eefmydee

***LIst of parts: A650E from a 98 SC400, Toyota Altezza Steering wheel with shift buttons (Lexus IS300 is the same steering wheel), Spitronics Mecury 2 TCU unit.*** (the 3.92 diff is being kept so gearing will be aggressive)

Price tag: $1000 +/- $150

So it took me a while to come up with the title because I had no idea how this would come out to my fellow readers. The answer has always been manual swap for the SC community. Many will read and think that is the only way to go but seeing the price tag that I have put up for an automatic setup I had to give it a try and see if I could still be as effective as a 5 speed manual transmission using an 5 speed automatic with a twist. Seeing how custom, expensive and long it would take to do a manual swap I knew it would be a pain in the *** but when I first started looking at options for my car I thought maybe the W58 would do but they break on low power and parts for repair and to strengthen the W58 and R154 are harder to get. I have seen R154s go for around $2500. In my opinion it is not worth the price getting a W58 that you know will snap so discussing price is irrelevant. yes there is the t56, the cd and I even see people trying to put BMW transmissions but that is at the end of the day very custom which means very expensive. What is the performance to price gain? So for months now I have been looking at different options and I took an interest in making the automatics a paddle shift. Luckily there was support for the A340E to make it paddle shift but there is a huge flaw with the A340E that I didnt like. The line pressure is mechanically controlled through a cable that is connected to the throttle body and when you let off on the gas you have less or no line pressure which means you will be slightly coasting. If you are taking a turn pretty fast and you let off to get on the brakes then get back on you will be reengaging the transmission from coasting and the transition can be abrupt on corner exist which can cause problems. Unsettling than trying to resettle the suspension in a corner is never a good thing. Case and point the transition in turns is not smooth, sometimes I have even loss traction on corner exit when getting back on the gas because of the drive train shock from the re engagement.

So that is what brings me to the A650E. How the gears are stacked up on the A650E are a lot better than the A340E and it will always keep you in the power band when paired to the non vvti 1uzfe. I knew a 5 speed was better than the 4 long gears (and the gearing is bad when you look at how the stack up to the next gear and what rpm you land at) so I started looking at the Is300 transmissions to see if I could put that into my car. At this point I had no idea that from 98-00 the A650E came in the Ls400, Gs400 and Sc400. So I looked to see if I could get a A650E from a 98 Sc400 and I did for under $500. By the way the line pressure on these transmissions is controlled by a solenoid so you can let off the gas and still be engaged in the gear and not have to deal with the coasting effect. Next I acquired a Altezza steering wheel and spoke to a company called Spitronics and emailed them and they already have a tune and a complete wiring diagram to hook it up to their harness coming out of the Mercury 2 TCU.

So after months of analyzing I am currently working on swapping the A650E and that is what I will be doing as soon as I finish this post. I also will be sharing an excel sheet on comparing the transmissions gearing with their calculated best shift points paired to the 1uzfe non vvti engine. I am already in the progress of making a bunch of videos for this swap and when it is done I will start posting them one by one to show other people step by step if anyone else wants to attempt this, of course I would wait until I am finished to see what exactly will be the end result and the performance gains. I already ran my car at the drag strip and it did 15.4 at 89 mph (stock everything and this was recent) so we will see what gains this will have.

Although this is the basic setup up I will eventually start adding more the this setup like an aftermarket torque converter (possibly with a lockup converter that can stay locked up on power at all times), shift kit and a fully built tranny with upgraded internal parts and clutches.

If you have any questions please ask away. I didnt say everything because i wanted to keep the intro short as possible but still explaining the jist of it. I will be posting up info multiple times a week along with videos but videos will be later.

zazzn

wow cool, looking forward to the videos

eefmydee

So I have landed on a little issue. I had stated before that the driveshaft will bolt up no problem coming from the A340E 1uzfe non vvti engine to the A650E 1uzfe vvti and I just found out that this is not true. The bolt pattern on the flange for the flex disc is larger on the A650E than it is on the A340E. I figured that I would take the nut off the output shaft to then remove the flange and swap the flanges on the transmissions but boy I was wrong (you need a 30 mm long socket to remove the nut). The splines on the output shaft of the A650E are substantially larger and the shaft is larger in diameter as well.

So this leaves me kinda in the ****ter but I spoke with a guy that sells a lot of Lexus parts and he says that the flex disc on the 6 cylinders are smaller which means that the bolt pattern should be smaller as well (theoretically). The only car that came with an A650E that is a 6 cylinder while still utilizing a flex disc on the driveshaft is the GS300 from 98-05 (the IS300 uses a slipyoke in the front and four bolts in the back to hook to the diff). I looked up the part numbers for the A340E flex disc for my car and it came back as this 3751124010. When I looked up the flex disc for the gs300 98-05 it also came back as 3751124010. Just as a reference I looked up a 98-00 SC400 and the GS400 from 98-05 and they use this part number 3751130020. (FYI this information is being pulled off a Lexus website for parts directly from http://www.lexussouthatlantaparts.com/).

