Quote: Originally Posted by mrclean86 When installing a manual trans in a VL, lots of tech articles say join the purple wires beside the fuse box. This bypasses the �Park� lockout. If you haven�t got the rest of the manual loom, this means that the reversing lights and the neutral lockout will not work. Here is another way. Buy 2 good quality (eg Narva) 2 position joiners. Disconnect the loom that connects the position selector switch on the auto trans to the plug on the firewall, near the master cylinder. Looking at the end of the plug you have just removed, numbering starts at top left corner (with plug catch upwards). If you have the repair manual, numbering is the same as in the book. catch on top 1 8 7 6 2 3 4 5 Cut the position selector off the auto wiring loom and throw it away. There are 8 wires to cut. 1. find red/black wire 1 and solder the cut end (where you cut the auto selector off ) onto one of the new joiners. BEFORE you solder it up, splice another wire with the red one so you have a join going from the joiner (make the splice out of red wire for simplicity � make sure it is at least 30cm long) 2. find the blue/black wire 3 and solder it onto the other side of the same joiner. 3. find the black/white wire 2 and splice it onto the extended red wire from step 1 above 4. solder this spliced wire onto one side of the OTHER joiner 5. splice the red wire 5 with the black wire 4 and splice a black wire about 30cm onto this wire 6. solder this extended black wire to the other side of the joiner Put heat shrink around all the joints to protect them Now you should have 2 joiners with wires 5 connected and 3 spare wires. Tape up these 3 spare wires and wrap the loom in electrical tape. At this stage, you have circuits for the reversing lights, neutral lockout circuit and the �Park� bypass circuit. Now, to connect to the gearbox, cut the connectors off the neutral switch and the reverse light switch. Note � if you remove them, the switches are not interchangeable. Solder the other ends of the joiners onto these 2 switches. Then connect the Neutral switch to the extended red and black wires using the joiner. Connect the Reversing switch to the other joiner. Now what you should have is a fully connected loom which allows the reversing lights to come on when the reverse is selected, the neutral lockout such that the car can only be cranked over in neutral and the park bypass to allow the car to be cranked and started. Sounds complicated but it is really very simple with some basic skill with a soldering iron. Steve. my father and i followed this to every point and finally i put it in the car last night and my reverse lights stayed on in every gear and my car wouldnt even turn over? anyone else have this problem? does anyone kno how i could fix it? also the auto starer i had in my car had a connector on it and the manual one doesn't? do i need to wire up the connector to my manual starter? Cheers Nick Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by muggle guys i have everything thing to do the conversion the only query ihave is regarding the starter motor ,my car is a vl calais turbo and is auto ,can the turbo starter be used in this conversion or do i need a non turbo starter,the box is a mf5, please help as i plan to do this tommorow thanks glenn The turbo auto starter motor can be used with the mf5 box, i did the same thing as u want to do a while ago nd the turbo started cranks much faster, u will hav no probs using it!! Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

anyone? does anyone know how i can fix this? any help would be appreciated. Cheers Nick

mate just go to the park, neutral selector relay near the RH headlight 9it's on the side of the firewall next to another relay) and join the purple wire together, i got a auto comp, runnning manual got no probs.

yeah. i'll try that tomoz night. but.. my auto starter has a connector plug hanging off it and the manual one dosent? whats the go there? id get pics up but dunno how

Hey guys, digging up an old tech article..... I finally converted my VL Berlina to manual, no probs. Used the auto starter motor (no probs), manual ECU, left the auto spigot in, used a manual gearbox loom (white & yellow plug), left the AT2 computer/AT diagnosis computers in, and I bridged the wires (light green & pink [I think; as per Street Commodores walkthrough] ) on the large grey plug on the firewall next to the brake booster. So those who are wondering: -auto starter motor runs an MF5 (N/A) box -auto spigot can stay -purple wires on the relay near the battery are not the only way to bypass the neutral switch Anyway, now my cruise control doesn't work. I get the orange light, but it won't engage (green light). I tried bridging a variety of wires on the firewall that were plugged into the auto box (in particular the Torque Converter Clutch Soleniod [no. 50 according to Gregorys wiring diagram on page 228/229], which ties in with the speed signal ). All to no avail. I also unplugged the Throttle Position Sensor (does not affect the car when running a manual transmission) and Throttle Pedal Switch (under the dash, and has no effect in a manual). I have checked that the cruise module is plugged into the brake switch, and that the vacuum switch is pushed in when the pedal isn't depressed. Does anyone know if a wiring change needs to be made, or has had the same problem? Possibly the wiring change I have made makes the car believe it is always in neutral (and therefore preventing cruise to be allowed to engage)? Niche, I'm looking at you. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Apparantly its a bad idea to leave the auto spigot in. Supposedly the shaft vibrates or something, and damages the gearbox

Oh well, it'd be a good excuse to splurge on an R33 item. Unless someone can show me a picture comparing them and the manual one is shorter, I'm not going to worry about it. Any ideas on the cruise? Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

The manual one sits in further, whereas the auto one sits flush.

Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when it crumbles and requires attention. BUT any ideas on the cruise? My mind says that there is supposed to be some sort of feedback from one of the switches/sensors on the auto trans that its no longer getting (that can be solved by bridging wires). All I can see is the Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid, Downshift Solenoid, Overdrive Cancel Solenoid having anything to do with the cruise circuit (via the speed sensor). All to no avail. Some original photos have not been recovered yet.

Cant help you mate. I did the conversion on a berlina without cruise.

Hmm....there are four wires attatched to the speed sensor. One is light green & white, which goes to the transmission control unit (AT2). By severing the auto trans plugs, the AT2 computer is no longer getting its feedback in relation to that wire. But I can't tell what the wire comes OUT as from the AT2 (if that makes sense).

Wouldn't have anything to do with the missing extra switch on the clutch pedal? If the circuit is in someway incomplete, which it would be if it's missing a swtich, then it wont work

As far as I can work out, manual VLs with cruise have a clutch switch instead of a brake switch. And when the circuit is completed (clutch depressed), cruise turns off. So, if it was missing, it'd still function - just not turn off.

I would of thought there'd be two switches - one on the brake as well as one on the clutch like any other conventional manual transmission cruise control set up

Even if there was, it remains an open circuit when both pedals aren't depressed. The circuit is completed when either the brake or clutch pedal is depressed, meaning that the cruise module doesn't care that they're not there. If that makes sense!

True, but one would have thought that there'd be an in-built thing, an error check of sorts, that relies on the switches being in place to ensure that once cruise is engaged it can be disengaged

my biggest mistake during build of my vl was converting to manual,stick to auto bro

Nope, you'll never get my vote for an auto. Not enough control of the car. CHRGD6, I see your point, I just can't see where the mechanism is that would make that check. If there is such a "check", I'm 99% sure its not at the switch itself.

There's no difference between the cruise control modules between the auto and manual vehicles?