I am going to put a 5spd in my 95 auto and I was wondering if I will still need my computer?
I think the engine is all mechanical, right?
Does the computer have anything to do with anything else like cruise control or other vital functions?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Also is a South Bend clutch kit a good kit to use?

 

Where do you live?
I have been wanting to do a 5 speed to auto conversion.

SBC is the ONLY clutch to use behind a CTD.
Haisley is good also.
STAY AWAY from Valair.

 

Dieselman I live in Mineral co. WV. It is in the Eastern Panhandle of WV.
Between Maryland and Virginia.
It would be great to work out a swap that would benefit both of us.
Let me know where you live.

 

yes you need the ecu...dont worry the auto unti works fine
yes the south bend is great

I just dod this swap so let me know if you have any other questions

 

I did the swap in my 96 3500 as well... I had a donor truck so I switched computers over to the one out of the 5spd donor truck... let me know if you have any questions, I'll try my best to help.

Dennis

 

PCM is needed for the alternator control, speed control, speedometer, and preheater operation.

 

why cant the stop PCM control the preheater, speed control, etc? i just bought everything for the swap, but not the computer, didnt know it was needed....

 

I did a swap on a 96 from auto to 5 speed; the original PCM worked fine with no check engine lights coming on. You should be ok.

 

thanks for the input man, i have heard you can do it without the other comp. anything else i should know about the swap? something to look out for? thanks man

 

For the guys who have done the swap. Was the connector for the back-up lights already in your truck harness or did you have to add it? I'm assuming the back-up light switch on an auto is different.

 

You have to add the connector for the backup lights. If you use the stock auto computer you will need to add a relay to one of the wires on the tranny to get the cruise to work. It is easier to switch the computer than do a lot of wiring. There is a wire on the harness at the tranny that needs to be grounded to make the starter work. On the auto it will ground and then open when put in gear. On mine cruise would not work till I switched the computer. But there is a way to wire in a relay to make it work do a search someone posted it a while back on how to do it.

 

I wired the nutral/saftey wire for the auto to the Clutch petal depressed swith and that took care of having to have the clutch pushedin tranny in neut starting proble. Also it allows the CC to work as well. I used the orginal computer in my with no issue. There used to be a wireing diag on how to do it I will have to find it.

 

same here...no relay needed.
Stock auto computer works fine

for the back up lights, you just wire the stock harness to the plug ontop the manual and match the colors. The middle wire is the one for the NSS so you just wire that one to the clutch sensor.

If you are swapping and using a DLD transfer case, you need to shorten the front drive shaft 1 inch and lengthen the rear 1 inch.

Oh....its no big deal, but the trans temp light comes on for about 10 seconds when you first start the truck. If that would aggravate you like it did to me, then just put the auto temp sensor in the harness and zip-tie it to the frame.

 

I didn't have to change my driveshafts at all just the input gear in the xfercase.

 

not to tell you what to do, because you helped me with my swap...BUT the front shaft should be shortened 1" because if you ever bottom out your frt suspension the shaft will not collapse enough and crack your transfer case. I had it done today and it was $70.

If you look on the NAPA website, they sell the frt shafts and the one for a manual trans measures 1 inch shorter (specs are on there)

Also if you notice the rear drive shaft hangs out a bit now. It will work as is...I havent lengthened mine yet, but it should 1" longer to fit the same way it did before the swap. Will it hurt anything not to lengthen it??? Maybe a bit harder on the rear seal but if you are putting big power to the ground, you probably want as much shaft in there as you can have.

you can measure from your xfer case seal to the wear ring from where the shaft use to sit in the xfer case and its exactly 1" which is the same length difference between the shafts according to NAPA.

I just decided to play it safe and get them adjusted.

for the DHD xfer case its a little over 5 inches...you can look on the napa site and it will tell you the exact difference