# tranny and other questions...



## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

Its not as simple as just dropping in the new transmission.
I have a 97 escort with automatic, and have been researching a manual transmission swap.
I would need: manual transmission, shifter from a manual car with the linkage, brake and clutch pedal (they are on the same bracket in the escort), both driver and passenger side axles, manual transmission mounts (mounts to same frame spot, but transmission are different shape), the master brake cylinder from a manual (its connected to the clutch master cylinder), the clutch master cylinder and a clutch plate.
I'm going to try and use the automatic. Its electronically controlled, so I can build a circuit to control the gear selection.

Your best bet for this information on a Probe, would be a Probe site like one of these (found with a google search, never used em before myself)
http://www.probetalk.com/
http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-probe/
http://www.performanceprobe.com/index2.php

For the battery question.
I have heard about BattEQ, PakTracker, and looked at this Belktronix charger system.
http://www.go-ev.com/BattEQ.html
http://www.paktrakr.com/
http://www.belktronix.com/


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## megfourfun (Apr 30, 2008)

Let me know how your circuit works out. I would love to keep the automatic since I know its in good working condition. Are you planning on just using a microcontroller to change the rpm speed at which it tries to change?


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## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

I was thinking of a simple gear selector circuit at first, and possibly a second more advanced version with full automatic mode.

The simple version would have 5 pushbuttons, 1 for each gear, and the 5th button to activate the torque converter lockup.
I would use a microcontroller to switch power to the transmission solenoids, depending on what gear I want.
I am planning on using my EV for almost all city driving at 30 mph, so I may be able to get away with only using 2nd gear, and only have to switch to 3rd for the few times I need to go above 45 mph.

If manually pushing buttons to shift gets annoying, I would improve the system to have full automatic control.
I was thinking the following information would be necessary, motor RPM, motor current draw, vehicle speed and throttle position.

Do you know what transmission is in your probe? Its possible, that your 93 probe has the same tranny as my 97 escort. I'm 99% sure my escort has the F-4EAT transmission. I won't know for 100% till I pull the engine and tranny out in the next couple months.


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## megfourfun (Apr 30, 2008)

The probe has a got a 2 pan G4A-EL, same thing they put in all the mazda mx6's. Im really considering just using the automatic, seem to find more documentation on it as I go along. Thinking ill end up with a double arm motor and a lot of visits to the local machine shop....


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## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the accessories....
I am planning on using the microcontroller to control another solenoid. I want to tie into the gear selector, so when I shift out of Park, the micro sees this, and turns on a solenoid, which would push or pull on the throttle cable (under the hood) so the electric motor would begin turning at a slow speed. This will build up the hydraulic pressure in the transmission, and let the second end shaft of the motor turn the power steering pump, and possibly the AC compressor, if I choose to keep ac.
Since most cars already have an interlock to prevent shifting out of park unless the brake is pressed, it shouldn't be a safety problem.


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## megfourfun (Apr 30, 2008)

Interesting. I guess that makes sense....I was thinking just keeping the motor idling when the car is turned on, so it would be idling in park as well... Then again, that is probably not the ideal situation. Thanks for the tips.


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## ngrimm (Oct 19, 2007)

I like that push button shift idea. Seems easier than getting switches to work with the original shifter. Not sure about getting it into park tho. We had a 57 Desoto with the pushbutton shift when I was a kid. Of course you need to mount the rear view mirror on the dash to be really retro. Norm


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## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

Most controllers won't turn on unless the throttle is totally off...so you need some way of activating the idle control after the controller is turned on.
You can switch in extra resistance in series with the pot-box, or move the throttle cable. I figured its best to give the driver control of when this happens, so its not a surprise to them.


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## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

ngrimm said:


> I like that push button shift idea. Seems easier than getting switches to work with the original shifter. Not sure about getting it into park tho. We had a 57 Desoto with the pushbutton shift when I was a kid. Of course you need to mount the rear view mirror on the dash to be really retro. Norm


I am still keeping the stock gear selector. The transmission has a cable for Park-Rev-Neutral-Drive-Low, when in Park, Reverse or Neutral I think its all mechanical control inside the transmission. When in Drive or Low, the computer controls the solenoids which in turn control which gear ratio is selected.

I haven't figured out exactly where to mount the pushbuttons yet, but I might have room on the stock console shifter.


One more thing about using automatics... get an aftermarket transmission oil cooler, and inline filter. Mount them in the front of the car where the radiator is now.


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## megfourfun (Apr 30, 2008)

MrCrabs:

Could you provide some more specs on your overall build (motor choice mainly...seems like everyone uses ADC) and possibly explain how the button select would work?
Im guessing since its electric some voltage/current signal is being sent somewhere (onboard electronics) to tell it to switch...but how does this override the reading that would be taken from the rpm output? And in what cases would you want the torque converter to lockup (braking?)?
promise ill stop bugging you eventually...:S

thank!


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## MrCrabs (Mar 7, 2008)

Well the specs are still in my head, but are pretty firm.

97 Ford Escort. Automatic tranny that was rebuilt about 3 months before the head gasket blew. Now its sitting in my driveway.

Warp 9" - Good motor, plus I can yell WARP 9 ENGAGE! when stepping on the throttle (with apologies to TheSGC http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/come-warp-9-such-good-motor-9871.html ) If this motor turns out to be overkill for the Escort, I will use the warp in my Buick Regal (to be converted in a year or 2), and put a smaller motor in the Escort

I'm leaning towards the Belktronix system. http://www.belktronix.com/ You get a 500 Amp motor controller, Battery charger/DC-DC converter, battery monitor boards (10x), 2 cooling fans, a contactor and throttle box all for $2100.

As for the transmission controller, imagine a black box. 12 volt power goes in, it has 5 momentary push buttons mounted on it, and 4 wires come out.
These wires will replace the 4 wires coming off of the stock engine computer, and they go to the transmission.

The car's stock engine computer looks at various sensors such as engine speed, throttle position, vehicle speed, and the mass air flow sensor to determine when to shift. The mass air flow sensor tells how much load is on the engine, the throttle position tells if you are driving normally, or have the accelerator pegged. When the engine is under a heavy load, or you floor the throttle, the computer waits longer before shifting to keep the engine in its peak power output range.
When I remove the wires that go to the transmission from the stock engine computer, it won't know any better. The wires go to solenoids in the transmission, and if you apply 12 volts to the solenoid it will turn on. It doesn't realize that you hooked the wires up to something other than the computer.

The program in the micro controller will be pretty simple. It will look at the inputs, and if a pushbutton is pressed, it will turn on the outputs needed to shift into that gear. My transmission has 3 shift solenoids, but they can be turned on/off in 4 or 5 different combinations to select the gear. I just got the factory service manual, so I have more reading to do on this.

The torque converter is locked up once you are at a steady speed, usually 30 mph or above. This directly connects the engine to the transmission input.
See http://www.familycar.com/Transmission.htm for a good overview of how Automatics work.

I was planning on making a website (I hate the word blog) once I get started to share my progress. So I'll have more information as I get started.


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