Motor swap question

[dave110]

Hello to all! While I frequent another forum I am new to this one. I stumbled across it and it looks like a really good site. There is a wealth of info. just on the home page! The format is easy to navigate and answers alot of questions without having to look any further. Big thanks to Mopar1973Man for setting this up!!I am looking for an answer to a question I have been asking. The truck in my sig. has a cracked 53 and I have a motor waiting on me and warmer weather to put it in. My truck is an auto. and the motor came from a manual truck. My motor tag says 215 HP and the replacement says 235. The replacement has a fairly new VP44 on it so I thought I'd keep it if I can. Do I need to change the ECM and VP for this motor or operate in my truck? Or can I just use it as is? I'm not worried about the extra 20 HP But I'm not sure if the manual components will jive with the auto PCM. I would greatly appreciate any advice on this or anything else I need to do to make this work. I'm also interested in knowing where the extra 20 HP comes from. Is the VP computer doing it or the ECM?Just trying to have everything figured out as best I can before I do the swap. I don't like suprises!Thanks!! Dave

[dave110]

Anyone have an idea on this? If anyone did a manual to auto swap did you switch ECM and IP?

[stodg73]

You should be able to put it in and use it as long as you use the 235hp motors ECM. You may have to take the truck to the dealer and have them reflash the ECM to your truck, I am not sure about this though. While you are doing the swap, you might want to do a transmission upgrade while it is out. Others will chime in.

[Mopar1973Man]

The 2 engine are phyiscally the same as far as I know... Yes you'll have to reflash the PCM and ECM to match for the transmission. I pretty sure the ECM software is what makes the 20 HP difference. Because I've never heard a vendor sell a 215 VP44 pump it either SO or HO VP44 pumps...

[dave110]

Could I just swap in the ECM from the original motor and keep the 235 HP IP?

[Mopar1973Man]

Could I just swap in the ECM from the original motor and keep the 235 HP IP?

Ye you could but still going to need to flash the ECM to match the trans and also flash the VIN number to both.

[Wild and Free]

Yep the ecm needs to match year and tranny type. Bob Wagner of Mads electronics "Smarty" will do ecm flashes also. Just need to send it in to him. Might be cheaper than dealership smartypower.com

[dave110]

Now I'm getting confused. If I use the automatic ECM, the one thats in the truck now, and the PCM is not getting changed, why do I need to reflash them? According to BlueChip the VP44 is the same for 5 speeds and auto's so from what I'm seeing I should be able to swap ECM's and go. Or am I missing something? I'm not switching transmissions, only engines. Sorry if I'm being a pain here. This computer stuff drives me nuts!

[Wild and Free]

Because there are subtle differences in how they run gauges ect. It may start and run but some or all of the gauges will not work. I just went through this on a few other forums and this is what I learned as I bought a used ecm just as a spare and was looking for interchange info. Even if its the same year there are differences between manual and auto ecms. Was the rig you got the engine out of a 5 or 6 speed? Its Not a big deal to have it reflashed could do it just to have a spare ecm on hand. If it was an engine out of a 5 speed rig and you swap the ecm from your auto over then you will be fine and won't need to worry about a reflash but if it was a 6 speed rig you will need to reflash do to having a different vp44 than the autos and 5 speeds.

[dave110]

Thanks for the reply! It was a 5 speed. I'm gonna put my auto ecm on the donor motor and put it in the truck. The more I learn I think this should be ok like you said since this ecm ran the gauges before. I'll be sure to post a short tutorial after I'm done so others may learn too. Thanks to all for the help. If anyone thinks of more let me know.

[Wild and Free]

Yep if you put your original ecm on the donor engine being it is an SO vp44 you will be good to go.

[dave110]

Finally did this swap and just wanted to thank you guys for the help! I left the pump on the 5 speed motor and put the auto ECM on it and put it in the truck. It runs just fine with no issues whatsoever. Thanks again.