AXODE (old) to AX4S (new) transmission swap

[hrmwrm]

well, the tranny's no good so here's the donor (or replacement ride if the damage isn't too bad) i'll have a look when i get it here. might be easier for me to just use the other as a donor for body parts for this 1. it's a 94 in nice shape. a few more options than my 91, but higher miles. i'll have to wait until about the end of the week for someone from the shop to go tow it. yes, it does run perfect. i'm getting it towed back because it's just easier(and free) i'll post back when i find out how bad it really is(or isn't)

[Steve Moran]

Take = measurements between the two cars, make sure the Unibody is not sprung.
if the body is good then what the heck, why not.

[hrmwrm]

changing out the body parts and painting to match is more time consuming but easier. i don't look forward to swapping tranny's. i'll rip the front end apart on the 94 first and have a look at how bad it is deep down. didn't look bad when i went to look at it. the tire is even sitting straight, which to me is a good indication as to whether something has been shifted or not. either way, i end up with a parts car. just wish i didn't have so much into the 91 before i found out about the transmission. new rad, lights on the front pass. side, new vss, and new starter. plus fixing the electronic dash. oh well.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

if you have access to a floor hoist and such, I hear its to big of a job to drop the entire cradle out from below to swap engine, trans, drive train, ect.

[hrmwrm]

we have 2 hoists in the shop. a 2 poster and a drive on. the 2 poster would be the choice for this. it's the 1 i used for the vss. i just don't relish the idea of pulling the transmission. they are just such a frustating job. but the guy i work for also does his own body work and paint (for himself mostly) so all the materials are there plus a parts car to fix it. still waiting to see what my alternatives are. the 94 is the better car for options and shape, but might be euchered any ways. i hope before weeks end to get it here so i can tear it down this weekend.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

I would have just edited my previous post this morning, but its pretty much too late now.. LOL

I meant to say, that I hear its NOT to hard to drop the engine/tranny cradle out the bottom.

once you get everything in one location, let us know what your looking at, I am sure we can help some!

[Fordace]

If you happen to use the 2 Post lift to drop the cradle and engine-tranny assy, be careful with the weight distribution of the lift legs. It will get really light in the front and could tip off the back legs easily.
I recommend using an engine support across the strut towers to hold the engine in position with 2 chains on the exhaust manifolds or the corners of the cyl heads while you LOWER (not remove) the subframe to get the transmission out. If your only doing a tranny, do not remove the whole cradle with the engine. It's relatively easy to do the trans by itself.
And, you leave the sway bar links attached and set the subframe on a 90 degree angle pointing straight at the floor to get it away from the trans. Then you just tie the subframe off to the rear of the car tightly with rope and it will stay out of your way while changing out the transmission. Been there 100 times......even a novice could do the job in 8 hours, we used to swap them out in about 3 hours, out the door...

[hrmwrm]

well, final decision is in. the right front wheel is back at least an inch, so the 94 has gone beyond the point of cheap repair. i started by getting the axles out and things ready to drop the cradle. i'm not too worried about the hoist. it's lifted 1 ton diesel duallys, so it's pretty well mounted. besides, the mechanic who recently left has dropped whole engine/tranny combos down without a problem. but thanks for the safety thought. i think on the 94, i'll drop the whole assembly down and remove the engine as well. when i change out the 91's tranny, i'll hold the engine while removing the tranny only. gonna take a couple of weekends for this. it's too bad. the 94 is in such nice shape. fully loaded. leather, sunroof, tinted windows, memory seat, trunk pull down. well cared for and clean inside. the passenger side air bag went off though. so, a nice parts car now. it's had the coil conversion done on it, so when i have too many problems with my air, i can swap it out in the future. plus its dash is working fine, so i have a replacement if i have problems. well, i'll keep ya posted.

[Steve Moran]

Before you get to wild about stripping the car check the lower control arm , it could be bent and that could be the cause of the wheel being out of place

[hrmwrm]

i checked it before stripping. after it was up on the hoist and i had a look and a couple of measurements, it was clear that the whole cradle was back about 1-1 1/2" . so, she's all dropped out for next weekend when i start the other half of this project( actually the next 2/3, since 1 more to drop and then replace) i think since it was running really nice, i'll just leave it all together and just swap out the whole setup as 1. i'll have to change the whole setup to the 91's carriage as the 94 has a rusted out/split pocket at one of the mounts. didn't happen recently as the split area is well rusted as well. only possible drawback/advantage is the ac compressor. i'll now have 1 that is already set up for 134a. if the lines don't match, i've still got some 414 which is r12 replacement. just have to swap out compressors. well, next weekend will be busy. i'll pick the best of both and set her in. man this car has been a long time in getting ready. but it will live again.

[hrmwrm]

second was down today. they route the power steering lines on different sides of the engine between the 2 years. the 94 goes to a cooler, then under the drive pulley to the rack. the 91 goes to a cooler and over the trans to the rack. anyways, the cradle on the 91 is in much better shape, so i changed them over today as well. just a few other things to swap, then up she goes tomorrow. i just hope everything works as it should after all this. i don't think the ac is gonna work out, but i'll have a better look tomorrow. my worst fear is getting the rack back to the steering shaft. not much room or length of shaft to work with. well, i'll muddle through. a nice learning experience this one. ps. the motor from the 94 appears to be newer, as it doesn't have a block heater, although there was a cord for one still in it.

