So I officially ripped my first automatic transmission apart to bare bones, inspected everything, busted out the power tools, and put it back together & in the car. It shifts excellent, upshifts-downshifts-WOT 1-2, all perfect! I've never seen cleaner ATF before, I have no codes, and overall I'm very happy that I was able to make this work.

The 5th gen's have a revolution sensor on the output shaft cover, the 5.5 gens also have this same sensor, but they also have a 2nd one called the 'powertrain revolution sensor'. Same sensors, but the 5.5 gens powertrain one reads off the notches of a clutch basket deep inside the mysterious depths of the automatic transmission. The 5th gen trans has the notches of course, but the sensor is not used. The 5th gen also has a speedometer sensor that is lacking on the 5.5 gen, and that sensor was so stuck in there the housing would have needed to come apart to remove it and install the cap that the 5.5 gen uses.

After doing all this, I actually have a sneaking suspicion based on the 4g fsm that you can use a '96-99 vlsd auto with much much less work, just a matter of switching the output shaft cover from the 5.5 gen, but don't hold me to this as I need to look at a 4g auto out of the car sometime. If using a 4g trans (If it works) you would also need to swap the solenoid packs and possibly the VB (or install a shift-kit on the 4g one).

I obviously had to use the 5th gen vlsd axle as well.

Oh and the VLSD ROCKS, I would have gotten stuck as I didn't shovel the driveway leading to the garage, but with studded 15" snows and the VLSD it was no problem.

I probably wouldn't have done this swap just for the gain of a locking dif though. But the I35 trans was undriveable, and I had a nice low mileage '00 or '01 I30T trans just sitting there begging to be used, so instead of spending $300 on another open-dif I said fug it & made it work. Only thing left now is to get a trans-go ordered up & get rid of the mush shifts. Here's some pics of the swap:



^Fried clutchpacks from the I35, caused a lot of problems but mainly sketchy 1-2 shifts. For a reference there is two normal looking clutches in the back. These are just like dirtbike wet-clutches, #1 destroyer of them is heat for one reason or another, actually I think it's the only thing that can do them in. In this case it was a few rollbacks trying to impress people at a party a few years back, stupid stupid stupid.



^ The same clutches but from a trans that I pillaged for an o-ring. Reason they failed was boost, those are from NismoMaxCT's old turbo 5th gen. These clutches are a weak part on these trans apparently.



^ Fun, and scary. It was a little angled but worked out just fine.



^I used a grinder human cnc style There was a lot of material that had to be removed to get the sensor to sit at the right depth. I then finished it off flat with a file, gotta love aluminum.



^Tapping the hole for the sensors hold down bolt.



Sensor in place and ready to do whatever it does



There she is



^Some of the guts going back in


Well that's it, the rest of the swap is self explanatary. One word of advice if anyone decides to do this for some stupid reason- unbolt the valve body & L-R tube BEFORE removing the guts of the transmission, otherwise you will tear the rubber sleeve, ask me how I know.

I have to say this- if you can take apart a manual, you can take apart an auto, there easy as hell & my only guess why they fail a lot after rebuilds is from people not being **** with cleanliness, installing things in the wrong order or place, or not properly flushing or replacing the transmission cooler. I used 1/2 can of brake cleaner & a lot of compressed air to clean out the stock & aftermarket coolers I have on this car. There wasn't any large chunks in the pan either, the fsm actually gives a specification of metal chunk size that requires replacing the radiator.

 

Great work Kev! I imagine the auto guys will be pleased to read this.

 

I sure was.

well not really. I just paid an arm and a leg to get mine rebuilt.

 

Suprised you went with a rebuild, Florida prices are probably a lot different but there is a crapload of 5.5 gen auto's around here ranging from $250-400 depending on mileage.

Have that trans shop put a trans-go shift kit in it. They're the ****, to much softness from 1-2 in these cars from the factory, especially under light throttle. Your gas mileage will go up, your car will be faster, and your transmission will last longer, there's really no downfall unless you don't like to feel nice firm shifts.

 

Nice job on the rebuild.

Honestly, the reason most rebuilds fail is because all the shops do is replace the clutch packs. They don't go through the whole transmission, clean it out and replace all the parts.

 

I thought all TE 02-03 A/T Max's had VLSD/posi, i know i do, I left two nice rubber streaks in my driveway confirming this

 

Na, I don't think any of the autos had a LSD.

Some cars can still spin both wheels without a LSD.

And great work btw...

 

Yeah open dif's will still spin both tires if traction is somewhat equal between the two. According to car-part (& IIRC the fsm) there were no vlsd options for 5.5 gens. You can confirm by looking at the trans code on the firewall (It will end in a V or W if it's vlsd, H if it's HLSD I beleive but don't quote me on that, but yours probably ends in a B) or by jacking the front end up & spinning one tire, if the other tire moves the opposite direction it's open or not functioning.

 

KRRZ350,
Thanks for a giving us such a detailed write up. I have a 2002 se with a tranny that has a 2-3 flare that is driving me nuts. I picked up a used trans locally for $350 and it is sitting in my garage on long island. I just want to do a swap 5.5 to 5.5. I have looked all over and haven't seen a step by step write up on a direct swap. Is this a job I can do on my back with the car up on jack stands? Any responses would be appreciated or if anyone could steer me in the right direction. I would like to do this myself if I had more info on what is involved. Thanks

 

Yes you should be able to handle it, when I have some free time within the next 24 hr's I'll provide a very brief write-up in this thread, I've done a crapload of auto trans in these cars & I've got it mastered now as there is a few little tricks I've learned along the way. I highly recommend getting an atv/motorcycle jack from sears or harbor freight though, especially by yourself it's an absolute nightmare trying to line it up with a regular jack and unlike manual's they are to heavy to put it on your stomach & lift it up without a jack, even when I could do 100 pushups I couldn't bench the auto's into place.