So what do I plan to do? If all A650E have the same output shaft but use different flanges according to if it is a 6 or 8 cylinder than I should be able to use a 6 cylinder flange to work with my driveshaft by finding a gs300 from 98-05 and removing the flange and mounting on the 8 cylinder A650E. Do I think it is going to work? I have no idea but I will be going to LKQ in Tampa and find this out (Driving from orlando fl). I will be going this friday and I might even go to another junk yard in Daytona.

If I come across another issue with fitment I may end up going to a driveshaft shop here in Orlando and seeing is they can make a solid flex disc using both the bolt pattern of the 92-97 driveshaft/flex disc and the bolt pattern off of the 8 cylinder A650E flange. I honestly do not want to do this because this will inherently increase the price and make this swap a little bit more difficult than what I intended it to be. Although if I do have to go this route it is still well under the price of a manual swap (still wouldnt be happy about it though). fingers crossed.

eefmydee

So here's the current status of what is going on. It seems as though the flex disc flange from the 6 cylinder a650e will not go on the 8 cylinder a650e transmission meaning that I can not use my stock 92 driveshaft off of my SC400. For someone has parts for a few different driveshaft and has help me out too mix and match things to see if we can get something to work. Apparently the front part of the a650e 8 cylinder newer driveshaft will work and slide in on the back-end of my original driveshaft and I will just use the bigger and newer Flex disc. So physically using a newer front drive shaft with an older rear drive shaft. I am a bit worried about balancing issues but we will see what happens. So this Friday I will be testing out a bunch of different variations to see if we can get something to bolt up and hopefully avoid custom work.

eefmydee

WHEN PEOPLE IN YOUR LEXUS COMMUNITY **** YOU OVER! I went to attempt to buy a 98-00 Sc400 Front driveshaft from a guy here in Sanford Fl and he said he had the part. When I go to pick it up he tells me he doesnt have the sc400 one but he has a gs400 front shaft that will work because it is the same shaft. This is the part where Trump pops out and says "WRONG". When I get home the gs400 front shaft splined up the the rear section of my 92 sc400 shaft no problem (I was told that the splines in the middle of the shaft are all the same on all the years which has proven true so far) but the shaft is almost 10 inches to long.

Info time: If you look at the wheelbases of the sc, gs and ls they are all different and in that exact same order it goes from smallest to largest. Also no matter if you have a A340E or A650E (be it that you have the transmissions that uses the flex disc and not the slip yoke end) the total lengths of the transmissions are the same. So if the wheelbases are longer then something has to compensate for length and they did it in the shaft.

I contacted a few of my buddys and I was referred to a guy in Texas selling parts and he has a 98 SC400 with the A650E transmission. He took out the shaft for me and gave me measurements for the front shaft and it was spot on in length while utilizing the larger bolt pattern. So I have purchased the whole driveshaft from him and he will be shipping it on Tuesday to me. Maybe finally I will have my test fit next weekend. ***This has upped the price for the build which is now sitting around $1100. I am not counting the loss of money with the wrong shaft because it didnt work but i did learn from the experience and the price I pay to help my community is worth it. KEEP IN MIND THAT AFTER THIS IS RUNNING AND MOVING I WILL LATER GO BACK AND START BUYING DIFFERENT SHAFTS AND TRANSMISSIONS TO SEE IF THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE A A650E WITH A NON VVTI 1UZFE BE IT A GS300 TRANS WITH SC300 SHAFT OR EVEN THE IS300 TRANS AND SHAFT WITH DIFF ADAPTERS. ANY COMBO THAT COULD WORK I WILL TRY.***

Meanwhile I will be soldering and starting to run wires for my TCU unit which includes attaching rpm inputs, tps inputs and dealing with other wires related to the car. Cant put pictures up yet because my phone is now a Type C connector and I need adapter from type c to usb which is in the mail. Still working on a full video though.

eefmydee

Last car wash before the tranny came out

On the floor here in the front is the A340E that I pulled out. The A650E from a 98 SC400 in the black box with the rolling wheels.
Nothing but flex plate left.

eefmydee

So previously I stated that the bolt patterns on the Flex Discs were different and I was thinking of just swapping the flanges on the transmissions. As you see befffffffforyou the flange is off of the A340E and the output shaft splines are 30.5mm in diameter.
This is the tail end of the A650E and as you see the output shaft is thicker coming in at 34.3mm. This meaning that you cannot swap the the flanges on the transmissions like I had stated in previous posts.
Just to clarify here, this is probably not the best way to measure the flange but its is consistent and easy. As you see the measurement is 104.5 mm across but the flange on the A650E is 110 mm. All the v8 flanges are 110 mm across. I have still yet to confirm if the GS300 A650E has the exact same flange as the A340E.
I had stated that I bought a Gs400 front shaft to slide on my stock shaft but it is 10 inches too long. This is due to wheelbase of the vehicles being different. FYI: both the A650E and A340E measure exactly the same at 28 inches in length.

