Hi all,

I just completed a full swap from auto to manual, everything is installed in the truck, when we went to crank it last night nothing happens. I knew there would be a problem bypassing a neutral switch with the auto park, tried connecting all the plugs back to the original trans shifter and connected the brake switch so its engaging the park servo but it still wont crank no sound or anything, starter is good tested with battery before install. There was three plugs connected to auto trans, i suspect maybe I need to bridge some wires possibly?

Does anyone know how to get it cranking or how I can bypass the auto trans electrics?

Thanks everyone. Any help is appreciated, I can post some pics later

 

Yes, you'd need to find which set of wires went to the neutral safety switch. After you bypass that, you should wire in a clutch pedal safety switch so you wouldn't need to remember (like on older vehicles) to push in the clutch pedal or be in neutral to start the truck. We assume that you also installed a starter from a manual transmission truck with your swap.

I'm not familiar with automatic transmissions so I don't know which set of wires to use. The workshop manual is here https://mazdaminitruckin.com/service-manual/

 

If the wiring checks out with the service manual try measuring the power to the solenoid when trying to crank. It's the small push on wire going to the starter solenoid. If the starter is not cranking it should be battery voltage. A good operating starter should be around 10 volts. If you don't get anything it looks like it may be somewhere with the starter inhibitor switch wiring from the automatic transmission. Please post back the outcome.

 

Hi thanks for the reply,
I’m having an issue with starter still, it’s getting power, I just tested the sender voltage on the starter when cranking and it’s saying overload on the voltmeter and then leveling out to 11v, this is with the starter disconnected.

when the starter connected it starts to smoke, and makes one loud click sound and then nothing. I tested the starter on the ground by bridging the sender to the positive and it works perfectly when connected to the battery, it’s really puzzling me why it won’t work with everything connected.

do you have any ideas?

 

Sounds like you need to set the multimeter on a higher voltage scale if you are getting OL. . Anyway if you are only measuring the power to the soleniod with the main cable disconnected it should be battery voltage. 11 volts is too low. A good fully charged battery should have a terminal voltage of 12.6 volts or a tad less in a cold climate. If the starter tests ok out of the car I'd make sure you can turn the engine over by the front pulley nut to make sure it's not locking up. With electric motors the slower they turn the hotter they get. Check the battery voltage when trying to crank. It should be around 10 volts. If it dosn't drop you may have a bad earth connection. If your not succesful post back and I will post a starter testing diagram. Just gotta find it.

 

This may or may not help. It's a practical assessment I developed for the training institute.
The pic of the starter solenoid Positive is the B+ and the negative is the M terminal.
I hope I'm not confusing you.

 

Hi again, thanks for your help.

I got it going finally.. the ground that went to the starter was causing the issue. I think maybe i overheated it or something which melted and caused a short is my only explanation as to why it stopped working.. I disconnected it and the grounding on contact with the block fixed it, Ill probably still run a wire from the starter to the block at some point.

With regards to how I got around the neutral switch.. I took the sensor off the auto trans and plugged it into the plug and from there i was able to work out what two wires to bridge, for anyone else doing this in the future it is the Black wire with the red stripe (power) to the black wire with the yellow stripe (ground) on the four plug connection on a 88 mazda auto (originally).

Thanks!

 

Glad to see you found it and solved your problem. Please post any other problems you may encounter. Most of us are here to support.