So my transmission has been whirring for a while in 5th gear and I've been offered a S5 transmission with (supposedly) 3000 miles on it for $300 (I guess it was rebuilt?). The person is selling because it "didn't fit in her boyfriend's 86 RX-7". As far as I know the S4 and S5 were direct swaps right? She said the sensors weren't compatible or something like that.

 

The sensors may have different plugs, you can bypass those.
S5/S4 I have heard both ways about different mounting brackets.
A turbo and non-turbo are not direct swappable.

 

hmm ok well would these sensors and stuff cause the car to "go up the hill slowly"? That's what she said about it when it was on the 86 rx-7. Sounds strange to me =O.

Edit: btw I have an S5 GXL so i'm not worried about compatibility, just trying to make sense of her story and figure out whether it's a real incompatibility or if it's a bad tranny.

 

Check the gear ratios between S4/S5, I think they are different.

 

A rebuilt tranny without proof of being rebuilt has not been rebuilt.

 

I assume this has to be a turbo tranny for that price. you can get n/a trannies all day for $150 or less.

 

yeah you can find n/a trannys almost free

 

true. I guess you're right about that. In that case nevermind.

 

I swaped an S5 turbo trans into my S4 turbo car....I had to buy the S5 cross member to make it work and I replaced all the mounts.

 

On an n/a the tranny's are interchangeable. I've swapped one out before with no issues at all. The plugs all fit. The only difference is the 5th gear which is a bit shorter.

If you don't want to spend $300 you can drive down to the modesto or stockton pick and pull and there will probably be 3 to 6 S4's at any time with about 100k to 200k on the clock (probably didn't pass smog as most have little to no body damage). I think they go for $100-150 or wait for a half off day and get it then. If it does not work you have 30 days to take it back and either get your money refunded or swap it for another one.

p.s. Hit me up if u do go and i'll help u pull it if u buy me lunch and box of smokes. I've done it about 4 times on an rx-7.
p.p.s. www.pickandpull.com sign up the the newsletter so u know when they have a half off day.