[hrmwrm]

the transmissions have 2 different style plugs. is there a way to wire the different plugs between the 2 yrs? the 94 has an 8 prong plug, the 91 has 2 plugs. a 6 pin in front of the shifter and a 4 pin under the shifter. i should have checked these things out first, but i thought it would be a no brainer and didn't expect there would be such a difference. i was just thinking there must be a way to integrate the 2 plugs into the 1 for the newer design trans. this should make for a tech article if it works. how to cross over the 2 transmissions.

[hrmwrm]

as i check throgh my evtsm book, the color wires seem to coincide with the wires in the 94 plug, but i would need a pin out key or diagram to be sure that the colors are still the same for the different years for the same things.anybody have the color coding for the 94 plug?

[hrmwrm]

it's all in except for the transmission electrical connection problems. changed over the ac lines so it's compatible with r134 now to match the 94's compressor. since tomorrow's a holiday, i'll have 1 more day this weekend to fix these other problems. if you have any ideas as to how to hook up the different trans connections, please see my other thread.

[hrmwrm]

found it. the 94 has an ax4s transaxle? color code is the same, so i'll just splice the other connector in. see how this works.

[hrmwrm]

it works. i've got 3 unused red wires(leftovers from the lower plug) but it shifts through all gears. check engine is on, but i may have forgotten to plug something in. what does code 10- snap throttle mean?

[pro-five-oh]

Wow, I can't believe you made the newer transmission work. Sorry I can't offer any help, but I just wanted to congratulate you on that. IMPRESSIVE!

+1 rep points for you!

[hrmwrm]

read the fucking manual. right? found out what snap throttle is. it has to do with the scanner i was using. says exactly what to do. anyways, so last night, i came home, downloaded the 93-94 service manual from our local source person, and looked up under the evtm the pin outs on the ecm and the plug, and then looked in my evtm book for 91. all colors are the same(except the extra reds). but the reds are all the same number, so they are just a power feed. the axode has a total of 5 power feeds in. the ax4s has only 2. so i snipped the plug from the 94, snipped the 2 plugs from the 91, and started matching up wires. all the colors are the same. 4 are on the upper plug, and 3 on the lower. then i reused the 2 reds from the upper plug, and just covered the 3 from the lower plug. fired it up on the hoist, pulled it into drive, and ran it through the gears. i figured after all the changing, i had nothing to lose to at least try it. so, after all, they are interchangeable. if anybody else tries this, change over the wiring before installing the trans. much easier to get at the harness.yeah, there were some loud bad words last night when i reached that plug, but i just put everything together since it has to go out tomorrow morning anyways. i feel alot better tonight that it works and all this work wasn't for nothing. ford did something right in keeping the color scheme of the wires the same through the different years and transmissions. it actually made it a little bit of a no-brainer once i seen the wires are the same, but i didn't know for sure it would work until the end. i wonder if ford or anybody makes a change over harness that just adapts the 2 plugs to1? that would be alot easier.

[Steve Moran]

I tied these threads together so it all made sense then I stuck a nail in it so it will not go anywhere.

[pro-five-oh]

I tied these threads together so it all made sense then I stuck a nail in it so it will not go anywhere.

Can we rename it to old to new transmission conversion upgrade or something? Did the trannies change names between these years? Just curious.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

well, there was the AXOD (non-electronic), the AXODE (electronic version), then appearently the AX4S..

I know the AXOD and AXODE are very similar, just one is the older style mechanically controlled (with tv cable and such), the E is full electronic (and came around in 91). dont know when the AX4S came into play, I thought the E was carried through 94.

edit: after re-reading, I see it the AX4S came into play in 94..

[hrmwrm]

i should clarify something. i was in a rush that night. it's actually 2-6 pin connectors to a 9 pin connector. so it's 12 wires down to 9. so, 94 was the first year of these? it must be just a revision of the axode. everything else seems the same. same shifter connections( manual lever selector connection has an extra rib on the bottom of the ax4s. just shave it off and the axode connector fits.) when i bought the 94, i just assumed everything would be the same. i'm just glad it worked out in the end.

[hrmwrm]

heres a pic of the connector for the ax4s with pin colors. don't have 1 for the 2 axode plugs on my computer. but if you have the evtm, you can look and see the same colors. same pinouts for the pcm as well. colors coincide to the same functions as well.

[hrmwrm]

a word of caution. i didn't change just transaxles, i yanked the whole drivetrain, so i'm unaware if the torque converter and flexplate etc. are the same. just thought about it and thought i'd better mention it. but everything else went trouble free. and the check engine light was from a plug i missed. all is fine now.

[MichiganTeddyBear]

I have the 91 at home, will attempt to get it posted for ya. but it may take a day or 2 to get it done.