engine swap from automatic to manual
 

I have 2004 mazda rx8 6 speed with blown engine. Now trying to swap it with engine from 2005 mazda rx8 with automatic transmission. Has anybody done that before? Is there any way to do that without harming the engine in future?
Wires are changed already, I notice there is some difference in injector unit that is connected to the block.
I have a friend who work in auto shop but he never worked with rotor engines. There is 2 cylinders that are coming out from injector in 2004 engine, but there are no place for them in 2005 engine. They were inside of 2 air pipes, and my friend just took them off. So, we replaced injector on engine and he is saying that it should work.
Before we put engine into the car I am trying to get some advice if we are not damage the engine?
I have all car for parts, so I can use anything that is needed form it. Any help will be appreciated!

read and search, there is a whole thread that shows and tells you how to do it

^^ what he said

is there any link available?

Only if you search for it :)

Thread moved to Tech. DIY is for when you have a set of instructions to tell people how to do something, and I don't see instructions here.

I searched, but couldn't find answers, I post my tread here, because it is something I am trying do with my friend. If somebody has any useful information please let me know. It might help people in future who want to do something similar. Following treads might include set of instruction how to do it, from other hand I can place here pictures where I am at this point of replacing the engine.

The engines are different. The MT engine is six port, the AT engine is 4 port. Besides physical differences, there's different ECU programming, different redline limits.

There's been one successful swap reported here of AT to MT - engine and transmission. I expect much of that information would apply to MT to AT, if you're trying to swap the transmission as well as the engine. Some of the info should be useful (or at least sobering) if you're trying to swap just the engine.

https://www.rx8club.com/specific-per...t-swap-151684/

Good luck.

Ken

If you need to be spoon fed answers that are so easy to find, im not sure this is a task you and your friend could complete on your own...

he is trying to put together a 4 port 6 speed basically...the swap thread wont help him too much.. theres a whole big can of worms involved between pcm and tcm.

It's not that easy to find.

So why don't you show him how easy it is to find information that would help? Instead of sitting on your butt and pretending to know something? He's in a jam with his car apart, a donor car apart, and can use some help.

Ken

viktor177,

You are actually better off selling that 2005 AT engine and finding a 6-port engine to put in instead. It's going to be cheaper, easier, and more powerful in the long run....

You are treading ground that very very few people have walked, and really only the 1 from that 1 thread posted about it on the forum. We aren't really going to have many answers for you that are sure things. Only guesses.

I just want to make sure you understand that the 4 port automatic transmissioned engine that you are trying to put into your car is significantly less powerful than your original 6 port manual transmission engine.

There are huge differences between the two engines, and I can't understand why you didn't just search for a good engine from another manual transmission vehicle. It's not like that is a hard vehicle to find.

Even if you do complete it, you are going to wind up with a worse car than you originally started with.

BC.

I want to put that engine in because it was tested by me, it starts up right away, and there is no issues with it at all. I drove the car before take the engine out. I do not want to buy something that I cannot test. I am in Chicago, there are not a lot of parts for rx8 here, especially engines. I do not want to buy it from somewhere else and after that dealing with all problems that I might face if it is bad, what is very common.
I see there are few people posting sarcastic treads here, but I did not ask for it. Just little advice if somebody really know how to do work in correct way.
Thanks to all others who have idea of what I am trying to do.
Thank you Ken for link, it is really helpful. I used method of that guy pulling engine out of the car, not dropping it down like recommended by dealer. It is really work, especially if you do it in your own garage.
Any other information would be appreciate.

you are trying to run a 4 port engine with a 6 speed transmission..
you could run the 4 port engine with the 4 port ecu/pcm...but there will be issues since the 4 port ecu/pcm is linked to the tcm (transmission control module) and the ecu/pcm will see that the tcm is not there. the tcm sends the required information to the pcm about what gear you are in (if any), and sensor outputs of the transmission.. the car might not even start without the tcm in place, and even if it did it would likely go into limp mode since it isnt getting sensor read outs.
you could try running the 4 port engine on the 6 port pcm, but there will be several loose plugs because the 6 port has two extra intake runners and injectors that the 4 port does not have. the fuel trim tables are also very different, and without tuning the 4 port engine on the 6 port ecu/pcm will run extremely poorly if it doesnt just blow.
you will need to run a 6 port pcm with a piggy back unit to control the engine if you want to run your setup. the rear housing is also different on the 4 port and will need an adapter plate on the transmission bell housing if you expect to mate the two together. you will also need to change counter weights amongst other parts on the engine. much more headache than it is worth.
just sell the 4 port engine and all the 4 port parts and things you dont need, get the 6 port engine with everything and follow the guidelines of the AT to MT swap thread to make sure you have a properly working car once you are done.

I can understand a large part of your reasons, but you would have been better off swapping your body parts from the 6 speed car onto the 4 port auto car, and then repainting the car.

The 4 port engine was never offered in North America with a manual transmission.
The only way to get this combination to work is the get the ecu and tcm from either Europe or Asia.

Your only other choice is to pull the housings, rotor shaft, rotors, and other parts from the good 4 port engine and put them installing them into the 6 port engine.

What you're trying to do isn't very easily possible.
You really would be better off looking for a good 6 port motor.
Can you do what you want to do?
Yes.
But economically, you are better off just selling your good 4 port engine, and buying a good 6 port engine.

BC.

you are going to be very disappointed with your power if you ever get it running, which is near impossible with your ECU and tons of other electronic nonsense.

RotaryRessurrection is in the rotary rebuilding business, and really knows what he's doing. You might look for some of his earlier posts on his swap, when he first ran into issues with getting the electronics sorted out. It all looked pretty scary to me.

I generally agree with the naysayers about the economic sense of what you're doing. I believe (from posts in this forum) that you can buy a rebuilt engine from Mazda for about $2000. I presume you got a good deal with your donor car/engine, and maybe there's some hobby value in pulling this off.

Good luck either way.

Ken

engine is on the car already, there might be some problem with pcm but tomorrow we will try to start it, let you know about result

ok, let us know. and if you find a way of getting it running without problems, please take plenty of pictures and document what you can. i cant think of a 4 port 6 speed in the United States that works 100% without any issues electronically

everything is connected now, but I have another problem. After compression test that was done by Naperville Mazda I was not able to start the car, and had to tow it to my home. It was not even cranking. In addition my radio, interior lights, windows, remote, lock and maybe something else does not work. I was hoping that problem will be solver after replacing the engine, but it is not.
does anybody know what might be a problem and how to solve it? I already recheck all fuses and relays but everything seems to be ok.

if it wasnt cranking, how did the dealer test compression? it may not be cranking because the ecu isnt getting a signal from the tcm saying the car is in neutral or park.

I drove the car to the dealer, I have this problem after test was performed.
The only way to start it was pulling with another car and dropping second gear in. After that interior lights , sun roof, and windows, start working but radio was not working. I was not able to recheck everything since I was trying just to park the car inside of garage

Wow, 4 port engine into 6 port Setup. what A huge fucking failure.

and you wonder why it's not working? oh man, keep guessing, and have fun failing.

Disconnect the battery for a bit and stomp on the brakes until the lights don't come on any more. Reattach the battery and give her a try. I bet you got enough drive cycles in between the house and the dealer to get the fuel trims screwed up.