A few 5 speed swap questions (and build thread)

[RandyBobandy]

I’ve been considering doing a manual swap on my 97 recently and have a few questions for those that have done it

I’d really like to get an entire donor vehicle but finding a junk 5 speed within a reasonable distance seems almost impossible, so is there any source where I can buy the engine wiring harness and ecu? And do they have to be from a 97 or would a 96 or 98 harness work? How about from a Tacoma? I understand the ecu plugs are different between the years but would that still be a problem if I am using the matching wiring harness?

Another thing I wanted to know, could I use a Tacoma as a donor vehicle, they seem to be more plentiful, but would things like the pedals and drive shafts work?

And finally will this be drivable with my Aussie locker or should I consider going to a selectable, I really like the lunchbox locker and the street manners are excellent but I’ve heard it can be harder keep from chirping tires with the manual

Thanks for any advice, I’m just trying to determine if I should keep looking for an appropriate donor vehicle or just piece together components from junk yards as they become available

 

[MaineRunna]

I would recommend finding a donor vehicle. That way you will have every part you would ever need for the swap. You would probably want a 96 or 97 as they changed a lot of the wiring in 98. You can swap the whole ECU and engine and dash wiring harnesses or change the ECU connectors and repin them. Either way is quite time consuming. Swapping the whole harness means taking the dash out, but guaranties that everything works, because everything just plugs in. You should be able to find some rusty gold in PA for a few hundred bucks.

 

[brillo_76]

The rusty gold is disappearing around the state.. I seen quite a few people doing 5 speed swaps. It's a shame Toyota removed manuals as an option in their 4 runner lines. :[

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[RandyBobandy]

this is true, while junk 4runners are out there manuals are super rare, which is why i was interested in using a tacoma as a donor since they are more common. I check craigslist and facebook daily, and I'm willing to travel a fair distance

I agree about being disappointed that toyota doesn't offer a manual in the new ones, if there was a bare bones manual model offered i would go and get a new one, but until then I prefer the older ones

 

[UnderFire]

Off of a Tacoma you can use:

Pedals
Clutch hydraulics
Bellhousing
Transmission
Transfer case (as long as it's the right one you want or a j shift)
Shifters
Clutch / flywheel
Front driveshaft
Floor boot plate
Possibly wiring harness/ecu if you match it up

You'll still be missing

Rear driveshaft
Interior trim piece

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[brillo_76]

Part of the reason for being more rare is because only 2 to 3% of the last years up to 2000 were manuals sold in the United states. :[


Keep us posted. Why not create a build thread for your conversation? That way you have a timeline for yourself. :]


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[RandyBobandy]

Thank you for the help everyone, I will definitely start a build thread when I start this project, I probably should have started one already but I haven’t taken any pictures of the stuff I’ve done and my 4runner is really a rusty old jalopy compared to a lot here, but the good news is it drives and runs amazingly since I have way more than it’s worth into it so I might as well swap in a manual since I’ll be keeping it for a long time

 

[RandyBobandy]

It's slowly coming together, I drove several hours on saturday to pick up swap parts from another forum member

unfortunately after reviewing the wiring diagrams, which I am completely unqualified to interpret, it looks like the ecu and wiring harness I have (from a 99) won't work, so if anyone needs those parts for their swap project send me a PM

so in the meantime, can I just wire up the neutral safety switch to the switch on the clutch pedal, connect the reverse lights, an drive it like that with the check engine light until I get around to getting a 97 ecu?

 

[Team_Jake]

can I just wire up the neutral safety switch to the switch on the clutch pedal, connect the reverse lights, an drive it like that with the check engine light until I get around to getting a 97 ecu?

Yes, you will be able to drive it with your auto ECU after the swap with minor wiring alteration, but like you said you will have a CEL. Unfortunately, the manual / auto ECUs from 1997 had completely different connectors. If you don't have vehicle inspection or smog in your state and you don't mind the CEL then no problem, but if that's an issue then you need to either re-pin your wiring to the new manual ECU, or swap in a wiring harness from a 1997.

