Jump to content

Transmission Swaps


munt

Recommended Posts

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone can share their knowledge on this subject. Sorry if I use any of the terminology wrong I am only just getting into the ford stuff.

I understand the easiest way to do a trans swap is to having a matching TCM and PCM before starting. But I would like to understand how this works on a greater level.

 

For example if I have a 5spd Auto PCM would I be able to flash it with the strategy from a FG 6spd Auto PCM?, would I then be able to then pair that PCM with a ZF TCM?, whether it be with ford IDS or PCMTEC, or is there other Hardware/Module info that would prevent this from ever working?.... Obviously if you were to actually try this there would be other hurdles to overcome like matching up the trans harnessing and potentially ECU pinouts.

Thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 speed auto to 6 speed auto would be interesting to try. You may find that the various modules will never talk correctly as when you flash in a different strategy it does not flash the RTOS only the calibration, in the case of a different transmission the RTOS will almost certainly have different IO and Canbus communications. In those cases it is usually easier to just transplant the PCM and TCM at the same time, then relink them to the rest of the car with IDS.

You can also change the various scalars such as "TCM Strategy" which tell the PCM what TCM to expect and how to talk to it, I believe people have successfully swapped a BF/FG TCM into the opposite vehicle doing this.

This stuff is usually very time consuming and doesn't make good business sense for us to support out of the box, our normal recommendation is to talk to one of the guys who do these swaps everyday. You'll probably end up spending less as well as they will tell you what to buy to get it working first go. Send us an email if you'd like the names of some people who do this kind of work. Otherwise if you are keen to do this yourself and don't mind licensing a few PCM/TCM combinations to get it all working I'm sure others would love to read how you did it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Munt,

 A 5 speed transmission in the FGs is a Ford 5R55 transmission and I believe the wiring is different as the PCM controls the solenoids in the transmission directly. The calibration for the 5 speed is in the PCM and takes up a lot of space. 

For the FGs  with the 5 speed only the calibration is altered to tell it the transmission type. In other words the same OSID (eg something like HAEDJ) runs either the 5 speed logic or the 6 speed logic. The ZF is controlled  by the same operating system but its calibration code is different and the transmission is calibrated externally. 

I have swapped transmissions for my mechanic and if the car was running a ZF prior you only need to configure the transmission to match the calibration ID the PCM is expecting. You cannot change what the PCM expects as you still end up with dash errors.

In other software you would have to flash both the PCM and the TCM with a matched calibration to get this to work. In PCMTec you change on entry in the ZF and it works. You could also find another ZF calibration with the correct ID and it would work as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nigel, I have put an  FG ZF in a BF by changing its config in the ZF only. I have only done this once so I cannot confirm it works in general. I tried getting the car to work by changing what the PCM expected to see from the ZF but there were dash errors being shown. Soon as I changed the ZF calibration ID it was fine.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the replies, it does help. Hopefully ill get the time soon to start playing around and will let everyone know the result. My background is mining systems/automation and telecommunications so as weird as it is to some I do enjoy attempting this kind of stuff!.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Hi All, new to this and Fords in general,  but intrigued,  I have a 2008 FG ute with 5 speed(5r55) thinking of upgrading to ZF6 speed  am I right in what I have read above that this only requires telling the PCM it has a 6 speed?

Still to see if any wiring changes, finding it hard to locate wiring diagrams.

Munt did you get the trans change done?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I am not a mechanic but i am in the same situation with  my G6 5 speed..  I have done dozens of hours research. You will find very few people do the conversion but plenty of conversion kits for sale.. What you need is a donor car or all the parts from a donor car.  You need the tail shaft, you need engine/transmission looms the ECU, the zf transmission and the shifter setup from zf donor car.  Will cost you $1500-$2000 for this kit from a recycled parts place.  Its not a job for home and very hard to find someone to install it all.. I am having a hard time finding someone who can do the conversion in QLD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Hi All,

just stumbled across pcmtec while

trying to get a conversion working

am a current hp tuners user but normally for LS conversions

wondering if anyone has done or knows if it’s possible to run a btr of a bf xr6t manual pcm?

It’s an asu-174 running hacckj6 but is looking for the zf on the bus when I enable auto under hp tuners.

also running a fg throttle body so need to match that also

happy to purchase software if I can get it to work.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 2 years later...
On 9/19/2018 at 9:46 AM, Darryl@pcmtec said:

Nigel, I have put an  FG ZF in a BF by changing its config in the ZF only. I have only done this once so I cannot confirm it works in general. I tried getting the car to work by changing what the PCM expected to see from the ZF but there were dash errors being shown. Soon as I changed the ZF calibration ID it was fine.

 

Hey Daryl, Ive had a go at changing a few things to fit a FG TCM into a BFand have been unsuccessful, as in the software won't allow me to (workshop)

Can you show me what you've done?

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, bikboi said:

Hey Daryl, Ive had a go at changing a few things to fit a FG TCM into a BFand have been unsuccessful, as in the software won't allow me to (workshop)

Can you show me what you've done?

Cheers

I believe Daryl actually had a BF tcm not an FG and was mislead. You need to get the TCM converted by someone like Whiteford. It's not possible using our software afaik. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Roland@pcmtec said:

I believe Daryl actually had a BF tcm not an FG and was mislead. You need to get the TCM converted by someone like Whiteford. It's not possible using our software afaik. 

Ahh yep that makes sense.

Ive had a quick look but haven't found much info on converting the TCMs. Do you know if it's something that can be done with IDS or is some ZF proprietary gear needed? Probably not worth going down that rabbit hole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, bikboi said:

Ahh yep that makes sense.

Ive had a quick look but haven't found much info on converting the TCMs. Do you know if it's something that can be done with IDS or is some ZF proprietary gear needed? Probably not worth going down that rabbit hole.

Its done via Kline and requires special software which is not publicly available. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Puffwagon said:

Downloaded a couple of Vector programs, brain hurt just looking at them

The software is only part of the puzzle. You need the calibration files, bootloaders and templates that basically tell it how and what to do. The software on its own is not usually very useful as its designed in a generic manner for many applications.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...