How To: 5 Speed Swap in Convertibles (and other S13s)

[Anthonys13]

thanks man but when i did that my car won't start it only turns over and doesn't start what can i try to make my car to start

[Grimreefer721]

Ok so I understand that the manual ECU isn't needed, but I kinda obtained mine when I got the tranny, now going the route of using the new ECU will I still have to gerry rig stuff to solve wiring problems? Or is the only way to avoid that is a complete rewire for the tranny

[Grimreefer721]

the 5 spd and automatic ecus are pinned differently. if you ran a 5 speed harness and ecu it'd work

So I have the 5 speed ecu if I get a 5 speed harness it'll remove a whole bunch of the Gerry rigging? Cause Id really rather not f*** with that, but I can get a 5 speed harness no problem.

[Grimreefer721]

No they are not. The switches aren't that expensive, so just order them from Nissan.

Also, the manual harness is not plug and play compatible with an auto car (unless you swap out the entire front main harness on the chassis). You don't need the 5th gear, 1st gear, and neutral switches to run the car, just the reverse switch. The speed sensor is on a different subharness from the rest of the auto harness, so you can pull it out and run it fine.

So if I get the manual harness and wire it with the manual ecu, will that essentially be a plug and go mostly? Or where there still be some splicing required? id hoped to keep a very factory look to it all, but will I still have to splice certain parts just because its a auto car? Sorta curious on this all, because that had been my original assumption

[biggie]

Yes you can completely rewire the ECU with the 5 speed harness. But that will be a lot of work.

Easiest would be to use the 5 spd ECU. Then jump the P/N switch and wire the clutch pedal to that so it won't crank without clutch pushed in (or can skip the clutch pedal wire if you trust yourself).

Also would want to wire the reverse lights.

[Grimreefer721]

Probably more work than its worth huh? Just wasn't sure what all it would entail, but from the sounds of it ill probably just skip the manual wiring but use the ecu I guess. Thanks for the reply man

[ph1tnessjunk1e]

Any chance you can re-upload these photos so they aren't blurry/watermarked?