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Another LS Swap on a 1990 240

T

Ttownthomas

New member
Joined
Feb 1, 2015
Location
Cary, NC
This is my first engine swap of any kind. I have been lurking and learning for a few months. I am not a tech but I work with some ASE Techs that will be helping me when I get stuck.

Ok. Here is the Volvo. It was acquired a couple of months ago. It is a 178,000 mile 1990 240. It is fairly rust free but it barely ran and was covered in mud and filth. It was destined for the scrap yard but it turned out to be pretty nice. It has been repainted by somebody at some point and since there is plenty of overspray I don't think it was a high end paint job. It has been thoroughly cleaned and runs well enough that I can drive it the 25 miles to the donor car.

16579067087_363bea82c5.jpg


Here is the donor car:

16598980060_af67302f06.jpg


Its a 178,000 mile (coincidence) 2004 GMC Envoy XL. It has an aluminum Block LS that makes 290 Horsepower. The truck is totaled and I bought it an insurance auction. It did not have a key so I took a bit of a gamble on it. It turns out that it runs, gets up to temperature without overheating and has good oil pressure!

We will be using the Motor and the 60 series trans from this vehicle for the build

I will document the build here.
 
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I do have a question for the group:

I assume there is some value in the redblock engine and the automatic trans from the Volvo. Other than documenting the overall running condition of the motor and doing a compression check and documenting the readings is there anything else I should do to the Volvo engine to figure out its value BEFORE I remove it from the car?
 
fun stuff. it's not a bad swap at all, but I hope you're not planning on leaving the engine stock (cam and springs at the least, right?). If you're going to do it up project style you may want to stake your claim in the projects sub-forum of showroom.
 
Ttownthomas said:
I do have a question for the group:

I assume there is some value in the redblock engine and the automatic trans from the Volvo. Other than documenting the overall running condition of the motor and doing a compression check and documenting the readings is there anything else I should do to the Volvo engine to figure out its value BEFORE I remove it from the car?
Click to expand...

generally they're only worth a couple hundred bucks. the transmission is the lighter duty of the volvo automatics. having the numbers on the engine would help to sell it, but when in most cases folks can cruise down to the you-pull-it and get an engine in the $200 range, that kinda hoses the resale value a bit.
 
<- Also using an LM4 (from a 30k '04 Buick Rainier) as my swap donor.

Random FYI: there's a fair amount of oddball differences between the GMT360 wiring and the normal truck wiring that most people have documented. Nothing that can't be figured with with a good list of pinouts, but enough that you're a little off the map. Also, the lower two bolts on the AC bracket go into the oilpan where they would normally go into the block, so if you're keeping AC, that goes straight into the scrap pile.

Be prepared to drill the dipstick tube hole, as well!
 
linuxman51 said:
fun stuff. it's not a bad swap at all, but I hope you're not planning on leaving the engine stock (cam and springs at the least, right?). If you're going to do it up project style you may want to stake your claim in the projects sub-forum of showroom.
Click to expand...

I'm going to go for 400 horsepower. Not sure of the route yet.

Can someone move this thread to the project forum? I plan to document the whole swap including the sub frame modification.
 
Random FYI: there's a fair amount of oddball differences between the GMT360 wiring and the normal truck wiring that most people have documented. Nothing that can't be figured with with a good list of pinouts, but enough that you're a little off the map. Also, the lower two bolts on the AC bracket go into the oilpan where they would normally go into the block, so if you're keeping AC, that goes straight into the scrap pile.

Be prepared to drill the dipstick tube hole, as well!
Click to expand...

You have listed my 2 biggest question marks. The wiring is going to be my biggest challenge. I may cheat and buy an aftermarket harness. Not sure how to do it yet. I just know it can be done. And what are you saying with the A/C compressor? On the LM4 its bolted to the pan? Did you keep a/c? I live in NC and ill need it.
 
Do the after market harness. Makes it almost idiot proof to wire the car, the harness is high quality and already has all the unnecessary emissions stuff removed. Are you using the truck intake and accessories? These are the guys I got my harness from, highly recommend them. http://psiconversion.com/
 
The actual re-pinning isn't that bad, the connector at the PCM comes apart with basic hand tools (a small screwdriver and 8mm socket IIRC), and a small screwdriver gets pins in and out. Way less drama than the pins in Bosch ECUs! LT1swap.com has a pretty complete list of pins to remove / add, and your wiring harness will need less modification than mine if only because you're keeping the 4L60E (I'm going T56).

