Run For The Hills Its A Tranny Swap!

[RedneckRicer]

Due to severe auto tranny problems AKA Aamco. i went nuts and blew $200 to buy another 88 accord sedan that got hit so hard its shorter than a hatchback, and its hiding a sweet little 5 speed in it, and i'm gonna drag that out and drop it in mine. The parts car is an LX and mine is an LX-i all the difference is that mine looks like a sedan and has the PGM-FI. so what differences am i not seeing if any? i have 2 complete cars so i should have all the parts i need to swap the tranny (Hopefully) and to make new pipe to bypass my CAT . anyways, i was wondering if you guys could tell me how big of a nightmare i'm getting into. any help would be great

[pimp86LX]

i think theres a how- to for this bud, check it out

the auto to manual i don't think is too too complicated, but i bet it can be a little time consuming

[YK86]

My write up is in the how-to section. I did the swap about 2 1/2 years ago. 88LXI68 just finished it a couple days ago. We both pretty much agree it's a 5/10 on difficulty.

[RedneckRicer]

good good, cuz i was talkin to some local tranny guys, which seem to like to blow smoke certain places and they were tellin me there was too much computer stuff for " someone with your mechanical ability, and should only be handled by our technicians " i guess undoing bolts and reattaching things is more complicated than rebuilding motors i heard that the speedo was different, that the auto was electronic and the 5speed was cable driven.... that true? cuz i was gonna swap the dash anyhow, but just wondering all the same. but now that i know this, i'm thinkin i'll tackle that this week.... cuz i'm stuck driving my deceased granny's '99 forester..... the green import tank and nothin compared to a 3g.... guess they sorta grow on ya eh? thanks for the help!:super:

[jteuton]

i've been wanting to do this but the cheapest quote i got on a used tranny was 550 dollars with a 6 month warranty. Does this sound reasonably?...That doesnt' include any of the other parts

[YK86]

That's too high I think. I can get used trannies in the 120,000 mile range with 4 month warranty for about $250 US

[RedneckRicer]

i guess i'm lucky then, cuz i picked up a whole car for $200, i'd say look around at some tow truck companies or scope out peoples back yards and see if you can find a munched 3g with a 5 speed, because once you've got what you want out of it you can always take it to a junkyard. and sell parts off the car to where you've made more than you paid for it. i paid 200 and already sold 250 in parts off of it. so in a way i'm gettin paid 50 to swap my tranny. but i also live out in the boondocks and have room for a munched car to sit around for a few months without neighbors pitchin a bitch about it too

[foxracer22]

Well i guess i got real lucky cause i bought a wrecked 87 Lx-i so i could get the tranny to put in mine. I got the tranny, motor and some body parts for 80 bucks.

[RedneckRicer]

well i started draggin out the auto tranny today but my Halfshafts won't come out. i undid the notched bolt, and followed haynes. but ain't nuthin happening, what'd i do?

[YK86]

You have to swing out the whole lower part of the front suspension (just pop out the lower balljoint from the arm) to get the axle to come out of the hub. You then take a flathead screwdriver and pry out the axle right where it goes into the tranny and it will click. Then pull out the axle.

[RedneckRicer]

i got it all to click and come outta both, but i couldn't get it to just drop out. i was praying i wouldn't have to mess with the suspension, but ah well, i guess i'll get it over with tomorrow, thanks for the help!

[RedneckRicer]

just to make sure i don't damage anything, and to at the very least, double check.... i unbolted the lower balljoint and assuming its a tapered fit, such as a tie rod end, you have to hit the metal around it to pop it loose....tried that, and i still can't get that lower ball joint stud to come loose of the lower control arm.....what do i do?

[AZmike]

If a hammer isn't working you can use either a'tie rod end puller' (not the big fork thing, it's a small tool that works sort of like a scissors jack to push the stud out of the hole). Another tool to try is a 'bearing puller'. It has a few arms that grab on to the suspension and a bolt in the center that you turn until it breaks the stud loose. I recently changed my tie rod ends. Those things were tight. Also, leave the nuts on loosely. That way when the parts break loose, nothing goes flying. If you have an Autozone nearby, they lend tools for free (buy tool, use it, return it and get all your money back).

