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L96 questions

TheCaddyMan04

By TheCaddyMan04
in Engines & Drivetrain

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TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

Posted
Posted

Can I run an LQ9 off of an L96 ecu? and pair that with a 10L80? 

 

I understand that the L96 has VVT, but I've heard of people tuning out that kind of stuff, is it really possible? maybe 10 speed is ambitious, would I have to use a 6l80, or 8l80 or something like that? 

 

really I just don't want to deal with the L86 6.2L and it's various lifter issues. I've never heard anything good about the AFM system, always been really negative. Just don't want to deal with rebuilding an engine, because then it becomes a slippery slope of buying parts.

 

I have an ecu and wiring harness from a 2017 silverado 2500 with the 6.0 L96, but not the engine, what are my options? I believe that I'll have to change some connectors to get the 10L80 TCU to interface with the transmission itself. I'm not doing an engine swap, I'm just attempting an trans swap + interior swap. so I would be retaining almost all the modules from my donor escalade. 

 

any advice or tips is appreciated

CamGTP Senior Enthusiast

CamGTP

Posted
Posted

It's never going to work with factory controllers.

 

The L96 computer is a E78 controller, it will never control anything but a 6L90e. It was never designed to operate a 8L90e or 10L80e. The LQ9 is a GEN 3 engine and the L96 is a GEN 4 engine. You'd have to swap reluctor wheels on the crankshaft and swap timing chain gears as well. Then re-wire the harness for the different knock sensors or delete them altogether. Change the wiring for cam sensor. You'll need to buy a later model GEN 4 intake manifold because of the cathedral port heads (L96 are square port) or just swap heads over.

 

No matter what it would be a mess of parts you'd be trying to put here and there to get the engine going and in the end still have zero transmission control on a 8 speed or 10 speed auto.

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TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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I don't want to burst your bubble, but wiring is kind of my thing.

 

I've wired so much together, so much that shouldn't talk, that does talk. I don't mean to say you're wrong, but I'm not afraid of repinning a few 72 pin connectors and making a custom wiring harness. I do that on the daily. if i'm limited to a 6l90, that's already more forward gears than I have currently, it's no ten speed, but it's a step in the right direction, the good thing about eBay is that people sell ECUs and TCUs for way too cheap all day everyday, so I will definitely be experimenting to see if they talk and if so what errors they report back and if it is possible or not, either way, what's the loss, a couple if weeks worth of gas money? it's not so much that i'd lose sleep over.

 

IMG_5123.HEIC

TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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I figured there's a lot of wiring differences, and the reluctor wheels, but why would I need a different intake manifold/heads? is it because i wouldn't be able to use the L96 throttle body on the LQ9 intake? if that's the only reason, couldn't I just make an adapter plate? especially since I plan to put a Magnuson kit on this motor.

CamGTP Senior Enthusiast

CamGTP

Posted
Posted

I guess it just depends on what you want to do with the engine. The L96 heads flow better and so do the GEN 4 intakes.

 

They sell 3 bolt to 4 bolt adapter plates to use the L96 throttle body on the GEN 3 intakes.

 

You will be limited to a 6 speed auto, there is no way to run a 8 speed or 10 speed. Even if you made the wiring work there is no calibration file that exists for a 8 speed auto on a E78 controller. Also if it was me and I was limited to a 6 speed auto, I wouldn't use a E78 harness or computer either because they are alot more difficult to tune than a E38 controller that also can use the 6L80e and 6L90e. The E78 was the early version of the E92 controller from 2014+ and it's all torque based tuning, the E38's are much simpler for tuning.

TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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end goal is to supercharge this motor, so intake doesn't really matter, was thinking about porting the heads at some point, but not until way into the future. 

 

reason I ask about L96 is because it's similar to the older style LS motors as opposed to the LT motors. but I'm trying to find something that will both run the motor and be factory to a 2015-2020 K2xx truck. since I won't be able to get any kind of communication out of the BCM without an ECU, also need it to provide the low speed can signal for the gauge cluster readouts.

 

ideally I'd like to be able to use the 10speed that I already have, but i guess that requires a bit of hacking and treading new waters. 

 

So i'd be forced to use a 6l90? compared to a 4l65e, that doesn't sound so bad, it's just that I wouldn't have as many forward gears as I possibly could have. but i loose some of the tunability. 

