auto to stick conversion

Dec 8th, 2002, 07:41 PM

what is involved in converting an auto 94 sentra ga16 to a manual tranny? will i need a new engine comuter?
thanks
bull

toolapcfan · Dec 8th, 2002, 09:38 PM

I'd bet it's a lot of hassle, but I don't think you need a new computer, simply because everything I can tell from my FSM, you get the same computer regardless what tranny you have, hence why they add a secondary computer to handle controlling the automatic tranny. But you'll have to confirm that, I think a rare few have done this swap and hopefully they'll respond to this thread. Unless you've got a ton of time and money in your car, I'd find a nice clean manual SE-R, and sell the '94 youve got, but you didn't ask whether or not the swap was worth doing, so I won't waste our time convincing you otherwise. I would think if you do all the work yourself, you could do the swap for anywhere from $800-$1000 depending on what all other parts you replace while you've got access to them. Tranny, shafts, pedal, cable, interlock switch with harness, wire, shifter and boot, who knows what else. If you're really serious about going through with the swap, which will be time consuming to say the least as well as expensive, I'd get a Nissan Factory Service Manual for your car and start doing all the homework. You'll be able to figure out what needs to be disconnected, and rewired, this will be the important part to get straightened out ahead of time so you're not having to spend too much time in the car figuring that out. Swapping the tranny and shafts will take the better part of a day as well as putting in the clutch cable, pedal, and clutch switch, etc. I'd think it would take at least a full weekend from start to finish, probably longer depending on how much homework you do before hand, if you've familiarized yourself with everything you'll be getting into and you've got all the parts and tools you need and ready to go. That part alone I would think would take all of your evenings for at least a week. What also will make it time consuming is removing all the automatic components. Do some time saving stuff ahead of time that will allow you to still drive the car, like removing the lower dash trim and the trim and bezels around the HVAC and radio area, kick panels, anything covering up the wiring you'll need to get at and still have the car driveable. Maybe start on a friday evening and get the tranny and axles out and get the new ones ready to go in, resurface the flywheel that you'll be putting in as well as likely a new clutch, consider putting a new oil seal in while the tranny and flywheel are out, as well as shaft seals on the new tranny, clutch, T.O. bearing, front brakes if they need it. Do whatever you can that is worth doing while you have access, as I would think you're likely to keep this car awhile considering what time and effort you'll be putting into it. Make sure you've prepared for at least a week and two full weekends of downtime in case you run into troubles. As far as paying to have it done, I don't think it would be economical even if you can afford it. It'd easily cost more than the car is worth, that much I am certain about. Again I'm not trying to shit on the idea, I just am trying to get across the depth of work involved in a swap like this. I'd rather be pessimistic and piss someone off than to give them a false sense of what this would take and have them get into it and be overwhelmed and be out of a car until they could get it back up and running.

Dec 9th, 2002, 10:17 PM

First off i must say this, this oard and its members are top notch, not once have i recieved a smart assed answer in response to s a serious question.

Second, I was only asking due to the abundance of manual motors i have seen around and few auto motors out there (didnt want to mess with sawpping flywheels, etc.

I think i will just stick with the auto and pay the extra 200$ they are asking for the auto motor

thanks

sunnysentra · Dec 10th, 2002, 12:03 PM

I am doing the swap this spring with help from a friend who has pulled his tranny out many times. The clutch pedals and brake pedal need switched. The shifter drops and bolts in place, the ECU needs changed out because they are different. The auto ECU controls the lock up converter and such. The axels I hear are the same as the manual, so you don't need to mess with them. The tranny itself is easy to install, remember to get the motor mounts. You will need them for sure, they are different. The clutch cable is cheap. he is giving me the parts from his other car, so mine is easy, you will haveto obtain all the parts or get a junker with them on it. I think its a worthwhile venture if you are keeping the car, I am racing mine and I need the stick. I already got a JWT clutch and throwout bearing from Mossy.

johnand · Dec 10th, 2002, 02:00 PM

Well, your in luck, I just recently finished the swap on my car, and am performing another swap on my friends car right now.