 

[RandyBobandy]

I will probably end up repinning the harness and getting an ecu from eBay or something since I really don’t want the CEL but I’ll be able to live with it for the time being

 

[St Runner]

Yes it will run like that. You will have to run your own wire as there are no wires in the dash for the clutch Park wire to switch at the bottom of the clutch to any ground nearby. Step on the clutch and it engages the starting circuit by grounding that wire. If you have a clutch start button you can do it at the same time but it needs to be a 96-97 because they changed to a 4 pronged switch in 98

 

[RandyBobandy]

so I just need to run a single ground wire from the neutral safety switch to the switch on the clutch pedal?

 

[St Runner]

In essence yes, There are 5 or 6 wires on the park /neutral safety switch so you need to get the right one and you can take it from inside the dash where the engine harness connects. run that single wire to one side of the clutch switch and the other side gets grounded to the body nearby. kolelt did a nice writeup on it and he also has a 97 like ours

 

[RandyBobandy]

So i've got an aisin clutch kit on the way from rockauto and I'm taking the flywheel to get resurfaced tomorrow afternoon. for right now I just plan to wire the neutral safety switch to the clutch pedal and hook up the reverse lights and drive it like that until I can get the proper ECU, I hope to start removing my auto trans this weekend

 

[RandyBobandy]

Clutch kit arrived, flywheel is getting resurfaced, may start pulling the auto trans this weekend if I have time

In other news, I now have functional cup holders

Also another forum member who is local to me is going to help me out with my ecu and wiring harness situation. Does anyone know if it is worth it to get the dash harness as well, or if I should just splice the switches for the clutch pedal and clutch start cancel into the existing dash harness? Is it as big of a pain as it looks to pull a dash harness?

 

[RandyBobandy]

Auto is out, manual is mostly bolted in now

 

[RandyBobandy]

So I finally got to drive this a little more today after getting my brake issue sorted out, really liking it so far but I have a question for someone who might know

I’m getting a good bit of vibration while driving, I am running the rear driveshaft only from the auto trans, no front driveshaft, could the too short rear drive shaft cause these vibrations? I have not gotten around to putting new joints in the manual driveshafts

 

[Team_Jake]

So I finally got to drive this a little more today after getting my brake issue sorted out, really liking it so far but I have a question for someone who might know

I’m getting a good bit of vibration while driving, I am running the rear driveshaft only from the auto trans, no front driveshaft, could the too short rear drive shaft cause these vibrations? I have not gotten around to putting new joints in the manual driveshafts

Did you separate the two splined slip sections of the driveshaft at any point? It's important to put it back together splined the same exact way since the driveshaft is balanced all as one unit.

It could also be the grease, there is a bunch of grease packed in the slip section and I imagine by having a gap there now the grease may be settling to one side when parked and causing a vibration. Pump grease into there until you start to see some squeeze out.

I don't know how much the driveshaft can lengthen in the splined slip section before you see adverse affects, so it could be that as well. When I did my swap I kept my rear driveshaft and got a 1.25" spacer from Low Range Offroad so my driveshaft never actually changed length.

 

[RandyBobandy]

I did not separate them, you are probably right on the grease, I have new U joints for my manual driveshafts so I will get those in when I get a chance and see if they improve the vibrations

Do you think running without the front shaft could cause any vibrations?

 

[Team_Jake]

Do you think running without the front shaft could cause any vibrations?

No.

Did you keep your transfer case during the swap? I kept my multi-mode when I did my swap so I only needed to shorten my front driveshaft 1.25". There's enough slip travel (at least on my '99 limited) in the front driveshaft to compress it 1.25", so I got a small flat head screw driver, and pressed the corner of it against zerk fitting (to allow grease to squeeze out) and compressed the driveshaft to the proper length. No need to get it professionally re-done.