Double cab manual transmission swap

Thanks, it was pretty straight forward but man was getting that automatic out a pain, I think my hands are a little too large for those hard to reach bolts on the inspection cover.

It is the best thing I have done so far to the truck, it feels right to me now and like a completely different truck.
Def feels lighter and more nimble, and has that warm fuzzy old toyota truck feeling I enjoy

here are half way shots after the auto was out.


I actually went to school and got a degree on balancing engines on jack stands using only the edges of a 2x4



Manual trans in and yes I played with the shifter making race car / truck sounds


Came out pretty good, found a unicorn manual console with the cup holder but its not in the best shape.. will do for now.
Put a new leather boot on and also got a sweet black transfer case knob from a suzuki samurai that matches but that didn't go on until a few days ago.

I followed the diagram someone had posted here, you connect the nuetral switch for starting to the lower clutch pedal switch to do it the right way (you can just jumper if all you care about is starting).
You can also connect the upper clutch switch (release) to drive as shown in the picture (not sure this is necessary at this point? *edit*).

So when you clutch in to start, the ecu sees neutral which can happen on the auto (you can start in neutral).
and then when the clutch is up, it thinks it is in drive and all the normal stuff works then (will have to test cruise later haven't gotten that far).

I attached the diagram I found on the internet for the tacoma manual swap.
I have also heard of using a relay to the parking brake, so its in park when parking brake is on, and then drive when not on.
Since toyota has 2 switches on the clutch already that can be used, I saw no need to bother with the relay, the 2 switches seem like the right way to do it and I am guessing similar to how manuals come wired.

The depress one in the diagram is the one you need for starting at the bottom of the clutch pedal, and the other one is at the top (usually for cruise cancel) that we are using for drive, hopefully it will still work as a cruise cancel but haven't gotten there yet. the reverse lights are simple just hooked that up to the reverse switch on the transmission and presto, reverse lights work.

*edit* still tripping a P1700 code with this setup, see below posts.

 

Well after I got all the 3 switches above hooked up, I got rid of the p1780 code for the park neutral switch, but now it is throwing P1700 for the VSS2 when it thinks it is in drive.
I am wondering if I can avoid that by not connecting the clutch release switch and only the clutch depress switch? That is the only combo I haven't tried so will see if I can make P1780 happy without selecting drive and causing P1700.
Either that or I can use an abs sensor to mimick the vss2 output or rig something up to the rear of the transfer case, really its just a 4 tooth rotor and a mag sensor. The advantage of making the vss2 work is that cruise would prolly work then but we shall see I will post it once I arrive at a final solution, it takes a day or so of driving each time I mess with it.

 

I used your diagram to wire mine up just like yours. The only thing that I did different was keep the trans temp sensor in the harness, just taped it up. Same p1700 code pops up after about 10 or 15 miles of driving. I’m anxious to see your solution to keep the cel off

 

So, for the P1780, it seems I was tripping it when shifting into reverse with the clutch in (one of the trip conditions is neutral being on while drive, reverse, l, or 2 etc.. is on also).
With the clutch in and selecting reverse the ecu would trip the code, so I just pulled the reverse wire out of the ecu connector (this way reverse lights function but ecu doesn't know its in reverse).
Now it seems like I do not trip P1780 and all I have connected in the diagram is the clutch depress for starting, and reverse for reverse lights (with reverse wire pulled at main ecu).
You can't leave the clutch depress jumpered because over a certain speed if it sees neutral it will also trip this code, so have to wire to clutch switch.

Floridaze, do you see any pending codes after you clutch in and put it into reverse like I was?
IF you do back to back drives using reverse you may set it off as it takes 2 trips to set the code, but it would be pending after the first time it sees it.

For P1700, it seems Mechanicjon was onto something with the second speed sensor on the last page.

I am going to try it with the clutch release disconnected (the one at the top that can tell ecu it's in drive), as one of the trip requisites for the code is driving but not sure if that just means nss off or drive has to be on.
If drive needs to be on then this could work, but if it is just looking at nss being off then it won't work.

If that doesn't work, then it seems like tricking the ecu into thinking the transfer case is in neutral might do it also as that is one of the conditions for tripping it (transfer case has to be in a non neutral position).
I am not sure what else this will affect though if the neutral switch were to be jumpered (as long as the 4wd stuff mechanically still works with ADD that would be ok).

If all that doesn't work, then I'll make a bracket to make the vss function.

 

No pending codes for anything but the p1700. I think you nailed it for rigging up the vss. That’s probably what I’ll have to end up doing if I want to keep my current ecm. Junkyard ecms are stupid expensive, not to mention I’ll have to repin my plugs to work with the manual ecm

 

It seems there may be a slight difference in trip detection depending on the year of the obd2 ecu and whether its a 5vz or 2/3rz although they are very similar.
Maybe you don't reverse as often as I do lol, not sure why you aren't having that same issue but if you do just pull the reverse wire at the ecu.

I haven't tried it long enough with all of that minus the clutch release switch (just disconnected at top of clutch pedal) to see if it still trips the p1700 code. have you tried that yet?
That is currently how I have it setup but I need to drive it around some tonight to see if it will trip. if not I will move down the list of things to try.
*edit* I have a feeling this probably will still trip the code.

This is the diagram for the P1700 code.

 

I completed my whole 5spd swap off this thread minus the prerunner stuff since my truck was 4wd. tons of great info in here.

 

Are you saying you get no check engine light while still using an automatic ecu?
There are 44 pages in that thread so might be hard to find that little info in there.

Other than the code popping up everything works and is phsically installed just fine.

