converting auto to manual for GQ?

[Thetruck]

looking at purchasing nice GQ but its auto - never owned auto 4wd just want to now 1. how do autos fair in 4wd. 2. how hard would it be to convert to manual and is it worth it?

[taslucas]

Auto will use a bit more fuel but they are far better off road IMO.
Crawl up mud hills, sand dunes and rock steps without having to change gears. Heaps better to take off on a hill without breaking traction.
Don't break traction by down shifting half way up a hill.
Downside is the lack of engine braking downhill. The auto box in a GQ is tough as nails and with a few mods will handle massive amounts of power
Lucas

[NissanGQ4.2]

Auto's fair good off road, you can spent some extra money and beef the auto box up if you want.

Not sure on how hard a job it is 2 do a conversion as I have never done one....

Is it worth it????? Personally I wouldn't, I love my auto, Just comes down 2 personal choice. If your auto died and you had 2 put a new one in it may work out cheaper to do the conversion.......mine died and I choose 2 rebuild it and keep the auto box

Cheers

Todd

[Pablo76]

Hey Mate, I had to buy an auto so the missus could drive ours, after using it offroad i have to say i dont think id have it any other way, other than the engine braking downhill like taslucus said, Mate id leave it and spend some cash on the auto or reduction gears, I have 33 inch tyres on mine and it does labour a bit on hills on the highway so it kicks back from overdrive a bit, you can fix it with diff ratios but its not that bad, spend your cash on some lockers or something bud it will climb walls.

[WHITEGQ]

Hi Thetruck,
When I bought my GQ wagon it was an auto, the box was a bit of a problem right from the start, we changed the auto while away on holidays. I then had trouble free running for another 2 years, out the bush it was great, as eveybody has said the auto allows you to take off uphill without breaking tracktion, I found that for going downhills if you put the shifter into 1st, push power button then give accelorator pedal a quick stab it would go into like a full lock up position and would then have good back pressure for going downhill.

But alas no 2 auto developed a problem so I decided to do the 5 speed manual conversion. Cost wise it was about $1400-$1500 to buy everything needed. It took myself and 2 mates 2 days on a hoist to do conversion, hardest parts were doing pedals, my advice to anyone doing this is not to change brake pedal, just cut auto brake pedal down to same size as manual pedal, reson for this is that the pedals have 1 bolt that comes from the top, this bolt is up behind all the heater ducting, a real pr*ck of a spot to get at. When bolting in clutch pedal you have to put a bolt up in the same area.

The next hard part was putting 5 speed up and in behind the motor, box hits trans tunnel, we had a lot off trouble getting box pushed in and lined up, once box is in and bolted up its not to bad doing the rest of the conversion, a LOT of fiddling around with bits and pieces to bot on and refit.

GQ goes heaps better with the 5 speed in it, little bit better fuel economy, but I do miss the auto sometimes. So just stick with your auto until something goes wrong with it, then decide wether you get auto fixed, get reco auto(BIG money either way) or do the 5 speed conversion. Hope this has been some sort of help.
Jeff.

[Bigrig]

Hi Thetruck,
When I bought my GQ wagon it was an auto, the box was a bit of a problem right from the start, we changed the auto while away on holidays. I then had trouble free running for another 2 years, out the bush it was great, as eveybody has said the auto allows you to take off uphill without breaking tracktion, I found that for going downhills if you put the shifter into 1st, push power button then give accelorator pedal a quick stab it would go into like a full lock up position and would then have good back pressure for going downhill.

But alas no 2 auto developed a problem so I decided to do the 5 speed manual conversion. Cost wise it was about $1400-$1500 to buy everything needed. It took myself and 2 mates 2 days on a hoist to do conversion, hardest parts were doing pedals, my advice to anyone doing this is not to change brake pedal, just cut auto brake pedal down to same size as manual pedal, reson for this is that the pedals have 1 bolt that comes from the top, this bolt is up behind all the heater ducting, a real pr*ck of a spot to get at. When bolting in clutch pedal you have to put a bolt up in the same area.

The next hard part was putting 5 speed up and in behind the motor, box hits trans tunnel, we had a lot off trouble getting box pushed in and lined up, once box is in and bolted up its not to bad doing the rest of the conversion, a LOT of fiddling around with bits and pieces to bot on and refit.

GQ goes heaps better with the 5 speed in it, little bit better fuel economy, but I do miss the auto sometimes. So just stick with your auto until something goes wrong with it, then decide wether you get auto fixed, get reco auto(BIG money either way) or do the 5 speed conversion. Hope this has been some sort of help.
Jeff.

Top post Jeff!!

[shmittens]

Howdy.

We've got a 1994 4.2 EFI TI. Is an automatic that runs on gas only at this stage - we removed the petrol system bc we weren't using it and it therefore failed a couple of times. We've been tossing up whether to say farewell to the Patrol that has been in the family for almost 20 years, due to things starting to go wrong - windows, interior lining, rear diff is getting stuck, engine seems to be lacking power or whether to reinvest (still has a very good body, and from memory the replacement engine has only done ~200,000 - 250,000 kms). We're not in any need whatsoever for a Patrol to do serious off-roading; more just to get to places that other vehicles can't reliably get to for camping trips etc. I guess it doesn't feel super reliable at the moment, and I want to get it back to having that confidence in it - just want a regular reliable GQ Patrol. We will probably re-engage the petrol system depending on how much it costs. After all that, the reason I am replying to you is that you mention modifications that can be done to the auto box to give it extra grunt, which I presume also means that it increases reliability? I am not mechanically minded at all, so I am wondering what the specifics might be that you are referring to? Cheers