Sorry to write a small novel here, but I believe in giving as much detailed info as I can.
I installed an R380 from a '97 DI in my '91 RRC back in Feb. So far I love it, but I've got a few electrical glitches.
First, just to detail what I did to complete the install:
Got a complete R380 with flywheel, clutch, slave cylinder and pedals from a DI that had been parted out. Paid $175 for everything. The clutch had apparently been replaced just before the Disco was taken off the road and was almost new, the flywheel still bore the marks of having been recently turned so I was able to use it all rather than spend the extra bucks on a new clutch. No M/C though, it had already gone elsewhere.
I installed it along with an LT230Q from an '02 DII with CDL, on which I replaced the tailshaft housing with an earlier one with a speedo drive.
For the pedals, I took the pedal mounting plate off one of my parts trucks and cut off the pedal brackets from the Disco plate, then welded them on the RRC plate and scrounged a little needed hardware to make everything work. The reason for all this (for those who don't know and may be considering this swap)
is that the pedal mounting plate from the '94 and earlier trucks is a different configuration from the '95 RRC and Disco plate...this means that a Disco plate will bolt straight into a '95 RRC, but won't fit a '94 or earlier. The main difference is that the '95/Disco plate is wider top to bottom and has a bump at the bottom that the steering column goes through and of course the bolt holes don't all line up. Another difference I encountered is that the '95/Disco plate has one common shaft for both pedals which is in the way of a dash support brace on the earlier trucks. I left the brake pedal mount alone and just cut the brake/clutch pedal mount from the Disco in half and took out the center, making it wide enough for the clutch pedal only and welded it in place on the RRC plate, then cut a hole for the M/C (which I got from my local wrecking yard off of a Datsun 280Z.) There was a little more fabrication involved with this process but that's it in a rather large nutshell.
I had to weld a strip of steel to the side of my brake pedal shaft so the brake switch would still line up as it came out slightly offset using the auto tranny pedal mount. All this would have been alleviated by using a pedal plate from a grey market manual tranny truck, but I had to use what I had available and I don't mind a little fabricating if it saves me some money. Also, I discovered too late that the pedal plate off of an '89 or earlier RRC already has the M/C hole in place and covered with a plate, if I'd grabbed the plate off my '89 instead of the '92 I could have saved myself a little more work. Oh well...
To make the engine start I took a plug off of the '92 parts truck that would connect to the plug that goes to the auto trans multi-plug and found the two wires that connect to the neutral safety switch and connected them together. There are also the connections to the backup light switch in there somewhere, I still have to find those and get them hooked up so I have backup lights again. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to hook the clutch interlock up to the neutral safety switch wires...it's not that I don't know how to push the clutch in when starting the truck, but when you've driven thousands of miles in a truck with an automatic and then convert it to manual, it's too easy to forget that it now has a clutch from time to time...!
So, on to the electrical glitches I'm encountering:
First of all, I get an occasional CEL but with no code displayed. I know my code reader is working, I've gotten other codes and checked everything out and of course get an 02 code if I disconnect the battery or ECU. I assume it's because the ECU still thinks there's an auto trans in there and can't find the park/neutral safety switch and I understand there's a resistor that needs to be installed somewhere, but I need to know what resistor and where it goes. Also, I now have no cruise control, which worked fine before the swap...not sure what's up with that, everything is hooked up, though there's no disconnect on the clutch pedal (yet) but there's also no circuit for one (or would it be there but just uses a shorting plug for the auto tranny models?)
And the other annoying thing...I have a flat spot when I'm accelerating that was not there before. Actually, it seems to show up in a couple of spots. I've replaced the TPS thinking that might be it, but no difference there. I've also changed the ECU. Even though I'm running a 4.2 engine, I had a '95 3.9 ECU in place and could find no difference in the way it drove with either the 3.9 or 4.2 ECU when I had the auto trans. Now, I find the difference is very noticeable when I have the 4.2 ECU in place...much more power, and the flat spots aren't quite as bad, but still there.
