17 powertrain into 03 tahoe

So a little over a week ago, I hear a loud crash come from outside my buddy’s house and I walk out to see a guy has ramped my trailer and four wheeler onto the top of my 3 week old 17 Tahoe. Weasled my way through the mess and it started right up. I have been debating what to do with my 03 tahoe since it has lost so much power here lately(I assume it’s due to the high mileage) I was thinking of swapping the drivetrain from the 17 to the 03. Of course both are the 5.3 so I was wondering if anyone had any input on how much fab work would be needed or if it would still bolt up. I want to do the motor, tranny, and rear end and figure I will have to include the cluster and ignition system and maybe the radio and climate controls. Does anyone have any input on anything else or how hard of a project this may be?
Thanks

That would make a worthwhile project. Anything is possible given enough time and money, but although you have all the donor parts there, you would probably have to swap and move stuff around. On the 03 I think it was still two lines going to the fuel tank, that would have to be changed, the electronics would need to be configured. I am not sure if you have hydroboost on the 03 but 17 is electric so that would need to change, the steering on the 17 is rack and pinion. Good luck with it.

What year did the electrics go from OBD I to OBD II?

aces-n-eights said:

What year did the electrics go from OBD I to OBD II?

Click to expand...

1996

Unless you are going to swap EVERYTHING , it's not worth the trouble, because it will not work on the 03 wiring and computer. You will not only need the 17 drivetrain, but the ENTIRE wiring harness and computer, including the instrument cluster. Even still, a LOT of custom computer programming will still be needed. And then as far as trying to integrate the 17 wiring with the 03 interior wiring and 03 steering column and ingition switch? Good luck.

drowssap said:

1996

Click to expand...

Thanks. Even in the same OBD generation, i think ScottyBoy has it right... there will be a lot of electronics that will not play nice together.

aces-n-eights said:

Thanks. Even in the same OBD generation, i think ScottyBoy has it right... there will be a lot of electronics that will not play nice together.

Click to expand...

They are NOT the same OBD generation. The 03 is OBD 2, and the 17 is Can-Bus (as far as I know).

ScottyBoy said:

They are NOT the same OBD generation. The 03 is OBD 2, and the 17 is Can-Bus (as far as I know).

Click to expand...

Yea it's waaay more complicated than that

Yeah the 17 is Can-Bus and won't work with a single thing on the 03. Everything electronic/ electrical would have to be swapped over. There was a member who tried swapping an interior out of an 09 into an 03 and after almost a year he was still trying to get the 09 cluster to work but decided he'd have to use the computer out of the 09 which meant the engine too. I don't think he ever got it to work.

Rocket Man said:

Yeah the 17 is Can-Bus and won't work with a single thing on the 03. Everything electronic/ electrical would have to be swapped over. There was a member who tried swapping an interior out of an 09 into an 03 and after almost a year he was still trying to get the 09 cluster to work but decided he'd have to use the computer out of the 09 which meant the engine too. I don't think he ever got it to work.

Click to expand...

I remember reading that guys post.... and he was insistent that ‘he’ could get it to work....lol