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Swapping engine from '96 AT into '98 MT

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BLACK'98DSM

5+ Year Contributor
4,450
1,889
Feb 9, 2019
Alabama
A question was asked very recently about dropping a 95 motor into a 97 car. Yes I saw it and yes I read it. All 2 replies of it.

I found a 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse RS for sale for an amazing price. I don't care about the car, I want to build the engine.
After all the money and time I have put into my Eclipse engine I have decided it has way too many weak links. When I rebuilt it I only hit the big things, now the small things are coming to bite me in the ass. Most of the vacuum system leaks or doesnt work. Engine has idle and takeoff issues. Coolant bottle doesnt get filled. Blah blah blah... There's such a lOMG list of things going wrong here I'm scared that one day while cruising it will breakdown on me. Or one day at the track it will freaking explode.

Anyway, here's what I need to know. The 96 has an auto trans, I want to keep my manual. Will that engine be compatible with my trans? And will that engine work with my ecu, or would I need to swap the ecus? And also what are the differences between the engines?

I am wanting to build that engine then drop it into my car. I'm basically asking here if that can work.
 
Yes the motor will work fine. You may have to swap some of the sensors. There was some changes through the years, the coil pack was one of the them. I think there was something else but I don't remember what it was. But keep the old motor and pull off what you need
 
Yes the motor will work fine. You may have to swap some of the sensors. There was some changes through the years, the coil pack was one of the them. I think there was something else but I don't remember what it was. But keep the old motor and pull off what you need
ECU the same, or will that need to be swapped too?
 
Essentially pull your motor out, swap all the ‘98 sensors onto the ‘96 engine and then drop that into your ‘98. No changes to the ecu are needed. The major differences are flat pins vs round on the sensors.

You will need to swap the clutch too since you want to keep the manual.
 
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