Kia BP transmission in Z5 Protege

[Kitty]

I would just ground the neutral switch to chassis permanently and see if that fixes it.

Isn't the atx ecu 4 plug and the mtx 3? It's been a lot of years and a lot of cars between my BHA ecu shenanigans

[irishkev90]

The auto ecu does have four plugs. I can't say for sure, but from looking at the diagrams in the Haynes manual it looks like the manual ecu has three plugs.

My dad says one of his friends races Miatas and uses a guy in Texas to chip or reprogram the ecus. I don't know if he modifies them from auto to manual or just manual ecus tuned for more power.

[irishkev90]

Just ordered a manual ecu. Should be here Friday. If this fixes the revving problem, then all I have left is the exhaust.

[KAinjection]

It should fix your problems, just make sure all your wires are going the correct places since it's likely the auto/manual harness are different.

[irishkev90]

I'm hoping the auto harness will work. There's only two sensors on the transmission, reverse and neutral. Neutral feeds into the first connector on the computer, so that should be fine. However, the reverse switch feeds into the second connector which is automatic specific. I've scoured the Haynes manual for the last half hour and don't see any mention of how the reverse lights are wired for the manual transmission. Is the switch just hard-wired to the lights, bypassing the ecu? That might be the path I take, anyway.

[irishkev90]

Manual computer arrived a day early. Should be able to get it in tomorrow or maybe tonight if I'm feeling ambitious.

Update: Got the computer in. Surging problem is gone. The throttle tends to stick open (as well as in my other car), but took care of that by adjusting the bracket on the front of the manifold.

All that's left to do now is to get the exhaust sorted out, some new front tires, an alignment, then just wash it up and go for a drive. It may be taking longer than anticipated, but it'll be done right and done well.

Oh, and the reverse lights aren't a problem. I didn't realize the power for the lights branches off the harness before the ecu. My bad, but it works. Only annoyance (annoyance because it's not really a problem) is that the clutch safety switch doesn't seem to be wired up. The connector for the switch was tied up under the dash leading me to think that it was incorporated into the harness somewhere and the computer just used whichever sensor was active (auto transmission range selector or the clutch safety switch). I guess that wasn't the case.

[irishkev90]

Well, the welder sprung a leak. Right at the top of the canister. Can't finish the car until that's fixed.

I'd just like to drive it once this summer. *sigh*

[FE3-323]

what weld sprung a leak??

[irishkev90]

Where the valve screws into the top of the gas tank. Only leaks when the valve is open (which I find strange), so it'll be fine until I can find time to get it fixed.

Edit: Or not because the post is too old. I'll put the info in my next post.

[irishkev90]

Transmission Swap Info

The following information shall be used as a guide to installing a G-series manual transmission from a 1994-1997 Kia Sephia into an automatic transmission/Z5 engine 1997 Protege.

Items needed:

Transmission - look for the "K24T" marking



Kia axles and intermediate shaft
Shift linkage/boot/knob
Clutch lines/master/slave
Protege manual transmission front rubber mount (reuse the Kia transmission bracket)
BH Protege rear mount or Kia/BG rear mount (discussed later)
Clutch pedal assembly
Manual transmission ECU
Clutch/flywheel/pressure plate (I used a 1.6L Miata kit)

Step 1: Remove automatic transmission. We pulled the engine and transmission together which worked out fine because the passenger side mount needed to be replaced and the engine unbolted anyway.



Step 2: Bolt transmission to engine. This transmission will bolt directly to the Z5 engine with no problems. Before this, however, I had to adjust the clutch fork pivot ball because the fork was hitting the bellhousing before it could reach the pressure plate. Three washers gave me the perfect spot.

Step 3: Place engine and transmission back in the car. This is where it got a little tricky and where the rear mount preference comes into play. There are two holes in the BH crossmember that look like they can be used for the Kia/BG rear mount, but the hols would need to be enlarged/slotted. I chose, instead, to reuse the BH rear mount, but that meant taking the transmission to the machine shop to have three holes tapped for the rear mount bracket (red arrows). Also, as mentioned above, you will need the BH front mount rubber for a manual transmission (automatic transmission mount is too big for the Kia transmission bracket). The driver side mount can be reused.



Another major problem I came across was the intermediate shaft not lining up with the mount holes in the engine block.



I didn't have a Z5 intermediate shaft available to check so my father and I decided to build an adapter bracket. Some people don't like this idea, but despite its looks, I believe it's strong enough to do the job.





But we finally got to this:



Step 4: Wiring! The only things to wire up are the reverse switch and neutral switch. I was able to wire then into the automatic harness after some trial and error, the Haynes manual didn't really help much. The only problem was getting the ECU to play nice with the new transmission. I was told it wouldn't be a problem, but those people were mostly OBDI drivers. The 1997 Protege is OBDII. This is the only reason I can think of to explain why I couldn't just wire the switches and go. Simple solution was to get a manual transmission ECU. A manual transmission wiring harness probably would have made things cleaner, but it's not necessary.

Oh, another issue was the speedometer sensor. The 1996-1998 sensor is too long and the Kia/BG sensor has a different plug than the BH harness. Sure you could just rewire it. Or you can get yourself a 1995 Protege speedometer sensor. Correct BH connector, correct length, perfect solution. From left to right: 1995 Protege, Kia, 1996-1998 Protege.



Step 5: Enjoy

I think that covers the basics and the major issues I came across. If more detailed information is desired, feel free to ask.