Project Kill Da Auto Wabbit!, Or how I learned to love the Manual Swap

[alphaseinor]

uh, I hope that thou knowest how to drive manual

Woops... forgot something...

Actually, I do... I have even gotten in on some "hot heel and toe action" in a previous line of work... Rally... I think I might have even driven a car with a 9lb flywheel on a turbo buick...

 

[alphaseinor]

Okay so my camera is still in the garage. This is really interesting, there was, according to the dealer, no other damage to the transmission... well there is a hole in the side, big enough to put a dime through... only the CV would have been able to do that damage... man I hate incompetence... It's not the freaking price, it's that the job wasn't done right, the first time or on time...

<<<AT THIS POINT THE AXELS LOOK TOTALLY DIFFERENT>>>

Back to the decription of what to do next...

Remove the intercooler tubing between the turbo and the intecooler, including the thing that is bolted on the chassis...

Unbolt the exhaust from the turbo and set aside.

Move the axels off of the spindles.

Put a jack under the engine. and a large box under the transmission.

Unbolt the two stretch bolts from the top of the transmission mount (the ones that hold the mount to the transmission.

Unbolt the last two bolts from the top of the transmission.

Now at this point, I dropped the engine slowly, and just kept going until the trans would clear the subframe. then pryed the puppy off onto the box (which just kinda softens the blow of the transmission falling... you can use a transmission jack if you want...).

Then you will probably need an impact wrench to remove the bolts on the "flywheel", which is just three thin peices of metal. remove the "flywheel" and the tin from the engine.

Install the manual transmission tin. The flywheel (I impacted with an electric impact wrench), the clutch (I hope you have an alignment tool, and then the pressure plate, which uses a 9mm 12 point socket.

Now the fun part... installing the transmission... unfortunately, I haven't gotten mine in just yet... it's a pain in the butt. I'll update this with photos and more details later.

 

[alphaseinor]

Kindof a sidestep, I decided just today to get a RC Euro Stage 2... soo... You will still need to remove the TCU from underneith the windsheild. remove the connector by pulling on the tab towards the drivers side. then remove the connector. remove the two nuts holding the TCU bracket on the studs, lift the front of the TCU and then pull it to the front of the car, then it should pull out. I ended up removing the air filter housing for the incoming air to make this easier. After you have pulled this out, then just three screws, and put the bracket back in. you can plainly see the wiring harness, and I guess I'll just work on that tonight... unless I feel like putting the transmission in...

 

[alphaseinor]

Okay I installed the transmission. the four starter bolts will come in handy...

<<<The Automatic and Manual Axels/CVs are ***NOT*** the same>>>

Remove the axels... I will write up a little later, when I do the reverse... This will help with putting in the transmission greatly, at least do the drivers side...

I removed my pendulum mount from the transmission to facilitate quicker installation.

First get the transmission where it is aligned with the transmission, jack it up (I suppose you can use a transmission jack... I used a floor jack because of space) or use a cherry picker. Then put the starter bolt into one of the corrisponding top holes. then put one on the rear bolt hole that goes from the engine and threads into the transmission. try to get the engine and transmission together, if you are LUCKY like me, the clutch was perfectly aligned, and it will go together with almost no effort, other than clearing everything... Watch for the rear area where the differential is... and where the pendulum mount used to be... also look out for the power steering lines, and A/C lines. If you are not lucky, you will have to turn the engine a little to get the clutch aligned with the splines (you did align the clutch with the tool didn't you???)

Anyways start the bolts when it's together, and put the mount back on.

There's where I am at this time... more later

 

[Fortuna Wolf]

Excellent. Nearing completion!

 

[alphaseinor]

I put the mount back on, and then raised the transmission up to join it with the rest of the mount, you did remember to put new bolts in didn't you?

