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So you have an automatic 3.4 car and you’re tired of the computer doing your shifting for you, so you want to switch to a 5-speed. First off, GOOD CALL!!! Here’s what you need to do to make the 5-speed work in your car:
Note: This is assuming you’re converting a 91-93 car, I know that a newer than ‘93 4T60-E has different connectors, so it’s not going to be the same.
Lots of what you’ll be changing will be on the 6-pin harness that connects to the 4T60-E transmission. The colors of the wires on this are purple, yellow, green, orange, green-black and orange-black. Other wires have to be extended and in some cases you have to add a whole new wire to the harness.
1) First off, cut the purple and yellow wires off the connector and splice them together. These wires control the safety switch for the starter. If they are not connected together the car won’t even turn over.
2) Next, on the Getrag you will have a reverse sensor that turns on your backup lamps. It’s located on the top of the bell housing. The green and orange wires from the automatic connector have to be run to this connector. The best way is to wire them to a new plug that fits into the male end. But unless you have a spare harness lying around you most likely you won’t have the male end that you need to plug into the jack, so just splice the wires together. It doesn’t matter which goes to which.
3) Third, you need to extend the connection for your vehicle speed sensor. On the automatic it is on the passenger side. Now it is on the driver’s side, just above the differential. The plug for the Getrag may be different than the one for the 4T60-E depending on the year. In my experience, on the Getrag it is the same as the power steering sensor plug for the steering rack. Mind you it won’t lock in place but the rubber grommet has more than enough resistance to hold it in.
This is enough to get the car running and operating properly. There are a couple of other things that you may have/want to do:
4) If after doing the swap you get code 39, then you have to extend another wire off the round 8-pin harness for the transmission, because what is happening is on a manual car there is a switch that is engaged and disengaged by the clutch pedal and is part of the pedal assembly. What it’s looking for is when there is load on the motor. On an automatic it would be the wire for the torque converter clutch circuit. On the harness it’s the red wire. That’s what you extend and connect to the switch under the dash for the pedals. (If you get pedals from somebody, try to get this switch and the harness that goes to it too, makes things a lot easier.) It is 4 pin, two are for the clutch safety switch (which I didn’t bother hooking up), and the others are for that and ground. The cruise control also references this to know when to disengage the cruise if you press the clutch when the cruise is engaged.
5) This one is a creature comfort. If you use your trunk popper, then you have to connect the green-black wire from the automatic connector in line with the orange one you connected for the reverse sensor earlier. Oranges in the wiring harness are continuous battery feed so now the solenoid will always have power regardless of what gear you’re in.
6) One more thing: Be very careful how you route the wires you extended. I just dropped my motor back in and forgot to tuck away my reverse sensor wires and the CV shaft rubbed them down to nothing. Try routing them around your transmission dipstick. The vehicle speed sensor can just be wrapped around the intermediate shaft a couple of times.
Note: This is assuming you’re converting a 91-93 car, I know that a newer than ‘93 4T60-E has different connectors, so it’s not going to be the same.
Lots of what you’ll be changing will be on the 6-pin harness that connects to the 4T60-E transmission. The colors of the wires on this are purple, yellow, green, orange, green-black and orange-black. Other wires have to be extended and in some cases you have to add a whole new wire to the harness.
1) First off, cut the purple and yellow wires off the connector and splice them together. These wires control the safety switch for the starter. If they are not connected together the car won’t even turn over.
2) Next, on the Getrag you will have a reverse sensor that turns on your backup lamps. It’s located on the top of the bell housing. The green and orange wires from the automatic connector have to be run to this connector. The best way is to wire them to a new plug that fits into the male end. But unless you have a spare harness lying around you most likely you won’t have the male end that you need to plug into the jack, so just splice the wires together. It doesn’t matter which goes to which.
3) Third, you need to extend the connection for your vehicle speed sensor. On the automatic it is on the passenger side. Now it is on the driver’s side, just above the differential. The plug for the Getrag may be different than the one for the 4T60-E depending on the year. In my experience, on the Getrag it is the same as the power steering sensor plug for the steering rack. Mind you it won’t lock in place but the rubber grommet has more than enough resistance to hold it in.
This is enough to get the car running and operating properly. There are a couple of other things that you may have/want to do:
4) If after doing the swap you get code 39, then you have to extend another wire off the round 8-pin harness for the transmission, because what is happening is on a manual car there is a switch that is engaged and disengaged by the clutch pedal and is part of the pedal assembly. What it’s looking for is when there is load on the motor. On an automatic it would be the wire for the torque converter clutch circuit. On the harness it’s the red wire. That’s what you extend and connect to the switch under the dash for the pedals. (If you get pedals from somebody, try to get this switch and the harness that goes to it too, makes things a lot easier.) It is 4 pin, two are for the clutch safety switch (which I didn’t bother hooking up), and the others are for that and ground. The cruise control also references this to know when to disengage the cruise if you press the clutch when the cruise is engaged.
5) This one is a creature comfort. If you use your trunk popper, then you have to connect the green-black wire from the automatic connector in line with the orange one you connected for the reverse sensor earlier. Oranges in the wiring harness are continuous battery feed so now the solenoid will always have power regardless of what gear you’re in.
6) One more thing: Be very careful how you route the wires you extended. I just dropped my motor back in and forgot to tuck away my reverse sensor wires and the CV shaft rubbed them down to nothing. Try routing them around your transmission dipstick. The vehicle speed sensor can just be wrapped around the intermediate shaft a couple of times.