Kyle]

Quoting directly from Chris's e-mail:


"You have to change the cam on the DOD delete or it won't run correctly. Lobes are ground different on the AFM/DOD lifters, about .30 less lift based on my reading. So you end up with lower compression on those cylinders and it will throw all kinds of mis-fire codes. I know way more about this crap than I ever wanted to know at this point."

A good friend of mine works strictly with LS motors and I told him I wanted the AFM deleted he said its a simple computer change. No internals need to be changed at all.


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[RamRod]

My dad had a 5.3 in his '06 Avalanche he put 300,000 hard km's on that motor pulling a skidsteer (way over loaded) all over the countryside at 60-70mph no sweat.

Great motor!


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[cgalpha08]

I will say the last thing I am worried about failing on my car is my engine. That engine will run even after the body falls apart.

 

[Kyle]

Everyone bags on the 5.3 but it's a work horse in my opinion, it can handle some good abuse. Now hook up a huge trailer with an oversized load and my bet would still be the trans blows up before the motor does!


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[Mr_Rich]

I'm not raggin' on the 5.3L by any means; I just don't care for that DOD design. The VVT cam phasing seems to be a better design and more workable. GM didn't put DOD in the H3 Alphas for a reason from what I've read. Chris who I quoted earlier is replacing the valvetrain in his 5.3L. He's receiving assistance from a company that does a lot of business selling parts and reprogramming ECM's to bypass DOD in Ar. I think he said he had 70K on his engine and that's about the point they start failing per the company he's getting help from. If I was doing a project like this I'd try to slip my 5.7L LS1 long block in place of a 5.3L block.

 

[4speedfunk]

6.0L all day.. Prolly do a mild cam upgrade and headers.