5.3 to 6.0 swap

Joshua Garmon · August 14, 2019

I'm trying to find out what all I need to do to swap my 5.3 with a 6.0 or 6.2 and if it will bolt up to my 6L80E trans. Do I need to move motor mounts, change the pcm, radiator? Or just ecu and wiring harness? Will any accessories from the 5.3 fit the 6.0 or 6.2 ie alternator, ac comp? Any help would be appreciated.

CamGTP · August 14, 2019

Yes it bolts up the transmission. The blocks are basically all the same, it's just either iron or aluminum.

Same goes for the alternator and a/c compressor, they will bolt into the same spots as well.

There minor differences between the 6.0 and 6.2 depending on what year engine you bought. If going by your profile your 2009 5.3 has AFM/DoD but will not have VVT.

The 6.0 from years 2007.5 to like 2009 will have AFM/DoD and will have VVT (variable valve timing).

Then you have the other 6.0 in the heavy dutys from 2007.5 to 2018 that have no AFM/DoD but just have VVT.

The 6.2 from 2007-2009 will only have VVT and the 2010-2013 engines will have AFM/DoD and VVT.

As you can see there is some things to think about. Your truck will not have the correct wiring harness to run VVT unless you added it and programmed for it.

Your other options are to buy either engine and remove the AFM/DoD or VVT camshaft and run a regular camshaft. A custom tune is going to be required no matter what to make either engine run correctly.

Edited August 14, 2019 by CamGTP

Joshua Garmon · August 15, 2019

Thank you this helps a lot, I'm going with a 07 to 09 6.2 with a non vvt cam less to go wrong.This is going to be fun.

Edited August 15, 2019 by Joshua Garmon
Grammar

SierraHD17 · August 16, 2019

6.2s from 2010 to 2013 do not have afm unless they are an L94 installed in an SuV. The truck engines under code L9H are VVT only. If you pull a 6.2 from a pickup truck and not a Yukon or Escalade it's a non afm engine.

So Josh you can expand your search for a 6.2 through the 2013 model year if you want one. Yes I own 2 2013 L9H's myself ( one in my truck and the other in my shop to do cam and heads on) and no they don't have AFM.

Edited August 16, 2019 by SierraHD17