5spd swap from 89 SE to 91 GXE
07-27-2009, 07:55 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
5spd swap from 89 SE to 91 GXE
What is the difficulty of swapping the Interlock relay from my 89 SE to my 91 GXE? Has anyone just wired around it?
the relay is on the driver side strut tower. it is hard to find in the 1989 to 1994 PDF FSM, but i have a 91 specific manual that show it clearly.
the relay is on the driver side strut tower. it is hard to find in the 1989 to 1994 PDF FSM, but i have a 91 specific manual that show it clearly.
07-27-2009, 10:42 AM
#2
i wired around it. i just wired my clutch pedal start switch and the "neutral" portion of the reverse/neutral switch in parallel to the park/neutral switch on the stock a/t wiring.
07-28-2009, 06:48 PM
#4
i know d!ck about conversions like this, but i feel you wouldnt have to touch cruise. isnt it a unit all on its own? it only controls the throttle position and should have nothing to do with the tranny. right??
07-28-2009, 06:52 PM
#5
Well, pushing the clutch pedal de-activates the cruise control, so it's definitely wired in somehow. I know most guys just don't ever wire it up properly and thus never have cruise (or back-up lights for that matter)
07-28-2009, 08:45 PM
#7
here's an example of what i meant with the R/N switch wiring
swap the wires around till you end up with this, EXCEPT you need red/black, NOT yellow/black (the original mistake was due to a misprint in the FSM)
07-29-2009, 06:36 AM
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
back up lights are b/c ppl never rewire the old a/t's inhibitor switch thingy... it's super easy actually, as long as you have something to pop the little spade connnectors out of the harness plugs. you just have to re-arrange the a/t's wires to correspond with the m/t's wires. so my car (and nc90gxe's car, which i swapped in march) starts in neutral w/ clutch up, starts in-gear WITH clutch down, reverse lights work, and cruise works. also the cruise will work fine if you never add the clutch cancel switch. i always cancel cruise with the clutch switch actually, because of the way my pedal is set up (no return spring).
here's an example of what i meant with the R/N switch wiring
swap the wires around till you end up with this, EXCEPT you need red/black, NOT yellow/black (the original mistake was due to a misprint in the FSM)
here's an example of what i meant with the R/N switch wiring
swap the wires around till you end up with this, EXCEPT you need red/black, NOT yellow/black (the original mistake was due to a misprint in the FSM)
also doesnt you brake light come on when using the clutch?
Last edited by 300zmax; 07-29-2009 at 08:55 AM.
07-29-2009, 09:03 AM
#9
i deleted the pedal return spring on my clutch pedal, so the clutch pressure itself is what holds my pedal up. so now that my pedal doesn't 'bottom out' the cancel switch, i was able to adjust it so that the pedal just BARELY touches the cancel switch (just enough to enable cruise) so that i just TAP the pedal and it cancels cruise, rather than having to push it an inch like you would on a non-modified pedal. thus my pedal also does not make that silly CLUNK when i take my foot off it...
07-29-2009, 09:47 AM
#10
back up lights are b/c ppl never rewire the old a/t's inhibitor switch thingy... it's super easy actually, as long as you have something to pop the little spade connnectors out of the harness plugs. you just have to re-arrange the a/t's wires to correspond with the m/t's wires. so my car (and nc90gxe's car, which i swapped in march) starts in neutral w/ clutch up, starts in-gear WITH clutch down, reverse lights work, and cruise works. also the cruise will work fine if you never add the clutch cancel switch. i always cancel cruise with the clutch switch actually, because of the way my pedal is set up (no return spring).
here's an example of what i meant with the R/N switch wiring
swap the wires around till you end up with this, EXCEPT you need red/black, NOT yellow/black (the original mistake was due to a misprint in the FSM)
here's an example of what i meant with the R/N switch wiring
swap the wires around till you end up with this, EXCEPT you need red/black, NOT yellow/black (the original mistake was due to a misprint in the FSM)
I thought the dash wiring was wired into the same harness as the engine harness but it's not. So yesterday it dawned on me that if I want to do this 100% factory that the VE 5 engine harness I have coming isn't going to help any with the actual clutch pedal wiring.
