Hey everyone, I am new to the second gen family, just trying to relearn the newer Dakotas now, and the differences as the second gen evolved over the years. Been driving my 95 Dakota for a long time now and came acrossed a 2001 4WD Quad Cab with a V8 in it that needs to be pulled. I currently have a 5.2 318 from a 97 Dakota that I just redid all the gaskets and seals on and is ready to go. Was going to go into my first gen Dakota but not anymore. Been reading on swaps and this isn't a popular one from what I can tell, but in my case it isn't for power increase, it is to get the truck running.

Any advice on the swap? Anyone actually done the 4.7 to 5.2 swap?

My future plans would be to look into pulling the automatic tranny and dropping in my NV4500HD that I got to go with the 318. But one thing at a time.

Thanks for your help.

Here is the 318 I just got done cleaning up and redoing.

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well, it can be done, but this is definately not an easy swap. you're going to run into all kinds of problems. first of all, the 4.7 comes with the 45rfe trans, which will not bolt up to an LA engine (3.9/5.2/5.9). then will come the electrical issues. you wont be able to use the pcm in the truck, thats for sure. im not sure exactly what you will need, i'd say the best you could do is to find a 98 5.2 pcm and wiring harness and rewire the whole thing. Also, since you cant use the trans thats in the truck now, it would make alot more sense to swap the nv4500 in at the same time you do the motor. you also have to make sure you get a pcm that was for a 5 speed truck also and wiring harness or it wont work. you'll probably need a new driveshaft too. you will also need an oil pan that was from a dakota 4x4 if that 318 came out of a 2wd. personally, i would never attempt this swap, but if you're good at it, it can be done. its a hell of alot easier to swap a 5.2/5.9 into a 3.9 truck because everything bolts up and all you need is a computer and splice 2 fuel injector wires in and everything should work.

 

Thanks for the info. Actually helps a lot. This truck is not my daily driver so I plan on giving it a shot right now. The original plan was to put this into a 3.9L Dakota, but I would prefer now to put it into the 2001 Quad Cab.

I figure it won't be easy but I am pretty conmfortable with the Dakota, especially the engine I am putting in so I am not afraid to attempt it.

Great advice to do the tranny swap at the same time, I read through the 2001 service manual but couldn't pick out if I could bolt up, I thought I could but I was wrong. I have seen a few posts abotu the loss of power through an automatic trans in here, one of the reasons I would like to go to a manual, that and the fact that the NV4500HD is a really nice manual transmission at that.

I have the PCM from the 97 Dakota the engine came out of, along with all of the wires from the truck, and I mean everything from the harnesses down to the stereo.

The donor truck was a 5 speed but 2WD. I expect to have to remeasure the spacing between my driveshaft yokes once I get everything put together and have a driveshaft made or modified. In the first gen it is possible to use a PCM from an automatic in a truck with a manual trans, but you will get error codes that you will just have to ignore. I guess from the sounds of it this is not the case for the second generation computers. What classification do you give the second generation Dakota PCMs? OBDII up through 2000?

As for the new oil pan, is that because it will hit the pumpkin on the front axle if I have the 2WD pan on? I didn't find info on this and figured I would solve it when I hit the axle or cleared it. Not the best I know.

I am not sure if I will get lucky or not with the transfer case currently in the 2001 Dakota. I have to get under there and take it off of the existing 4WD. If I am lucky it will be the same bolt pattern as my NV4500 has, if not getting an adapter will be easy.

I can't pretend to be as knowledgable about the second generation Dakota as I am with the first so this helps a lot.

 

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As for the new oil pan, is that because it will hit the pumpkin on the front axle if I have the 2WD pan on? I didn't find info on this and figured I would solve it when I hit the axle or cleared it. Not the best I know.

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I have checked around and per JCWhitney and a couple of other parts sites, there is only one oil pan offered for the 5.2L and 5.9L Magnum for Dakotas 1992-2000. It is the same part number for all years and VINs.

 

Im gonna tell you that it is definatley gonna be a rough swap.

I would reccomend getting a 5.9 engine wiring harness and PCM from a 2001 DAKOTA ONLY. PLEASE DONT SPEND ANY MONEY ON A 5.2 PCM BECAUSE IT WONT WORK IN YOUR TRUCK, IT CAN BE FROM A 5.9 ONLY.

That should take care of the wiring issues since the 5.9 and 5.2 are the same motor just bored out differently, so all the connectors should match up except for the injectors. You will need to get a set of the red injectors instead of the grey ones to work with the 5.9 harness.


hmmm.. on second thought, 2001 is the year when they went to the electric switch for 4wd. Im not sure if they made a 5.9 rt dakota 4x4 in 2001, but you would need to make sure that the pcm and harness are both from a 4x4. If that combo doesnt exist, you will probably need to get the floor shift setup out of a 2000 or prior year for your 4wd to work.

You will need to get a 4x4 oil pan, one from a ram, durango or dakota will work.

There will be a TCM (Transmission control module) in the front passengers side of the engine bay that you cant use any more.

The motor mounts for the 4.7 and the 3.9/5.2/5.9 are different so those will need to be fabbed up,

Its gonna suck for sure. I would see if you couldnt turn a buck on your 5.2 and then get a new 4.7 to put in it. It would save you sooooo much time, money, and headaches.

Good Luck

 

Well, you guys have definately got me thinking. I still can't find that 4WD oil pan you are refering to for the 318. But regardless, I need to do some more research. Got the truck home tonight, and honestly, after all the reading up on this thing and looking into the electronics, it is a bad little Dakota I have here. I am almost tempted to try and rebuild the 4.7 now and then drop my NV4500 in.

Wink, maybe you can throw in on this. I know you said the NV4500 will not bolt up to the LA blocks, which I don't dispute. But my NV4500 is from a 360 Magnum. I read in the Allpar site that the 4.7L was offered with the 45RFE and the NV3500. I assume this may hold true for 2001 also? If so, would this leave me open to the possibilty of bolting the NV4500 to the 4.7L, as well as being able to get a new manual tranny PCM?

I guess I need to figure out the bolt patterns on this 4.7L.

How hard is the rebuild on the 4.7L? What is standard practice in here for a rebuild in terms of upgrades and mods while you are in the engine and getting the machining done?