370z "Detailed" Manual Swap.

Z34Hakeem_

Okay. So here's my "Detailed" review on the Manual Swap for the 370Z.

List of Parts Needed:

Transmission
Clutch Pedal
Clutch Master Cylinder
Clutch Hard lines
Z Speed CMAK
Flywheel
Clutch
Pressure Plate
Flywheel Bolts
Pressure Plate Bolts
Manual Driveshaft
Wires/Wire Loom/Electrical Tape ETC... (Depends how clean you want to go with wiring)
Trans Fluid
Clutch (Brake) Fluid
Short Throw Shifter (Non-Essential)
Shift Knob (Non-Essential if came with trans)
Shifter Bezel
Shifter Assembly Cover Plate (Under the Shift Boot in the center console)
Manual ECU (Depends on a bit of things.... Will get into it)

List of things you need Mentally:

Knowledge in wiring.
Knowledge in Dropping nd installing Transmissions.
Knowledge in Loosening nd Tightening bolts.
Some Drilling Is Required. (Only need to drill 3 holes for the Clutch master Cylinder.. Will get into it)
Patience...
Some Cutting Is Required (If you do it the way I did)

Before I go about. The only thing that Got me to really do this swap was when 1 other person tackled it. His Youtube channel is called TxBoostLife (Link to channel -> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2l...PVlV3MPcl92r5Q ).
He has a 3 part detailed view of how to go about with the swap. Now given could he have had a little extra info? Sure maybe. But it is what it is.. He still did a great job on providing detail nd I couldn't thank him more
because he actually helped out a ton on me being able to successfully do this video wise and when I reached out to him to get a little more info wiring wise (Got to give credit where its due).


OKAY. As Far as further research. I PROMISE You the FSM is going to be your friend in this. Only thing I'm really gonna go into is wiring, ECU obstacles, and the drilling you will be doing. And the cutting you might be doing.

Drilling:

when it comes to this. the only thing you have to drill is the holes in the firewall for the Clutch Master Cylinder. Its 3 holes. 2 bolt holes, and 1 bigger center hole for the body to go through. When you go down there you will see
a cut out in the "insulation"/"Sound Deadening" (whatever u choose to call it). That's going to tell you where you have to drill so you can mount your clutch pedal and master cylinder. In the video he messes with the abs module. I was able to angle the Master Cylinder in there so I don't have to mess with re-bleeding the brakes.

Cutting:

The cutting I did was trimming the size of the auto brake pedal. the auto pedal is too big and either has to be swapped with the manual brake pedal. Or cutting it to size. I did cutting like TxBoostLife because I didn't want to
Remove the steering column nd change the whole pedal assembly. If you're wondering how much to cut. size it the same as the clutch pedal. remove the rubber pad and use that as your measurement. It helps for sure.

Wiring:

In the FSM. Category (TM) Pg. (270-271) will give you a breakdown of the pins and wires for the TCM Connector.

I made my own custom harness for the Transmission. Basically where the OEM TCM connector is. I went behind it and tapped into the wires I needed and made them go my own 4 pin connector I bought. I put the female end on the harness. And the male side to my custom Sub-harness. My sub-harness then went to the reverse switch on the trans. And then up to the clutch interlock switch (CIS) on the clutch pedal. The 2 wires I had going to the CIS had its own 2 pin connector for if I ever needed to remove the trans I can disconnect the sub-harness from the TCM side, and the CIS
side and not worry about wires getting tugged, or in the way (I had this routed through the Shifter hole and behind the dash to reach the clutch pedal. When you get down there you'll see how to do it). And along with that the trans can drop with the custom sub-harness still attached. Securing it I just used Zip-ties and wrapped the sub-harness around where the brackets are for if the original harness was there.

TCM connector side of the harness:

With this you're going to need to tap into the TCM connector. Since there's no TCM to tell the ECU whether the car is in park or neutral it won't start. To fix this you need to tap into the wires for the Reverse switch and the
P/N switch. The wires you want to tap into for the reverse switch is Wire 7(W) and a ground wire. Either 10(B), 5(B). For the P/N switch you need wires 1(Y), and 9(GR). Reverse switch is ground. P/N switch is a signal.

