The Ultimate Transmission Thread... Brainstorm Ideas Here!

[creature]

I was just speculating on the Focus stuff because the Escort guys get the Focus tranny's for their engines because the gearing is better and the Focus guys get the Contour Se/SVT tranny's because they are supposed to be better. I'm going to try the gears from the contour on the escort guts and we'll see what happens.

Ok..

Anyway the guys at the scrap yard are suppose to give me back my money so there is no problems...

So now, I want better synchro, so I want ZX2 synchro!!! I will try to find a zx2 tranny, but here they are quite expensive...

I dunno if : Can I go to a ford dealer, ask for new Synchro for a ZX2, go to a transmission shop, and tell them Put this ZX2 synchro on my V6 tranny shaft? Instead of buying a old tranny and swap all the shaft whit gear and synchro, can I juste put new synchro from a ZX2 on my V6 shaft???

[Vertigo]

what makes you think the ZX2 synchros are better?
if they are the same as the protege they suck if you ask me. i used the fiber faced synchros from the protege instead of the all brass ones and there was a definate loss in performance. i never could hit 2nd gear the same as i used to.

also sometimes gears from different clusters dont mesh that well, and wont let the shafts fit together, so watch out for that too

and i got the protege tranny with just over 2000 miles on it for $100 from a guy at the dealer, it was a warrenty return for some reverse problem, but i used all the parts for reverse too without troubles. so since i had stripped the teeth off of fifth gear and was rebuilding my tranny anyway... it was a killer deal. i would have liked the posi setup, but oh well.

[creature]

what makes you think the ZX2 synchros are better?
if they are the same as the protege they suck if you ask me. i used the fiber faced synchros from the protege instead of the all brass ones and there was a definate loss in performance. i never could hit 2nd gear the same as i used to.

also sometimes gears from different clusters dont mesh that well, and wont let the shafts fit together, so watch out for that too

and i got the protege tranny with just over 2000 miles on it for $100 from a guy at the dealer, it was a warrenty return for some reverse problem, but i used all the parts for reverse too without troubles. so since i had stripped the teeth off of fifth gear and was rebuilding my tranny anyway... it was a killer deal. i would have liked the posi setup, but oh well.

Well Jeff_Jeske done it and he is saying that the synchro from the 98+ ZX2 are better...

A guy in my club done it too, and he said he can now shift a 8000rpm whitout any problems (He got a modified ZE..)

Well I will try to get a ZX2 tranny... Or just getting new stupid stock brass synchro for my V6 tranny sigh

[Vertigo]

well i used to shift at 8k with the old guts, but i never could since i swapped the synchros. but like i said it all depends on what kind of synchros they were, and i think he installed the new stuff because the old parts were worn.

if you really want to shift faster, grind every other tooth of the synchro, gear, and shift sleeve. then you'll really get into gear fast, at any rpm.

[Jeff_Jeske]

For what its worth the ZX2 has brass sychros....just a different design.

JJ

[armyreserve100]

so pretty much for a decent upgrade take the gearing case from a 98+ ZX2 and bolt it up to our differential and drop in?
whats the code for that tranny? ill have to try it this summer

[Smuffy]

Ditto!

[Gro Harlem]

I dont think anyone ever said the focus would work.
I believe this to be the list of matching trannies:
87 Mazda 323 GT
90-94 Protege LX
91-94 Mercury Capri XR2
91-96 Escort GT, LX-E & Mercury Tracer
92-94 MX-3 GS (pos 1.8 v6)
93-97 MX-6 (both 4 and 6 cyl)
93-97 626 (both 4 & 6 cyl)
93-97 Probe (both 4 & 6 cyl)
95-98 Protege ES (1.8 dohc)
97-99 Kia Sephia (1.8 dohc)
97-present Ford Escort & ZX2's (i'm not sure of this but ppl tell me they use G-series too)
98-01 626 4 cyl (not sure about 6, i forgot if its a k-series)
01-03 Protege w/FS motor (2.0LX, ES, MP3, Protege5, MSP, and in 02' all DX and LX's got the 2.0 standard)

The LSD from the mazdaspeed does work but its hard to come by. Some pictures in the following thread:
http://forums.probetalk.com/showthread.php?t=1701102171

Thank you! It seems no one listens to me, but they will listen to you.

