# 1990 Pathfinder Auto to Manual Swap Info



## akaryrye (May 1, 2010)

*Moderators, you might want to consider making this a sticky, up to you.*

My automatic went out last week and I decided to try swapping to a manual. Since I wasnt able to find any solid information about the swap, I decided to let everyone know what fits and what doesn't, and what all is involved. The parts were from a 1993 pathfinder 4x4 and installed into a 1990 4x4 ... 2wd might be a bit different:

What you need:
Transmission, 
Brake and Clutch pedals
flywheel and bolts (flexplate bolts are too short) M10x1.0 
Clutch
Hydraulic lines and cylinders
Transmission mount cross-member (not necessarily needed)
Some interior stuff like a shifter boot, knob, etc. you can reuse the center console but might have to cut it a little bit.

Thats it, driveshafts are same length and everything just bolts right up. I was kind of surprised actually (not really because i did measurements first  ).

What is involved:

1. Get it jacked up nice and high because the transmission is heavy .... really heavy. A transmission jack made the job a *lot* more easy. Standard jack would be kinda dangerous
2. remove exhaust y-pipe, torsion bars (mark the splines on each end first), and driveshafts.
3. remove starter and unbolt torque converter. There is a cover bolted to the engine that can be removed to allow a ratchet in there. 
4. remove wiring and linkage going to the transmission. The wiring harness all goes to a spot right behind the battery.
5. remove engine to transmission bolts
6. support the tail with a jack and remove the transmission crossmember. Be careful not to bend the part that the driveshaft slides into or it will make a really annoying sound when you start driving ... I did this so I know first hand.
7. Put the transmission jack in roughly the same spot as the crossmember was and you can remove the jack from the tail. 
8. Remove transmission and install flywheel and clutch.
9. Remove shifter (4 bolts on top) from manual and raise into place.
10. Bolt transmission into place and install transmission crossmember
11. Install all the crap you took out
12. Get inside the car and remove the center console, shifter, and all that stuff. There is a plate underneath that can be removed to allow the shifter to come through, you have to kind of pull the carpet back a bit. I simply cut a hole in this plate and reinstalled. Note that it is nice to make the hole big enough to be able to remove the shifter assembly without taking the plate off. Reason being that it is a lot easier to fill the transmission from there than the fill plug.
13. install pedals, hydraulic lines, master and slave.
14. put in fluid and bleed the clutch
15. Take it out for a spin and listen for any wierd noises, use your common sense please. Not a bad Idea to replace transmission fluid after the test drive, mine had some water inside the case which turned the fluid milky could have ruined the transmission If I wasnt paying attention. 

So that is it, it was pretty straight forward. Took me a while because i don't do this sort of thing often, but it is not a whole lot more difficult than swapping another automatic in and the manual should last longer than the auto. I didn't get into making it look nice on the inside, that is up to you. You might want to get the center console ... I am just going to hack mine personally. Get a shifter boot from any car also. 

*Finally, This is a loose guide telling the experience that I had. I am not responsible for anything that goes wrong. It is not a super easy job to do and I might have left something out/ given bad directions. Ultimately, use your head and dont just blindly follow these directions*


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

Mods please make this a sticky !!!


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## suncoug (Aug 12, 2010)

Awesome post! It is very timely for me, as I am thinking about swaping out the old auto to 5 sp manual. One thing that wasn't talked about was ECU and other electrical stuff. Did you replace ECU? Also, how about wiring harness for neutral switch, interlock thing, and 4x4 light? 

I also some other guy swapping the trans on a later model Pathfinder (97?) and he got quite detailed about dealing with electrical items. I guess yours is working but it would be helpful to know what needs or need not to be done. 

I am guessing the final drive ratio was the same?

BTW, I now have two 87 Nissan Pathfinder SEs. I plan on taking the engine and transmission out of the one with manual trans and putting them onto the one that came with 3-speed Auto. 

Thanks again. I found your post very helpful.


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## akaryrye (May 1, 2010)

*well ...*

I actually haven't hooked up any of the electrical stuff at this point, the automatic ecu also remains and I have been driving daily without a CEL for nearly a month now. I do plan to hook up the reverse lights eventually but luckily since I am not in a big city, its not really an issue. I still have the automatic harness and eventually will figure out which wires to connect to the pigtails on the transmission and that will work, and if you dont want to splice wires together, I would be willing to bet that if you removed the transmission harness from a manual that it would plug right in to where the automatic harness plugs in, albeit with fewer wires. Having the starter interlock is to me a bad thing, so i do not plan to hook that up anyway, then if my hydraulic line looses pressure (like if a rock tears the line), I can still limp it home. 

Final drive wont change unless you change the gears in the differential, but if you are asking if the auto differential is geared different than manual ... i dont know. However I can tell you that at 70mph in 5th gear I am turning around 3200 - 3500rpm, seems about right.

If you have a donor car already, then you will have everything you need and willl be no problem. Its not like the factory used a different production line or something for the manual  Just make sure you don't bolt the flywheel down with the flexplate bolts or it might fly off when you are driving :balls:

good luck with the swap man, the main hangups for me were the bolts (had to run to the store mid-swap to get them) and the crossmember as I spent a while thinking about the best way to adapt it. wont be a problem for you.

hope this helps


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## suncoug (Aug 12, 2010)

Very helpful. You answered all my questions. Thanks! 

It would probably makes sense that the transmission wiring harness would match up. I will check on that before proceeding. Either way, it shouldn't be too tough to get the backup light working. Other electrical stuff sounds liken an optional thing, which works for me. 

Not sure if you had to tear some big holes in the console to get everything fit in. Did you have some hot air coming from any gap? 

Anyway, I just found an 87 'Finder in an unbelievable shape (it's from CA and it probably was garaged most of its life) but unfortunately it came with an automatic trans. I can't imagine not having OD. Plus 5-speed manual is what make the 'Finder so much fun to drive. 

I was going to restore the donor vehicle, but it has too many miles (300k+) and too much body/rust issues, so I am gonna just swap out the new engine and manual transmission that I had put in a couple of years back along with other goodies like a rear ARB Airlocker, ARB Bullbar/Warn 9000lb winch, manual factory hubs, and rear disc brakes...

I think many others would find your post very helpful. Great job and thanks a bunch. Please keep us posted!


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## akaryrye (May 1, 2010)

I cut the center console to fit the shifter boot on. To keep hot air from coming in at the shifter, I stuffed insulation under the boot. My swap is not the cleanest but it is functional. I can take a picture of how it all looks if you want


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## suncoug (Aug 12, 2010)

Sounds good, when you have a chance.


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