looking to exchange motor, is there anything that might not be compatible between the two years? head/block sensors, this is a california motor swap.

 

I believe there will be an injector nossel/ecm issue, but cant say for sure,

the 03 engines were the better

which way is the swap going? an 05 engine in a 03 truck?

 

truck is '05, motor '03

 

Injectors, pistons, and head is different. It will work, just remember is you have injector work done that the injectors will be different. 05' had the better head. I would so some searching to verify first. I have heard of it being done.

 

03-04 had better tuning and pistons, but 04.5+ have a better turbo/head/cooling nozzles (SO vs 04.5+) so it's really a toss up.

In addition if it's going into an 05 the turbo will need to be swapped, and the wiring harness has to be from the original vehicle.

If you are putting a cali 03 into a 05 the cali 03 doesn't have the larger/better piston cooling nozzles. It may not be an issue, but something to consider.

 

Yeap, forgot about the turbo.

 

I thought Cali engine swaps needed the engine to be the same year or newer than the vehicle it's going into?? Or is that just gas engines?

 

Depends on whether he has an HO or SO in the 03 motor. If it is the HO then the cooling nozzles and piston design is the same for that particular item.

Basically, if the Smog Police get down to reading numbers on the block the 03 motor in 05 won't ever pass. Since you generally move all the pieces form the 05 to the 03 block its doubtful they will be able to tell with a visual inspection.

 

Yeah, which is why I said SO vs 04.5 :-)

I agree on the inspection, it won't appear anything but stock. Use the 05 valve cover and your good.

The same or newer law really applies if changing engine type/design/etc.

 

But SO vs 04.5 is misleading as the 03-04 HO had better heads and piston gallery cooling with the marginally better piston configuration. Small detail but ya know where the devil lives.

Unfortunately, this probably crosses into changing engine design becuase the 03-04 HO engines were never CARB certified.

 

I though the piston coolers were the same in all HO's 03-07? Yes the piston design is better in 03-04, as is the head flow, but the valves are not.

The best setup would be
03-04 HO Short Block
03-04 head w/ 04.5-07 valves/seats
06-07 ECM w/ EFI Live (Or UDC if it's similar)