JONBLARC7 Enthusiast

JONBLARC7

Posted
Posted

If your doing all this work anyway and the motor is out.  Why wouldn't you just swap cams and delete the AFM lifters.  I did that on my L86 at 120K and was very reliable until it spun the connecting rod bearing on 1 and 2 LOL this winter.  But now it's got forged pistons too.

  • Like 2
TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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So my donor vehicle was involved in a front end collision. as a result of the collision, the block was cracked, like split. I sold it to a scrapper in Paterson for it's weight in aluminum. At the time that's all it was to me, since I still have the LQ9. I didn't stop to think of it as a core or for the heads or anything like that, didn't think any of that was really worth the effort. If I wanted to continue with an L86, I would have to get a used LKQ engine or maybe a crate motor.

 

I think I remember hearing somewhere that the bolt pattern for the LS and LT heads are the same. If this is true, couldn't I reuse my ironblock and put a set of L86 heads on it? or this is overambitious?

 

Just out of curiosity, does anyone make a better version of the AFM lifters? I've heard from dealer techs that the lifters themselves are the parts that fail and take out the camshaft with them. Is there any way to prevent that, or I would have to delete it all together to make this engine more reliable? The end goal here is reliability, I don't want to deal with collapsing lifters and spun rod bearings or melting pistons. But if I can gain a couple extra MPGs by just making the AFM system more reliable, I certainly wouldn't mind. same reasoning behind trying to retain the 10spd (besides already having it.

 

Also, why did your rod bearings fail? wrong tolerance, poor quality, or operator error? I don't mean this as a dig at anyone, it's just if I take apart an engine, I want to make absolute sure that I won't ever have to take it apart again. I just don't want to go through all of that effort just to pull it again.

TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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Will deleting the system altogether cause a CEL? or is there associated tuning that as to go with it? Are there any kits to do this? And is the non-AFM cam that much different than the AFM cam? I'm not looking for an aggressive engine, just more longevity.

 

I live in an emissions state. All they really do is plug in a scanner, but I still need to get inspection on the car every two years. At least until my chassis becomes 25 years old.

CamGTP Senior Enthusiast

CamGTP

Posted
Posted

Anything AFM related can be turned off in the tune, so yes it does require a tune for all of that.

 

They sell non AFM camshafts with all the same specs as the AFM camshaft, so it change really nothing as far as the engine goes.

TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

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is the non AFM Camshaft that different that it needs to be changed? I'm just curious why the camshaft as to be changed too. This is only my third engine rebuild, and would be my first one making serious modifications. I just like collecting as much information as I can get. I don't want to change something just because I was told to, I want to understand why it must be changed. Maybe if I saw the replacement lifters I would understand?

 

I've seen so many sets of collapsed lifters through my friend in the Caddy dealer, I'd be able recognize them anywhere. I'm just curious what's so different between the two that the cam needs to be swapped, or is it that there are additional oil passages or sprockets or something that runs the AFM system? I'm just curious at this point.

TheCaddyMan04 Enthusiast

TheCaddyMan04

Posted
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do you know why the L83/L86 have the lifter issues? or is it different from case to case? like why do they do what they do and what causes the scoring? is there any way to prevent that, or is it just inevitable? is it oil sludging, causing the lifter to get stuck? and if so, could a shorter oil change interval prevent failure? just questions I have floating around my head. This is unrelated, I'm just thinking about my daily and what happens when the lifters in that go out.

 

And whats with the L84/L87 and bending pushrods? I understand it happens a lot, but how does it manage to bend a pushrod?

Black02Silverado Senior Enthusiast

Black02Silverado

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, TheCaddyMan04 said:

do you know why the L83/L86 have the lifter issues? or is it different from case to case? like why do they do what they do and what causes the scoring? is there any way to prevent that, or is it just inevitable? is it oil sludging, causing the lifter to get stuck? and if so, could a shorter oil change interval prevent failure? just questions I have floating around my head. This is unrelated, I'm just thinking about my daily and what happens when the lifters in that go out.

 

And whats with the L84/L87 and bending pushrods? I understand it happens a lot, but how does it manage to bend a pushrod?

To me it is a part quality issue.  Remember, the lowest bidder gets the contract so not much is invested in the product.  No reason these should be trashing lifters and such with as little as 1,000 miles on the vehicle.

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