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  #1  
Old 08-18-2012, 10:12 AM
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longassname longassname is offline
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JDM driveline swap

Ok, so we've all heard that there's some weird law in Japan that they have to scrap their cars after 60K miles or something weird like that and we've all seen the ebay auctions for JDM SVX engines with pictures of eg33's complete with vtd 4eat transmissions and all the accessories snatched out JDM SVX's complete and strapped to a skid.

Well, I called up one of those guys and bought one as pictured. I've gone through mine and went to some pains to take some pictures to show the differences in the jdm and us market parts and explain exactly what I got so that anyone else who might want to do this will know what to expect. I will also give you the apparantly top secret to others part numbers for the mounts and sources for matching parts so you can actually pull this off.

First off, the guys selling the svx powerlines don't have the matching control units or rear ends so you will have to source those seperately. You will need:
1)JDM ECU (engine control unit)
2)JDM TCU (transmission control unit)
3)3.7 ratio vlsd rear end

I got my 3.7 limited slip dif from an 06 wrx with manual transmission. I opened it up to check the gears to verify it is a 3.7 and it is. It is clearly stamped 37:10 on the ring gear meaning the ring gear has 37 teeth and the pinion has 10.

http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9085.JPG
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9088.JPG
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  #2  
Old 08-18-2012, 10:24 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

Ok, so you get an engine and transmission still bolted together with all the accessories still bolted to them which they snatch out of a Japanese SVX as a whole and strap to a skid--in my case a palat with a sheet of plywood thrown on it so the whole thing would fit. They do not guarantee that any of the accessories or covers etc will be good. Of course some of these things get broken during transport. The little steel shroud on the output of my transmisison was a little dented but nothing else on the transmission was broken. On the engine the following were broken:
1)left and right front and back timing belt covers
2)drivers timing belt pulley
3)drivers valve cover
4)power steering pulley
5)drivers exhaust manifold
6)throttle body

Fortunately, I had replacements for all of these things on hand. The JDM passenger exhaust manifold is different because it doesn't have EGR but the drivers exhaust manifold is the same. The JDM throttle body doesn't have the two vacuum connections on the top but you can just cap them on the US throttle body with good vinyl caps.
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  #3  
Old 08-18-2012, 10:35 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

So..... into the vtd transmission.

The transmission itself is the same as the US part. All of the differences are in the extension housing. The exception to this is the Japanese seem to put more loving care into the assembly of their own stuff than they do ours. There are paint marks from gear matching and hand assembly checks all over this thing.

Here's a picture of the vtd extension housing.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9012.JPG

open it up and you find the vtd:
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9015.JPG

pull it out and you have a 4eat just like any us model
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9037.JPG

skipping forward to when i put it back together and we have a vtd again
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9039.JPG

transfer clutch frictions going back in
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9046.JPG

output shaft put on
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9051.JPG

rebuilt jdm transmission closed back
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9060.JPG

Last edited by longassname; 08-18-2012 at 10:37 AM. Reason: changed img tags to url tags
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  #4  
Old 08-18-2012, 11:00 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

The transmission itself was in better condition than a US SVX transmission would be in but with 60k miles on it without an ECUtune TCU the high clutch was starting to fail.

The photo isn't so great but most of the high clutch frictions were worn smooth on one or both sides. This transmission probably would have driven fine but was on the way out.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9025.JPG

The brake band was in pretty good shape--just starting to deteriorate a little at the ends which is where they always go bad first. It would have lasted longer than the high clutch.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9021.JPG

The "filter" which as I have posted previously is really just a screen was the original "filter" from when the transmission was built and was still nice and clean. I didn't touch it. These "filters" don't go bad and I'm not doing anything to this valve body.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9033.JPG

I also replaced the forward clutch, over running clutch, and reverse clutch frictions. I upgraded the high clutch pack with the special thing I do and upgraded the brake band. Of course, I closed it up with all new gaskets and crush washers. I'm re-using all the externals and torque converter.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9080.JPG

So to summarize: If I were to have thrown this transmission in without rebuilding it it would have worked and with an ECUtune TCU it may have worked for a good ammount of time but it really was time for a new high clutch and brake band--everything else I just did because I can.
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  #5  
Old 08-18-2012, 11:08 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

The vtd transmission uses different rear mounts than the US. I don't speak japanese but the parts are the same as for the australian or uk transmissions and they fortuntely speak english. My transmission had one good rear mount on it which you will see as very shiny because I just sprayed it with mercury phantom black spray paint. I had an Australian customer of mind order me the other mount and the stopper that goes on the cross member from his local dealership for me. The crossmember is the same.

the mount he got me: 41022pa120
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9063.JPG

the stopper that goes on the cross member:41022pa130
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9064.JPG

the mounts installed on the transmission and the stopper installed on the crossmember:
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9071.JPG

If I remember correctly the other rear mount was part number 41022pa110

Last edited by longassname; 08-18-2012 at 11:11 AM.
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  #6  
Old 08-18-2012, 11:30 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

