malibu transmission help

[Rootie524]

i forget what my stock transmission is..i think like a 4t40e maybe? i have a 2002 malibu..its soon time for a new tranny. the one in now has 103k miles on it and i keep giving the engine more power and its obvious that its a weak tranny. so idk if i should got to a 4t45e from a grand am (how much power are those good for) or if i should just do the 5 spd swap because i realllllly want to do that. has anyone does something similar? i imagine its pretty difficult.

[RedogOnyx]

I blew up my tranny (4T45) at around 70,000 miles or so, on the track, by stall launching at 2500 RPM's way above the convertor stall speed.

If your going to spend the money, get the 4T65 tranny. You'll still have to do programing like with a 4T45, but it's a much better tranny. You will need custom axles and hubs and maybe mounting points.

I haven't done it but I know a guy on Aleromod did it and a few on GAGT did also. Ask around over there. IDK if anybody here did it. Is Ben supposed to be making a kit for this?

[pocket-rocket]

To my knowledge, he is not. John (ForcedFirebird) would be the one to ask. He is the fabricator. Ben is the induction wizard of the operation.

[3400-95-Modified]

I blew up my tranny (4T45) at around 70,000 miles or so, on the track, by stall launching at 2500 RPM's way above the convertor stall speed.

If your going to spend the money, get the 4T65 tranny. You'll still have to do programing like with a 4T45, but it's a much better tranny. You will need custom axles and hubs and maybe mounting points.

I haven't done it but I know a guy on Aleromod did it and a few on GAGT did also. Ask around over there. IDK if anybody here did it. Is Ben supposed to be making a kit for this?

You can also build a pretty tough 4t45e... I know GA guys sometimes stick to them. It all depends on how much power he is planning on putting down. If he's not going ape shit with the motor he can build a 45e that can handle the abuse.

[Rootie524]

well i think ive decided to go the 5spd route. im tired of these huge fucking gears in the automatic transmissions that get you no where. 80mph in 2nd gear?! come on GM. i need acceleration! so i really want to do the 5spd swap. then ill be able to say i have like one of maybe 5 manual malibus in the world. would be pretty damn cool if you ask me. the guy at the dyno said it would be night and day difference.

im looking for one that would bolt up so i wouldnt need custom mounts. ive been told before to get the tranny out of a manual cavalier. but i know they also made manual aleros which would be perfect. a n-body car with pretty much the exact same engine. they are hard to come by though..

is there anyway you guys could offer some advice/help on this swap. going to be doing it this summer. going to start finding parts. can't wait.

[mfuller]

You can also build a pretty tough 4t45e... I know GA guys sometimes stick to them. It all depends on how much power he is planning on putting down. If he's not going ape shit with the motor he can build a 45e that can handle the abuse.

I stuck with mine too.
When I did the drive/driven gear swap, I also added a Raybestos Blue Plate friction module, replaced all the shift valves and solenoids, installed new steels, new bands, and seals. I also have a huge external transmission cooler and have done line pressure adjustments (and other tweaks) via my PowrTuner.

[bszopi]

im looking for one that would bolt up so i wouldnt need custom mounts. ive been told before to get the tranny out of a manual cavalier. but i know they also made manual aleros which would be perfect. a n-body car with pretty much the exact same engine. they are hard to come by though..

Not gonna happen. Considering there has never been a manual FWD 3x00 from the factory (MAYBE within the last couple of years), you aren't going to find anything that is plug and play. One of the biggest issue won't be getting it in there, but programming the computer to work properly with the 5-spd. That usually is the biggest issue I remember seeing with the few guys who have done the swap.

[pocket-rocket]

Unless you swapped backward to OBD1. Your other choice is stand alone, but that's a whole other can of worms. And yes, it certainly is a night and day difference. If I gave you the VIN of the 91 it would come up as an auto car, but it's got a clutch and 5 forward gears. If you had a w body I could help you out...

EDIT: Then again... The car Josh sold Ben is OBD2 and running a 5 speed with a DOHC to boot... I forgot what PCM he used though. That might help you out some.

[3400-95-Modified]

If you have a OBDII vehicle swapping to a 5-speed is NOT a computer issue... you can easily tweak the ECM to be happy. I did it for a Beretta guy and he is running a 97 Venture ECM now since there were better tables available to tune. But thats a 4t60e ecm and its working beautifully in his car... No need to go backward to OBDI

[pocket-rocket]

That's why I went back and edited my post. I remembered about Josh's old car being OBD2 and a manual. I guess I should have removed the OBD1 reference while I was in there...

[bszopi]

How easy is it to disable all the stuff for a more "electronically controlled" transmission, such as the 4T40/5E that he is going to have. Remember, we're talking about a 2002 vehicle, so there will be more intergration with the BCM and such than the earlier OBD2 setups. Who knows, maybe I'm completely wrong on this. I just remember reading about some issues a few guys were having over on GAGT.

[3400-95-Modified]

I don't know how much the ECM talks to the BCM about the trans, but most of the time if you just set every code in the ecm that references the auto trans to no reporting, then any and all tests they are used for come up as passed, and most other things should work fine... For instance, I know you will not pass an emissions readyness if you have the EGR disabled via "temp enable" changes... BUT if you change all the EGR codes to no reporting then the test that requires the EGR to function will pass without it actually doing anything, AND having the "temp enable" change

I could be totally wrong on this, but I can't see how it can be a big issue, then again I have not read the threads you speak of.

For instance, most cars take driving cycles to complete readyness for OBDII testing, so after I flash an ecm you have to do a few cycles before all tests are run... My car I can flash and instant key on all my tests show up as passed because I have all the reporting sections of the tests set to no reporting. At least for the ones that take time to process, and will not complete with my configuration... 2nd O2, EGR, O2 heaters, Evap, stuff like that.

[bszopi]

I haven't read through the entire thing, but here is the writeup on GAGT for a 6-spd swap: http://grandamgt.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73212

[Rootie524]

that thread seems pretty good. i started reading through it..i might 6spd swap now!! haha..probably not..even more work required. ill be content with a 5 spd..i can get it from an alero or grand am or cavalier. only issue is they all seem to be a 2.2L engines..will this transmission handle a 3400 engine with a turbo in the not so distant future? or would i need to build it first.

you guys know more about this that i would.

[bszopi]

Those won't bolt up to a V6 engine. You need to get a 5-spd for a V6 engine, which means (as I hinted at earlier) you need to be looking at pre-94 cars like the Beretta and Cavalier. Basically, you want a Getrag 282 tranny. And that's where the custom mounts, half-shafts, etc all come in to play. Just one more reason why there are so few cars out there that have done it. Its not just a simple swap.