I have a complete step-by-step write-up w/ pics in the works, that I will post on my website, as well as submitting to NPM.

Points I want to make:

1)You DO NOT need to change the ECM.
2)You DO NOT need to change the axle shafts, unless you are switching from a 3sp auto.

Here is what you need at minimum:

1)Transmission
2)Clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, etc.
3)Transmission wiring harness for manual (Most don't know about this)
4)Clutch pedal and bracket
5)Brake pedal from manual
6)Clutch cable
7)Transmission support rod and linkage
8)Shifter and knob
9)Shifter bezel from manual
10)Starter from manual
11)Engine/Trans crossmember (Most don't know about this either)
12)Front and rear engine mounts (Right and left are the same)

Some things you need to be aware of:

1)If you have a 91-92 car and get a trans from a 93-Up, you need to swap out the speed sensor in the trans. (91-92 were cable operated, 93- Up are computer controlled)

2)You need a transmission/starter sub harness from a manual car. It has all the connectors on it for the reverse lights, neutral safety, etc. You will not get everthing to work correctly w/o the harness, plus you'll have to do lots of cutting and splicing. It it just plug and play, with the manual sub harness.

3)You need a crossmember for a manual car, as it has the tabs in it for the front mount, that is only on manual cars. Automatic cars only have 3 mounts.

The whole swap is fairly easy if you have good mechanical skills.

I recommend putting a new clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearing while you've got it out. Also, I recommend replacing the axle seals on the trans, to not have to deal with the high probability of leaks there.

The swap can be done for as little as $400 if you shop around and just buy the minimum parts. Mine ended up costing ~$1000 since I replaced many more parts then were needed, like installing a Phantom Grip diff, ES shifter bushings, Lighthened and balanced flywheel, Pacesetter short shifter, leather shift boot and knob, NEW OEM clutch cable, and ACT clutch and PP, etc.

toolapcfan · Dec 10th, 2002, 02:39 PM

See, there you have it! Someone who is doing the swap, knows what the hell he's doing AND to top it all off, he's not going to go through it and have it be for not. He's going to WRITE DOWN and TAKE PICTURES of what he does! What a novel concept! Who would have thought?

We need more people to do these kinds of things. Nobody needs info from someone who's done something and they're like, "Yeah I did it, but I was too lazy to pay attention to what I did, don't remember much, needed a few things, did a few things, yeah, it works, yeah my help is damn near worthless." We ran into this with the cluster swap. It's been done and those that have done it, "Yeah, somewhere between pulling out the old and putting in the new, I did something, had to figure something out. Maybe I did backflips in the garage and that's what did it? No wait, maybe it was magick that put it together? I don't know, I didn't write anything down." And no offense to the people who's help was valualble, being 1997GA16DE and some links other people posted. Good Job Johnand, I'd trade 20 halfasses for 1/2 of you.

sunnysentra · Dec 15th, 2002, 01:39 AM

I am glad this guy had some advice that I had no idea about with the engine brace and the ECU, Thanks
Chris 92 classic

sunnysentra · Dec 15th, 2002, 01:39 AM

I am glad this guy had some advice that I had no idea about with the engine brace and the ECU, Thanks
Chris 92 classic

johnand · Dec 16th, 2002, 04:14 PM

No problem, glad I could help. I still have a few little issues to work out, but I hope to have them resolved soon. Check out my thread on the CA vs. Fed starter. I push started my car, since I have no starter and drove it around the block. It ran fine w/o check engine light, but I still am a little nervous about the auto ecm. So, until I get it totally finished w/ the correct starter, I won't know for 100% sure that the auto ECM will work. I do know of one person that did the swap on a 96 sentra and is still using his auto ECM!