theoretically, would it be possible to change my car from an automatic to manual transmission?
Posted by h0tsalad@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 63 comments
i’m genuinely curious.
corporaterebel@reddit
Yes. The older the car the easier it gets.
The best way to do it is a get a wrecked donor car and swap out all the car.
If you have to program modules and computers, it gets a lot hardr.
Watery_Octopus@reddit
That is wrong about the Mini Cooper. I've done the manual swap. The center console need to be disassembled to swap the shifter and remove the ignition interlock, but no harness swapping involved. Just a couple wires to run from the clutch switch to the DME. I did swap the engine harness because i didn't want to rewire the reverse switch.
In fact, BMW's are among the easiest cars to manual swap because you just go tell the computer you already have what transmission it now has. On other cars, you have to swap the entire computer.
R2-Scotia@reddit
Audi ECUs also dual mode
Watery_Octopus@reddit
Germans tend to be i think.
corporaterebel@reddit
What year Mini?
Watery_Octopus@reddit
2005.
JollyGreenGigantor@reddit
And in the case of the Mini Cooper, you might not need to swap the whole harness but you'll definitely need to jump certain connections and run new wires to things like neutral and clutch safety switches, steering locks, etc.
Watery_Octopus@reddit
I don't remember jumping any connections. It was one or two wires through the firewall to the DME for the clutch switch. Other than that, you don't touch the body harness.
smthngeneric@reddit
Oh wow you have a "my car"! Those are extremely rare most people don't even know wtf you're talking about.
h0tsalad@reddit (OP)
so it was a hypothetical question, wasn’t actually planning on doing it. you okay?
Successful_Ad_9707@reddit
Bruh, you post no info about what car you have...how is anyone gonna know the feasibility of this?
smthngeneric@reddit
Well you might get useful information if you provide the bare minimum. On some cars it's a 2 hr process and 500$. On other cars it's 20k and 2 weeks with custom fabrication. But yes it's possible on any car it's just about how much it'll cost.
Successful_Ad_9707@reddit
With enough money, probably. Depends on what car you're talking about. If there was a factory option for a manual, it'll typically be much easier to do. However, if there was never a manual offered and no one else has done the swap before, there's gonna be a lot of money and custom fab work required.
tthompson225@reddit
Can be easy and cheap depending on what it is, example would be like 90s model civic/accord. Just buy a cheap manual parts car and swap all the manual stuff over to the automatic car
aquatone61@reddit
Depends on the car but yes. Can you make an EV a manual? Not happening.
Can you make just about any other auto a manual, yes. With enough time and money it is possible unless the auto trans and its computers are so baked into the cars architecture that you can’t override or bypass it.
No-Sherbert-9589@reddit
That depends on the parts available. In the past we have done a few.
ovary_enthusiast@reddit
Probably didn't need to come to reddit for this
YeahIGotNuthin@reddit
It depends 100% on WHAT KIND OF CAR you’re talking about.
Some cars it’s fairly simple. Rear wheel drive classics pre computer are the easiest, especially when factory built examples were available with a manual transmission. But even if there weren’t, nearly every engine used in one of those cars had an application that did use a manual, so you could find a bell housing to mate a conventional manual transmission to the back of the engine.
It’s definitely easier for a car that has a factory built manual version where you can use the existing manual setup.
It’s difficult for a car that has no factory manual version available, especially if the engine and transmission are an integrated assembly like you find in a fwd car or in a rwd mid-engine or rear engine car. Nobody is bothering with anything like that. If you have like a Chevy Trax and you want to shift your own gears, it’s cheaper to just buy a second car that’s manual.
nixiebunny@reddit
It’s a much easier question to answer if you say what make, model, year and engine it has.
YeahIGotNuthin@reddit
This answer should be a sticky in this subreddit.
It’s much more polite than the version I always want to use, which is something like:
WHAT KIND OF CAR WHAT KIND OF CAR WHAT KIND OF CAR
saladmunch2@reddit
These is the real answer, not to mention if you have to ask it probably is too expensive and not worth the hassle. A older cummins 2500, converting to manual sure, a common commuter car just sell and buy a manual.
oppositelock27@reddit
Sure. The problem is that it’s usually cheaper and easier to just sell your car and buy one with a manual from the factory.
red18wrx@reddit
This is the answer. More than you may think needs to be changed, needs to be changed in order to make that happen.
