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Swap 90 Tranny into 92 Car? (Merged)

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Originally posted by Piranhaman33
It should fit, But i dont know why you would want to switch the 92 with the 90 tranny. The 92 has a better casing, where as the 90 tranny has breathers that tend to crack. but hey its all up to you!
It does fit, people usualy do it cause, used 90 Trannys are more Avalible then 92+ used trans. And I didnt have the money to get it rebuilt, Thanks. Oh yah, Its all up to you too!
 
I have a '90 Tranny and Transfer case and want to put it in my '92 AWD. Everything should fit as long as I change over the bracket on the tranny to work with the '92 shifter correct?

Also I removed the clutch without reading the VFAQ. The 12mm bolts holding the Clutch on to the flywheel. I was turning the flywheel counter clock wise as I was tryin to access each bolt. Will that hurt anything?

Here are some pictures I took last nite. How does the fly wheel look? Alot of heat marks... No cracks. And my cluch. The one picture, shows the dowl pin getting hit by clutch disc... Not sure if clutch is too warn...

This has to be a Stock Disc Correct? ACT Disc have all springs...
 

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You can use the 90 tranny in your 92 car without having to switch anything. I ran 93 cables and shifter base with my 90 trans and the only thing I had to do was drill a hole next to the pin on the shifter bracket and put a bolt through it so that it would reach first gear. Also shortened the throw a bit. You have to do this because the arm on the 90 tranny is longer than the 91-

Your flywheel needs to be turned. As for the disc, I have never seen a stock one with the rubber instead of all springs. I know ACT switched to rubber at one point or another so good chance that might be an ACT disc. The pressure plate is also yellow so we can pretty much assume it is ACT. Either way, it looks pretty worn and would be a good idea to replace it.

As for turning the motor counter clockwise, its bad for the bearings but I doubt you did any damage. Just remember next time. :thumb:
 
RoasT BeeF said:
You can use the 90 tranny in your 92 car without having to switch anything. I ran 93 cables and shifter base with my 90 trans and the only thing I had to do was drill a hole next to the pin on the shifter bracket and put a bolt through it so that it would reach first gear. Also shortened the throw a bit. You have to do this because the arm on the 90 tranny is longer than the 91-

Your flywheel needs to be turned. As for the disc, I have never seen a stock one with the rubber instead of all springs. I know ACT switched to rubber at one point or another so good chance that might be an ACT disc. The pressure plate is also yellow so we can pretty much assume it is ACT. Either way, it looks pretty worn and would be a good idea to replace it.

As for turning the motor counter clockwise, its bad for the bearings but I doubt you did any damage. Just remember next time. :thumb:

For SURE I'll remember the next time! haha it hit me once it stopped turning. DOH! WTF

But Yeah I saw some pictures of the ACT Street Disc and they had all springs i the middle. where this one has only 2 springs, and the rest are metal. I know the Pressure Plate is ACT. But Can I still use the Pressure Plate? Not sure how much material needs to be on it to be usuabal...
 
Well, the pressure plate appears to have normal wear. None of the fingers look bent or damaged. I suppose you COULD run it but its just one of those things. You are already getting a new disc and the flywheel turned, why not just get a new PP as well? Better safe than sorry.
 
Yesterday, while tryin to get my Flywheel off... I use a 1/2" drive socket and put it in my Camshaft Sprocket. While trying to loosen the flywheel bolts, I loosen the Camshaft Sprocket. But I tighten it up right away when I notice it broke loose. Is that Ok?

Did I do any harm? Do I have to redo the timing belt now?

Also how much do I torque it back? or just use a impact gun?
 
You mean crankshaft sprocket bolt right? Not camshaft. The timing belt tension should not have changed but might not hurt to check it anyway. That bolt shouldnt have came loose in the first place. I have used that same methoud many times without it comming loose.

Re-torque to 87 ft lbs and try again.
 
RoasT BeeF said:
You can use the 90 tranny in your 92 car without having to switch anything.

100% true, however a stop may need to be added if the driver has a habit of slamming gears. The stops on the shifter base will no longer be in play and the 'stop' will be the shift forks in the trans.

RoasT BeeF said:
I ran 93 cables and shifter base with my 90 trans and the only thing I had to do was drill a hole next to the pin on the shifter bracket and put a bolt through it so that it would reach first gear. Also shortened the throw a bit. You have to do this because the arm on the 90 tranny is longer than the 91-

No, that's backwards. The 90 tranny has a shorter shift lever on the trans. Thus the reason when you install it in a 91-94 application that nothing needs to be changed. The throw is 'shortened' due to the longer lever length on the shifter base (in car, 91-94) matching up with a now shorter lever on the trans. For the same amount of in car lever travel, the trans lever rotates more.
 
