Ok guys, I have searched the forum as far as my weak eyes, slow connection speed, and short patience have allowed me. Here is my situation.

I have/had a 2008 Chevrolet Express 3500 with the ly6. It had a truckmount carpet extractor mounted inside and I used it for my business. The carpet machine was powered by a gasoline engine which caught fire, destroying the interior of the van completely. It did not, however penetrate the firewall or through the floor, leaving the engine, transmission, fuel system, and all other components attached to the chassis undamaged, didnt even melt any of the wires under the hood or underneath the van.

I decided I would take the body off the frame and wound up scrapping the burned body. What I have now is the complete and intact rolling chassis including engine transmission, rear, and fuel system all covered by a tarp parked in my back yard.

I would like to know how to start the engine. The ecm , tcm and fuse box were all mounted on the inside fender and are still connected, as is the fuel pump and all fuel lines. The entire wiring harness is intact to where it used to enter the firewall. I have exposed all the wires and taken a jump box to try and figure out what each wire does. So far all I can get it to do is click the throttle body, and make the fuel pump come on. If I can get it to start up and run, I may, with a little help, put it in a dump truck I have which currently has a carbureted 350. This engine has 80,000 miles on it and was meticuloulsy mantained and running perfectly at the time of the fire.

Thanks for any help! I am really interested in getting the thing to run!

 

Heres what I have, If I cant get it to run, I guess I will put it on Ebay

 

Your best bet is to have someone modify your harness and flash your computer. It will run you about $350, but you will get it to run.

Where are you located? I might be interested in the engine if you are nearby.

 

Thanks for your reply. I am in Darlington South Carolina. So starting the engine is not as simple as hotwiring it from the harness then. I would have to have someone connect it to a computer or diagnostic system of some sort? I have the means to remove the engine from the frame and palletize it if need be.

 

did you keep the column?

 

You wont recoup the costs of getting it to run if you plan on selling it. Swappers know what to do and usually have the nec tools/software to deal with these issues so just put the ad up as you described and you'll get the same kind of coin you would if you get it running. Take LOTS of pics so everyone can see the wiring and all the supporting parts are not cooked from the fire and away you go.


If you want to run it yourself then you will have to make sure the OBDII port is wired correctly and that none of the TCM or BCM is burned and all connected ( How you didnt at least melt down the BCM is beyond me ) and then flash off VATS with HPtuners ( or pay someone with HPtuners ) to do so and then simply connect the starter poles with a screwdriver and it should start if all systems are intact as you say.

If this sounds like too much BS then sell it

 

You would be amazed how little metal there is in the column. The fire completely destroyed it, and the dash, the only metal parts i could find were a frame for the glove box and the radio chassis. Everything else was apparently plastic and consumed by the fire.

The firewall and dog house did an incredible job of stopping the fire. Even wires that spider across the top of the intake didnt melt. Only a little of the black tape curled up. The TCM and ECM on this year van were mounted on the inside front fender, well away from the fire. A carpet cleaning machine mounted in a van is a rolling fire hazard anyway. The one in that van had a briggs and stratton vanguard engine to power the vacuum and pressure pump, a little giant heating coil fed by a 80 pound propane cylinder mounted under the van. Apparently the gas line to the briggs engine came off, and the electric fuel pump that fed the engine continued to pump fuel onto the hot and running engine starting the fire, and the fuel pump continued to pump gas into the van as the fire burned, it was under the van and remained undamaged. Then the hose carrying propane to the water heater burned in two, and there were tools and chemicals, some of them solvents stored on shelves in the van. You can imagine the kind of fire that created. Flames were shooting 3 stories in the air, but it was all the fuel burning off inside the passenger compartment. All the plastic parts under the body and under the hood were shielded from the fire. which started behind the drivers seat where the engine was mounted.

I was even able to repair the carpet machine. It is now mounted in a 6x10 enclosed trailer I purchased on Craigslist. If it burns this time at least it will burn a $1,500 trailer, and not a late model van in great shape!

 

So you cannot run an LY6 without a TCM and BCM? I'm running an LY6 with a T56 behind it. I've only got the ECU and was planning on getting someone to remove VATS.
I take it that's not enough to get the motor running? If not, what is the bare minimum to get it running?

 

NO you dont need to have the BCM to run an LY6 or any other Gen III/IV engine swap, assuming you have the VATs removed in the ECM. In your case you dont need a TCM either (assuming you have the can bus wiring correct) since you are running a T56.

Jon
PSI