My A4LD - M5OD Conversion Thread

[Pollarican]

The Manual ECU you have will just plug and play. The 1991 thru 1992 and 1993 thru 1994 individually are interchangeable. I used a 1992 Manual ECU in my formerly Auto 1991 Ex, and it runs like a champ. Change that tranny wiring harness over though, you'll be glad you did it and it requires minimal work. Should be a plug for reverse lights and neutral safety switch at the trans and additional plugs for oil level sender and oil pressure sender I believe.

 

[jd4242]

cut the head off the bolt, grind it flat, remove the trans, then deal with it, with the stud sticking out and no transmission it should be fairly easy to extract........

hahah this sounds like a good idea,great minds might think alike
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251499

 

[Freshmeat]

The Manual ECU you have will just plug and play. The 1991 thru 1992 and 1993 thru 1994 individually are interchangeable. I used a 1992 Manual ECU in my formerly Auto 1991 Ex, and it runs like a champ. Change that tranny wiring harness over though, you'll be glad you did it and it requires minimal work. Should be a plug for reverse lights and neutral safety switch at the trans and additional plugs for oil level sender and oil pressure sender I believe.

Thanks a lot for that clarification!
I did grab the transmission harness but I shattered the neutral safety switch and O'Reilly can't get one. I'll have to check the others- don't want to pay $80 through Ford.

 

[410Fortune]

try the Mazda dealer seriously its cheaper!!

same part, cheaper at Mazda

Are you sure you smashed your NSS? one of the 5 speed sensors (cant remember if its reverse of NS) looks like it was already broken from the factory, green with a gob of glue on it

 

[Freshmeat]

Yes, it's shattered- I can see the metal wire connectors inside the plug through the bits of plastic housing.

 

[Pollarican]

Where are you at as far as the next step in the swap process?

 

[Freshmeat]

The next step is to figure out this last bolt and finish pulling the A4LD... then the reassembly should be fairly quick, as I have everything together. I still need to go pick up a new master cylinder and the neutral safety switch, but they should be in tomorrow (Friday.)

I plan to have this on the road again Sunday. I've gutted the catalytic converter and I plan to replace most of the exhaust system as it goes back together since it fell apart. I'll probably just use stock replacement pipes and throw on an aftermarket muffler so I can hear it a little better.

 

[Spdrcer34]

Jamie, that's the Reverse Light Switch that looks like its already broken. It just has some wire very sloppily (is that a word?) coming out of the sensor, and then filled with a RTV of some sort...

Ryan

 

[Totalled]

I was in your position with the exhaust. I ordered the dynomax cat back from summit and am very pleased it with. Price was reasonable, it fit well, sound is mellow, and it replaced all the rusty crap from the cats to the bumper.

 

[Adam012985]

.

 

[Freshmeat]

hahah this sounds like a good idea,great minds might think alike
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251499

This is what I did. I ground off the head and the heat unseized the bolt to the point I was able to unthread it by hand without any effort at all.

So this coming weekend I'll finally be able to finish pulling the torque converter / flexplate and start the install of the five speed equipment!

 

[Freshmeat]

Oh- and for those of you who are curious about clearance removing the transmission... once the transmission crossmember is out, you can lower the back end enough to access all the bellhousing bolts. The problem is, the transmission won't fit between the exhaust pipe and the firewall, so you need to remove the exhaust Y-pipe before you can pull the transmission. Soak the collector bolts with some PB Blaster or the like and let that do its trick overnight.

 

[jd4242]

This is what I did. I ground off the head and the heat unseized the bolt to the point I was able to unthread it by hand without any effort at all.

So this coming weekend I'll finally be able to finish pulling the torque converter / flexplate and start the install of the five speed equipment!

good deal!
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Freshmeat]

I was in your position with the exhaust. I ordered the dynomax cat back from summit and am very pleased it with. Price was reasonable, it fit well, sound is mellow, and it replaced all the rusty crap from the cats to the bumper.

Thanks for your input, man. After some thought and YouTube searches I've decided to bring my lunch for a couple weeks and go with the Dynomax kit instead. I'll hopefully be ordering it this week.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

Don't know if I overlooked it or not, but you're doing this out of a 2x4 or 4x4 vehicle?

 

[Freshmeat]

4x4

 

[spinnn]

Good luck man! Keep up the updates!

 

[Spdrcer34]

I have pulled the M5OD and the A4LD out of more than a couple Explorers, and NEVER had I had to pull the Exhaust crossover. It will slide out of there, and go back in with no problem with it in place.

Ryan

 

[Freshmeat]

I have pulled the M5OD and the A4LD out of more than a couple Explorers, and NEVER had I had to pull the Exhaust crossover. It will slide out of there, and go back in with no problem with it in place.

Ryan

Then I commend your mad skills, because both the M5OD out of the Mazda and the A4LD out of my Ex required removal of the Y-pipe. Are you sure your transmission swap weren't done on body lifted rigs? Even 1" more clearance would have done the trick...

 

[jd4242]

hell i have to pull my headers to pull my trans,the collector comes behind the bell house.ive tried to pull it with the crosspipe in and it looked like it would pull but all ways ended up pulling the crosspipe