I've already posted this list in the past:

http://forums.probetalk.com/showpost...6&postcount=43

http://forums.probetalk.com/showpost...7&postcount=20


As for the Focus & Contour trannies....I honestly don't think their internals swap with ours but I haven't confirmed it myself so I'm not going to rule it out. I do know that the Escort trannies (both SOHC and DOHC zetec) from 97+ are G-series. I too, bought a ZX2 SR transmission from my junkyard for $75 with about 40k miles. I installed the MSP differential into it with a slight bit of grinding (differential is a lil too big in areas).

Remember....these transmissions are MAZDA TRANSMISSIONS. Just because you guys drive a ford probe doesn't mean that a focus and contour guts will fit your bellhousing. The Focus wasn't designed by mazda at all, as was the contour. The Escort & ZX2 still retained a mazda-designed chassis up until present (they are still sold today) which is a partial reason they used the G-series transmissions since their axles plugged into the mazda hubs & spindles.

Again...i haven't confirmed myself that the contour/focus stuff will/won't fit but I would bet money that neither interchanges at all.

As for the synchro differences. I've done a bit of research into this as well. From what I"ve read on the Escort forums I've been on, the 97+ synchros in FORD models are updated (apparently by ford) for warranty purposes. I cross-checked part numbers between the old (90-94 protege lx trans) and the newer 626 2.0 transmission synchros and they were identicla. Which leads me to believe that the 97+ g-series in MAZDA cars had the same shitty synchros that our V6 cars have . But i'm not sure of the 99-03.5 protege, it might have had an update in its synchro design at one point, but I haven't cross-checked the part numbers yet.

[Jeff_Jeske]

Thank you! It seems no one listens to me, but they will listen to you.

I cross-checked part numbers between the old (90-94 protege lx trans) and the newer 626 2.0 transmission synchros and they were identicla. Which leads me to believe that the 97+ g-series in MAZDA cars had the same shitty synchros that our V6 cars have .

I think everyone knows that you know your sh1t!

As for the sychros....well I ordered the tranny rebuild kit for the PGT from Anahiem Gear and it turned out to be escort sychros. I compared them to the sychros I removed and they definatly had a different patter to the triangles. Not sure if it was an upgrade or not. In 99 the sychros were upgraded but whatever that entails isn't very clear.

Non-the-less, new stock shitty sychros should be good for at least 75k hard miles. If you get a low mileage tranny and toss it in and get 50k miles out of it for $100 I would say that is a very good deal.

[ddv9392]

good idea, does this really work on a 2.5?




mike

[Jeff_Jeske]

Its been done three times by me already.....Matt Maas has done....and I believe several others have jumped on board as well.

[Fastest95PGT]

I definitely agree with you all that picking up a used Escort tranny with low miles even with the same synchros we have now is a good idea!

My question is.. since we can use 97+ SOHC or DOHC Escort trannies, are either of them stronger (in regards to gears or synchros?) where as we'd be best to look at one or the other?

Locally I can get a SOHC tranny for $150 where as the DOHC is minimum $250.

[Snowseeker]

Insted of spending gobs of money on tranny's over and over again why not cryo treat one time and be done.

[Jeff_Jeske]

Because cryro doesn't do shit for sychros. Sychros are soft for smooth engagement and even cryro isn't gonna do squat for that.

I am not sure if the part numbers are the same for the SOHC and the DOHC. Check with ford and if they are then you may be good to go but I always use DOHC from 99+.

[Fastest95PGT]

I am not sure if the part numbers are the same for the SOHC and the DOHC. Check with ford and if they are then you may be good to go but I always use DOHC from 99+.

I asked because DOHC and SOHC being usable has been mentioned a few times in this thread.

According to www.Ford-Parts.com, the 1998 DOHC transmission is listed separately from 99-03 DOHC trasmissions (both priced the same at list price 2990.97). The SOHC is listed as 97-03 (no price specified on site).

So lets say we stick to the DOHC until someone confirms the SOHC internals will fit (and if it's weaker or not). I wonder if anyone here has used a 99-03 one or if you've all used the 98 one.