How i did my auto to manual conversion

[LDA]

well we were up till 2/3am on sunday morning trying to sort the car out and it still wouldnt start. we wired the nutral switch up to the connector that it came from the auto box and used spade connectors so we could swap the wires round if we got them the wrong way.
turn the key.... nothing
swap the wires round, turn the key... nothing.
there is power going to the stater wires as was found out when one of us put a spanner accross the contacts.. doh. not tried it with a multimeter yet as it was too late, cold and dark.
while we were at D1 yesterday (by the way our driver Rob Mayes, won the clubman comp in our backup skyline r32 gtr with the fuse pulled. well done rob.. good start to the season) someone swapped the starter for the other one and the car still wouldnt start.

ANY help on this would be a lot of use to us. we are all so tired after working on the car for the last 12days. and to get it build and not have it start is such a downer.

phat bob and fry1 your help has been wonderful over the last week or so. next time your at a drift event or jap fest etc, we owe you both at least a pint for your efforts. thank you very much!!

Luke.

[John Bennett]

The neutral switch to the ECU is just there for fuelling I think (not necessary for starting, well not on the SR's it isn't).

Just looked at the diagram in the back of 'EL' and there's another inhibitor circuit in the Auto to stop you starting the car in neutral (part of the aforementioned selector unit). This will need to be bypassed (piece of wire somewhere).

The starter will always have a 12V supply to it, but to make it work it requires another 12V signal to a solenoid contactor on the side of it and the inhibitor circuit is stopping this.

Or has this already been mentioned/tried?

[PhatBob]

My ECU thinks that the box is in park.
No errors thrown on the consult so everything works.

Rob

[John Bennett]

On the SR's, it actually mucks around with the VVT depending on the neutral signal - it will actually permamently turn it off if you hard-wire the signal to ground (i.e. permanently in neutral).

[LDA]

ah ha.. i wondered if the wires on the floor next to the gearstick may have had something to do with this. any idea which pins of which plug i need to join up to get the poor thing to start?

we have still got a ca18 in our car so for now the sr20 stuff can wait.

best go have a good read of the workshop manual over lunch.. see if i can work it out.

cheers

L.

[John Bennett]

I reckon you short the 2 wires from the smaller connector (Black+yellow and black+white), but perhaps double-check for yourself first.

[PhatBob]

On the SR's, it actually mucks around with the VVT depending on the neutral signal - it will actually permamently turn it off if you hard-wire the signal to ground (i.e. permanently in neutral).

Does it now? I can't say that its something I tell is happening or not, is there a way to tell if its happening, as I doubt the VVT will be activated when it thinks the parking brake is applied.

Rob

[John Bennett]

Does it now? I can't say that its something I tell is happening or not, is there a way to tell if its happening, as I doubt the VVT will be activated when it thinks the parking brake is applied.

Rob

Quite easy to tell . For a properly wired car, when its parked up, put it in gear, depress clutch and rev it slightly. The VVT will make a pretty audible click as it comes in (only needs feather throttle to activate). Try it in neutral and there will be no click.

If the switch is not connected, VVT will click in if you rev it in neutral.

If the switch is permanently grounded, VVT will never click in, whether in gear or not.

There's no bung in my bulkhead, so I can hear it from the cabin, but I suppose an extra pair of ears listining by the engine would be a better idea.

[LDA]

I reckon you short the 2 wires from the smaller connector (Black+yellow and black+white), but perhaps double-check for yourself first.

top stuff!!
still waiting for the manual to dl atm, so i cant check myself just yet. but i think you are right from looking at the pic!
looks like i was barking up the wrong tree with the nutral switch.. when i should have been looking for the inhibitor swithch from the gearstick.. doh!

thank you very much!!!!!.. lets hope thats all that is stopping it from starting.

L.

[John Bennett]

I hope it works. Will give fry1 your thanks too, when I see him (he's not got net access at the moment ).

[SMiFFAD]

Lets hope that fixes it.... im sick of the site of the damn thing

The temptation to attack it with a hammer late saturday night was almost over whelming (so i cut a large hole int he old one instead )

[nomad geordie]

Fry did his write-up just after I finished my conversion, and he did same as me with no probs.
Does car turn over on starter? or just dead?
Had to chop the inhibitor plug from the harness on my auto box (2 very thick wires), twist/join wires together, and refit plug in the car.
poor earth? try a jump lead from engine to chassis.
Multimeter time?

[SMiFFAD]

Had to chop the inhibitor plug from the harness on my auto box (2 very thick wires), twist/join wires together, and refit plug in the car.

THAT - i think, is what it is.... SHITE, if it is i (and the other three) will go spastic, so simple...!

If your interested in what weve been up to, have a look HERE

Week and a bit of late nights... finishe putting it all back together at about midnight before snetterton.... and it wont start

[LDA]

hmm. well i have found the inhibitor switch on the old auto box and stripped the gearbox loom off it to find out exactly what i should be looking at on the car.

the main plug goes in the second plug down (of 3) next to the fuse box in the engine bay. with the 2 larger wires going off just below the fuse box.
i have now joined the 2 thicker wires together and the car still wont start.

step 2. check for broken links. after checking everything on the car that i could find to do with the starting system, i found 2 duff 10a fuses in the footwell fusebox and replaced them.. turned the key... nothing.

next up was to replace the fused link in the engine bay fuse box that had been replaced with 2 spade connectors on a melted bit of wire. there is now a proper link in there from the other car and still the car wont start

swap the ecu. the ecu has now been swapped back to the auto one but this didnt do anything as far as i could tell.

i'm wondering if the plug next to the fusebox needs some of the terminals joined up?

this is really starting to get tired now. why wont the bloody thing just turn over!! even if it didnt start but the starter went i'd be happy at this point. grr.

i took some pics of the parts i have been working on just in case my descriptions are not good enough. i'll post them up as soon as they are hosted.

any ideas people? is it time to get the multimeter out and start doing tests on every part of the car? and if so where do i start and what results am i looking for?

thanks

L.

[PhatBob]

Have you taken the selector position sensor off the box and plugged it into the two sockets it came from?

If not, do it and put the thing in 'park' and try starting the car.

[LDA]

no i have not. but i will now.

L.

[LDA]

short the 2 big wires. plus the second socket down is the plug that the loom from the inhibitor switch goes to as well as the 2 wires below.



the loom from the box



the inhibitor switch on the auto box.



does this shed any light on what i'm doing wrong?

L.

[PhatBob]

See the bit on the box with the selector stuff attached?

I undid that with all the wires connected and found its 'park' setting.

Ah, I see that you've cut it.

Rob

[LDA]

hangs head in shame.... yep it was cut before we even knew we needed the wires to join up . just about enough cable keft to join it all up.

[LDA]

one thing that everybody seems to think you need for the auto to manual conversion is the spigot bearing/bushing.. not true. the auto crank already has this in it. so you dont need it from the manual crank..

sadly this part has nothimg to do with the car starting.

L.