DETUNED

I just purchased a 5 speed front clip and it arrived to my house the other day. I just have a few questions for some of you gurus out there. When I got the clip, I noticed that the car used to be an auto and that the previous owner in japan converted it to manual. The pedals and everything look fine, and he used sheet metal to patch up the extra opening around the shifter. THe part that kinda mad me upset becuase the whole point of my getting a 5 speed front cut was for the ecu and tranny. I took the ecu out and its says a/t and not m/t. I thought that you couldn't use the auto ecu for the 5 speed swap? apparently he did, but how? I opened up the ecu and couldn't find anything. It also looked as though it was never opened before. I still haven't taken the motor out and see what tranny is on it, but how can i tell if it's a true 1jz tranny and not a crappy 2jzge 5 speed tranny? all help will be much appreciated.

Peter

livesc400

If I am correct there are ways, to make an Auto ECU think it is a manual tranny. Somehow you can trick it into thinking the car is in one of the gears (usually 2nd gear in auto which is a matter of corssing/soldering a few wires). I think this is what Rod Millen did to fit the Getrag Supra tranny in the IS430 project as well. That's strange that the ECU casing seemed very intact and never opened. Perhaps they just did a very good job . Check to see if there is a plate on the tranny. Hopefully it is the R154 tranny. I think it is rated to 600hp and is much stronger than the MKIV NA Supra tranny. Good luck to you on your swap. Maybe one day, I'll do the same thing .

motorheaddown

R154 on the left; W58 on the right: http://www.speedtoys.com/~stryder/w5.../w58vsr154.jpg

If it says a/t on the outside of the ecu, then it's definitely an auto ecu. The auto tranny ecu should work with a manual tranny, but it will probably pull timing when it thinks it's time to shift the auto.

-scott