I wanted to start with new head gaskets etc so I dug into the engine as well. The first thing I did was start pulling the fuel injectors out assuming they would be gummed up with dried fuel and i was going to send them out to be cleaned and flow tested. I pulled one out and it was the cleanest fuel injector I've ever seen. I pulled a second one out and was super clean too. I then used a couple wire leads hooked up to a flashlight I had handy with about 7 volts of juice to test all the injectors in the fuel rails and they all sounded great. It appears the Japanese guys hook the motors up to a fuel injector cleaning system to remove all traces of fuel from the fuel system before shipping. This is probably required by regulations so you could expect the same if you got a jdm engine

http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9113.JPG



With a valve cover off the next thing I noticed was how clean everything under the valve cover was. Either they have better quality oil or better quality oil filters over there or both.

http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9122.JPG


While replacing the head gaskets you can see the mythical good SVX motor mounts in this picture. Yes, this engine actually has good OE motor mounts. I've never seen one before.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9123.JPG


The jdm engines do not use EGR. The intake manifold still has the passageways in the casting but they use a solid plug that goes all the way threw where we just have caps underneath. This blocks off the passageways in the JDM manifold. The JDM fuel lines are different--absent of the hard lines for the vacuum lines for egr.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9208.JPG
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9211.JPG


And here's the whole thing put back together with loving care and new gaskets and seals and timing components and covers and the valve covers and driver's exhaust manifold off of my last engine.
http://www.ecutune.com/posts/jdm/DSC_9219.JPG


I'm going to be busy for the next week and a half but will install it all at first chance.
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  #7  
Old 08-18-2012, 07:47 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

I have what is supposed to be a JDM engine in my shed. With this new info and the pics I'll be able to tell for sure. I just wish I had your knowledge and skill to go through everything the way you did.

Thanks very much.
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  #8  
Old 08-18-2012, 09:50 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

just a question....

is there some way that the vtd tcu can control the dccd unit in the 6 speed gear boxes given that they both do the same thing?
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Old 08-19-2012, 06:01 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

I'm loving this thread.
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  #10  
Old 08-19-2012, 10:01 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

You'd have to modify the firmware to skip the error checks for all the electronics which would be missing with no auto box but I don't see why not.



Quote:
Originally Posted by 'E' View Post
just a question....

is there some way that the vtd tcu can control the dccd unit in the 6 speed gear boxes given that they both do the same thing?
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  #11  
Old 08-19-2012, 10:12 AM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

Quote:
Originally Posted by longassname View Post
You'd have to modify the firmware to skip the error checks for all the electronics which would be missing with no auto box but I don't see why not.
Is that something I could pay you to do
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  #12  
Old 08-19-2012, 01:07 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

Quote:
Originally Posted by longassname View Post
Ok, so you get an engine and transmission still bolted together with all the accessories still bolted to them which they snatch out of a Japanese SVX as a whole and strap to a skid--in my case a palat with a sheet of plywood thrown on it so the whole thing would fit. They do not guarantee that any of the accessories or covers etc will be good. Of course some of these things get broken during transport. The little steel shroud on the output of my transmisison was a little dented but nothing else on the transmission was broken. On the engine the following were broken:
1)left and right front and back timing belt covers
2)drivers timing belt pulley
3)drivers valve cover
4)power steering pulley
5)drivers exhaust manifold
6)throttle body

Fortunately, I had replacements for all of these things on hand. The JDM passenger exhaust manifold is different because it doesn't have EGR but the drivers exhaust manifold is the same. The JDM throttle body doesn't have the two vacuum connections on the top but you can just cap them on the US throttle body with good vinyl caps.
LAN,

Looks like they dropped the engine on the driver's side? Was the valve cover just cracked?

Bill
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  #13  
Old 08-19-2012, 01:28 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

It wasn't dropped. Just banged into something/somethings. The valve cover had a chip out of its front edge.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SVXRide View Post
LAN,

Looks like they dropped the engine on the driver's side? Was the valve cover just cracked?

Bill
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  #14  
Old 08-19-2012, 01:33 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

Not right now. If you did the research so you could explain to me exactly how the dccd functions and the operation of what I presume is a solenoid that controls it so that all I had to do was the firmware modifications then I would be willing to do it at a later time when I have more time. If you want to email me the information in about a month I'll look at it.


Quote:
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Is that something I could pay you to do
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  #15  
Old 08-19-2012, 05:34 PM
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Re: JDM driveline swap

There are multiple stand alone aftermarket DCCD controllers out there that you can get which would probably cost less than LANs time to engineer that and will be plug and play to the transmission. I'm just gonna leave my DCCD disconnected to run the 35:65 split and not worry about the extra controller.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 'E' View Post
just a question....

is there some way that the vtd tcu can control the dccd unit in the 6 speed gear boxes given that they both do the same thing?
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