eefmydee

If you want to seek someone to fully build a A650E Power Dynamix in Texas is actively pushing the boundaries of the A650E. http://powerdynamix.com/store#!/Full...tegory=5548271
That is the link for there build but it has not been updated and is inaccurate. I spoke with them recently and they are currently testing new internal parts on the A650E. As of this date you cannot buy this service from them because of current testing. This is the link for their build and project car is the GS300. Over 800whp is one respecable number.

eefmydee

I personally do not believe that any A340E transmission (be it H or F as well) that came with a line pressure solenoid. The line pressure on these transmissions are controlled by a cable that is attached to the throttle body so when you hit the gas you increase the line pressure.

Please if you have any proof on the information you have stated please I would love to know. Just keep in mind that with this thread I would like to keep all information as accurate as possible.

eefmydee

It is confirmed! 98 SC400 drive shaft will spline up a 92 SC400 driveshaft in the middle. Also the length is the exact same and the center support bearing is in the correct place to be bolted into the chasis. So we know now that if there is going to be some interchanging of shafts then it has to come from the same model car due to length (and because wheelbase is playing a factor). ***This Sunday I will be installing the transmission along with the shaft to do a test fit and will be posting up pictures*** cant wait. In the blue up top is the 98 SC400 drive shaft. The 92 SC400 is at the bottom.
As you see the bolt pattern of the flanges are different and the flex disc are larger on the newer sc400.
Center support bearing is in the same location and have the same dimensions.

This is where I swapped the front halves of the shafts on both of them. No issues on the install or swapping over.
another view
another view.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I can confirm that the Autos that came behind the 2jzgte have no line pressure cable, they are electronically controlled with a solenoid and use pulse width modulation from the ecu.
The 2JZGTE was on of the earliest automatics (if not the earliest) to receive this technology before it became common in the later years like 98+.

So 2jzge has 3 solenoids: 2 for shifting gears, and a third is an on/off for torque converter lockup. it also has the cable going to the throttle body for line pressure.

the 2jzgte has 5 solenoids: 2 for shifting gears, the third is a pulse width modulated (PWM) for torque converter lockup (uses duty cycle so not just on/off like the GE), the 4th is for back pressure accumulation using PWM, the 5th is for line pressure using PWM.

I have attached pics showing the 2jzge chart, the 2jzgte chart, then solenoids 4 and 5 on the gte that are definitely there. hopefully this clears some stuff up.

eefmydee

hell yea Ali SC3. thanks alot. I truly appreciate this information and Im sure someone else will somewhere along the line.

Quick question: What exact year and model did these transmissions come out of? Could this also be the A341E? I found a list that states that the A341E came in the the Turbo supras from 93 to 98 so that could be the difference. I will upload the link to this post. It also states that the SC400 came with an A341E but I can assure you that the tranny I pulled out is an A340E (my car being a 92 sc400). I have changed the filter multiple times and seen the valve body and it only has 4 solenoids. I was once told that the Soarers in other parts of the world got the A341E while the states got the A340E.

http://www.natpronet.com/trans/A340.pdf

this is the link

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

There is some confusion out there on those, but as far as I know the A341E is the same as the A340E with a slightly different gearing for 1st and reverse.. you can find one on a ls400 that will directly swap into a sc400. (they did come on the sc400 but only in canada spec and also on v8 soarers).
this guy performed that swap
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...-an-sc400.html

you can see on the wiki page also the different designations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota..._.2830-40LE.29

The supra turbo trans was from 93-98 or something like that, and it was an A340E (you can see the confusion on the wiki page cause there is a ? following it), its just a special version of a A340E.
wikipedia further designates the turbo as a 30-40LS whereas the normal SC version is a 30-40LE.
But you can see those pages I pulled off the 95 supra manual, says A340E in the title of the gte one, and AT340E in the title of the 2jzge one.
I haven't seen much on a AT340E, so I think they meant A340E. basically the electronic version only came on turbo supra's and turbo aristo's, the 2 cars with a non vvti 2jzgte drivetrain.

interesting to note, the 1jzgte is like a hybrid of the 2, it is beefed up compared to a GE trans, but it had a line pressure cable.

eefmydee

I like where we are getting with this. I will read those post when I get the chance. Do you know what internal mods there are?

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

That's about what I know on the auto transmissions, not sure what internal mods they have. I think the 5 speed route you are taking is very interesting, that extra gear helps with acceleration alot.
seems like the trickiest part will be getting a controller to control it properly. you could potentially even run an early non immobilizer 1uz vvti ecu in parallel and just hook up enough stuff for it to control the trans like power, grounds, and speed signals, maybe more not sure anyones tried it. the harness shops can make parallel ecu harnesses these days if you don't want to deal with wiring.