2001 & 2003 3.3 Engine Swap Question.

HI All, I have a question for the smartest forum on the globe!

I have a 2001 3.3 with EGR, body is a little rough, but it only has 94K miles and runs great.
I also have a 2003 3.3 NO, repeat, NO EGR, good body with business graphics & has 167K miles.

You can tell from the title where I'm going with this. I want to drop the cradles of both vans and swap the powertrains so the van with business graphics has the powertrain with 94K miles, and the other will have 167K miles, but both will remain running. I plan on running both vans until I junk them, but I want my business van to stick around a little while longer.

Simple enough, everything is EXACTLY the same, except for the EGR. Herein lies the problem. I need to keep the EGR with the van (and PCM) that was originally equipped with it.

The '03 is NOT an EGR Delete, which means I can't just swap the EGR and the wiring harness unless I also swap the heads (one has the passage for the exhaust gas) and I don't want to get into that.

I'm pretty sure that if I swap the ECMs, everything will get screwed up, including serial numbers and stuff so that is out of the question.

Here's my question; Does anybody know of any way I can disable the EGR on the van without throwing an SEL? PA requires an OBDII emissions inspection. If some vans didn't have EGRs anyway, what's the big deal if I disable it?

I'm thinking remove the EGR from the 2001 engine, plug up the holes (I'm sure I can find and EGR delete engine from the junkyard that I can pull the plugs or caps from) put that powertrain in the 2003 and it will be fine. That's the simple part.

What I can't figure out is how to use the EGR on the 2003 engine and put it in the 2001 in such a way that it won't throw an SEL.

Any suggestions?

Technically, no shop will disable the CEL for detecting EGR since that is removing an emissions control device and that is illegal under federal law. The van that came factory without the EGR is exempt from that rule since it was not there as original equipment on that particular vehicle.

I'm thinking your only real hope is that you can find someone with a high end scanner/tuner that is willing to do it or you're gonna have to swap out the head. There is really no other way around it.

Thanks, b1lk1. I was afraid that I would have to swap the heads. Maybe I should just swap the trannies & hope for the best. The 3.3 motors pretty much run forever anyway.

I can't believe how dumb that design is. Usually the ERG tube taps off of the exhaust manifold, right? It would have been a lot easier to swap exhaust manifolds.

Update:
I'm thinking of going ahead with the powertrain swap & changing out the heads to keep the EGR with the vehicle originally equipped with it.

Here's another snag; The 2003 is a Flex-Fuel and the 2001 is not. What else do I need to swap, if anything? What if I just run straight gas in both vehicles? I'm not running E85 anyhow.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know half of what y'all said around here, but I hope you continue to update! It's interesting to read. :)

And on the note about E85, at least it's somewhat accessible in Pgh! I found ONE station here in Nashville that actually carries it. And I am NOT an expert, but as long as you're running straight gas and not doing any changes with any combustion or exhaust parts, I imagine it shouldn't cause any problems.

The entire fuel system is different in an E85 vehicle. Mostly, they change anything rubber to a different part since that is what the E85 attacks first. If you're gonna change the heads just change everything abover the heads and you will maintain E85 compliance. To me, with the amount of labor involved, this swap makes no logical or financial sense.

b1lk1,
Thanks for the info on the fuel system.

If it were just any vehicle it would not make sense to me either, but this is my business vehicle which has a good body, business graphics, i.e. vehicle wrap (The wrap alone cost over $2000), but it has high miles(167K). How many more reliable miles can I get out of it? 20K, 30K? Should I wait until it dies, most likely while I'm off on a job, or should I do it under my terms when I have down time?

The other vehicle has a rough body, but low miles (95K). I should get at least another 75K out of that powertain, most likely more since I maintain my cars well, which means my business van should remain reliable for another 2+ years.

I could just buy a new vehicle & add new wrap, but I want to remain in the black, not go in the red.

Dropping both cradles & swapping them isn't difficult. I've actually done it once, the only difference is that I scrapped the donor vehicle. In this case I have two running powertrains and I want to keep both vehicles running. So I may be looking at almost double the work.

To me, this is still a solid financial option.

I'll be the first to admit I don't know half of what y'all said around here, but I hope you continue to update! It's interesting to read. :)

And on the note about E85, at least it's somewhat accessible in Pgh! I found ONE station here in Nashville that actually carries it. And I am NOT an expert, but as long as you're running straight gas and not doing any changes with any combustion or exhaust parts, I imagine it shouldn't cause any problems.

I've only seen a few stations in PGH with E85. I tried it once, but my mileage was horrible so I went back to straight gasoline.
I don't know how soon I will do the swap, it maybe be a few months out, but yes, I will continue to post. Thanks for the interest :)