veltboy618

I am doing a frame off resto on my 1985 Olds Cutlass & I really want to do a little engine upgrade before it gets put back together. I'm not trying to race or anything like that... I just want to get better gas mileage & I think it will look better that the engine I had in it so I have been checking out a lot of sites & reading through a lot of different threads about the 5.3L engine swaps & I want to put one in my cutlass. I found a guy on CL selling one for $700 so I went to check it out yesterday. The guy said he was going to put it in his S-10 but lost interest in the project so it has been sitting for a while but it came out of a wrecked 2002 GMC Sierra with 75K. Is there any way to confirm the mileage & is 75K too much? I have the computer with me. Can I take it somewhere to have it scanned to see what information is stored on it? There is a sticker on the computer with some numbers on it... Can those numbers tell me anything about the engine or the vehicle it came in? I will be picking it up this weekend & bringing it home if I can get this thing checked out. The engine comes with everything & looks pretty good. It has the harness, computer, PS pump, Alt, manifolds, starter, fan & some other things. It also has the drive by cable throttle body. I dont remember if the MAF was there or not. I guess I could just buy another one if it's not. I could not spot any leaks or things like that & I see it still have the tabs on back of the heads so it doesn't look like it has overheated. Here are the pics. Tell me what you think!

Darius

Novaman

I wouldn't buy anything off craigslist without hearing it run. I doubt it has 75k but anythings possible.

SSjon

iTrader: (4)

Looks like it is an '02 for sure with the blocked off nub for EGR on the manifold. 75,000 miles looks about right, judging by the oil seaping from the valve covers and what not. The tabs stuck in the core plugs was put there by the junkyard for warranty purposes I think.

veltboy618

Right! Some people do be trying to get over & it will be a couple months before I can get it started so I don't know... This guy seems pretty cool though & I dont think he would bring me to his mom & dads house if he was on some wicked stuff. Will the computer show the last mileage if it get hooked to some kind of machine?

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

75k is nothing to be afraid of on an LS series engine. My 6.0L has 200k on it, I had a 5.3L that was running great until 130k when it inhaled some water and broke a rod. I know someone who has a 5.3L with 170k on it (had 140k when it got swapped in) that has had 60-70 pounds of nitrous put through it in 100-200 hp shots and it still runs great. I`m actually swapping in a 5.3L right now that I don`t even have a clue how many miles are on it......and I`m hanging a t72 turbo off it and shooting for 600-700hp.

The bad news is that you can`t tell how many miles it has by reading the computer.

veltboy618

OK guys, I went ahead & bought the engine a couple days ago & last night I started labeling the wires & removing the harness so I can get ready to get rid of all the wires that are not needed for the swap when I ran into a small problem. When the person removed the engine & harness they butchered a couple of the connectors off the harness. Hopefully they go to something that wasn't needed anyway. I got a couple of the wires identified. I hope you guys can help me figure out where the rest of them go.

Here are the ones I figured out... These wires were hanging low on the passenger side of the engine so I figured they went somewhere over there. Crank position plug is missing & the oil level sensor is broken.




The Purple wire goes to the starter

The yellow/blk wire is the ground for the Crank position sensor
The Blu/Whi wire is the sensor signal for the Crank position sensor
The Lt. green wire is the B+ supply for the crank position sensor

The Brown wire goes to the low oil level sensor

Does anyone know where the black wire go?

callys

iTrader: (2)

For anyone finding this off google (like myself) years later - the black wire he is holding up is the ground for the oil level sensor. This is also removed on most conversion harnesses.