 

I swapped my ECU but there is info in there about the resistors. For ECU swaps you need to check the part numbers cause they change in the middle of the year, not by model year.

 

Gotcha, the resistors and stuff was easy, already got all the other codes off with 1kohm resistors.
The last code we are dealing with is a speed signal P1700, resistors aren't going to help with that.
Either need the speed signal somehow or trick the ecu into not detecting it etc..

I don't want to swap to a $400 manual ecu, and want to figure it out so I can swap cars that don't have a manual ecu option also.
I know I can put a 4 tooth wheel on the output flange and mount the sensor right there, but I want to see if there is an easier way first before I start Mcguyvering.

Heck if you have an abs car, I think this would be super easy... all the abs speed sensors are the same VR mag type. only thing different would be number of pulses, but I don't want to install a whole abs hub and sensor right now on a hunch in case it is too different lol.

 

So P1700 came back on with the release switch disconnected, just took a couple long drives and it happened... so onto the next thing to try.
P1780 is completely gone so that is good at least.

 

I’m going to try to connect the vss from the transmission to one of the old abs sensors to get rid of the p1700 code. I deleted the abs system from the truck and have 4 sensors that aren’t doing anything so it’s worth a shot. Depending on gear ratio, wheel speed should be comparable to number of teeth on the abs vs vss

 

Oh that is good news if you can test that out, cause if it works that would be a nice oem way to do it vs rigging up a sensor to the transfer case which will be the final option.
As long as it is sort of close it might just work as the trip logic just wants to see speed pulses and might not matter what speed its seeing as much.

The auto vss is supposed to be 4 pulses per driveshaft rotation..
multiply that by the rear end gear ratio (lets use 4 as a rough example to keep it easy, usually ranges from 3.x to 4.x), so 4 x 4 = 16 pulses for a full wheel turn.

It looks like the picture of the abs tone ring that goes in the hub I am seeing online has 48 teeth which would be for a full wheel turn, so it would be reading 3 times as fast?
Did I miss a multiplier somewhere? even if it is reading 3 times as fast it should still work as long as it doesn't hit like a speed limiter situation, but I think the 112 mph speed limit is triggered off the other VSS sensor.

So in my head its still a big maybe, but since you have the abs tone rings in the hubs, its a matter of running 2 wires for you to find out if you still have the abs sensors in place.

If you aren't running abs, you could also take a tone ring and grind off 2 out of every 3 teeth and you would have 16 teeth, but if you are running abs obviously you can't do that.

 

I’m in Mexico on vacation at the moment but when I get back I’ll give it a shot. Right now driveability is all there it’s just that damn cel is on and it’d be nice if it wasn’t. I’ll be changing my front wheel bearings soon as well so if it’s reading too fast then I’ll try removing some teeth on one of the front wheels and see how that works. Like I said before I removed the entire abs system along with the lspv and replaced with a wilwood prop valve. Brakes are mucho better now

 

Nice, yeah I am tired of messing with it this week so I will wait and see how it goes for you with the ABS way.
My brakes were pretty bad and then I did the tundra calipers/rotors up front with new lines and it brakes a ton better now, still have the lspv but may get rid of it someday.
I am still having trouble understanding how abs wasn't standard in 2001 on a toyota, I don't miss it really but I am used to driving cars without it.

 

Lots of good info here. I follow what you're saying and definitely sounds plausible to me. That would be one trick sweet ass fix if it works, that whole idea of tapping into an ABS sensor that is reading the blips from a reduced ground down toothed tone ring is cool af I gotta see if this works. Pretty slick idea and makes sense.

 

Well I got bored and decided to try the non abs fix for the vss.

took the speed sensor out of the auto trans (magnetic type sensor), made a bracket and mounted in on the back of the transfer case.
I lined it up so the 4 round parts of where the driveshaft flange attaches (where the 4 studs and nuts are) will trigger the sensor, like the original 4 tooth rotor inside the trans.

been driving it around for several days and no pending codes but I haven't take a long drive on the highway.
I think it worked so that is a pretty easy option if your car doesn't have the abs stuff and you don't want to put it in (assuming it works).

took me only 20 minutes to make and install the bracket, another like 15 min to extend the 2 wires.
I could have made the bracket look better, but hey it was a test and a prototype



So no, you don't have to buy a $500 manual ecu that may require repining depending on the year.
Just plug in the 4 resistors, wire up the 2 clutch switches, wire up the reverse lights, and pull out the reverse pin at the ecu so ecu doesn't know you are in reverse but reverse lights still function like normal.
Oh and the bracket for the second VSS as shown above.

If you are 2wd, you wont have the transfer case to bolt the bracket onto, but the principal would be the same and you could do it at the rear diff.
If you are 4wd with the actuator on the back, you might have to use a different shape bracket but there are plenty of bolts around there I could have done it like 5 different ways.

 

I’ve been very busy with work, no daylight time to work on the truck. Looks like I’ll be doing the same on the transfer case. Seems easy enough. I’ve even got another trans harness to hack up to get the sensor wires long enough

 

Damn, this is genius. I battled that 2nd speed sensor code for too long before i bit the bullet for a manual ECU (paid 300 iirc, though).

 

I just cut each wire individually (generally don't ever cut 2 wires together or they can short), and extended the wires and reused the plug.
I did also have the battery disconnected just in case while I was wiring stuff.

Thanks, I really haven't heard that much about the second vss code before I did it other than in this thread, but I imagine lots of people have run into the same thing.
Not sure I am a genius, but I am an engineer and I like to make things work

Here is a close up of the gap that it needs, basically as close to touching as possible without touching (considering the bracket may flex a hair on hard bumps).