Now I can't check the car out right now and can't remember off-hand, but doesn't the clutch pedal have two switches? I know the top switch is the cruise cancel switch, but what's the other one? The pedal assembly I bought from goon is missing that switch, so I need to figure out what I need to do with that
07-29-2009, 10:23 AM
#11
Now I can't check the car out right now and can't remember off-hand, but doesn't the clutch pedal have two switches? I know the top switch is the cruise cancel switch, but what's the other one? The pedal assembly I bought from goon is missing that switch, so I need to figure out what I need to do with that
07-29-2009, 11:05 AM
#12
The clutch cancel switch has two wires - a green/white wire, and a blue/orange-ish wire.
The brake cancel switch has two wires - a blue/orange-ish wire, and a light green/red wire.
The blue/orange wire from the clutch cancel switch gets spliced (or re-pinned) into the "left over" blue/orange wire that was going into the brake cancel switch.
Is this right? So there's actually TWO splices, correct?
Last edited by James92SE; 07-29-2009 at 01:13 PM.
07-29-2009, 06:52 PM
#13
I guess I'm missing something:
The clutch cancel switch has two wires - a green/white wire, and a blue/orange-ish wire.
The brake cancel switch has two wires - a blue/orange-ish wire, and a light green/red wire.
The blue/orange wire from the clutch cancel switch gets spliced (or re-pinned) into the "left over" blue/orange wire that was going into the brake cancel switch.
Is this right? So there's actually TWO splices, correct?
The clutch cancel switch has two wires - a green/white wire, and a blue/orange-ish wire.
The brake cancel switch has two wires - a blue/orange-ish wire, and a light green/red wire.
The blue/orange wire from the clutch cancel switch gets spliced (or re-pinned) into the "left over" blue/orange wire that was going into the brake cancel switch.
Is this right? So there's actually TWO splices, correct?
on the a/t car, wires 1 and 2 are for the brake pedal switch, and wires 3 and 4 are the cut-off pigtails on the clutch pedal from snipping that plug out of my parts car. so i used the needle method (just like the R/N switch) to pop wire 1 out of the brake pedal plug and swapped it with wire 4, and then just used a splice to connect wires 3 and 4 to finish the circuit.
but you're right about the VE5 harness; the dash harness IS separate from the engine bay harness (they connect at the SMJ behind the fuse block inside the car). So what you do is, wire the cruise switch up the way you see there, and then for the clutch start switch, just drill a small extra hole in the firewall and send those 2 wires down to the R/N switch wiring, and splice it in parallel (connect one to the narrow green wire, the other to the brown wire). I chose to do my own car differently (by tapping the brown wire where it comes into the SMJ) which was WAY more of a PITA than it is to just send the wires back thru the firewall.
Last edited by CapedCadaver; 07-29-2009 at 06:57 PM.
07-29-2009, 06:56 PM
#14
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Miami, FL. / Indianapolis, IN.
Posts: 2,610
i wired around it. car starts in neutral with clutch pedal up, reverse lights work and so does cruise control. basically the same thing as CapedCadaver stated minus in his post minus the whole rewire in his clutch pedal.
07-29-2009, 07:16 PM
#15
which 'clutch pedal rewire' did you omit on your own car, start-switch or cruise-cancel or both?
07-29-2009, 08:08 PM
#16
well you are making 2 new connections but if you use the needle method, you can get away with using only one splice.
on the a/t car, wires 1 and 2 are for the brake pedal switch, and wires 3 and 4 are the cut-off pigtails on the clutch pedal from snipping that plug out of my parts car. so i used the needle method (just like the R/N switch) to pop wire 1 out of the brake pedal plug and swapped it with wire 4, and then just used a splice to connect wires 3 and 4 to finish the circuit.
but you're right about the VE5 harness; the dash harness IS separate from the engine bay harness (they connect at the SMJ behind the fuse block inside the car). So what you do is, wire the cruise switch up the way you see there, and then for the clutch start switch, just drill a small extra hole in the firewall and send those 2 wires down to the R/N switch wiring, and splice it in parallel (connect one to the narrow green wire, the other to the brown wire). I chose to do my own car differently (by tapping the brown wire where it comes into the SMJ) which was WAY more of a PITA than it is to just send the wires back thru the firewall.
on the a/t car, wires 1 and 2 are for the brake pedal switch, and wires 3 and 4 are the cut-off pigtails on the clutch pedal from snipping that plug out of my parts car. so i used the needle method (just like the R/N switch) to pop wire 1 out of the brake pedal plug and swapped it with wire 4, and then just used a splice to connect wires 3 and 4 to finish the circuit.
but you're right about the VE5 harness; the dash harness IS separate from the engine bay harness (they connect at the SMJ behind the fuse block inside the car). So what you do is, wire the cruise switch up the way you see there, and then for the clutch start switch, just drill a small extra hole in the firewall and send those 2 wires down to the R/N switch wiring, and splice it in parallel (connect one to the narrow green wire, the other to the brown wire). I chose to do my own car differently (by tapping the brown wire where it comes into the SMJ) which was WAY more of a PITA than it is to just send the wires back thru the firewall.