I haven't gotten far enough in yet to have good answers on AC (which I plan on keeping), and it's either going to a bit complicated, or dead nuts simple. The GMT360 does it through the body control module over a serial bus, so I've removed the serial pins, added a wire for the on/off switch style AC request on the pin used on the 4G Camaro / vans / etc, so I can keep the PCM to cut it under load, manage idle (I've heard that it does a reasonable enough job without knowedge of when the compressor's running, though), and cut it based on the pressure sensors. If that fails, I'll probably just rig it up like the original 240 system, minus any idle control tie-in. Also, we'll both need an adapter from the GM PAD to our fittings, which I haven't fully researched.

Early truck blocks put the dipstick hole in the oil pan and don't have the dipstick hole drilled out (pad in front of the starter), but most of the oil pans you'd be using (F-body, H3/Muscle Car, or Holley 302-1) require the hole in the block. Drills pretty quick with an aluminum block, would be hell with an iron one. Early car / later truck blocks have them predrilled and used / plugged off.

Take some of my advice with a grain of salt, the only things I've done is research heavily, re-pin my harness, and swap the manifolds and oil pan on a stand. I'm really only a couple project-weeks ahead of you ;)
 
Ttownthomas said:
You have listed my 2 biggest question marks. The wiring is going to be my biggest challenge. I may cheat and buy an aftermarket harness. Not sure how to do it yet. I just know it can be done. And what are you saying with the A/C compressor? On the LM4 its bolted to the pan? Did you keep a/c? I live in NC and ill need it.
Click to expand...
The compressor bolts to a bracket, but I guess to mount the compressor a little lower / closer to the block, only 2/4 bolts go to the block, and the other two are in the oil pan:
dim_oil_pan_53_alum-778x780.jpg
 
vwtechnician said:
Do the after market harness. Makes it almost idiot proof to wire the car, the harness is high quality and already has all the unnecessary emissions stuff removed. Are you using the truck intake and accessories? These are the guys I got my harness from, highly recommend them. http://psiconversion.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link and the suggestion. I'm definitely planning to use the aftermarket harness.

I plan to use everything I can from the truck. Including the intake and any accessories that will work.
 
yeah I skipped most of that and got a truck engine. ended up cutting the pan down an inch and a half or so, and had to use a car intake manifold (that truck manifold is *tall*). most of the process is documented in the heebspeed 940 thread.

I cheated and used the yoshifab mount kit, and didn't have to modify the cross member though. Rogerdee rolled his own, notched the cross member, and got a cts-v pan to retain the truck intake. in hindsight, given the size of the 4L80, that may have been a better idea for me, but i'm almost done so I'm not going to cut things down unless there's a clearance issue.
 
I think you'll end up with hood clearance problems with the truck intake, and possibly the accessories too (or maybe the truck accessories interfere with the car intake?). One of the other reasons I say to use the aftermarket harness is it's got the fuse box and OBD port built into it. You bolt two eyelets to the starter, hook a ground to the back of the engine, a ground inside the car, batt + into the fuel pump relay, wire out to the fuel pump and a switched power for the ignition relay. Bang, car runs, it's that simple. I stripped down the factory Volvo front end harnesses to just the lights, washer pumps, wiper motor and the starter solenoid wire then taped them back up with some fancy cloth harness tape.

Do you know what you're doing for engine mounts yet? I don't think there is (yet) a purchasable solution for the 200 series cars.
 
vwtechnician said:
I think you'll end up with hood clearance problems with the truck intake, and possibly the accessories too (or maybe the truck accessories interfere with the car intake?)..
Click to expand...

I expect to have to fabricate new brackets and will use whatever I can. I'm not sure what will and wont fit

One of the other reasons I say to use the aftermarket harness is it's got the fuse box and OBD port built into it. You bolt two eyelets to the starter, hook a ground to the back of the engine, a ground inside the car, batt + into the fuel pump relay, wire out to the fuel pump and a switched power for the ignition relay. Bang, car runs, it's that simple. I stripped down the factory Volvo front end harnesses to just the lights, washer pumps, wiper motor and the starter solenoid wire then taped them back up with some fancy cloth harness tape..
Click to expand...

Awesome. That will save a ton of hair pulling

Do you know what you're doing for engine mounts yet? I don't think there is (yet) a purchasable solution for the 200 series cars.
Click to expand...

We are going to fabricate mounts. My friend who is helping me with the swap was a welder/fabricator professionally for 12 years before getting into the auto service business. I'm not sure what mounting hardware is in this envoy bay so we may see if any of that stuff can be adapted to work
 
BTW I went with the LM4 primarily because it is 80 pounds lighter than the iron block and it was mated to the slightly smaller 4L60 trans and I assumed that an engine and trans combo will be easier to sort out than if they came from different models. Im looking forward to see what fits. Plus making accessory brackets with an angle grinder is fun!
 
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