2G AWD Conversion/Swap Guys Enter Here - Advanced. [Merged 2-07]

[Sharkcus]

Well, my rear end is back on, including wheels! I found that I tacked on the first carrier bearing bracket about 2" too far forward. I thought it was suppose to straddle the opening, apparently it isn't because the bracket is about 2" too far forward for my carrier bearing. Good thing I only tacked it on. Does anyone have a closeup pic of the placement of the rear carrier bearing? I am positive the front one is dead on.

 

[99gst_racer]

Well, my rear end is back on, including wheels! I found that I tacked on the first carrier bearing bracket about 2" too far forward. I thought it was suppose to straddle the opening, apparently it isn't because the bracket is about 2" too far forward for my carrier bearing. Good thing I only tacked it on. Does anyone have a closeup pic of the placement of the rear carrier bearing? I am positive the front one is dead on.

These are the only two pictures I have of my rear CB bracket. Hopefully they help.

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/paulvolk/pix1223.jpg
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i17/paulvolk/100_1350.jpg

 

[Sharkcus]

Grrrrrrrr... your pics confirmed what I suspected. I welded mine in OVER the hump in the opening, not in front of it.

 

[spyderturbo007]

Now that I've done it once, if I can a lift, I could probably do one again in 2-3 days with one capable helper.


Freight your cars over to me - I'll do the swap for you.

So.....What would it cost me to have you come to Pennsylvania and do the swap for me??? My buddy owns a garage and I would probably be able to get a couple days of lift time.

 

[donmagicjuan]

Grrrrrrrr... your pics confirmed what I suspected. I welded mine in OVER the hump in the opening, not in front of it.

Heh, I was wondering if anyone had done that. When I first held the bracket up in place I was scratching my head trying to figure out why it wouldn't lay flush against the chassis. I just hope you're able to cut it out and re-weld it without having to drop everything again. Good luck.

 

[99gst_racer]

So.....What would it cost me to have you come to Pennsylvania and do the swap for me??? My buddy owns a garage and I would probably be able to get a couple days of lift time.

I'm open to offers.

 

[AgaricX]

I used your diagram and my gauge works. The only thing is that the gauge reads a little over half full when in reality the tank is completely full but I do not think that has anything to do with how the wires are connected. That seems like more of a sender unit problem . Everything else is working great so a small detail like this doesn't bother me
By the way, AWD is awesome! I will never own another fwd dsm again

This is EXACTLY what my problem is. However, the gauge stays on empty for a long time before the fuel light comes on.

It's a big deal to my wife and therefore to me. She wants the ultimate Eclipse. So thats what I'm building... Gotta iron out those flaws!

AWD owns me. I admit it. I was going to buy a G35 Coupe... but now I'm going to go ahead and save for the GTR.

 

[ypnas777]

This is EXACTLY what my problem is. However, the gauge stays on empty for a long time before the fuel light comes on.

It's a big deal to my wife and therefore to me. She wants the ultimate Eclipse. So thats what I'm building... Gotta iron out those flaws!

AWD owns me. I admit it. I was going to buy a G35 Coupe... but now I'm going to go ahead and save for the GTR.

so it can't no longer be the ultimate eclipse because the fuel gauge doesn't work perfectly? There are people who havent even touched the fuel wiring and their gauges stopped working completely. Again, I think the problem we're having has something to do with the sender units and not the wiring.

 

[donmagicjuan]

Well, I finally got the rear subframe bolts swapped out. Sharkcus, do you by chance have a picture of your cuts that you made to drop in the front bolts? I'm trying to figure out where the best place to cut will be-- from what I can tell there are a couple layers of metal in that region, which will probably give my Dremel a hell of a workout.

On a side note, it's not necessary to drill access holes to drop in the bolts for the AWD fuel tank mounts (for the rears, at least). I was able to get them in place by feeding them through a larger adjacent hole and drawing them down through the appropriate hole with a telescoping magnet. Just make sure to include a washer on either side of the sheet metal, and tightening the nut down is a cinch.

 

[99gst_racer]

Aww snaps! The telescoping magnet FTW!
That's what I used for my rear bolts as well.

-Back to my beer....

 

[gorf]

So.....What would it cost me to have you come to Pennsylvania and do the swap for me??? My buddy owns a garage and I would probably be able to get a couple days of lift time.

I was thinking the same thing!!!!
But I was hoping to trade some vaction time at a nice lake house for his labor....

 

[donmagicjuan]

Just thought I'd share some pics of the little gadgets I made today. I didn't like the idea of dropping the front subframe bolts on the sheet metal either, and because I had to go in from the side, there wasn't a chance in hell I'd be able to weld a plate down over the hole. These little guys ended up being a perfect fit-- they don't rotate at all in the frame, and the recessed area in the middle holds the square head rather nicely. Not bad for eyeballing it. I got some time on the mill before I had a chance to take measurements, so I winged it. Now I just need to prime and paint them and get hot bolting stuff up.

 

[gorf]

I started stripping my donor car this past w/e and since the car has been sitting for awhile, there is a lot of surface rust and some bolts frozen on.