Where is the R/N switch wiring?
I was going to follow Fug43's method on the clutch starter switch but he's long gone and his post about how he wired it just confused me
But he did it the way you did, he tapped right into the SMJ somehow/where. I have it written down somewhere but can't find it at the moment
07-29-2009, 08:33 PM
#17
I gotcha now, that makes perfect sense.
Where is the R/N switch wiring?
I was going to follow Fug43's method on the clutch starter switch but he's long gone and his post about how he wired it just confused me
But he did it the way you did, he tapped right into the SMJ somehow/where. I have it written down somewhere but can't find it at the moment
Where is the R/N switch wiring?
I was going to follow Fug43's method on the clutch starter switch but he's long gone and his post about how he wired it just confused me
But he did it the way you did, he tapped right into the SMJ somehow/where. I have it written down somewhere but can't find it at the moment
not to be conceited, but after doing 2 5spd swaps and having done so much work on my 3rd gen and others', i consider my writeups/methods for the 5spd swap to be the 'authoratative official version' of how to do it.. since i've never had a single problem or malfunction with anything related to the 5spd swap procedure I did. and nobody can tell that my car used to be a/t unless i tell them or if they knew my car before i swapped it. sadly i did not take very many pictures this past time when i did sam's car.. but as far as the written procedure and parts list, it's all still pretty fresh in my mind and i didn't half-a$$ anything haha.
Last edited by CapedCadaver; 07-29-2009 at 08:40 PM.
07-29-2009, 08:42 PM
#18
i just noticed your edit
why would the brake light come on when using the clutch???? there's 2 switches on the brake pedal - one for brake lights, one for cruise control. i never touched the brake light wiring.. just the cruise wiring.
why would the brake light come on when using the clutch???? there's 2 switches on the brake pedal - one for brake lights, one for cruise control. i never touched the brake light wiring.. just the cruise wiring.
07-29-2009, 09:55 PM
#19
not to be conceited, but after doing 2 5spd swaps and having done so much work on my 3rd gen and others', i consider my writeups/methods for the 5spd swap to be the 'authoratative official version' of how to do it.. since i've never had a single problem or malfunction with anything related to the 5spd swap procedure I did. and nobody can tell that my car used to be a/t unless i tell them or if they knew my car before i swapped it. sadly i did not take very many pictures this past time when i did sam's car.. but as far as the written procedure and parts list, it's all still pretty fresh in my mind and i didn't half-a$$ anything haha.
You should write-up a clutter-free swap wiring how-to that circumvents the "sticky". Heck, completely deleting that sticky would probably be better. I swear, the 5 speed swap sticky is semi-useless and so cluttered with speculation/useless posts/arguing it's ridiculous. Plus, half the linked threads with more info (like GRNMAXDMON's referenced clear wiring write-up) don't even work anymore (take you to random irrelevant threads - I guess due to the server/whatever change a few years back).
On top of that, I see a few guys mentioned in that thread swapping in the entire VE 5 harness(es) to avoid having to do any re-wiring. I would have to call nearly BS on that. In order to not have to do no re-wiring at all, one would have to swap in the complete engine chassis harness/firewall/dash wiring, and I would highly doubt anybody went to that much trouble.
For example, I'm swapping in the VE 5 engine harness to run the VE 5 ECU and manifold, but I still have to wire the clutch switches manually (which you've helped finally clear up for me). I highly, highly, highly doubt those couple guys swapped in the FULL harnesses which would have required screwing with the fuse boxes, relays on both sides of the firewall, etc.
BTW, this little project is gonna send me to the poor house. I noticed the coolant passages on the engine are filled with about 1/2" of brown sludge (ugh), and after draining the coolant I noticed the radiator is also full of sludge (even though the coolant was still green). I don't feel like somehow trying to clean out all the sludge so I decided I'm going to stick my JDM VE in there, and just couldn't stop myself from buying a new radiator, all new coolant hoses, ps hoses and pump, tie rod ends, control arms, etc.