I've searched but just haven't come up with much useful info so far...anyone got a take on this?
I installed an R380 from a '97 DI in my '91 RRC back in Feb. So far I love it, but I've got a few electrical glitches.
First, just to detail what I did to complete the install:
Got a complete R380 with flywheel, clutch, slave cylinder and pedals from a DI that had been parted out. Paid $175 for everything. The clutch had apparently been replaced just before the Disco was taken off the road and was almost new, the flywheel still bore the marks of having been recently turned so I was able to use it all rather than spend the extra bucks on a new clutch. No M/C though, it had already gone elsewhere.
I installed it along with an LT230Q from an '02 DII with CDL, on which I replaced the tailshaft housing with an earlier one with a speedo drive.
For the pedals, I took the pedal mounting plate off one of my parts trucks and cut off the pedal brackets from the Disco plate, then welded them on the RRC plate and scrounged a little needed hardware to make everything work. The reason for all this (for those who don't know and may be considering this swap)
is that the pedal mounting plate from the '94 and earlier trucks is a different configuration from the '95 RRC and Disco plate...this means that a Disco plate will bolt straight into a '95 RRC, but won't fit a '94 or earlier. The main difference is that the '95/Disco plate is wider top to bottom and has a bump at the bottom that the steering column goes through and of course the bolt holes don't all line up. Another difference I encountered is that the '95/Disco plate has one common shaft for both pedals which is in the way of a dash support brace on the earlier trucks. I left the brake pedal mount alone and just cut the brake/clutch pedal mount from the Disco in half and took out the center, making it wide enough for the clutch pedal only and welded it in place on the RRC plate, then cut a hole for the M/C (which I got from my local wrecking yard off of a Datsun 280Z.) There was a little more fabrication involved with this process but that's it in a rather large nutshell.
I had to weld a strip of steel to the side of my brake pedal shaft so the brake switch would still line up as it came out slightly offset using the auto tranny pedal mount. All this would have been alleviated by using a pedal plate from a grey market manual tranny truck, but I had to use what I had available and I don't mind a little fabricating if it saves me some money. Also, I discovered too late that the pedal plate off of an '89 or earlier RRC already has the M/C hole in place and covered with a plate, if I'd grabbed the plate off my '89 instead of the '92 I could have saved myself a little more work. Oh well...
To make the engine start I took a plug off of the '92 parts truck that would connect to the plug that goes to the auto trans multi-plug and found the two wires that connect to the neutral safety switch and connected them together. There are also the connections to the backup light switch in there somewhere, I still have to find those and get them hooked up so I have backup lights again. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to hook the clutch interlock up to the neutral safety switch wires...it's not that I don't know how to push the clutch in when starting the truck, but when you've driven thousands of miles in a truck with an automatic and then convert it to manual, it's too easy to forget that it now has a clutch from time to time...!
So, on to the electrical glitches I'm encountering:
First of all, I get an occasional CEL but with no code displayed. I know my code reader is working, I've gotten other codes and checked everything out and of course get an 02 code if I disconnect the battery or ECU. I assume it's because the ECU still thinks there's an auto trans in there and can't find the park/neutral safety switch and I understand there's a resistor that needs to be installed somewhere, but I need to know what resistor and where it goes. Also, I now have no cruise control, which worked fine before the swap...not sure what's up with that, everything is hooked up, though there's no disconnect on the clutch pedal (yet) but there's also no circuit for one (or would it be there but just uses a shorting plug for the auto tranny models?)
And the other annoying thing...I have a flat spot when I'm accelerating that was not there before. Actually, it seems to show up in a couple of spots. I've replaced the TPS thinking that might be it, but no difference there. I've also changed the ECU. Even though I'm running a 4.2 engine, I had a '95 3.9 ECU in place and could find no difference in the way it drove with either the 3.9 or 4.2 ECU when I had the auto trans. Now, I find the difference is very noticeable when I have the 4.2 ECU in place...much more power, and the flat spots aren't quite as bad, but still there.
I've searched but just haven't come up with much useful info so far...anyone got a take on this?
