ExplorinVA's A4LD to M5OD Swap Thread

[Explorin'VA]

I'm making this thread to keep track of my progress and for support if I find myself in over my head. My A4LD is giving me problems after many years of good service, so I think now is the time to upgrade with my newly acquired M5OD. I've never replaced a transmission so I'm making sure I have all the parts I need before I tear the auto out.

Here are the parts I have:

-M5OD with wire harness
-Shifter with floor plate
-Starter from a 1992 Explorer
-ECM from a 1994 Navajo (California)
-Clutch and brake pedal assembly
-Clutch master cylinder (used)
-Clutch fluid reservoir (used)
-Luk clutch kit with pilot and release bearing (new)
-Flywheel (new)


I also have a new rear main crankshaft seal which I'll replace when the trans is out. The slave cylinder in the transmission currently is still fairly new, but I think I'm going to replace it before the M5OD goes in. The o'reilly auto up the street should have that in stock. So now I technically have everything I need to get started. I will keep the thread updated as I make progress.

 

[Explorin'VA]

The gears look good. I think it's been rebuilt in the past and used very little since.

First thing I did was replace the rubber shift rail freeze plugs on the M5OD with steel ones. I used hi tac permatex to seal the new plugs.

I also bought a shifter repair kit even though the previous owner of the M5OD had already replaced these parts. I really only needed to replace the 3 torx screws that were stripped, but it's such a simple repair that I replaced everything at once. I put the shifter on to test it out and it shifts through all the gears perfectly.

 

[RangerX]

The slave cylinder in the transmission currently is still fairly new, but I think I'm going to replace it before the M5OD goes in. The o'reilly auto up the street should have that in stock.

I would suggest doing a search here on slaves and reading up on them. Popular wisdom is to avoid parts store slaves, as they tend to fail within a short time.
It's recommended to get a Ford slave, meaning from the dealership.

 

[Explorin'VA]

Good call on suggesting the Ford slave.

I've realized I'm missing a couple of things. I'm missing the metal sleeve that the pilot bearing presses into on the flywheel. Does anyone know where I can get one of these? I'm also missing some bolts. The new flywheel and the clutch kit didn't come with any. I'll search the junkyard tomorrow, they might have an untouched 5 speed I can get everything from.

 

[Explorin'VA]

I called all the local junkyards but they don't have any 5 speed explorers. LUK doesn't include bolts with their clutch kits and Ford discontinued their bolts. However I was able to get info on the bolt dimensions from Ford. The bolts for the flexplate and flywheel are the same so I won't be needing new ones. The pressure plate bolts are M8x1.25x18. I don't have these bolts so I had to order some.

These are the bolts I ordered for the pressure plate. They are the exact size that the Ford dealer suggested, so they should work.

http://www.amazon.com/M8X1-25X18-Class-10-9-Metric-Screw/dp/B00HCLM9DQ

I was also able to order the pilot bearing sleeve from Ford.

 

[Explorin'VA]

The transmission is ready to come out but I have a question. While I was removing the shifter cables from around the motor it appears I unplugged a harness. Does anyone know what this harness is for? Looking from the drivers side it's the connector right beside the vapor canister purge valve and it's circled in red.

It's under the intake so I can't see the other end. I tried feeling with my hand but couldn't find what it connects to.

 

[Explorin'VA]

I'm kind of stalled on the swap for now. I can't get the auto tranny out without removing the y-pipe, and the bolts holding it in are seized and very hard for me to get a socket on because the radius arm crossmember is in the way.

My options are to continue soaking the bolts in pb blaster, applying heat, and using some special bolt grip sockets I have, but this is taking a while and I still haven't gotten any to break free.

I can take a sawzall or angle grinder and cut the heads of the bolts off and drill them out, but this might be time consuming and there's such a small amount of room to work around down there.

I can remove the body mount bolts and jack up the body so I can lift the tranny over the y-pipe, but this might take longer than to just cut 4 bolts holding the y-pipe on.

Lastly, I can cut the y-pipe off, and replace it with a direct fit walker pipe. Summit has these in stock. This is obviously the most expensive route, but it might be worth it just to save me some time.

 

[jd4242]

I vote cut away and replace with a set of pacesetter headers. .;-)

 

[Explorin'VA]

Ahhh, I can only dream of how nice that would sound. Too bad I'm on such a tight budget. I found that a swivel socket helped me remove the bellhousing bolts. I just don't have the right size swivel socket for the y-pipe bolts. I'm going to get the correct size and try that. If that doesn't work, I'll just cut it off (wish I could leave it off).

edit: pacesetters aren't as expensive as I thought and they come with the y-pipe, so it's an option!

