JimB

My car turned out great but I would not do it again.

TheSpeedDemon

Thanks Jim for your input here.

I really have no plans and no reason to do this swap, but if I had to and a 3.6L was easier to come by and cheaper, then maybe I would. Then I would consult with someone that has done the swap (i.e. you )

rdstemler

I was kinda thinking along the lines of the 99 for a track car to mod with an engine upgrade later, but as has been said before.....

The cheapest way to do it is to buy someone elses car who has already done the upgrades!!!

LJpete

I thought it was done?

Pete

Paul 996

Hi, someone told me to come here since I was mentioned. Yes my 99 is getting a 3.6 put into it. Yes, my 3.4 did blow first and I decided for the same money instead of putting a 3.4 in put a 3.6 in. A 3.8 did come up but would have been a little more figuring out, but not much.

Anyhow, my car is not done yet for a bunch of silly reason. Shop was in the middle of relocating facilities right in the middle and then at the last minute, completely unrelated to the swap they have been getting some weirdness with my ecu accepting the new 3.6 programs. That is resolved and it is in final shakedown mode now.

It really is not a very complicated process, but not a direct swap.

-Paul

JimB

Paul,
How did you handle the variable cam lift? There isn't even a connection in the 99's harness for it and I'm sure the 99 computer won't control it. Did they put in a new harness and 3.6 computer? Did you convert to e-gas or stick with the cable throttle body?

Just curious.
Jim

Chads996

hmmm...I am under the impression that if you swap engines, you need to swap harnesses, and ECU's. Am I mistaken?

C.

EdiC4S

Paul,
Who and what did they do exactly to your ecu?
The reason I ask is cause I'm still having problems with my 3.8 even though I sprung the money and went with FVD's 3.6 to 3.8 upgrade tuning.The verdict is still out on my opinion of FVD.
Edi

Paul 996

I am not the tech wiz here just the paying customer. My old cable based throttle was fitted to the new engine. My 99 ECU was reflashed with the 3.6 fuel maps and the variocam is handled with a dedicated control system and harness. That is as much as I know.

Paul 996

If you completely swap harness and ecus then you need to completely update the car to the new systems...ie. throttle pedal, instrument cluster and likely a whole lot that I am omitting. The new ECUs don't talk to the old instruments; different bus architecture. Doing this is another way to go and also viable. Just not the way mine was done.

vman

I just finished a swap on a 99 3.4 to a 3.8 x51. It is not easy to do, only a couple of folks in the country have real experience doing it. You need to rewire your car and add a 2002 DME, egas pedal encoder, change to a returnless fuel system, and then find a vendor (only two I could find) who knows how to program 2002 DME to run a 3.8 x51. Note - you will end up paying up today, but the hope is this is the last time you have to do such a swap. I would not waste time doing a 3.6 x51 swap, not enough bang for the buck and the only real difference over the 997 3.8 x 51 is that you don't have to change to a returnless fuel system or buy a custom program (saves you a couple of grand...but you get an old generation motor and alot less horsepower and torque)

VMAN

Doug Donsbach

I did the wiring changes for swapping a 3.6 into an e-gas 3.4. The approach there was to use the 3.6 DME and simply rework the wiring harness. This involved moving approximately 25 connections at the DME, adding two conductors from the DME to the harness connectors in the engine compartment (for the variable valve lift controls), and using the dual-element temperature sender from the 3.4 (with a wire to the engine side of one of the harness connectors) to supply the instrument cluster with engine temperature information. And of course the MAF sensor needed to be replaced with the sensor for the 3.6.

Those changes can easily be made in a few hours if you have access to both early and late DME schematics, know how to read them, and use the Bosch connector tools and wiring repair kits to move/add the required conductors.

I've only briefly looked at the schematics to compare the mechanical throttle and e-gas implementations, but I can't imagine that adding an e-gas throttle assembly and associated wiring would add much in terms of complexity for the swap. It seems very reasonable to me that the entire swap could be easily completed in a weekend.

LJpete

Paul,

When you get the car back, please do a write up of your impressions of the swap and the driveability of the conversion. I'm eager to see the character of the car as a friend and myself are thinking of this conversion when the time comes.

Pete