1998 2 door 3 speed auto to 5 speed manual swap

[Perry]

I’ve been considering doing this swap for some time, but as I get close to pulling the trigger I have some more questions.

First and foremost, I have a 1998 2 door that I drive which has a 3 speed automatic. I have a running and driving donor (extreme body/frame rust), a 1998 door 2 5 speed manual.

Since I have a 1998 2 door donor I would think I have everything I need for a direct swap. I’ll be looking at swapping: pedal assembly, transmission, clutch cable, clutch, flywheel, pressure plate, driveshafts. Once that is complete I will be swapping third members front and rear from the donor as well, as well as the speedo.

ECU is my next question. I have the “dumb” 3 speed. Can I simply swap the ECU from the manual in and avoid the p0740 for TCC lockup?

I don’t have smog testing so I can even leave the automatic ECU in if it will work, but I’d also like to know what I will swap over from the donor to have no CEL at all (please don’t say complete dash harness!!!! Hahaha)

http://www.fixkick.com/SWAPS.html#Tranny_swap I’ve read this page, and it’s been helpful. But the examples seem to be focused on the auto to manual swaps.

Thanks fixkick!

[fixkick]

suzuki or geo trackers? no name stated? nor engines , The 98 year even had j18 engines. on real suzuki's sidekick sports.
swaps are not easy, and the newer the car the difficulty is extreme.

avoid the p0740 for TCC lockup? ( avoid, as in , this error ends?) the TCM inside the PCM watches the clutch lock up and if RPM fails to drop, proper 740 barfs.
the ECU runs the TCC clutch directly so the manual ECU will not work ,and TCC will dead but can be hot wired manually with a switch.
the bodies are not the same, the fire walls are not the same A/T over M/T did you look that first, and the transmission tunnel pan openings next.?

The ECU I do not think the A'/T ecu goes to limphome mode for 740s, so ignore. that.
as far as the speedo is concerned , IDK, lots and lots of speed heads on this car like 50 of them all years. what can work best I do not know, lacking full car facts. (vin and all options)

the swap is only limited by body and frame mounts (missing) or wrong.
and electrical.
the wrong ECU on manual swap in will work. It DOES ON 95 YEAR, A/T ECU IN M/T CAR.
BUT 1998 IS OBD2 CAR, So only that matters.
I do not know how the OBD2 TCM knows the transmission is 3sp and not 4speed, and is same ECU. (PCM = ECU + TMC merged in 1997)
I guess it will thick the 5sp stick is 3speed auto.
and only show errors for TCC
the 4speed, has huge number of OBD2 errors, on shift points failing.

the ECU may see the clutch switch , and go, ok, M/T car. IDK

[Perry]

suzuki or geo trackers? no name stated? nor engines , The 98 year even had j18 engines. on real suzuki's sidekick sports.
swaps are not easy, and the newer the car the difficulty is extreme.

avoid the p0740 for TCC lockup? ( avoid, as in , this error ends?) the TCM inside the PCM watches the clutch lock up and if RPM fails to drop, proper 740 barfs.
the ECU runs the TCC clutch directly so the manual ECU will not work ,and TCC will dead but can be hot wired manually with a switch.
the bodies are not the same, the fire walls are not the same A/T over M/T did you look that first, and the transmission tunnel pan openings next.?

The ECU I do not think the A'/T ecu goes to limphome mode for 740s, so ignore. that.
as far as the speedo is concerned , IDK, lots and lots of speed heads on this car like 50 of them all years. what can work best I do not know, lacking full car facts. (vin and all options)

the swap is only limited by body and frame mounts (missing) or wrong.
and electrical.
the wrong ECU on manual swap in will work. It DOES ON 95 YEAR, A/T ECU IN M/T CAR.
BUT 1998 IS OBD2 CAR, So only that matters.
I do not know how the OBD2 TCM knows the transmission is 3sp and not 4speed, and is same ECU. (PCM = ECU + TMC merged in 1997)
I guess it will thick the 5sp stick is 3speed auto.
and only show errors for TCC
the 4speed, has huge number of OBD2 errors, on shift points failing.

the ECU may see the clutch switch , and go, ok, M/T car. IDK

Sorry I assumed the 1998 2 door was 1.6L only...

Full details
Daily driver for swap: 1998 Chevrolet Tracker 1.6L, 3spd auto, 2 door, 4x4, base trim
Donor: 1998 Suzuki Sidekick 1.6L, 5 speed manual, 2 door, 4x4, base trim

I checked today and the firewall is the same on both, except rubber plugs were cables go on the auto, YAY! Trans tunnel I'm not 100% sure, a little fab here I am ok with. Cross members are the same.

I wonder if the clutch switch can be wired to the neutral/park switch in order to make sure car starts only when clutch pressed?

So the most important thing, A/T ECU will run with a manual swapped in?