07-30-2009, 04:25 AM
#20
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
I agree with james, i have been searching for weeks and have found no concrete info on the swap. lots of part lists but they become irrelivent when you have the entire donor car. in just 3 posts you have helped me as well to no end. i am now more confident about the swap
also make it a nice PDF and charge $5 for it! make some side cash
also make it a nice PDF and charge $5 for it! make some side cash
Last edited by 300zmax; 07-30-2009 at 07:42 AM.
07-30-2009, 08:07 AM
#21
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Miami, FL. / Indianapolis, IN.
Posts: 2,610
10-21-2009, 06:50 PM
#22
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
Bump
Finaly getting around to finishing the swap.
what do i wire the Clutch start switch on the pedal to? or do i not need to if i rewire the 4 pin connector as the dead dark knight did in the earlier post.
hopefully with a little luck i will have the max running tomorrow.
what do i wire the Clutch start switch on the pedal to? or do i not need to if i rewire the 4 pin connector as the dead dark knight did in the earlier post.
hopefully with a little luck i will have the max running tomorrow.
10-21-2009, 08:27 PM
#23
on my car, i wired it into the brown wire on the relay atop the SMJ. pain to get to. in nc90gxe's car i ran wires through the firewall and wired it into the park/neutral wiring on the a/t inhibitor harness (which i also played musical chairs with the wiring in order to get everything to be basically plug-and-play, in terms of the manual's reverse/neutral switch)
10-22-2009, 07:35 AM
#24
on my car, i wired it into the brown wire on the relay atop the SMJ. pain to get to. in nc90gxe's car i ran wires through the firewall and wired it into the park/neutral wiring on the a/t inhibitor harness (which i also played musical chairs with the wiring in order to get everything to be basically plug-and-play, in terms of the manual's reverse/neutral switch)
10-22-2009, 07:40 AM
#25
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
on my car, i wired it into the brown wire on the relay atop the SMJ. pain to get to. in nc90gxe's car i ran wires through the firewall and wired it into the park/neutral wiring on the a/t inhibitor harness (which i also played musical chairs with the wiring in order to get everything to be basically plug-and-play, in terms of the manual's reverse/neutral switch)
Just to make sure im not getting truely lost. i drew this up.
10-22-2009, 08:31 AM
#26
not quite. it should be exactly like this EXCEPT red/black instead of yellow/black (was a misprint in the FSM).. and attach the clutch switch to the brown and the green/black. note the orientation of the release tab relative to the plug, so you get the wires in the right spot. when popping the release tabs on the spade connectors, use a jewelry flat-head screwdriver for best results.. you only get so many shots before the plastic is too chewed up to release. you can just cut/splice the wires if you want tho, if that happens. and dunno if it matters but i used the thicker of the 2 green wires.
draw up another diagram based on this and i'll tell you if it's right
draw up another diagram based on this and i'll tell you if it's right
Last edited by CapedCadaver; 10-22-2009 at 08:36 AM.
10-22-2009, 08:43 AM
#27
i just wired all 4 wires from the 5spd tranny plug to the 4 wires on the auto engine harness. thats all i did. and the car still starts in neutral with clutch pedal up as well as reverse lights and cruise control. obviously once i step on the clutch pedal the cruise will not shut off so i have to turn it off from the steering wheel. but that doesn't bother me i rarely use it anyways, but it works either way.
10-22-2009, 06:28 PM
#28
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: NJ
Posts: 475
Update
Got the harness wired up; little bit of trouble getting the pins out but other than that it when fairly smooth. every thing is working great.
Thanks to everyone that help and thanks to Cape for the great pictures and suport.
should be getting in some test driving tomorrow. i am currently working on an easy to follow schematic for the future 5spd swaps.
Thanks to everyone that help and thanks to Cape for the great pictures and suport.
should be getting in some test driving tomorrow. i am currently working on an easy to follow schematic for the future 5spd swaps.
10-22-2009, 07:18 PM
#29
Got the harness wired up; little bit of trouble getting the pins out but other than that it when fairly smooth. every thing is working great.
Thanks to everyone that help and thanks to Cape for the great pictures and suport.
should be getting in some test driving tomorrow. i am currently working on an easy to follow schematic for the future 5spd swaps.
Thanks to everyone that help and thanks to Cape for the great pictures and suport.
should be getting in some test driving tomorrow. i am currently working on an easy to follow schematic for the future 5spd swaps.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
jmlee44
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
8
10-02-2022 02:13 PM
TallTom
5th Generation Maxima (2000-2003)
50
07-08-2022 09:54 AM
tarun900
4th Generation Maxima (1995-1999)
19
12-20-2021 06:57 PM