I have a '96 bonne se 3800, and just blew the motor . I have an option of buying a 3800 supercharged motor out of a '96 buick on the cradle with the trans, wiring harness, ECU...In other words, from strut tower to strut tower. My Question is, will I have to replace the body side of the wiring harness or add a wire or 2 to make this swap? I dont have another car so I want to make it as simple as possible, I need a driver. THANX.

In a nutshell, there are ways to do it, and none of them are as good as selling the car and buying a supercharged model. Your plan is the second best option:

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =44&t=1687



Your wiring harness won't have the branch for the boost control. You'll have to add that. We have a question for you in return. What year and model is the donor? It matters.

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93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

I made one mistake, the doner car is a '95 buick riviera not a '96.SORRY...

No, the 95 won't work at all.

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Sure it will. With the PCM and trans. The 95 L67 was actually a bit quicker on the quarter mile than the S2, due to the stronger and lower torque curve.

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Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

Will the rest of the system being OBD II work with the OBD I PCM?

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What 'rest of the system'? OBD is relating to the drivetrain controls ONLY. As long as he uses the 95 motor, trans, wiring harness, and trans, there will be no issues. He'll need factory service manuals for his car AND the donor car.

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93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

I was referring to the ABS, Air bags, etc. I suppose it's not like trying to swap one into a 00+...

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Airbags and ABS aren't controlled by the PCM. They feed information TO it, but can operate independently. It would be simpler to use an OBD2 donor, but it's not required.

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Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

I know that, I just wasn't sure whether that stuff would communicate with the older PCM.

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Thanks for your help guys, now hopefully I can have a driver by the end of the week. THANKS AGAIN!!!!

You will likely have to do a VATS bypass (passkey). If you have the original key from the donor, it'll be easier.

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Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

Lemme chime in here...

1996 body + 1995 S1 L67, controlled by the 1996 PCM. Correct?

In order for that to work, some things will need to be done to the harness. EGR harness needs to be moved...easy to do, cut back the tape and peel the branch to the required length, then retape. Add boost controller wiring (the 12 volt positive fused, and the switched negative that goes to the PCM). Your L67 may or may not have the oil level sensor...not a big deal, but know that the PCM on '96 and up models monitors that.

The PCM will need to be tuned. The fuel and air tables between the two engines are much different animals...as it sits, your PCM will start and run it, but driveability will be a nightmare until the tables are tuned. The ONLY option for 1996 PCMs is to find someone with a DHP tuner, be it a member here or a vendor. You CAN swap over to the 1997 PCM that offers better tuning possibilites through HP Tuners, but the transmission tables will need to be modified to work with the 4T60e, and VATS will need to be disabled.

I've done the whole OBD2 swap on my old '93 so I know a thing or two about hybrids such as this.

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2005 GXP - White Gold Pearl, no mods...yet.
2000 SSEi - Resurrection in progress. Built L67 w/L32 fuel rail, ported heads, and cam. Camaro front brake system, GXP cluster, and much more in planning.

I'd assumed he was swapping in a 95 L67 drivetrain WITH 95 L67 PCM from the donor.

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93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

I'm swapping from a '96 3800 to a '95 3800 supercharged with the '95 harness and '95 trans and the '95 PCM.

Ah....

Firewall connection will be much different I think. And if I am not mistaken, Riviera PCMs were inside the car, under the rear seat, correct?

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2005 GXP - White Gold Pearl, no mods...yet.
2000 SSEi - Resurrection in progress. Built L67 w/L32 fuel rail, ported heads, and cam. Camaro front brake system, GXP cluster, and much more in planning.

I've been in the automotive industry for over 15 years but as a vehicle specific mechanic so, swapping from one engine to one that didn't originally come with a certain element, I don't have alot of experience with. Any and all info you guys can give me I will certainly use. THANKS.

First of all, if you pull this off, you'll LOVE that motor. Very VERY good low-end grunt, like nothing your L36 could dream of. We'll talk more of the glory when you get it running.


If the Riv PCM is in the back seat, I hope you have the full harness for it. Where it passed through the firewall, it'll have to be spliced. In other words, splice OUT the firewall pass-through, as your 96 had the PCM under the hood. It would help you a ton if you had the 96 Bonneville factory service manuals and the same for the 95 Riviera.

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Click here for mod list for both cars
93 SSEi, 95 SLE (supercharged) 97 Buick LeSabre Limited
PontiacDad at WCBF '04: Cruise control? That's like surrendering!
Comprehensive guide to troubleshooting, rebuilding, and modifying Eaton Superchargers

I want to say the Riv PCM for 1995 was the same for the 1996 Bonneville. Regardless, the firewall connection stands a good chance of being different.

Gotta ask a few questions. What are your states emissions requirements, if any? Will this engine be modded beyond stock, and if so, what?

I think the easiest route for you to take would be to run the harness you have now and modify it to suite the Series 1 fitment, and run a 1997 PCM with VATS disabled, programmed with the tables that best suite the Series 1. I say this for these reasons:

1) The 1995 may or may not interface well with the 1996 BCM, climate control, ABS/TC, etc. The 1997 PCM, on the other hand, will.

2) Since this is a hybrid setup, you will want to be able to flash tunes as needed in order to get dialed in. The '97 PCM will accomodate for this...neither the '95 Riv or the '96 Bonne will, at least not easily.

3) Transplanting wiring into a vehicle it was never meant for will create more problems than solve them. With the factory wiring from the '96, all you really need to do is relocate the EGR, maybe repin the TPS (have to check the service manuals for that..I remember I had to on my monster), and add the boost control wires.

4) The '97 PCM is a direct fit for the '96. I verified this on a members vehicle during a meet one year.

5) I can tune the '97 PCM, and in fact I may still have the prototype tune for my build somewhere in my computers. Get me the PCM, I'll load the tune.

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2005 GXP - White Gold Pearl, no mods...yet.
2000 SSEi - Resurrection in progress. Built L67 w/L32 fuel rail, ported heads, and cam. Camaro front brake system, GXP cluster, and much more in planning.

This is gonna take him a lot longer than a week, even if he does have the skills/desire to do it all...

My vote is to get another L36 and replace your current motor, or go with an S2 setup. Gonna be a lot easier...

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