I then put the turbo downpipe back on, and then connected the bottom part of the pendulum mount (the torsional supporter thingie)

I connected the hydraulic lines to the slave cylinder, make sure you have the metal clip to keep the line on the cylinder. Clip the reservoir where the clutch feed line is, and work quickly to put the clutch line on, you will not need a spring clip or a screw clamp, it'll just slide on. you will need two people to bleed the brakes. first open the valve and have someone push the clutch to the floor, then close the valve, have them lift the clutch until all of the air is out of the system. repeat until all of the air is out of the system, then have them press down on the clutch pedal while you open the valve, and just open it, bleed a bit and close it quickly... that will get the last of the air out. test the clutch by pressing on it, it should <!!SHOCK!!> feel like a clutch!

Removal of the axles:
remove the wheel, the remove the nut on the axle. I used a 30mm 12 point socket to remove the nut. then I just hit the end with a mallet. worked fine. came out with three good hits (but then again mine have been in for only 450 miles). Installation is reverse of removal. BTW an impact wrench will help here.

I get to put in the new axles next... then all of the bolts then the starter, then torque, then connect everything, and wire the puppy up! Then I get to start checking everything... and figure out if I've done it right...

 

[alphaseinor]

Well I got back at it tonight... After yet another dealer screwup...

All axles are in!!! all nuts are tight... even if a few screws are loose...

The starter from the manual transmission ***IS*** different... you can now sell the automatic one on ebay...

The wiring harness will need to be stripped, spliced, and whatnot... you will only need to use two wires for the reverse lights, but you may have to re-order the wires on the VSS harness... but more on that later... I still need to get this bad boy on the ground...

***Mental note, I still need to put in three new bolts on the lower control arm because they were stripped... after vw gets me the retainer part***


Now nappie time... zzzz ZZZZ zzzz

 

[Growler]

thanks for this excellent writeup!
this should be added to the how to thread.

 

[owr084]

All axles are in!!! all nuts are tight... even if a few screws are loose...

Boy, that comment can be interpreted in sooooo many ways...

 

[alphaseinor]

Boy, that comment can be interpreted in sooooo many ways...

quadruple entendre?

 

[chromeBuddha]

Looking at the hole pattern on the flywheel, it looks asymetric to me...with reference to what we talked about while pulling bulldogger's head...NICHT ENTENDRE!

Let me know if any extra hands are needed, though it seems you have completed all the heavy stuff. Whew, that's a relief...

 

[Mike_M]

Quadruple entendres? Pulling heads? Extra hands?

*sound of mind shattering*

I NEED SOME BRAIN BLEACH!

Mike

 

[alphaseinor]

I went into work and told my boss that I helped a guy in Arlington pull his head off... he gave me the "What country are you from?" look and said "I don't even want to know". I guess next time I should rephrase it...

 

[Mike_M]

I went into work and told my boss that I helped a guy in Arlington pull his head off... he gave me the "What country are you from?" look and said "I don't even want to know". I guess next time I should rephrase it...

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[alphaseinor]

Well I opted for a dieselgeek short shifter... Is it legal to go this far before even getting your temp tags??? So far I have swapped the ECU, Transmission, Nozzles, and now a short shifter... and I haven't even registered it in my name yet... I guess I'll do that tomorrow morning...

I pulled out all of the wiring harness for the transmission, I have the pinouts for where everything goes, which i'll post here since it's part of the howto, I am going to figure out the reverse lights and the neutral safey switch/relay thingie sometime this week, but for the most part it's all done...

I broke the alignment pin on the transmission, and now it's stuck in the 1-2 gate, unless you jiggle it out into the 3-4-5 gates. I'll get that figured out as well sometime this week...

 

[alphaseinor]

I got the reverse lights wired up: NOTE THIS IS FOR MY 1999.5 Mk4 Golf, Your mileage may vary... you should make sure you have the correct pins and test them by continuity before plugging anything in!!!!

First you will need two paperclips so you can remove a pin from the grey harness...

Since I removed the wiring harness for the transmission control unit, this made a hole in the plenum pass-through... I decided to use the wiring harness for a plug. I cut the wiring harness for the green/black (black with green stripe) and the black with red stripe from the grey connector to match the length to the reverse light wiring. I removed the pins from the reverse light wiring harness and carefully uncrimped the pins, then crimped them back on the "grey" harness...