RoasT BeeF said:
You can use the 90 tranny in your 92 car without having to switch anything. I ran 93 cables and shifter base with my 90 trans and the only thing I had to do was drill a hole next to the pin on the shifter bracket and put a bolt through it so that it would reach first gear. Also shortened the throw a bit. You have to do this because the arm on the 90 tranny is longer than the 91-
:thumb:

I am about to do the same thing so thanks for the imput on adjusting the cables after remounting. I am about to swap a 90 tranny into a 91.
 
When I put a '90 trans. in my '94 I switched shift cables, just to be safe - and so I could adjust both cables, not just one. But I also switched the base, because at the time I was paranoid that if EVERYTHING wasn't the same, I would wreck something internally in the transmission.

:dsm:
 
Morphius said:
No, that's backwards. The 90 tranny has a shorter shift lever on the trans. Thus the reason when you install it in a 91-94 application that nothing needs to be changed. The throw is 'shortened' due to the longer lever length on the shifter base (in car, 91-94) matching up with a now shorter lever on the trans. For the same amount of in car lever travel, the trans lever rotates more.

Oh crap, my spare tranny from a 90 is missing it shifter levers. What are the problems that are going to occur with me using my 91 shifter and control lever?
 
Hey fellas i have one simple question, i'll start with the story though. I have a 92 laser rs i blew the tranny 1st gear left at 4500 rpm anyway i got another tranny out of a 90. I know my output spline count is 23 and this one is 22 so how difficult is it too change output shafts?
 
If anybody has changed the output shaft for the x-fer case please let me know:coy:
 
my buddy of mine is selling me his freshly rebuilt 92 tranny for dirt cheap, he is full parting out his car, and i can take everything i need for this swap out of his car. so what do i need to take out of his car to get this going? i know i need the Shifter Link from the 92 and also need to use my Tcase from my 90 to bolt it up to my 3 bolt rear:coy:. do i need to take anything else off the car to make it work? also is there anything better about the 92 tranny?
 
Make sure you use the 2 piece shifter cable bracket from the 90 for the 92 trans, and just swap out the trans.

OR

Take his shifter base, cables, and bracket, and you can enjoy the better shifting of a 91-94 DSM.

You can use his transfer case or if yours is in better shape, swap out the output shaft and re-use yours. Its very simple to do.

:thumb:
 
You also need the Shifter Itself and the Plate that bolts the shifter cables to transmission.
Im not sure about anything else, But I would buy all associated drivetrain parts you can get ahold of anyways, These are common to failure and you should start stockpiling them when possible.:thumb:

90 Shifter On top, 91+ on bottom Difference circled
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90 Shifter cable bracket Left side, 91+ Shifter cable bracket Right
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I think you got your answers, so I hope you don't mind if I hijack your thread because I'm in somewhat the same situation.

I have a 1990 plymouth laser and every gear shifts fine except 3rd and 5th which grind unless I double-clutch it.

I've got a hold of a 1991 tsi and have no idea on the tranny condition, but my clutch is slipping and I'm going to use it's tranny while I swap out my clutch. Bytheway, is there a way to open up the tranny and visually see any problems?

From what I've read above, to put the 91 tranny in my 90 laser, I could either swap out everything from the shifter base to the tranny.... OR I could use the 2 piece shifter cable bracket which I want to do because it's easiest. Is there a flaw to it?
 
Gotta be careful with "jdm" transmissions. Some of them came with a different final drive gear ratio which doesn't match with our rear ends. They'll say it will fit a 90-94 dsm, but it actually came from an evo3 or something. There are part numbers on the bellhousing that will tell you if it will work.

I forget the exact details, but a few different year usdm trannies dont have interchangeable center diffs. I believe 93 came with a heavier duty 3rd and 4th gearset. Like, when some transmission shops give a build list of their tranmissions and say "HD 3rd and 4th", they mean its just from a 93 which is better then all the rest. 90's have a funky 2nd gear I believe which are different then the 91-94.

Thats why TRE or SHEP dont build tranmissions with a 22 spline output shaft for the xfer case from a 90. You either have to send in yours, or ask them if they have any spare 22 spline output shafts laying around.

My buddy sent in his 90 with a 22 spline, and shep sent back a trans with a 23 spline xfer case. Shep said to get a 23 spline xfer case, or swap out the output shaft so he can use his 90 xfer case.
 
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