I wanted to document what I recently did on my 5.3 LS swap. The 5.3 is an LM4 from an Envoy XL.

Cooling System
I did something a little different and put the Bosch coolant temp sensor in an extra port on the passenger-side LS head instead of in the top coolant hose. The LS has two coolant temp ports, one on each head. The driver's one is occupied by the LS coolant sensor. The passenger one just had a plug in it. The threads on the Bosch sensor and the heads actually match. Fairly tight fit with the firewall.



Otherwise, coolant routing goes as follows:

Waterpump output -> bleeder -> Rover upper hose -> radiator
radiator -> BMW lower hose -> water pump
5/8 inch water pump outlet -> 5/8 hose -> 3-way connector with pipe from overflow tank -> heater core
3/4 inch water pump outlet -> 3/4 hose -> heater core [edit: the 3-way connector may need to be in this pipe, based on conversation below]
radiator overflow -> overflow tank
passenger side head coolant port -> throttle body -> overflow tank





Fuel System
I bought the fuel rail kit off eBay which was nice -8an parts. To hook to that I used a quick connect to 6an, 1 foot of 6an hose, a 6an 90 turn, and a 6an to 8an adapter.



Evap
Used a part from Novak hooked to the GM purge valve. The GM purge valve required two wires - one to a 12V supply and a pin at the GM ECM (red 34). The purge valve is connected to the Land Rover purge valve connection.




Air Intake Box
I originally used a cone filter, which worked good, except for high IATs. Since I have a snorkel, I threw back in the factory air box, but it would not supply enough air to the LS wide-open. So I cut into the box and made a second duct that I can block off if going off-road. The second duct fixes most of the air supply problem, but I still need to do some tweaking. Not pretty, but I’ll pull it back out and clean it up shortly.





Overall, I still have a few things to finish up. I have a really minor coolant leak near the front of the engine that I need to track down.

 

Captain,
Did you go the custom camshaft route like Trail-Head does so you can run it off of the LR ECU? Basically the custom cam changes the firing order to that of the old LR V-8.

 

No, I did not. It’s the ACE setup with the GM ECM. I looked at the LR ECU setup and its complicated and expensive. The custom camshaft requires a completely custom grind. I was quoted $700 for just the custom cam. Also, the timing wheel on the crankshaft of the LS has the wrong number of teeth and has to be pulled, replaced, and clocked differently, which meant the lower-end would have to come apart. The cam sensor setup is different as well. Lot of custom parts.

 

Also running a LR ecu means you can't tune it near as easily as a GM ecu if the need arises in the future.

 

Much easier than having to send the LR ECU off to England to get marginal gains. With the LS - Grab a copy of HPTuners and hook it into OBD to tune. Also can throw in a cam + tune for more power. Although the 5.3 can chirp the tires from a stop as is now.

 

Yea the LR "tune" is not that helpful and costs a fortune. That is awesome to hear about the 5.3 power...I've had multiple chevy trucks or suvs with the 5.3 and have always been pleased with them. I'm trying to put together a LQ9 mated to a 6L90 transmission (will need a controller to get it to play nice with a gen 3 motor) and then pony up for the adapter to keep the LT230. At elevation and the weight/tire size I'm running I think the bump to the 6.0 and a 6 speed transmission will be worth every penny.

 

I'm considering a swap for my other Disco - that happens when I have a lot of time on my hands like at the moment. If I were to go the 6L80 route, I would stick with the Gen IV/V LS just to avoid having that 3rd party trans controller on the 6L80, and it would run a “factory GM” setup. I don't know a lot about that Zero Gravity 6L80 controller - looks like they dropped the price to $875 though. HGM/Compushift supposedly has a 6L80 controller for around the same price coming out soon.

Only problem is the 6L80 setup - regardless of GM or 3rd party trans controller - is probably 2 times the cost of the setup I am running now with the ZF. I've been dabbling with the idea of using the Compushift with the ZF just to see what it can do. Apparently it'll let you tune the trans about any way you want.

 

Makes sense, I just know I don't want the AFM or VVT of the gen IV motors so by the time I delete those functions it's getting closer to the cost of the controller so might as well just run a LQ4 or LQ9 and buy the controller.

 

True. Plus the difference in price of these engines has become crazy. Gen 3 usually for under $800, where the Gen 4 is low end price seems like $1500 for a 5.3. Plus the Gen 3 has the cheaper wiring harnesses and no electronic pedals etc.

 

Exactly. I don't want to mess with the pedal assembly if I can help it and the motor cost difference helps with the controller price.