So here is my questions:
Front end - can I use all of my FWD front end and suspension except for the axles?
I do plan on Using the front brakes even if I have to buy rebuilt calipers.

Rear end - are the brakes and calipers the same on the rear the same for the AWD as on the FWD? Are there any other parts that are interchangeable on the back with the FWD suspension parts?

 

[99gst_racer]

Damn good work on those bolt supports, Don.

 

[Omega]

I started stripping my donor car this past w/e and since the car has been sitting for awhile, there is a lot of surface rust and some bolts frozen on.

So here is my questions:
Front end - can I use all of my FWD front end and suspension except for the axles?
I do plan on Using the front brakes even if I have to buy rebuilt calipers.

Rear end - are the brakes and calipers the same on the rear the same for the AWD as on the FWD? Are there any other parts that are interchangeable on the back with the FWD suspension parts?

Yes, the only parts you must replace are the axles. I doubt the calipers will be expensive, especially if you have the cores.

As far as the back goes, it's all pretty much the same. The knuckle is different (duh) and the sway bar. The brakes, control arm's, and such are all the same. The shocks are basically the same, jut a slight difference in the valving and spring rates... nothing 99% of us will notice.

 

[donmagicjuan]

Damn good work on those bolt supports, Don.

Thanks, man. I actually had to grind a little more material off the back side of them so that the bolts dropped down vertically, but they've still been a real lifesaver. I just tried to tighten down a front bolt without one, and let's just say it wasn't happening.

For anyone else interested in doing the same, I used a 0.25" thick plate of some kind of medium hard steel (it was scrap, maybe 4340?), drilled a 0.5" hole for the bolt, and programmed a 1.2 X 1.2 X 0.080" rectangular pocket over the hole using a 3/8" bit. I'd have to check on the outer dimensions, because those are the ones I guessed at.

 

[300hpGS-T]

has anyone figured out the problem with the fuel guage? i used the diagram drawn in this thread, and my fuel guage doesnt work, but my low level light does.

 

[donmagicjuan]

I've only had a chance to check mine so far with a near empty tank and it read ok. How is the problem showing up with yours?

 

[99gst_racer]

Using my diagram, it seems that a full tank of gas reads as a half tank, and anything less that half of a tank, reads flat on the bottom of the gauge. I can't figure it out.

 

[300hpGS-T]

well mine was empty and it read 1/4 tank . i only put in few gallons and it still didnt change. ill try to put in more and see if it changes, but im fine with relying on the light. thats usually when i refill anyway.

 

[AgaricX]

Not I. I really, really want this fixed. I can't seem to find a wiring error... just the end-problem.

 

[donmagicjuan]

After reviewing the factory wiring diagrams for the fuel level sending units and the resistance specifications for the FWD and AWD units, I believe I can provide some insight to the problems most have been experiencing with the rewire.

If the majority of folks are experiencing a half-tank reading when the tank is actually full, I can only conclude that one thing is wrong: one of the senders is stuck in the empty position. I've reached this conclusion by ruling out all other viable possibilities, but of course there's a chance I'm missing something.

First of all, the FWD uses a single sending unit whose resistance varies from 112 ohms when empty to 4 ohms when full. The AWD uses two units IN SERIES, with resistances that vary from 56.9 or 50 ohms when empty to 2 ohms when full. The result of combining the two near identical resistances is equivalent to the single resistance of the FWD unit. Hence, the problem cannot lie with the power supply voltage.

Furthermore, the wiring has to be correct if readings of both empty AND half a tank are obtained. Because the units are in series and because the resistance varies inversely with fuel level between two finite values, it is not possible to achieve both of these readings with just one sending unit. It would be possible, however, to obtain readings varying from half to full with one unit, but that's not the problem here.

An open and a short across either sender can both be ruled out for the same reasons above: an open would result in a gage that always read empty, and a short would result in levels ranging from half to full.

If anyone can spot a flaw in my logic or a possible wiring problem, please let me know. But I think I've at least convinced myself that the problems are predominantly mechanical.

EDIT: For the guys getting a reading of half a tank when it's actually full, it would probably be prudent to do a resistance check on the sending units before cracking open the fuel tank and getting gas in your face.

 

[300hpGS-T]

i talked to a guy who has done the swap twice, he said he figured out what you need to do. he said there was a wire that need to be jumped. i forget why it needs to be, but thats what needs to be done, he told me he will look at the wiring this week and tell me which wires need to be where.

 

[donmagicjuan]

Beside the center driveshaft carriers is there any hardware type items that I need to make sure to remove?

Forgot to mention this a while ago, but I ended up swapping the fuel filler neck and hose from the AWD because my FWD one was about an inch or two longer. I'm not sure if the FWD one would've worked or not, but it was only a few bolts and about 10 minutes to switch everything out without worrying about it. I'm curious now if anyone has used the FWD neck without any problems.

 

[300hpGS-T]

i thought the fwd one was shorter? i had to swap those too because they were too short to reach