95 J30 transmission Swap?

[Dan K]

Hi All,

My girl is considering picking up a 95 J30. Somewhat Ironic as I've liked these cars since my older cousin got one back in 94/95, but hey, I can't have all the toys. Anyway, the one we are looking at has some shifting issues between 1st & 2nd. I read some posts this could be normal when the car is cold, but this seems like it might be more than that, and a new transmission could be in order.

Thankfully these cars are RWD, so the swap shouldn't be out of my ability range. Looks like the RE4R01A was used in a ton of cars, so getting one should be easy enough. A local yard has one in A condition for $350.

The questions:

1) Is this a straightforward F/R engine swap? Unbolt old, bolt in new, etc? Any special issues or things to be aware of on this car/transmission? I looked around for a bit and couldn't find a write-up on the swap, if anyone knows of one they could link me to (or anything else I might want to see before buying the car and getting started) that'd be mighty fine of you.

2) Any great sources on a rebuilt I should be aware of before springing for the aforementioned used one? Current plan is to swap in the new (used) transmission, order a rebuild kit and rebuild the original one. It'll be my first rebuild so I want to have something else in the car so I can take my time. If I can just get a rebuilt for a great price I might skip this, though probably not as I'd like to get a rebuild under my belt anyway.

3) Any differences in the RE4R01A in all the vehicles it is used in? A lot of online parts places specify car or truck, but from what I can tell there is just a "light duty" (RL4R01A ) and "medium duty" (RE4R01A), the medium duty being what's in the J30.

4) We'd both prefer a manual trans but it seems this would bring the project from difficulty 2 to difficulty 5 on a 1-10 scale, and I don't want to tackle that much. Also, the car will be non-drivable fro the time I'm swapping the trans, I'd like that to be a weekend and not a couple weeks. Am I correct here?

Thanks a bunch, and if this is covered here already my apologies, I did search and didn't turn up much.

Dan

[edgartheace]

The swap is pretty much straight forward, When I bought my J it had a bad transmission also. The swap took me a day and a half by myself to do it. Much easier then when I did it to my Z or 240sx, since the transmission tunnel is so much wider. If you can't find the tarnny off of a J you can use the one off of a 300zx with some splicing since the plugs are different. The only issue is that the J transmission has a Turbine sensor and the 300zx doesn't, so your AT light might blink a little longer than normal but it will still drive fine. The biggest hassle for me was the Exhaust removal for the drive shaft other wise good luck removing it. If you have any questions or want any pics drop me a line at [email protected]

[GerryO]

Before assuming it's the transmission, you might want to make sure that all is right with the MAF, the TPS, the KS, the timing and idle speed parts/settings, and then try a flush and refill with filter change.

[carcrazyguy]

Hi All,

My girl is considering picking up a 95 J30. Somewhat Ironic as I've liked these cars since my older cousin got one back in 94/95, but hey, I can't have all the toys. Anyway, the one we are looking at has some shifting issues between 1st & 2nd. I read some posts this could be normal when the car is cold, but this seems like it might be more than that, and a new transmission could be in order. Thankfully these cars are RWD, so the swap shouldn't be out of my ability range. Looks like the RE4R01A was used in a ton of cars, so getting one should be easy enough. A local yard has one in A condition for $350.The questions:1) Is this a straightforward F/R engine swap? Unbolt old, bolt in new, etc? Any special issues or things to be aware of on this car/transmission? I looked around for a bit and couldn't find a write-up on the swap, if anyone knows of one they could link me to (or anything else I might want to see before buying the car and getting started) that'd be mighty fine of you.2) Any great sources on a rebuilt I should be aware of before springing for the aforementioned used one? Current plan is to swap in the new (used) transmission, order a rebuild kit and rebuild the original one. It'll be my first rebuild so I want to have something else in the car so I can take my time. If I can just get a rebuilt for a great price I might skip this, though probably not as I'd like to get a rebuild under my belt anyway.3) Any differences in the RE4R01A in all the vehicles it is used in? A lot of online parts places specify car or truck, but from what I can tell there is just a "light duty" (RL4R01A ) and "medium duty" (RE4R01A), the medium duty being what's in the J30.

4) We'd both prefer a manual trans but it seems this would bring the project from difficulty 2 to difficulty 5 on a 1-10 scale, and I don't want to tackle that much. Also, the car will be non-drivable fro the time I'm swapping the trans, I'd like that to be a weekend and not a couple weeks. Am I correct here?

Thanks a bunch, and if this is covered here already my apologies, I did search and didn't turn up much.

Dan

Is this car's issue just a hard shift between 1st and 2nd when cold, but gets better as the car warms up? If so, this is common. You simply need to drop the pan and change the strainer in most cases. What has often happened is that the strainer has never been changed and it is full or distorted, and constricts flow until the fluid is really warm.

However, if is seems to slip between gears and doesn't want to go into 2nd, that is usually a loose (or backed of) band adjustment screw, or worse...worn parts. Either way, worse case scenario you can get a used AT from a junkyard for say $100 from a J30, 300ZX, and maybe S13 too, but you will need to drop the pan to swap the harness if it's not from a J30. The only real investment will be your time and labor if you go this route.

The (very similar) transmission used in the TT Z32 and Q45 is the heaviest duty version, the J30 / 300ZX NA is what I would call the middle tier unit, and a the lighter one you speak of is surely the version in 240's and other RWD late 80's early 90's Nissans. For that matter, various Mazda also use the same Jatco core, but for simplicity's sake, I would stick with the J30 unit if you can, plug and play. $350 is way steep, but if they are backing that one up counting removal costs if bad (or installing it for that) then maybe...

Adding a manual transmission however...I cannot see any rationalization for that, especialy since a manual transmission in a J30 is like a nun at a rave (or like having a rave at a church)...it just doesn't fit, regardless of the effort / costs.