[fixkick]

the park switch should work, wired to the clutch switch.
the ECU will work but only errors stored, and only CEL lamp stuck on. not big deal that, smog checks not.
thanks for the fire wall rule, they changed rules, 1996 on that I bet. ill look that up later. in the parts list. they sold body parts then. have P/N can look.
that is good find that.!
good luck on your big swap !

[Perry]

Another quick question, my donor is hard to get into gear from neutral sometimes. Would this be an indicator of a worn clutch? Maybe a dying master or slave cylinder? Just want to make sure it's all good and working before I put all this work in.

I will be getting a new clutch kit for the swap.

[fixkick]

the G16 engine has cable clutch
set the free play right and see if the clutch drags
the best gear to test is REVERSE
that is because reverse is a non syncro gear, just square cut gears, and is the carry bird (miner jargon) of gear, if the clutch drags even a tiny bit,. reverse grinds.
set the pedal play to 1/2? at the bottom bell adjustment screw. this is done over and over as the disc wears. say ever 10k of city driving or 30k highway miles.

drag as many cause, cable bad or set wrong tops the list and 10x more easy to fix.
then cracked or warped disk .
warped PP pressure plate (or cracked)
or bad springs in the PP.
or throw out bearing a wreak.

[fixkick]

the j18 has the hydra. clutch only. not g16 engine.

[Perry]

Yes it is indeed a clutch cable on my donor, my bad.

For anyone wondering, here is the firewall where the clutch cable will come through on my 1998 A/T 2 door

Also reverse is grinding. The clutch on the donor is dragging pretty bad. It’s even creeping a bit in 1st/reverse on cold start with clutch to floor. Here is a vid for the hell of it. https://streamable.com/9i3up

I’ve never had a manual kick before. I don’t see an obvious adjustment point under the dash, it must be on the tranny side?

edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag4A4BlZLWA the nut on the end in the video here, this must be it yeah?

[Perry]

Well I’m started on the swap, just waiting on a new flywheel and clutch because I don’t think it’s wise to resume the old ones while I have easy accesss.

In terms of the wiring, it seems that any tranny related wires come from the engine harness. Since it’s not to much work, would I be able to swap the engine bay harness and ECU from the 5 speed donor into my 3 speed auto? Both are 1998, 1.6 2 doors so I was hoping this may be able to enable me to have no check engine light.

If I have to swap the whole dash harness over to avoid the check engine light I’m not going to bother and will live with the p0740 it’s going to throw at me.

[fixkick]

the 1996 manual posted in sticky post 1 covers this, fully. clutch free play steps, its very easy. best measured at the pedal but if the cable is rusted as all are this old is impossible todo right.
but note my 1 inch rule, in page below.. html.
if the end of that lever on bell moves 1 inch and IF reverse grinds the clutch is bad.
if the lever does not move 1 full inch (the free play is set WRONG) and the clutch is not bad, its that simple, and is why I made up the 1 inch rule to find a bad clutch with 15 minutes work and use a ruler please,
or test 2, acid test 2, remove all free play using that nut at the bottom end of the cable, if reverse grinds the clutch if bad. for sure. no guessing..

well if some mounted arms are installed wrong (ignoring index marks) or the spline on the top of the clutch pedal is stripped out due to rusty cable and heavy foot, will that be it, all covered on my clutch page, every word
in fact i covered every possible failure, here. even things nobody ever saw before.
ive blown up vast clutches in 50 years, when young ,ever week about.(racing)

http://www.fixkick.com/tranny/clutch/clu...-kick.html

Well I’m started on the swap, just waiting on a new flywheel and clutch because I don’t think it’s wise to resume the old ones while I have easy accesss.
so true.

In terms of the wiring, it seems that any tranny related wires come from the engine harness.
Since it’s not to much work, would I be able to swap the engine bay harness and ECU from the 5 speed donor into my 3 speed auto? Both are 1998, 1.6 2 doors so I was hoping this may be able to enable me to have no check engine light.
The check light will fail no matter what you do, the ECU sees the TCC fail to lock up , it sees VSS speed not drop and TCC Fails, only a new MT ECU fixes that.

the ECU commands TCC to lock up then checks the RPM drop, and VSS drop, and if fails , fails. DTC.

If I have to swap the whole dash harness over to avoid the check engine light I’m not going to bother and will live with the p0740 it’s going to throw at me.

the ECU does not read the dash cluster, only the VSS speed clicker reed switch in the cluster. only this, if the ECU likes the VSS speed ok, but
if not DTC errors for DEAD VSS, if the VSS works but the speed does not drop with TCC active, the ECU DTC errors for DEAD TCC.
that is all there is to that, all other things in the cluster are passive things the ECU can not read. ever.
lamps , gears for odometer.
the ECU may check for VSS rpm drop and engine RPM drop, both are going to drop when TCC locks up.


is this car 4wd or 2wd, you should make signature like this'
1998 Sidekick (or tracker,) 2doors, 4wd, G16b 16valves, usa car, tranny swap. (correct my errors please) 3sp to 5sp stick.