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View Full Version : Auto to 5 speed swap


drift freaq
01-12-2003, 01:35 PM
ok when West transferred stuff over from ikonboard my faq about the auto to 5 speed swap got deleted in the transfer.
so here it is again . I will do the best because this is coming straight from my memory. hehehhehee

First off well will start with mechanical parts needed S13 and S14

5 speed ecu S14's(optional on S13's)
5 speed trans
5 speed trans crossmember
5 speed driveshaft
manual flywheel with bolts
manual engine backing plate
manual trans to engine bolts
clutch with clutch bolts
(including pilot bushing ,driven disc and pressure plate)
clutch pedal
brake pedal(optional)
clutch line upper
clutch line lower
clutch dampner(optional)
cluth master
clutch slave
lower shift boot with plate(mounts on your tunnel)
upper shift boot (recommend purchase new )

ok that is your mechanical parts list . now we get into the fun part some of the actual install points.
this install is not that complicated . In fact there are places on the net were people have listed the install info before, and gone overboard with their parts list and install procedures. Making it look harder than it is.There are also places on the net, where people have fallen short on the info, leaving you scratching your head!
I will try to make these easy for based on what we did with my previous car a 91 S13 and my buddies 95 S14.
Most of the install is strictly a pull out the old stuff put in the new stuff situation.
There are a few points that people have issues with
:D ;) hahahhahhaha.

Lets tackle the hard stuff.
Drilling the holes for your clutch master and hanging your clutch pedal are pretty straightforward. On both S13 and S14 if you look under your dash against the firewall in drivers compartment drivers side you will see guides for the studs for the manual clutch pedal. You will also see a outline for the clutch master hole. Whip out that drill and drill those out. Once you have done this you can hang your clutch pedal and mount the clutch master.

Brake pedals,

As you see above I listed them as optional. If you want to go all the way and install a manual brake pedal you have to drop your steering column. You will find four bolts on the underside that you have to remove once you have done that it will drop down. You can them remove your auto brake pedal and put in a manual brake pedal.
If your lazy(I was :D ) you will just take a dremel or air powered die grinder and cut the auto brake pedal down to size . thats your pedal stuff in a nutshell.

On your shift boots , in a S13 and s14 the trans hole is already there all you have to do is remove the auto trans shifter and bolt the lower shift boot and plate on the tunnel. On your upper shift boot on the S13 there is a inner plate around your auto trans shifter remove and you bolt your upper shift boot right to the underside of the console piece the screw clips are already there.
On S14 you need to get the manual console piece.

Installing your clutch lines are straight forward the clips for them are already in place.
Some people going for a complete stock factory look install the clutch dampner. I prefer leaving it out. Nissan installed it our cars to eliminate clutch pedal vibration at higher revs.
its a pita when it comes to bleeding because it has a tendency to trap air.

You have now taken care of all mechanical install points that are not like a standard clutch job.
Installing your flywheel is something to watch. You have to remove the automatic flywheel and auto pilot bushing and install the manual pilot bushing.

Once you have done this then you can install your flywheel with the manual flywheel bolts(longer). You can mount your clutch and install your trans and driveshaft.

You are now down to the last stretch wiring. Now this is another area were some people go simple some people go all out.

On S13 due to the fact its OBDI you can get away with running your auto ecu and you will not throw code.
On S14 you need to put in the 5 speed ecu because OBDII sees more things and will throw a code turning on your check engine light.
On your trans you will need to hook up your speedo speed sensor. If you are using a S14 trans in a S13 then you will have to put in the S13 manual trans speed sensor for it to read right and vice versa.

Now the easiest thing to do wiring is wire up your back up lights by looking at a FSM or haynes manual and tracing the back up light wires on your auto trans and cutting that wire out of your auto trans harness. These are actually colored pink and black and they are larger, on the auto trans harness, which you have already removed from your engine bay.
On the engine bay side middle plug green and white wires). You will also take the plug from it as you will need it to hook it into the wiring on the car. This is what I did .
I did not wire up my 4&5 gear sensors.
Now some people have gone as far as completely adapting the auto harness to the manual trans with all gear sensors hooked up. There really is not a big need for this since it will not affect your smog or throw code.

The other thing is your clutch lockout switch . I did not bother with that due to the fact I would not start a manual car without my foot on the clutch anyways.

Ok in your engine compartment at the relay box by your battery you are going to find a relay that is your auto trans in park relay. This tells your car that it is in park and will allow you to start your engine. you are gonna take a wire and basically loop from one side of the relay plug wires to the other side and then tap it out to a ground. This will allow you to start your car with the manual trans swap.

New addendum:

For people who are concerned about the auto ecu its a secret weapon performance upgrade on S13's . It has no speed cut and has a 7200 rpm rev limit which is higher than the manual trans 6900 rpm limit. It also has a different advance map curve due to the fact that auto trans are a lot different than manaul trans/clutch setups. I have found this to make all the cars I have done the auto to manual swap on to be quicker than stock cars with 5 speeds.


thats its folks . this is the basics to get you going on the auto to 5 speed swap. If you want to go farther like some people have then you can do a search on the net.
One last thing though. Parts pricing.
This swap on S13's can be as cheap as $500 if you do it yourself and as much as $1000 if you have someone do the work.
average price on the swap parts for a S13 without trans are in the$200-$250 range.
On S14's its somewhere in the range of $350-$450
S14 trans are more expensive due to the fact that they are usually lower mileage expect them to go for anywhere from $300 -$450
S13 trans go for anywhere from $100-$350 depending on mileage
having someone do the install work itself can vary.
You can expect a S14 trans swap to go anywhere from $800-1200 for all parts especially late model S14's.

whew:p lot of info :D ;) hope it all helps you
peaceout , Dave

Additional Info for S14.
On the S14s the relay that tells S14s that the trans is in park isn't in the fuse box, it is the top male plug mounted to the back side of the fuse box.(faces twards the intake manifold) on mine it was grey and i think on all S14s it is grey, but it has 2 spade connectors that need to be jumpered to let the car start.