I'm following V8Kilr 's and RotaryResurrection 's auto to manual swap instructions. Both of them kinda just skip over the removal part and that leads me to a question or two...

1) I assume you remove and dispose of the transmission cooler system, correct? I assume that means pulling out the undertray and tracing the metal lines to the cooler.

2) Is there a trick to removing the wiring? There are more wires on the auto tranny than there are behind my home theater equipment! After the ninth hour removing the auto tranny I was ready to pull out the wire cutters. Those damn plugs up alongside the bellhousing and tranny tunnel are a pain to disengage.

As an aside, are the TII rear ends (diff, axles, driveshaft) all interchangeable from S4 and 5? Searched and reviewed the FAQ but didn't find anything on it.

Thx

 

1)yes
2)be a man and yank for your life, or just cut it.
3)yes.

 

Thanks, Cyg.

My big, manly hands won't fit between the tranny and the tunnel, hence the dilemma!

 

We're ready to put the TII tranny in (the advice in the forums about super gluing the key in the eccentric shaft is a god send) and I noticed that there were no red wires. It appears that TigerJapanese abused it in transit and broke off the leads.

I believe the gear indicator switch is on the driver's side of the tranny near the back (the write-ups all refer to the 'red wires'). It screws in and has a plunger. I tested it with an ohm meter and when fully extended (which maps to reverse) it allows current to flow thru one of the leads (which aren't there).

The leads are broken off below insulator. I can make contact with my probe. So I was going to drill out the insulator and solder wires to the contacts.

Any words of advice? Here in TX we have to get frequent inspections (the "People's Republic of Texas?") and I'm guessing reverse lights are part of that inspection.

If anybody has abused their manual tranny to the point that they've junked it and have the gear reader available let me know!