Gatesy840@reddit
We used to do it with falcons and commodores all the time as young blokes. But it was easier 20-30 years ago.. Was the young revheads car of choice, the manuals would always end up around a tree...
Now its really hard to find any factory manuals, most of them are probably layed up in a shed as collectables
bigcee42@reddit
It's a common mod now on Ferraris and Lamborghinis from the 2000s.
The factory manuals are worth so much more than the automatics that even spending $40-50K on the swap still costs less.
Gahreesen@reddit
The ones with the F1 transmissions. It's a full manual trans, electronically shifted by the car.
saladmunch2@reddit
Is that the one they say not to use reverse in? Lol
oppositelock27@reddit
Which is why I chose to say "usually" and not "always." I also suspect OP is not driving an Italian exotic or he surely would have mentioned it. I guessing it's a mass produced econobox of some sort.
Master-Pick-7918@reddit
This was the advise I gave when someone wanted a swap. There was always something they nitpicked because it wasn't like factory.
Crazy_Judgment_4186@reddit
In theory yeah, it's possible. In reality, it's a massive, expensive project. You'd need to swap the transmission, add a clutch pedal, change the ECU, wiring and a bunch of supporting parts. It usually costs way more than the car's worth, so most people just buy a manual instead.
KennyGaming@reddit
Has anyone manual swapped a Maverick yet?
JollyGreenGigantor@reddit
What would be the donor? I don't think anything on that platform ever came with three pedals.
KennyGaming@reddit
No idea I’m not a ford guy but yes it would be a very custom and ridiculous job
oldfartjr@reddit
Sure! How much time and money do you have to spend?
JollyGreenGigantor@reddit
Sure, with enough money you can put any engine and any transmission in any car. There was an Impreza at SEMA this year with a Ferrari V12.
I've done it, old WRX with enough mods to make it worthwhile. Automatic blew up, swapped in the stick shift. I was maybe the second or third person ever to do it and there was a lot of troubleshooting. Some guys did hack jobs on wiring, I swapped the full harness. Doing it right meant that I was able to put another 200K miles on it without any gremlins.
Gunk_Olgidar@reddit
Anything is possible. Just a matter of how much time and money you have to spend on it.
SuspiciousGarlic4798@reddit
Anythings possible with enough money.
If the car came in a manual version is usually better/cheaper to just buy that.
If it doesnt. Then it means some custom work is involved. Again with enough money nothing is impossible.
cashinyourface@reddit
Yes, but if you need to ask this question, not any time soon. Your better option is to sell your current car and buy the manual option. If it didn't come with a manual option, I would forget about attempting this. Projects on this scale, and at a beginner skill level will have your car on jack stands indefinitely, and a hole in your wallet.
SecureDeal3967@reddit
Yeah, I bought an '83 RX7 with the 3 speed auto in it and made it my first priority to swap. Bought a used 5 speed gearbox, prop shaft, and 3rd pedal from a parts car, then new clutch, flywheel, and hydraulic system. Installation was super easy, these cars are so simple to work on.
I would not try to attempt this with, for example, my 2019 Camry, which is an entire world of difference.
PbCuSurgeon@reddit
Yes, it’s easier and cheaper on some cars than others. I just finished a manual swap on my E30.
VW-MB-AMC@reddit
Yes. It just takes time and money. If you can not do it yourself prepare to spend money. If you can do it yourself, also prepare to spend money.
Bubbly-Pirate-3311@reddit
Yes, but depending on the car it may just be cheaper to go get the same spec with a manual. Manual swaps are very possible but kind of a pain in the ass
Comfortable-Figure17@reddit
When it comes to modifying an automobile anything is possible the question would be is it worth the expense?
Cool-Negotiation7662@reddit
Yes. In the days before computer control it was done on an infrequent basis, usually when making a hot rod of some type. It is not a trivial undertaking.
On modern vehicles it is substantially more difficult.
