3400 Malibu

[IKeelULotz]

so this is my first post on this site. I'm new to the 3400 scene, my last car was a cammed, swapped, built, 3800 grand prix, and backup car is a 2010 Jetta TDI. So my knowledge of the 3400 or even the N body is next to none.

background/reason for swap: I bought this malibu for $200 with a bad engine and the donor Alero for $350. alero has no title and the malibu has a good title. so pulled the engine, trans, pcm, and harness from alero and sold it for $200

Anyway, i'm in the middle of the 3400 swap in the malibu. I havent seen anything in forums or youtube about doing a 3400 and a trans swap into a malibu. I've tried to do research over this swap, but not much of anything on swapping a 3400 AND a trans at the same time. i know that the trans in the Alero is a better 4T45E and that it also has a smaller gear ratio than the 4T40 in the 'Bu currently. So i guess what I'm hoping to get is some tips over the swap, the engine, and this new platform in general

[Maple Leaf]

3400 is a direct swap, nothing to change.



Malibu, Alero, grand am se v6 only came with a 3.05 final drive. 4t40 or 4t45

Grand am gt was the only one with a 3.29 final drive.

4 cylinder cars came with a higher final drive due to gear/chain ratio.


3.05 35/35

3.42 33/37

3.63 32/38


3.29 35/35

3.69 33/37

3.91 32/38

I've got a Malibu as well, I am looking into swaping a grand am gt trans with a 32/38 chain ratio. Which would be 3.91 final drive ratio😀

[IKeelULotz]

oh, my bad. my info was based on car specs from driverside.com . i guess they arent a good source of information and shows my amount of knowledge of the N platform LOL . thanks for the info! so i wont have to get a tune for the factory malibu pcm since im coming from a 4t40 and going to a 4t45? i would assume the shift tables and ect are different from a 4t40?

also looking to do small power gain mods. currently plan on doing headers, full exhaust, ram air swap from grand am, Milzy flash tune. any corrections or suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!!

[SappySE107]

What year malibu and alero? Might be as easy as removing VATS from the alero computer.

[IKeelULotz]

The malibu is a 2002 and the Alero was a 1999

[SappySE107]

Yeah, swap the harness and PCM, and have VATS turned off.

[IKeelULotz]

Im sorry, but what is VATS?

[SappySE107]

Vehicle Anti Theft System.

[IKeelULotz]

Oh, my bad. didn't realize the Passlock system was referred to as VATS, I've already disabled it lol

[3400-95-Modified]

Did you disable all the associated codes for passlock? I've disable just the option of passlock before to find out later there are dtc codes that will prevent it from starting.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[IKeelULotz]

Um, no. I'm not sure how to delete the codes. I ran the resistor in line of the yellow wire from the ignition

[IKeelULotz]

ok ive been messing with this for a couple days and its driving me crazy. went to start the car for the first time and nothing. its not getting spark. tried to hook up scan tool, no communication.

[IKeelULotz]

replaced the crankshaft position sensor and now it sarts and then dies, im guessing theft system. i thought i disabled it but guess not. starts runs beautifuly for a second and dies. radio says CAL ERR

[IKeelULotz]

spent all day swapping wiring harness back to the malibu harness and soldering connectors to make it all work. and it started and runs now