I Went the extra mile and made it look good, pretty, and actually functional. So I bought wire loom, electrical tape, and connectors.

IF you're wondering how you get your wires to connect to the CPPS and the CIS you'll need to find a way to buy the
Male connector side for it. On the FSM they call it (S02FL). There's ways to get it. Sometimes depending on who you buy it from, (when buying used) some people just cut the harness with the male side still on the switches. So if you get lucky then great. If not you can google the name of the connector and there's a website called Nissantechmate.com, they sell it on there almost $24 a piece. You'll need 2.

ECU:

Now here is where your choice comes to mind. Preferably to do it right you should get a Manual ECU so you can wire in the Clutch Pedal Position Switch (CPPS) so you can get your cruise control (CC) (and if you're tuned get your ARC Features). Since I'm already tuned on UPREV, I kept my Auto ECU, and had my tuner remove all the codes the TCM would pull up. (If you don't do this you'll be in limp mode. You can move around but your car will feel like a 100hp corolla rolling down the street. Aka no power at all.) Since all the codes are removed I have full power. The car drives like it was normally a manual. The ONLY THING that wont work is the CC... I looked into it and you can't use the auto ECU and wire up CC because the CC system takes CAN info from the TCM. looked at the FSM and it states the system takes powertrain revolution via CAN lines from the TCM to get cruise to work. (I almost got away with not buying a manual ECU.) So since you can't wire that you won't have cruise control or your ARC Features. I don't care about cruise, but I want my features lmao. So when I buy the Manual ECU I have to get a Key programmed to it, and do all this extra stuff so I can wire up the CPPS and get my features... Annoying but it is
what it is.

I picked most parts used like Trans (34k Miles) , Driveshaft (20k Miles), Clutch Master/Hardline, Shifter Bezel, Clutch Pedal. Everything else was new. Depends on what you do to save on money. I could've gone cheaper but I wanted some quality parts for preventative maintenance.

How much did I spend?

Transmission with Clutch Pedal and Shifter Bezel: $1150
Driveshaft: $200
Shift Knob: $106
ARP Flywheel Bolts: $46.29
ARP Pressure Plate Bolts: $18.24
Red Line MT-85 Fluid :12.95 Ea.
Torque Solutions Short Throw Shifter: $211.10
ZSP CMAK CSC Delete: $489
Reverse Switch Connector: $12
Clutch Master Cylinder: $45
Clutch Hardline (Complete Line): $60
Action Clutch Stage 2 (Clutch/Pressure Plate): $200
(Was Bought Off A Good Friend)
Wiring, Connectors ETC... : $50-80?
UPT 19lb Flywheel: $224

Shipping and Tools Made the total to be about $3k.
(Can and Will Cost More or less for you depending on the approach and the parts you decide to pick, and where you Locate parts from...) Considering I did the install by myself I didn't have to worry about paying someone labor.

Now this took me 10-12hrs to complete. 1 Main reason to this is because I did the swap on the floor. Got impatient and didn't want to wait for a bay to open up at my job so I did it at a buddies place. 2nd reason was since it was my first time dropping a transmission and doing a whole a** swap It was time consuming, especially with rolling around grabbing the right tool, and each socket nd etc. I knew how to do it with all the research I did. Just it being the first that's all lmao. 3rd reason was I was the main only person doing the swap. I had buddies there but they only really helped with moving the auto and helping me position the manual. And I really wanted to do the wrenching myself because I like to make sure things were done right (Just me I guess idk). I'm sure you can get it done quicker if you already have the experience, and a lift, or had friends to wrench with you. Another thing that made it go by quicker was I pre drilled and installed the clutch pedal and master cylinder. Pre made the custom sub-harness on the trans so when I got to the car I can just tap into the TCM wires and put my 4 pin connector and plug it up. Did everything beforehand so when the day comes it was just dropping the Auto trans, and installing the Manual trans. And plugging my connectors up, bleeding the clutch, and installing the driveshaft as well of course.

