I picked up what is supposed to be an s4 NA transmission (seller said out of an 86) the other day from another forum member.
Upon pulling my transmission out, I realized that the one I purchased had significant differences in the casting and mounts.
I tried to put my cross member from my car onto the mount on the transmission, but it wouldn't fit. I measured the tail shafts and overall lengths of the transmissions and they appear to be the same lengths.

Can anyone tell me what I just bought?

First I will put up the pic of the transmission I pulled out of my car, then the one I bought

My Tranny

"New Tranny"

My Tranny

"New Tranny"

My Tranny

"New Tranny"



Any Ideas? I thought it was a 1st Gen tranny at first, but the tail shafts are different lengths between 1st and 2nd gens

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

-Miles

 

I want to say it's a GSL-SE (from an 84-85) transmission. I looked at some of my pics and it seems right.

S4





S3




^ Pay no attention to the vehicle, I'm dropping the GSL-SE drivetrain into a B2300

 

I am pretty sure the gsl-se has the shorter tailshaft and 1st gen style mount though, maybe it is a custom mount? although it doesn't really look like it.

 

I did a little searching...

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...4&postcount=13


I know for a fact the TII transmission shifter is in the same location as the S4 NA, so it looks like I may have been right?

Not too sure about that mount though.

 

This kind of confirms it too..
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...E+transmission

 

it's an S4 non turbo transmission

the only difference really is the way that the transmission mount plate mounts to the transmission with the v shape on the S5 versus the flat plate mount on the S4. you should be fine if you retain the mount bracket since the S5 obviously won't mount to the S4 tranny.

 

Really? I didn't think any S4's came with the smooth case.

 

i think you may be right, i just checked an S4 and it has ribs on the outer casing so it must be a GSL-SE transmission.

 

what about the fill plugs doesn't the turbo trans have 2 and the n/a only have one? other thing check the splines and mounting points. see if your drive shaft will slide into as well. think these options should help you figure it out pretty fast otherwise try to find a casting number on the housing somewhere.

 

it's definitely not a turbo transmission so forget about that. turbo transmissions have a removable bellhousing, non turbo transmissions do not. you can look at my photo album if you want to see what a turbo transmission looks like, nothing like a non turbo transmission and easily identifiable.

 

TII transmission.

 

I knew it wasn't a turbo tranny haha

so it looks like it is a gsl-se tranny with an odd mount...weird I will show how my cross member fits onto the trannys mount in a bit, so maybe you guys will be able to tell me how I can make it work

 

Take a look here:

http://mazdatrix.com/g3.htm

On the transmission you pulled out, it's an FC N/A transmission with S5 mounts.

On the transmission you bought, it's a GSL-SE trans with S4 mounts.

S4 mount


Weird.

 

how the hell was it bolting to my car?!?! hahahaha The other tranny I have (blown)is identical to the one I just pulled, i know my car is an s4, it has 4 lugs.

That second pic is the exact mount that is on the gsl-se tranny. (new one)

so how do I combine these two to get my car back on the road is the real question hahaha

Thanks for all the help so far guys!

 

Apparently if you use the crossmember from the same series transmission, it'll bolt in. As to why it was able to bolt to that GSL-SE transmission, I don't know. Maybe it was a direct fit, but you seem to have pulled out of your S4 car an S5 mount. That means you'll have an S5 crossmember too.

So all you have to do is use all your old mounts and it should bolt up just fine. Or you could get an S4 saddle mount and crossmember.

Are you SURE you have an S4? Just because it's 4 lug doesn't necessarily make it an S4. For instance, if the PO put an FB trans in it, what's to say he didn't buy the car as a shell (possibly a parted out shell) and built it up with junkyard parts? Maybe it had 5 lug hubs originally and they were parted out, then years later replaced with the less expensive 4 lug units. What's the date in the driver's door jamb?

 

everything on the entire car is s4, from the engine to the fragile interior to the body panels to the 86 imsa sticker haha

I thought s5 crossmembers wouldn't bolt to s4 cars

 

the crossmembers fit to both series cars the same way, they just bolt up to the transmissions differently. you can put an S4 transmission with S4 crossmember into an S5 and vice versa. which you would need to make a GSL-SE fit i'm not sure but would guess that an S4 crossmember would be what it requires after seeing the pics.

 

i have an S4 tranny in my S5. (TII)
i switched the rear shifter housing with mount so i could still use my stock mounts

this is perhaps also possible with the NA transmission?

 

sure but why risk a possible leaking case half just to have the correct series of tailhousing? the trannies WILL mount up with the correct crossmember for the series of transmission. it might be a good suggestion for those who have to replace the 1/2 gate return spring anyways which commonly fails in the shifter though but no idea if it will work in this case, the SE transmission may have the speedo gear on the output shaft in a different location or use different shift fork heads.

 

well because i had bought banzai racing tranny mounts, and after that i came across a brand-new tranny for a sick low price!
the guy said it was S5, but turned out to be S4...
i didn't have any other parts like the S4 mount, so i just improvised

 

its an 86 NA trans like the guy said.

they didn't put the ribs on the bellhousing until 87ish

 

Yup I have an early 86 NA trans and it looks identical, no ribs.

 

so incase anyone was still interested j9fd3s and jlaudio982 were correct it is an s4 tranny, I bought an s4 mount and it bolted right up!

Thanks alot for all of your help guys!

 

As a heads up since it's kinda of brought up in this thread a S4 tail housing can be placed on a FB transmission and vice versa. The early smooth case 86 transmissions are most likely the factory doing just this.