You will need to push the pink wire hold down on the grey connector out a bit, there are two clips that prevent this from coming out.

You will need to remove the red/black wire from the grey plug and put it into the orange plug, there is only one pin (the second row from the front, in the middle connection). you will need to use the two paperclips to remove the pin. insert the paper clip tips into the plug side of the connector, and push. while pushing, you will need to gently pull on the wire. it will come out eventually with a little love. do not force it, or you will damage the pin, and then you are up a creek as to where to find the pins for this connector.

Verify that the plug works by testing continuity to the reverse positive from the 20 amp plug for the transmission control module... replace the 20A fuse with a 10A and be done with it... I was not able to fully trace down fuse 7 for the backup lights, so I just used the biggest wire I could find.

You may be able to just use the connector with some wire on the original wiring harness and just splice them together... but again your mileage may vary...

Next I get to replace my batteries in my multimeter, and figure out how to bypass the 175 relay. The clutch switch is open when it's floored, and closed when it's "in". so no help there... I'm not a big fan on putting a relay on top of another relay... especially if it has to stay on all of the time.

I put the diesel geek short shifter in, I am very pleased with the results, but unfortunately, I think I broke something other than the pin, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the pin... it's just very difficult to get from the 1-2 gate to either the 3-4 or the reverse gate... the 3-4 to 5 relay works fine... I'm going to fire it up and see if it just needs a lube job (probably not)... otherwise I get to remove the transmission again, and have it looked at... I don't remember dropping it... it didn't shift hard at the junkyard, or when I got it home... I'm not big on rebuilding my own transmissions... but a 5th gear swap may be in order if it's coming out again.

 

[alphaseinor]

I finally got to trace down some of the connections...

For whatever reason pin 7 I can't get continuity to ground, but I suspect it is a ground lead. Interesting that my previous idea for the reverse lights may be a little simple... but it does work reliably... I still need to hook power up to the relay to see what it does, I can't seem to find any pinouts for the transmission control unit... worst case, I stick in the manual harness and relay.

The relay seems to have a NPN transistor in there, but there doesn't seem to be a diagram for the B C and E connections, so I guess I'll just have to remember how to find base...

Anyone have a pinout for the TCU?

 

[alphaseinor]

Holy cow.. the logic circuit on this beast is a PITA...

I decided to declaw it...

Now I get to find that pesky desoldering iron...

 

[alphaseinor]

Quite interesting... Since it was a NPN transistor (actually it was four with a ****-load of diodes, resistors, misc regulator junk and stuff...)... it should just need the red/yellow, red/grey, and brown wires connected to ground.

Well... I have a possible solution... I haven't tested it just yet, but I may have a solution... On the bench, it seems to work... The logic circuit is there so the reverse lights don't come on when you try to start the car, and the starter doesn't run when it's in reverse... I think... LOL

 

[alphaseinor]

Well it finally started, drove around the parking lot a little to see how it feels... I'm loving it!!!... now to put in that pesky gaffers tape.

 

[alphaseinor]

Last night I was up until 6:00 AM putting in the gaffers tape, and reassembling the interior. Took it out for a spin, limp mode comes on when it's cold (who knows why... I'll figure that out later). after rebooting the car, holy cow does this thing haul ass... it really feels like my '65 mustang before I modded it... and that was a 4bbl 289. Unfortunately, I had a flat going to church... and the spare (it's full size!) was also flat... so I went and got the spare replaced, and tomorrow get all of the tires done... looking at some Kumho ASX or ASTs...

 

[Fortuna Wolf]

gods man, That car sounds like a lemon. Congrats on almost finishing the swap!

 

[alphaseinor]

Well I found a loose vaccum line to the N75... fixed the limp mode problem... Now I get to put the Boost gauge and the EGT... then RC3... I guess I need to get another set of rims one for the winter, one for the summer... put my victoracers on the summer, and my ASX/ASTs on the winter...