Hope that helps. Good luck. I can't stand driving automatics.

[jteuton]

when i lowered my dodge dakota....i literaly had to beat the shit out of the lower control arm till the ball joint came out of the spindle....about 25 licks with a 3lb hammer

[monsonhonda]

i put a 2x4 on the arm and the other end on the ground, and jumped on the mother f*cker, came out after all 220lbs of me kicked its ass

[RedneckRicer]

well after some serious afghan engineering i got the mofo outta there, speedo sensor covered me in beautifully coffee brown utterly torched ATF. took a shower.... i'm gonna do a little R&R on the engine bay... aka clean up all aamco's mess from a leaky transaxle. nice grease all over. as well as when i pulled back the shield for the exhaust i got about 2lbs of gravel on my chest. so in the intrest of keeping my car clean, i'm gonna so to say, douche the undercarriage. i'm gonna be picking all of your brains and praying for posts when i start the 5 speed conversion though... thanks in advance

[RedneckRicer]

Okay, i'm done working for the week, i've got the auto tranny all the way out, along with all the shifter stuff. i'm gonna work on the other car tonight, pulling out the tranny, or at least some pedals and shifter. but what i really wanna know is.... why do i need an ECU? there was one wire to the tranny that was for the starter....which i'm guessing is pretty universal. there were wires for the shifter, but i was presuming that it was for the dash indicator, the light for the indicator, and such things.... question is... what does the ECU have to do with any of it? its a carbed car that has my 5 speed, and i'm fuel injected.... but what does the motor's fuel input have to do with a difference in the transmission?

[jteuton]

ohhh....so your going to need an ecu out of another car...I do know the computers are setup with different timing and fuel curves but i wouldn't i know why. The 'automatic' computer uses data from the switch on the side of the shifter to tell it what gear your in and then it makes a healthy decison based on that. In drive....then the car isn't starting.....in second instead of drive....it switches table...but with a 5 speed things are certainly different...i wish somebody knew all the answers who could help

[RedneckRicer]

there were wires on the shifter for the auto, but for the stick.... theres a whole lot of nothing. no wires for the shifter or tranny.... guess i'll see why i needed that ECU when it gets up and goin eh?

[jteuton]

your 'auto ecu' is going to look for inputs where you don't have anything hook too (the automatic gear switch) and its going to be interesting to see how it responds. Let me know if you go with a 5speed ecu so i can know if i get ripped buying one of them too

[GreenMachine]

You have to fool the auto cpu, by leaving the device attached to the shifter in the nuetral setting, by doing that you should be fine with the auto cpu cause it'll just think your in nuetral.

[jteuton]

ok....i had a little time to mess with it when i got off today (about an hour or so). I pulled the speedo gear out and took the cooler hoses off. Removed the battery and a whole bunch of other junk in the way. I removed the Throttle valve cable. I got through most of the shifter inside the car. I accidently pulled the casing off the starter so its in two pieces now. (Any Ideas how to get it back together?) And thats it so far. I tried breaking the hub nuts loose to no avail. Them bitches are on there. I'll have to get my bodybuilding friend to come over and tear them off. So what should I do next? I was trying to make this more easier on my friend who's doing this for me on Saturday so he won't have to mess with stuff i should be able to take care of. I heard the next step is to remove the torque convertor cover and remove the bolts holding it to the flywheel.....but where in the hell are them bolts at?......also how much do you think the auto weighs compared to the manual.....thankyou thankyou...for the replies

[RedneckRicer]

The weight difference i'd say is.... Oprah to a crackhead, the auto being oprah. the torque converter cover is right below the left hand side of the engine block, theres a brace with 4 bolts in it you have to remove, as well as the center cross member, then its right behind that little rubbery mount

[RedneckRicer]

i was lookin over lastnight's 130AM wrap up, and i found theres 2 wires sticking out of my 5speed....what are they for? cuz my harness doesn't have them......

[GreenMachine]

hmmmm..... maybe backup lights. I'll check on my car tommorow and see if I can't see exactly what there for !:bh: