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89 engine/computer swap to 88

J

jimmy88

1/2 ton status
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Posts
359
Reaction score
2
Location
Detroit, MI area
Great web site, it cool to know so many other people are into GM trucks. I want to swap the motor and computer from my 89 Blazer (now a parts truck) to my 88 Jimmy. As a bonus I can get rid of the air pump and have the serpentine belt too. My Chilton manual says the wiring was the same for the two years on the Chey's & GMC's. My factory wiring manual for the 88 has 10 times as many wiring diagrams so I don't trust the Chilton. Has anyone done this? I don't want to have to change the wiring harness. Thanks for any help.

88 Jimmy, D60, 14Bolt FF, 700R4, NP241
 
I have an 88 & 89 Blazers also and the best I can tell the ecm and sensor setup on the 88 & 89 are identical, can anyone confirm this? As for the wiring harness. I have the 89 diagrams from Helms if you have anything you want to compare. I can't imagine much would have changed.


John
 
I'm in the middle of swapping a 91 Caprice 350 into my '88. So far, after a short panic yesterday, I'm finding everything is identical, with just a bunch of little things moving over from my motor to the new motor (esc circuit, distributor, little things the blazer had that the caprice didn't or vice versa).
I'd guess an '89 truck motor would be even more compatible than the caprice motor I'm moving in. Go for it!

Ratch
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I bought my 89 blazerwith a seized motor, then bought a motor of my buddy, out of an 88 blazer. The only thing I did was keep the sepertine belt assembly, other than that it was a direct swap. So I'm assuming you can do it the opposite way.

Tom
 
Hey that would be great if you have the wiring diagram for the 89 ecm. I got the factory wiring manual for the 88. If I'm lucky I can just change the prom.

Jim



88 Jimmy, D60, 14Bolt FF, 700R4, NP241
 
As far as i know, if you are only concerned with the engine and engine related harness and ECM, they were the same from 87-91 they were all TBI trucks and i don't believe any of the TBI trucks had an air pump so no difference in wiring there.
 
Got an 88 Jimmy and 88 GMC Suburban 1/2 ton and both have 350s, air pumps, TBI and the old v-belts. The air pump output runs through a $100+ solenoid controlled by the ecm. The solenoid only lets air through to the exhaust manifolds at idle. My solenoid crapped out so I plugged the manifolds and ever since once the engine warms up, the idle drops so low it almost stalls. Then it goes back to normal for maybe 30 sec or so. Don't know or care if this is because the ecm sees the mixture as too rich without the air pump or what. The motor in the Jimmy is beat and the engine in the 89 Blazer ran good before I parked it. Figure if I swap the 89 motor with the accessories and switch the prom or the whole ecm it should run the same in the Jimmy. Later, when I get time & $$$ I'll get heads for my 400SB and put that in. Hey, what the hell I'll just try it and hopefully nothing will smoke.

88 Jimmy, D60, 14Bolt FF, 700R4, NP241
 
Guess i got lucky when i purchased my 89 blazer, no air pump. My buddies 90 and 91 don't have one either. Maybe only the 87 and 88's have them. Yes, 88 would still be a v belt arrangement, the serp started in 89. As for the problem you are having, i have no idea but your 89 engine will work fine in your 88
 
I'll try scanning the diagram and posting it to some webspace somewhere. Let you know how things go.



John
 
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