So first things first, I am plan on doing a transmission swap to a manual trans in my 2007 Avalanche.
I tend to over explain things, so if you want the details read on. If you want the basics, tl;dr at the end.
Of course I've heard all the criticism about it, but this isn't some lighthearted idea. I've looked into it plenty, and found almost all the answers I need, but I still have a couple questions I can't find exact answers for my specific application.
I've seen Lord Aries ZF6 swap, and as awesome as it is, the ZF6 is not needed for me. I also have 2wd, not 4wd, so slightly different setup(no worry about transfer cases and the driveshaft for the front). I plan to us the NV4500. I've got the parts side of things pretty much figured out, I've found plenty of info on other forums between people doing or contemplating this swap in silverados, sierras, other gm V8 vehicles, or even using the vortec engines in jeeps or other toys, 2wd and 4wd, with plenty options of manual transmissions used as well.
So parts and labor aside, my only concern is the tuning bit of things. I've come across conflicting ideas and options for it and just not sure what to go with. So obviously the 5.3 engine in my avalanche never had a manual transmission from GM, in any application. The 4.8 and 6.0 engines did. So there isn't the simple find an ecu from a manual version and swap it or copy the tune or whatever. I've seen the option to tune it yourself, but as comfortable as I am with tearing apart and rebuilding things, tuning is one thing I've never gotten into with newer vehicles. And I read on a few other forums that just simply tuning out the automatic transmission protocols can cause issues with deceleration and idling requiring more tuning or parts to fix. And there's also the issue of the pesky check engine light, which I've heard will most likely be on. Where I live, vehicles less than 25 yrs old do have to pass a basic emissions test yearly. Its nothing as stringent as say California, but a check engine light on will fail it. So in my research, I came across one post that recommended Howell EFI for an ECU to use with a manual transmission on the 5.3. Has anybody here heard of them? I think I found it on an offroad forum so the CEL dilemma wasn't really discussed, but they said it worked with the 5.3 with a manual transmission to get the vehicle running at least(it was a jeep forum swapping a 5.3 into a manual jeep rock crawler, so a completely different beast but similar enough I guess). So would that be something that could pass emissions? Swap my ECU for theirs after all the transmission bits are in and good to go? If that sounds too good to be true, or won't work for some reason, what would be the next easiest thing? One forum post suggested just getting a 6.0 manual ECU and running it as is, but that seemed way to hinky for me, running a 6.0 tune on a 5.3 engine. But could a 6.0 ECU be easily changed to match the 5.3 engine parameters?
tl;dr - Will a Howell EFI ECU for a 5.3 work fine, get my truck running with a manual trans, and pass a basic OBD emissions test yearly? If so, is it a basic plug n play kinda swap or will there still be anything else needed for engine side of things? If not, whats the best options for someone with no computer tuning experience?
I tend to over explain things, so if you want the details read on. If you want the basics, tl;dr at the end.
Of course I've heard all the criticism about it, but this isn't some lighthearted idea. I've looked into it plenty, and found almost all the answers I need, but I still have a couple questions I can't find exact answers for my specific application.
I've seen Lord Aries ZF6 swap, and as awesome as it is, the ZF6 is not needed for me. I also have 2wd, not 4wd, so slightly different setup(no worry about transfer cases and the driveshaft for the front). I plan to us the NV4500. I've got the parts side of things pretty much figured out, I've found plenty of info on other forums between people doing or contemplating this swap in silverados, sierras, other gm V8 vehicles, or even using the vortec engines in jeeps or other toys, 2wd and 4wd, with plenty options of manual transmissions used as well.
So parts and labor aside, my only concern is the tuning bit of things. I've come across conflicting ideas and options for it and just not sure what to go with. So obviously the 5.3 engine in my avalanche never had a manual transmission from GM, in any application. The 4.8 and 6.0 engines did. So there isn't the simple find an ecu from a manual version and swap it or copy the tune or whatever. I've seen the option to tune it yourself, but as comfortable as I am with tearing apart and rebuilding things, tuning is one thing I've never gotten into with newer vehicles. And I read on a few other forums that just simply tuning out the automatic transmission protocols can cause issues with deceleration and idling requiring more tuning or parts to fix. And there's also the issue of the pesky check engine light, which I've heard will most likely be on. Where I live, vehicles less than 25 yrs old do have to pass a basic emissions test yearly. Its nothing as stringent as say California, but a check engine light on will fail it. So in my research, I came across one post that recommended Howell EFI for an ECU to use with a manual transmission on the 5.3. Has anybody here heard of them? I think I found it on an offroad forum so the CEL dilemma wasn't really discussed, but they said it worked with the 5.3 with a manual transmission to get the vehicle running at least(it was a jeep forum swapping a 5.3 into a manual jeep rock crawler, so a completely different beast but similar enough I guess). So would that be something that could pass emissions? Swap my ECU for theirs after all the transmission bits are in and good to go? If that sounds too good to be true, or won't work for some reason, what would be the next easiest thing? One forum post suggested just getting a 6.0 manual ECU and running it as is, but that seemed way to hinky for me, running a 6.0 tune on a 5.3 engine. But could a 6.0 ECU be easily changed to match the 5.3 engine parameters?
tl;dr - Will a Howell EFI ECU for a 5.3 work fine, get my truck running with a manual trans, and pass a basic OBD emissions test yearly? If so, is it a basic plug n play kinda swap or will there still be anything else needed for engine side of things? If not, whats the best options for someone with no computer tuning experience?