 

[Fortuna Wolf]

does it snow much in TX?
The boost and EGT guages will be fun. If you have questions about them ask me.

 

[alphaseinor]

I think it snow's about once or twice a year, but I go to Colorado about a month out of the year for vacation... Skiing... Gotta love Wolf Creek.

 

[GdB]

Parts required for Auto to Manual Swap

alphaseinor

First I would like to thank you for taking the time to post all the tranny swap stuff on tdiclub! Excellent!

I will also do this in the near future.

Do you think there are any parts or wiring harness stuff that may make the swap easier? Can the electrical stuff be simplified. It looks like you did quite a bit.

I am getting a kit put together, so I am looking for suggestions as to what I need to get from him. Here is my list:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parts required for Auto to Manual Swap
---------------------------------------------------
MT - Manual transmission and mounts?
(for sure the rear motor mount (I think it is manual specific))

the plate between the MT and engine

axles (may be different length)

Dust "tins" from engine assembly (there are two)

Flywheel, Pressure Plate, Clutch, Misc., all clutch system parts (including switch)
Clutch Pedal Assembly and Lines

Starter (looks identical...)
Starter cable(s) to battery (not sure if this is needed, but if the starter is in a different place the cables may be different)

all Shifter parts
Shifter Box
Shifter Linkage
All interior pieces that touch the stick shift assembly


all brackets associated with the above parts
any other minor MT associated parts
[FONT=&quot]All Bolts and nuts, clips, brackets, etc...[/FONT]

 

[alphaseinor]

The starters look identical, but in fact they are different. everything you need for reverse lights, and to bypass the Park/Neutral Relay is on the TR connector, you don't have to connect the two wires to ground like what I did, they just need to be spliced together (cut and crimp?)

The 12v (green/black) from the TR switch should go to the reverse light switch, the other side should go to the blue/black wire on the TR Switch. Now if it's possible to make a harness (bad IP pump connector???) then that would make it very streightforward. there is not much for differences, and I never hooked up the clutch pedal.

The Axles are actually totally different in type, the manual ones are greased, and easily servicable, the auto ones are sealed at the transmission.

The mount is mostly different, I would get the whole thing just to be sure.

The hydraulic lines (don't forget the clips) Misc wires, connectors, etc...

All of the interior peices are the same, the only obvious difference is the boot and knob. You can remove this without taking apart the shifter, and it will drop right through the bottom of the car. (at least on my car) I got the whole interior console, but kept the original. since yours is the 6 speed, I would suggest the same.

So long as the 6 speed came from a TDI or other 4 cyl, you should be fine for the bellhousing, but you will notice that there are many different types, and some of the 6 speeds will have a higher RPM at cruise (the worst I found was like 3600 RPM @ 75 MPH). Swapping top gears in the 6 speed is also more difficult, but hey if you are autocrossing, then that should be fine on a short course. The diesel loves the tall gears... so I just stuck with the 5 speed... I would probably import one from a junker in europe so it would be cheaper... and have a better highway gear.

I would go inside your floorboard and make sure you have all of the things to hang the pedal from (there are three studs), and if they are not there (they are hidden under the fire retardent panel.), then you will have problems doing the swap... I haven't looked at many automatic golfs/jettas/passat/whatnots to see if they are the same or different. also it is quite obvious if your master cylinder reservour has a nipple available or not.

As for the brake pedal, all of the mk4 golfs I have seen, the automatic has the same pedal as the manual. if not, then that's yet another thing you would have to do that is not covered here...

 

[GdB]

Thanks!

Thanks!

That summarizes it well.

It is actually a 5 SPEED.

I am getting the kit from the tdiclub member, "6speed"

 

[alphaseinor]

You should be able to match up a connector for the transmission range switch so you can have an easier swap... I think the IP connector is similar, but I haven't tried it... Don't forget to unplug your TCM in the plenum

 

[Water4fire]

Will any 5 speed work for the swap? My Jetta Auto TDI went last month and me and my mech are gonna swap tranny's, but I was checking to see if any 5 speed will work?

.