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Starter Issue with Auto JDM tranny install

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DSMDirkah

15+ Year Contributor
158
3
Oct 22, 2005
Stoneville, North_Carolina
Here is the setup :
95 Talon
JDM AWD Automatic
7 bolt engine
Automatic starter plate (USDM)

When the starter is engaged, it will spin freely or grind on flywheel (torque converter). I have used all the parts that came with the JDM swap to include:

-Starter
-Flex plate
-Torque converter

I have tried another AWD Automatic starter and it does the same. I bench tested both starters and they both look good out of the car (The starter gear completely travels to the top). I rebuilt the engine at the same time so the engine and tranny were mated out of the car. When I did this, I made sure the the TC was seated in properly and it seemed fine.

Has anyone had a problem like this? Maybe I have 2 bad starters (unlikely). Any help with this is greatly appreciated as I am now stumped. I think that there is definitely an alignment issue, but it doesn't make sense that both bolts go through the transmission as they should and I am using the correct starter plate. Thanks
 
Bringing this one back from the dead.


I may have to buy a complete 2g awd auto tranny simply for the center differential.
I have found that all w4a33 center diffs are the same but what i'm reading about the little things that are different i gotta ask: does anyone know if the "jdm" awd auto center diff is the same as usdm?
Gotta say they are most likely identical. I would love to find just the center diff but they are pretty rare after several hours of searching. Plus, i'd have a spare tranny complete with a tcase for a very very reasonable price.
IPT is probably my last shot but what they'll charge for a center diff welded up WITHOUT a core exchange would most likely be damn near what i can buy an entire tranny/tcase for. JDM tho..... that's the catch.
I see it has mounts on the tranny so i have no doubt it is for a 2g but god would it hurt to drop 500 just to get a center diff that was slightly off and unusable.

Down to my last part i need to complete this project. If anyone has any input or knowledge on it please help. The tranny code for the jdm is W4A331FN6 XB6010 . Also another tranny available with code W4A331FM6 EK0186

I know, sounds crazy ordering an entire tranny for just the center diff but this is an AT. Like i said, not as easy to find. My old one cannot be repaired. At all. Out of the question. Not even good for a core exchange
 
I swear I recall somewhere that the RVR Auto trans is just a 2G trans in a 1G case. Or some version of that. If all else fails you can use the valvebody, front pump, and hard parts from it as spares for your current trans if the center diff won't work. Those parts alone are worth having spares.
 
Yea, that's why it's tempting to get. It def has mounts on the tranny so it appears to be a 2g tranny by all visual accounts.
I have a BUILT AT at the moment......missing a center diff. Dropping 500 is not a big deal IF the center diff is identical. This got really crazy all the sudden. The hunt for a w4a33 center diff is a wild goose chase.
Damn near have to buy a whole car to get it!
 
DSM parts in general are starting to get like that. Have you contacted a guy named Lucas Taylor? He welds/sells welded center diffs for Autos all the time. I see him selling them kind of often...maybe hit him up and see if he has any? Has a 1G as his FB profile pic.
 
the jdm trans is mix of 1g and 2g. its like a 2g trans except it has a 1g tq converter. so the bell housing is 1g dimensions. axle offsets are different from 1g and 2g. the 2g has a larger lock up converter. the bell housing is larger. the axle offsets are shifted toward the pass side. the jdm trans prettty much drops in a 1g. small nitemare getting one into a 2g. the center diff I believe us same for all of them.
 
IPT has a spare center diff, just needs to go to the welder. So i'm set back a couple weeks and a few hundred, could've been worse.
Thanks for the info guys. I was beyond stressed.
Good info on the JDM tranny though. IPT was my last chance, if they didn't have it i was gonna buy the jdm and yank the CD.
 
the jdm trans is mix of 1g and 2g. its like a 2g trans except it has a 1g tq converter. so the bell housing is 1g dimensions. axle offsets are different from 1g and 2g. the 2g has a larger lock up converter. the bell housing is larger. the axle offsets are shifted toward the pass side. the jdm trans prettty much drops in a 1g. small nitemare getting one into a 2g. the center diff I believe us same for all of them.


I knew it was some amalgam like that, but couldn't remember specifics. Thanks 94awdcoupe.
 
So not long after Whyght posted the part number (MIT70483) of the "right" starter, I actually found one on eBay.
6 years later I finally installed it.
*spoiler* It was grinding and squealing like a mofo on startup.
I'm assuming it was in the process of getting sheared off like the one I just had in there.

Here are side by side pics of my original usdm vs the MIT70483.
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