other GM vehicles also use the same engne,
equinox, torrent, traverse to name a few..

 

replacement engine

I know that the other engines are the same, but GM and car companies sometimes have slight differences in the mounting, accessories etc that make a swap difficult. I would like to know if anyone has actually done it and what years are interchangeable.
Thanks

 

I know that the other engines are the same, but GM and car companies sometimes have slight differences in the mounting, accessories etc that make a swap difficult. I would like to know if anyone has actually done it and what years are interchangeable.
Thanks

Pretty much any GM LY7 engine from '07 to '10 should swap in without too many issues.

If you are looking for a direct bolt in swap, get a 3.6 engine from an '08 or '09 Chevy Equinox Sport or Pontiac Torrent GXP. The XL7 was built on the same line in Canada as its GM stablemates (shares the same Theta platform). Mechanically the only difference with the '07 and '08 XL7s is that they use the Aisin 5 speed transmission from the regular Equinox, while the Equinox Sport and Torrent GXP use the GM 6 speed transmission (the XL7 got the 6 speed transmission for '09). Other than the transmission, they are mechanically identical and the engines will swap without issue.

The Equinox Sport and Torrent GXP weren't very common either, but their engines seem to be a little easier to find and lower priced than engines from XL7s.

Here are a couple of eBay examples:

Equinox Sport/Torrent GXP Engine- 30K Miles $999+shipping
08 09 Torrent Equinox 3 6L Engine Motor 30K | eBay

Equinox Sport/Torrent GXP Engine- 38K Miles $918+shipping:
08 09 Equinox Engine 3 6L Vin 7 8th Digit Opt LY7 859659 | eBay

You might also try looking at a 3.6 engine from an '08-'10 Saturn Vue XR/Redline. The Vue was a another Theta platform vehicle, so mounts, etc. should be pretty similar to the XL7/Equinox Sport/Torrent GXP. Plus, the 3.6 was a lot more common in the Vue. LY7's from the Saturn Aura/Chevy Malibu/Pontiac G6 GXP and the Chevy Traverse/Saturn Outlook/GMC Acadia should also swap in without too much issue.

Best of luck with the replacement!

 

Will the LLT engine work

Thanks for the info. Will the LLT engine work. I know its direct injection and that alone would probably make it not work, but there are many low mileage LLT engines out there for about the same price as the LY7.

 

Thanks for the info. Will the LLT engine work. I know its direct injection and that alone would probably make it not work, but there are many low mileage LLT engines out there for about the same price as the LY7.

Plug and play- no. The LLT was never used in the XL7/Equinox/Torrent/Vue, so putting an LLT in would be a completely custom adventure. Anything is possible with enough time, money, and patience.

The ECM to run the LLT would have to come from another vehicle that used the LLT from the factory and would have the proper programming, such as the ECM from a Lambda (Outlook/Acadia/Enclave/Traverse). Likewise, I would imagine that the wire harness would be different on the LLT, at least to some degree, as direct inject adds another level of complexity to the already complex LY7.

Even if you could get the ECM and engine harness situation figured out, you would then have to worry about figuring out the proper pinouts between the new engine harness and the existing body harness in the XL7. Then getting the new ECM to talk to the existing BCM in the XL7 would be a whole other complicated situation to figure out.

Unfortunately its not like the old days that you can just drop any engine in whatever vehicle you want. A lot more engineering effort goes in to vehicles to make sure that they meet emissions and fuel economy standards. While we all want those benefits, the trade-off is that doing old school engine swaps are ridiculously more complicated because of computers.

If you would actually like to get your vehicle back on the road in a timely fashion, save yourself the trouble and find a decent LY7.

 

Timing Chain

When does the timing chain require maintenance to best avoid trouble? Are these models prone to timing chain failure?

 

No maintenance but

if your check egine light is on for timing a chain problem you better fix it. The chains are pretty cheap now. Its the labor that will cost you.