 

[Xeek]

Jd and i just went through removing trannys lol. I managed to use no swivels. Ypipe i think two bolts i had to use a swivel and two i could get away without, more grip that way. Just keep trying. The first set i delt with was hard. Now its easy with new bolts.

I would atleast get a new ypipe and goto a place near dam neck by kalbones offroad in va beach to get it ceramic coated. Unless your replacement.is stainless. Anything less, get the inside coated also. Will last forever. Cause my jba, $800 set of headers ypipe rusted and fell apart cause it wasnt coated and they weld it with minimal contact. I painted new one.inside and out and had someone do a weld.on the outside flange and its holding up fine now

 

[Xeek]

And the connecter is injectors or crank sensor. I think thats the only thing with those plugs. Unless egr or anything has them, i dont have egr

 

[jd4242]

Ahhh, I can only dream of how nice that would sound. Too bad I'm on such a tight budget. I found that a swivel socket helped me remove the bellhousing bolts. I just don't have the right size swivel socket for the y-pipe bolts. I'm going to get the correct size and try that. If that doesn't work, I'll just cut it off (wish I could leave it off).

edit: pacesetters aren't as expensive as I thought and they come with the y-pipe, so it's an option!

Yea they really arent. .yes they come with Y-pipe and if your like me I value my time at a high cost so if it saves me hours of fighting and stress plus I could get minor gains, im sold..also once you have them if you need to remove the y pipe again you can just cut the bolts at the collectors and easily replace them, they are a traditional bolt and nut, not like stock..

The black ones will need to be stripped and coated in ceramic paint..whether you coat it or have them coated is your choice. .like xeek suggested and I will agree, professional coated last a long time..

 

[Explorin'VA]

I ended up cutting the y-pipe and the transmission came right out. I was thinking about getting a buddy to weld it back together. The replacement pipe I'm looking at has aluminum coating. Seems like a smart idea to get it ceramic coated if I go with a new one so I'll check out that place you mentioned. Also I did find that other connector. With the trans out it's easy to access.

 

[jd4242]

Good job..now to get that m5 in

 

[Xeek]

Aluminumized steel is bare metal inside. Best to have inside coated or itll rust from inside out. And check the cat flange welds, jbas were terrible. Welded inside.only and ground down, really weak. Get someone to weld the outside of the flange is walkers is like that also.

 

[Explorin'VA]

I pulled out the auto trans harness and compared it to the manual harness today. The manual harness plugs right into the two existing 8 pin connectors at the drivers side fender, one is black and one is gray. The auto harness has wires that split off between fender connections and the connections on the transmission and they go to two different sensors. The gray plug has a white/pink wire that goes to the low oil sensor, and the black plug has two wires that go to the vapor canister. The manual harness has the low oil sensor wire, but it's missing the plug that goes to the vapor canister.

I'm guessing I should cut the vapor canister wires and solder them to the black manual harness at the fender. Does it matter which harness pins the wires go to? Because where the vapor canister wires connect to on the black auto harness, the same pins aren't open on the black manual harness.

 

[jd4242]

Vapor can is pin 11 on the ecm..you can trace it from there..I dont have a pin diagram of the two plugs your referring to tho..

 

[Explorin'VA]

This is the black plug at the fender. On the left is the auto plug and on the right is the manual. On the auto, you can see a single gray/yellow wire on the bottom row to the far left, and above that is a red wire on the top row far left. On the manual plug these wires are missing. These two wires go to the plug on the vapor canister. I know if I don't have the vapor canister connected I will be throwing codes.

So I'm wondering if I can cut the wires for the vapor canister off the auto black plug, and connect them to the openings on the manual black plug?

 

[Explorin'VA]

Also realized the manual harness is from a 91-92, which wouldn't have all the emissions stuff as my 94.

 

[Explorin'VA]

The gray manual plug I have has two white/pink wires that go to the oil pressure and low oil sensor. It also has purple/orange and black/pink wires that go to the reverse light switch on the M5OD. Lastly it has a pink wire jumped to the red/blue wire...this bypasses the neutral safety switch (previous owners work). The black manual plug only uses two wires which are both for the NSS.

My plan is to use the gray manual plug so I'll have reverse lights, oil gauge/check light, and so I'll be able to start my truck without the NSS. Then I'll use the black plug from the auto so I can keep the vapor canister sensor. There are various other wires on the black auto plug that I think are for solenoids that won't be used with the manual. I'll have to plug the NSS on the manual trans with a screw. It works in my head but anyone else who has more expertise on this subject feel free to chime in.

And if I keep the auto harness, I can easily bypass the nss, and wire power to the reverse light switch. Could I use the nss and reverse switch from the auto on the manual trans?

JD thanks for the diagram. I think I can also use the manual harness and bypass the black plug by soldering two wires to the vapor canister wires, then run them to the computer.