Auto to manual conversion guide - Page 3 - Ford Forums

mongrelEB · 07-23-2003, 08:07

Drop the swaybar?
No you dont.
Just checking we're talking about the same bit of equipment, square bar just in front of the sump bulge....

**donuts2001** · 07-23-2003, 20:44

Quote:

Drop the swaybar?
No you dont.
Just checking we're talking about the same bit of equipment, square bar just in front of the sump bulge....

The one that connects both sides of the suspension together, also commonly referred to as the stabiliser bar.

To take the motor out with the swaybar attached, the gearbox will fowl on it. Gregories manual says to do it(and thats how I've done it before), and the gearbox barely makes it over the steering rack when your pulling it out(which is further in front of the swaybar, and at the same height). Therefore I would assume it would be impossible to drop the gearbox low enough if the swaybar was still there.

mongrelEB · 07-23-2003, 23:13

Well I never had to drop it and I've been taking these out for nearly 10 years now. Usually when the g/box hits the steering rack I just lift the end with my hand and that's fine.
Unless your car has different gear to standard?

Mainly I find it's all about angles, there is an optimum angle to lift the motor at so it does not foul on much. Usually positioning the hook above no.2 cylinder is best, but it is possible to lever the chain around through the hook if a different angle is required.

SIXXR-6 · 08-15-2003, 06:57

Hey guys, just wondering if ther would be any differences in an ef xr6 auto to manual, just wondering because im seriously considering the swap. thanx.

mongrelEB · 08-17-2003, 05:54

Mechanically there is no difference, I don't believe there is a difference with the wiring either but for chrissake check, cos I don't know :)

Obviously the EF has different ratios to an earlier box, and I don't know about the tailshaft. But apart from that it should all be the same.

OverDose · 11-12-2003, 20:23

planning on converting my xf to manual soon, anyone know about the wiring?

thats the only thing stopping me from starting now

cheers,

!Gn|T|0n · 11-12-2003, 20:27

wow this certainly seems to be the current craze dosen't it. What do you guys do with the old auto boxes - esp if they are slightly dubious? How much can you expect to get for them? $5-$300 ??

XR8 Lamah · 03-09-2004, 20:39

Ok, I've recently had this done to the EL XR8, and can add a couple of things for the EL 8's.

The below assumes that you've changed to a manual ECU (I had to - the auto ecu freaked out when it realised the Auto computer and box was missing. Among other things it ran the thermos at full speed all the time. It seems like http://www.autoemf.com.au/ is a good source for cheap ($350) ECU's - easier than searching wreckers).

In the EL's, if you run a Manual ECU, it does actually accept inputs from the clutch - its actually drawn as a parallel circuit, with neutral switch and clutch switch in parallel - so either one being triggerred (i.e. clutch in, or in neutral) will tell the ECU its in neutral (although what end effect this has /difference it makes, I'm uncertain)
Also, the inhibitor switch is ideally shorted, rather than connected to the neutral switch on the gearbox. In the Manual loom, the inhibitor switch does not exist. (same pins are used in common parts of the loom). I've shorted it, but am thinking I might incorporate it into a kill switch system (thieves are unlikely to suspect an auto loom in a manual eh?

).

Finally, you should connect the neutral switch on the box to what was the gear select connector on the auto loom (one of the connectors that was hooked up to the gear position sensor on the side of the auto box). These pins *are* still used by the manual computer (equates to the neutral switch connector in manual loom).

I originally had the neutral switch on the inhibitor connector, and the gear position connector disconnected (open circuit). This meant that the car wouldn't start unless in neutral, but run ok otherwise. The problem I discovered was that this freaked out the diagnostics on the car, and you *cannot* get the car into KOER diagnostics (i.e. cannot set base timing accurately), and KOEO diags will only yield 522 ("Gear lever needs to be in P or R for KOEO test"). This is basically caused by the gear position connector being open circuit - which the ECU equates to being in gear. Equally, you could probably short this connector (and have it think it permanently in neutral), but I'm unsure of any side effects of this - and at the end of the day, you have the inputs / outputs free, you might as well use them !

Hopefully this makes some sort of sense . . .

ftr_el · 03-14-2004, 05:29

I have converted my EL to manual, I have been envolved in three now and have encounted the same problems each time. When the manual box is in the thermos stay on constantly this is because the computer thinks the auto is over heating, changing the computer to manual would solve this however you loose performance and its pretty hard to find a Manual El computer in Wa. So does any one know a way to trick the ECU to thinking that the Auto box (which isnt there) is not overheating there fore stopping the thermos being on and even out the idle speed.

Any input would be appreciated.

thanks

mongrelEB · 03-15-2004, 04:20

OK looking at the book. Pin 42 - yellow Transmission Oil Temperature. Range 1.0 volt to 3.6 volt @ 20 degrees C.
Theoretically you could either install a switch to the manual to suit, or rig up a 3.6 volt feed line using a power converter from Dick Smiths

which should fix the problem.
Let us know how it goes, dunno with mine as I never put the fans in yet :(