FwenchFwies_911@reddit
If you go back far enough to the old Mopar days they used to build most of the car the same whether it had a manual or auto, so still and undertaking to switch but not like today
racinjason44@reddit
Sure, very possible. 30+ years ago this was fairly common, unfortunately it's a lot harder now as cars get more complex. I looked at doing it to a first gen Tacoma and you had to not only replace all of the normal transmission related parts but also the engine ECU and the main wiring harness (or significantly modify the harness). And that is on a relatively simple vehicle compared to more modern stuff.
hatred-shapped@reddit
It really depends on the car.
HobsHere@reddit
Quick plausibility test: Look under the driver's side carpet/mat. Is there a plate or rubber plug covering a place where the clutch pedal would be? If so, with enough work and money you can probably do the swap. If not, it's madness unless you have great mechanical and fabrication skills. Not because it's that hard to make a hole in a firewall, but because it shows whether or not your car has a manual version that was on the same chassis.
lowriderdog37@reddit
I converted a 1980 Mercedes 300CD (w123). Hardest and most expensive part by far was getting the driveshaft extended. Easily one of tne of the best car mods I ever accomplished.
I really miss that car.
Ajpeterson@reddit
Did you just go to a shop and have them make you a driveshaft?
lowriderdog37@reddit
Iirc, I took the original to a local shop, which said it needed some kind of special welding that nobody locally would/could do. I recall feeling like I was being played and ended up having to ship it to Austin (from Shreveport, LA), took a few months all said and done. That was all 20 years ago now, memory is a little hazy.
Other than that, the swap was shockingly easy, especially considering the parts were from a different generation and model.
I REALLY miss that car now that I am remembering this.
Occams_RZR900@reddit
Anything is possible with enough money. That said, yes you can, but it isn’t practical. Switching a manual transmission vehicle to an auto is easier than going the other way.
jckipps@reddit
The simple, but unrealistic answer -- anything's possible, given enough time and money.
Theoretically it's quite doable enough if there was a manual option for your year, model, and engine size. Find enough parts in the salvage yards, bolt everything over, and you can replicate an OEM manual-trans car.
But practically, that's only really an option on stuff older than 1990. Much newer than that, and there's so much nuance in the wiring and computer module coding, that it's not worth the hassle.
For example, Deceleration Fuel Cut Off (DFCO) tables are populated very differently in the ECM for automatic and manual transmission vehicles, even though the engine itself is the same. The DFCO table is specifying how much fuel the engine needs when your foot is off the accelerator, so it coasts down at an appropriate rate without stalling. If this vehicle is equipped with a manual transmission, those DFCO tables are populated very differently, and they need to know whether you've depressed the clutch pedal or not.
One-Bodybuilder309@reddit
Yes, I did it to rx7. But it very depends on the car. If it was not available from the factory as a manual it will be expensive and a lot of custom work..
TheCamoTrooper@reddit
Yes, it can be a lot of work though, especially if there aren't established kits for it or lots of documentation
AbruptMango@reddit
The easiest way is to buy a donor car of the same model that has one. Then as you find out what fitment bits and electronic modules you need, they'll all be on hand.
What it comes down to us that doing a manual swap is basically buying a car with a manual and then adding a lot of steps.
Gubbtratt1@reddit
Yes. Ranges from a lot of custom work and tens of thousands of dollars to a hundred bucks and an afternoon depending on the car.
CelestialBeing138@reddit
Theoretically, it would be possible to change your car into a submarine.
Parking_Abalone_1232@reddit
Yes. How much money do you have?
RunninOnMT@reddit
It really depends on what kind of car you drive. Ultimately everything could be swapped with enough money, but for some cars it’s actually relatively easy (smg M3s for instance)
Ken-_-Adams@reddit
Yep, my dad's a mechanic and used to work at a recovery yard. When my mum passed her test I helped him turn 2 nissan bluebirds into one nissan bluebird.
We took the body of one car (auto) and the engine and transmission of the other (manual)
Equana@reddit
Yes, but it will cost you...
It will cost you A LOT if your car never came with a manual transmission.
OkCartographer175@reddit
yes