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

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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I would pull the starter and have someone turn the key while it's out to see if the wheel is spinning.

is the motor itself trying to turn over, or are you just hearing a lot of starter? if it's the first, you may have an ignition problem

as far as those three plugs on the bottom, they don't matter for getting to car to start. the only one that does is park/neutral safety switch. That's the one you have to jumper up underneath the fuse box. Without it jumpered, I don't think the car will even try to turn over.


240droptop
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Car: 93 240sx Convertable

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yah the motor is definitly trying to turn over and I did put the two wires together but still nothing I'm gunna pull the starter off maybe its spining but not coeming out grr what could be wroung

240droptop
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Car: 93 240sx Convertable

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k well starter is fine so we looked towards to see if its not sparking we checked that and of course its not so we replaces the ignition coil still nothin so we replaced the wires nothing I'm not getting a spark fromt eh coil but the coil has power according to our volt meter

nab911
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Check your ignition fuses... in fact, check all your fuses (if you havnt yet. Some people are retarded)

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Hijacker
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double check all of your grounds. you may have undone one.

240droptop
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checked fuses there good now i'm gunna look towards grounds

240droptop
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Alright got the car running turns out it was just a ground wire that wasint conected. So we take the car for a drive and notice the clutch is now slipping and the tranny is shakeing liek crazy yaaaaaaaah

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Hijacker
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'94 F-150
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shaking could be a bad tranny mount or loose mount nut.

nab911
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Mine kinda shakes like hell to. The stock clutch cannot hold any kind of power and when it does, if its not much (low rpms in 1st and 2nd) its pretty shakey.

Big_Daddy_Johnsen
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So has anyone figured out how to get the cruise control to work on these converted convertibles?

nab911
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Mine didnt work before i did the swap otherwise i would look more into it.

92droptop
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THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

now i can buy that rb20 and get started...

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Eikon
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hey.. another RB20... Sweet! Welcome to NICO 92droptop.

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TheRocket300zxtt
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Is it easiest to do the auto to manual swap when you swap in the sr20 or do it before the engine swap?

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Hijacker
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it doesn't matter since the clutch pedal drilling doesn't interfer with the engine at all.

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SilvStylin45s
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I have a 89 fast back and I ran the proper wires back to the reverse switch from the plug near the fuse box, but the only problem is im getting no power to the reverse switch or any power from the plug itself. I tested all the wires on the plug and none of them drawed anypower.What am i doing wrong? Thanks in advance,

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Hijacker
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there should be one hot wire from the plug when the key is turned to on. I would double check to make sure you haven't popped the reverse lamp fuse.

ewittiner
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Hi all I finished my 5spd swap a week ago. Everything seems to be working great. I had a thought while driving around and getting used to the car being a manual rather then a auto.Thought: The park/neutral is jumper-ed together so you can start the car, what if I run these wires to the clutch pedal sensor and set it up so that the clutch needs to be depressed for the wires to be jumper-ed together for the car to start. Now if you unjumper the wires after the car is running will it stay running, that is the question, I haven't had time to try it out, but it was just a thought. It would also make the car operate more like most new manual cars so there won't be any unexpected starting the car in gear accidents Any thoughts on this?

Also thinking the top could be hooked up to this also so the clutch needs to be depressed for the top to go up and down.... less chance of putting it down when moving.

has anyone tried this?


nab911
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I would just say pay attention to what you are doing . I also like being able to put the top down/up while moving becuase if you are under 30 it does not damage and saves you if you are on the road and you get that unexpected monsoon

TurboChargedSE-R
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Bart, just a quick addition to your great writeup.

You can now buy NEW reverse light switches at AutoZone for the el-cheapo price of $13. Good to know in case you get one that was hacked CLEAN off at the base, like mine.

The new switches have the wire/harness plug on them. Just cut it off and run wires up to the junction by the battery and follow Bart's directions for working reverse lights.

Not bad for $13 out-of-pocket.

nab911
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Thanks for posting that because mine is like that too.

drift9
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I just did the swap and i must say it is not as hard as i thought it would be. I too noticed the tranny harness is seperate from the alt and starter so i took it off and only ran the wires i needed. 240 droptop what ground wire was it cuz my car isnt starting iether it cranks but wont fire?

nab911
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Make sure your alternator and battery ground are well secured to the frame.

drift9
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oh **** i knew i for got something, i have this feeling i for got to connect the ground wire back to the alternator when i was working on it yesterday

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JDMEnthused
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AZhitman wrote:Hmmmmm....

Must resist 5-speed swap.... Must save up for turbo kit...
or you could just do both AZ

good write up though, i shall be doing a five speed swap with my motor swap, whatever it may be.. RB or KA, not sure.

slownslurious
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you are incorrect about the automatic transmission getting bettter gas mileage... the standard trans defintely gets better gas mileage, even on the highway. Also the car bases speed off the output shaft of the transmission (speed sensor) not off the gears so it doesn't affect your engine management at different speeds to have those sensors disconnected. This is a really good write up. I'm still a little uncertain about the exact location of the inhibitor switch though.

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Hijacker
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Car: '92 240sx Convertible
'94 F-150
Location: Fredericksburg, VA

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the switch is on the side of the trans. the chassis plug is what you're after for the swap. it's mounted next to the fuse box.

slownslurious
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I no longer have the stock plug (sold my auto drive train a couple weeks ago) is that gonna be a problem?

I'm a bit confused about this part right here:

"The new wire was ran to one of the reverse plug wires. Then I ran a wire from the green/white wire. These wires were ran to the reverse sensor."

What is the difference between the "reverse plug wire" and the "reverse sensor"?

From what I'm reading I think they are the same?... you must run the extra wire to one wire on the reverse sensor, and the other wire from the plug to the other wire on the sensor. Is this correct?

sorry I'm just having trouble figuring it out.

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JXN
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hey,

Does anyone know what kind of problems would occur if you forget to put the pilot bearing into the thrust bearing b4 putting the tranny back?

I think the shop that installed my 5 speed totally forgot to put it in.

Everytime I shift in a low gear, it sort of grinds.

It doesnt grind like a bad syncro, but soulds like something is touching/grinding.

Ive went through 3 trannies, and this 3rd one is a good tranny, cuz it came off of my friends S13 so I know it works.

nab911
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I did that on my first one and you are going to have to pull it and put it in. When i swapped i tried to pull the old one (on an auto... there isnt one) so i figured it was stuck and just went ahead and put it all together and it was horrible. It will grind like you say and make horrible noises. SOrry to say.. pull it and put it in


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