This swap was superrrrrr easy though. And wasn't as expensive as how I've heard others do it for. Heard anywhere from $5k to $8k people have paid. Also heard people say its "Impossible, and pointless, and cheaper to just trade it for a manual one". I still think this was the best way for me to do it. And considering I learned another thing and got more experience and fun out of it. I think it was worth it. Lmk whatever your opinion is down below. I want to hear what people think.

I'll see if I can get some photos or videos I have uploaded here. Idk if it'll go through but lets see.

Quicksilvers

Nice write up good job the manual swap can be done if you are willing to take on the project. Post some pics if you like.

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Mr. Clean

TurboKing

This is a fantastic breakdown of how to manual swap your Z, im preparing to swap mine soon just waiting on a couple parts to come in. one thing i dont believe was touched upon here was the wiring for synchro match (s - mode) did you decide not to use S - mode? or if you did what was the wiring for that?

THE BULL

S mode is a challenge, You'd have to wire up the input shaft VSS sensor, Smode switch and possibly the rear diff since the auto will read a lower speed than what the input shaft sensor reads and even then there's no guarantee.

From speaking to ECUTEK they say they can utilize the CPP switch to enable rev match for base members. Many have agreed that S-mode for what it offers ends up being too much work.

THE BULL

For OP, being that the ECM is converted and TCM no longer communicates it leads me to believe that the BCM is the culprit for CC not to work on Auto/Manual Swaps.

Since the manual Z doesnt have a CAN branch for the TCM and a Manual ECM doesnt take care of this issue, there has to be something(possibly BCM) that expects the TCM input.

Z34Hakeem_

I just bought a Non-Synchro Rev Match Transmission. For one, it was easier wiring wise. And second because it's not really needed. It seems like a cool feature to have, but I've seen a lot of people that turn it off because they don't use it much. I'm sure you can wire it in, I think it uses CAN info. I remember slightly looking into it thinking one could possibly wire it through the TCM connector. But again I didn't look much into it. You can still buy a Synchro Rev Transmission but not use the feature. All up to you though, for me I find more enjoyment Rev Matching myself.

Z34Hakeem_

Yea I see where no CC would be from having no CAN Communication to the TCM. But I actually haven't swapped the ECM to a manual one yet. I might need a new ECM here soon though... (Doing some Diag right now because my ECM fuse keeps blowing when the ignition is cycled on. and it only happens when the ECM is plugged in. I have some techs telling me its an internal short and I need a new one. So Saturday I'm getting my hands on a donor ECM to plug it in and see if it blows the fuse. If not then that's my answer. Already checked all the wires, all the grounds, tried replacing the IPDM. Nothing worked so ECM test is the next.) If the ECM is my problem, then I will be looking to get a Manual ECM and program a new key to it so I can drive my Z again. When the Z is moving again then I'll need to Re-Tune (With ECUTEK this time around. Previously was on UPREV) and try again with CC so I can get the features. I did see the BCM does take input from the CIS and CPPS. So Maybe I can wire that in accordingly and get it back. The ECM is what controls CC from what I seen. So it's just a matter of wiring I'm sure.

THE BULL

Following the diagrams I saw that the CPP CIP go directly to the E3 connector and go directly into the ECM.
On Auto cars you have CAN bridges to incorporate paddle shifters so in theory the a Manual ECM might not do the job. You might have to go as far as the BCM to obtain your cruise.

Masoncorrenti

Hey there I was wondering if you could help me out as far as the harness you made I'm about to swap mine and I have everything to get it done but not the knowledge of how to make that harness you can dm me on Instagram if you'd like @galaxzee_z34

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

husam2012

Great information, one thing though as a tuner.. AT and Manual ECUs are identical hardware wise, just different software. Any decent tuner can forceflash the ECU to use a MT ROM version.

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Ecutek Master Tuner (VQ37, VR30, VR38, B58, S55, S58)
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